Santa Maria Raceway
Pounds tops WCS foes at Santa Maria
By Stephanie Odom
West Coast Shootout
Brad Pounds heads to victory at Santa Maria. (photofinishphotos.com)
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (May 25) — Pole-starting Brad Pounds of Bakersfield, Calif., dominated Saturday at Santa Maria Speedway in the first round of the Nationals presented by Coors Light. He collected $2,000 for his third career West Coast Shootout victory.
Mike Johnson of Lompoc, Calif., was second with Clay Daly of Watsonville, Calif., third. R.C. Whitwell of Tucson, Ariz., the only out-of-state entrant, was fourth while Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas, Calif., rounded out the top five on the first of two nights of series action.
Pounds, who topped his time-trial group and won a heat race, started on the front row with Daly in the 30-lapper with Pounds getting the jump.
Daly settled into second while Johnson and Whitwell battled for third with Johnson grabbing the spot. Series points leader Nick Bartels was fourth early with Whitwell fifth when the lone caution appeared on the second lap for Dennis Souza and Carla Laney.
With Pounds pulling away at the green flag, Johnson overtook Daly on the restart with Hogge looking for room in the top five. Whitwell went to the high side to regain fourth from Bartels while Pounds cruised out front. The leader had no problems with lapped traffic in grabbing his first series victory since Oct. 8, 2011, at his hometown track.
Notes: Pounds is sponsored by Orchard Production Services, Richie McGowan, Pounds Racing, Blackjack Power Swivels and Hoosier Racing Tire. ... The race paid at least $300 to every starter. ... The weekend is co-sanctioned by Championship Dirt Motorsports. ... The weekend wraps up with a $3,000-to-win WCS feature on Sunday.
The Nationals presented by Coors Light: (1) Brad Pounds, (2) Mike Johnson, (3) Clay Daly, (4) R.C. Whitwell, (5) Bobby Hogge IV, (6) Nick Bartels, (7) Tommy Malcolm, (8) Tony Toste, (9) Steve Drake, (10) Rob Sanders, (11) Richard Papenhausen, (12) Devin Crockett, (13) Jason Papich, (14) Chris Barnett, (15) Dino Napier, (16) Bill Bartels, (17) Mike Kirby, (18) Cody Barnett, (19) Carla Laney, (20) Randy Brown, (21) Jerry Stewart, (22) Dennis Souza, (23) Larry Childress. Fast qualifier (among 23 cars): Toste, 16.240 seconds. Heat race winners: Toste, Pounds, N. Bartels.
