Central Arizona Raceway
Explosion on restart lifts Mars to Arizona victory
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Jimmy Mars won $3,000. (DirtonDirt.com)
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Jan. 12) — That Jimmy Mars made a dazzling move on a lap-16 restart, spoiling Trevor Glaser's chances for a victory in the first leg of Central Arizona Raceway's Wild West Shootout, didn't surprise fellow Wisconsin driver Pat Doar one bit.
"I knew what was going to happen all along," said Doar, who ended up second to Mars in the opener of the week-long stretch of racing. "I've been racing with Jimmy for 15 years and he's the best in the country on restarts."
The move on the restart — Mars built enough momentum to squeeze past Doar on the frontstretch and then dove under the leading Glaser in turn one — turned a three-car race into a virtual runaway at the 3/8-mile oval midway between Phoenix and Tucson. The Menomonie, Wis., driver earned $3,000 in the 30-lapper and won his fourth consecutive start for Wyoming driver Jess Anderson, who provides Mars a MasterSbilt Race Car for Western events.
"There's rubber on the outside there and basically when we both take off on the start, I had a little bit more momentum on the outside there, and I don't know what happened to (Glaser)," Mars said. "I was just able to shoot underneath there and the car stuck and I was able to drive off. So it was pretty fun.
"There's a lot of luck in this racing. I don't think I would have ever won it if they hadn't have had that restart. There's a lot of luck in racing, and I had some luck tonight, and came away with a win."
Doar was able to close on Mars amid lapped traffic in the final laps, but the outcome was never in serious doubt after the mid-race caution that proved to be the undoing of Glaser, a driver from Tangent, Ore., trying to make a statement for often-overlooked Western drivers.
Glaser started on the pole and by lap five was leading a three-car breakaway that included Doar, who was subbing in North Dakota driver Brad Seng's No. 12, and Mars. But Glaser's power steering gave up during a lap-two caution and it made life difficult the rest of the way.
"I think we had the car to beat, you know, but if it doesn't stay together, you've gotta make it all 30 laps. It's real tough. That was a close one," said Glaser, who was debuting a new Trak-Star Race Car. "If it had stayed green, I think we'd have had a shot, but we were catching lapped traffic and that was going to hurt me, because if I had to negotiate around anybody or do anything weird, it was going to be pretty tough to do. I was just hoping we were fast enough, but we just didn't quite make it.
"Under green, even though we were slowing down, it was still going to be hard to pass me. (Mars) did what he needed to do and I just didn't have enough left to use up enough racetrack on that restart to keep him behind me."
Glaser ended up third behind Mars and Doar while California driver Ron Bartels, who started outside the front row, bounced back from a shaky start to finish fourth. Consolation winner Brad Looney of Republic, Mo., who won last year at Central Arizona, rallied from 13th to finish fifth in the first of five Wild West Shootout events. Competitors battle for a $5,000 winner's purse on Sunday afternoon.
Doar was running a strong second through the first half of the race and thought he might be the one to take a crack at Glaser after the lap-16 caution, which appeared when Andrew McKay slowed on the frontstretch. Glaser lined up alone out front with Doar (inside) and Mars (outside) in the second row for the double-file restart.
"I kinda thought (Glaser) might be a sitting duck after the caution, and I was hoping it was going to be me that was going to shoot him," Doar said. "And Jimmy came in there and just, I think (Glaser) would've got second, but Jimmy went by him so fast, I just kind of snuck by."
Notebook
The winning car is sponsored by ESSI, Deppe Enterprises, Jimmy's Pub, Dagwood Lettering and Graphics. ... The Jess Anderson-owned car is straight from the MasterSbilt from Mars shop in Wisconsin. Mars also won in Anderson's car three times at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2007. ... "Whether it's the beginning of the season, or middle of the season or the end, it's awesome to get a win," Mars said. "Every win means a lot to me, so I'm just happier than heck to start 2008 out with a win." .... Runner-up Pat Doar plans to drive Brad Seng's car on Sunday, too. Seng is flying in and will drive the car the final three nights. ... Trevor Glaser is the three-time and defending Bud I-5 Series champion. ... The first caution appeared on the second lap when John Anderson got out of shape exiting turn two and spun by himself. ... On the restart, Mark Voigt jumped the turn-two banking and Darryn Waldo (also in a Jess Anderson car) spun. Voigt pulled to the infield with a flat left-front tire. ... Ricky Weiss slid over the banking exiting turn one with three laps remaining but was able to hang on. ... Drivers drew for heat-race lineups and passing points were used to set the first 12 spots for the feature. The rest of the drivers ran consolation races. ... Greg Walters of Banks, Ore., won the nine-car crate Late Model feature.
Corrections: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the payout for the Jan. 13 race. The race pays $5,000 to the winner. Also, Lonnie Parker Sr. was listed as finishing 23rd; Lonnie Parker Jr. finished 23rd.
