Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Midwesterners, Pounds shine in Vegas prelims
By Michael Rigsby
DirtonDirt.comLAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 16) — Second-generation driver Brad Pounds of Bakersfield, Calif., earned $1,000 with a preliminary victory in the unsanctioned Duel in the Desert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Pounds was also among six heat races winners on the first night of the two-day show, joining three Midwestern drivers who also broke through for heat victories. Saturday night's feature event pays $5,000 to the winner. | Video report
"I was just hoping to get a top three and get in the show," Pounds said of his heat race run in Chris Sivesind's No. 75. "I did a little better than I expected."
Other western drivers winning heats were Kellen Chadwick of Oakley, Calif., and A.J. Kirkpatrick of Watsonville, Calif., who made contact with Andy Obertello on the second lap while grabbing the lead.
Midwesterners winning heats were John Anderson of Omaha, Neb., Scott James of Lawrenceburg, Ind., and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., who lowered the track record in time trials at the half-mile oval. James was driving an Oregon-based car normally piloted by Rick Wyatt for the second straight weekend while Mars was guesting in a car fielded by Jess Anderson of Gillette, Wyo. The Midwesterners were wowed by the slick conditions at Vegas.
"It was slick ... I mean real slick out there," said James, who won in Wyatt's Rocket Chassis on Nov. 8 at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. "Our car felt good. It's just one of those deals where you really have to be careful and know how to handle that surface, cause if you're not careful, you'll be facing the other direction pretty quick."
Anderson agreed. "Man, oh, man was it slick out there," he said. "I've been on some slick stuff before, but that's about as slick as I've ever seen a racetrack. It was hard getting a real good drive off the corners, and luckily we were able to real early in our heat race, otherwise we would have been in trouble."
Pounds, who outran Mars to win the 15-lap preliminary feature, was as good as his counterparts on the slick track. "It's a really hard track to get around," he said. "You've really gotta be a really smooth driver to do well here."
Notebook
With 54 drivers on hand, Mars was the fastest in time trials with an 18.553-second lap, lowering the previous track record held by Ken Schrader. ... There are also 186 modifieds in competition. ... Among other drivers in competition are Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colo., coming off a $5,000 victory the previous weekend at Manzanita Speedway; Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway champion Billy Griffin; John Duty of Portland, Ore.; Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn.; three-time Bud I-5 Challenge Series champion Trevor Glaser of Tangent, Ore.; four-time Southwest Dirt Racing Association champion Lonnie Parker Jr.; and WDRA champion Jeep Berry of Grand Junction, Colo.
