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NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (May 26, 2007) – Garry Lee Maier made it two straight as he led all 25 laps Saturday at Lincoln County Raceway to win in the O’Reilly NCRA Sprint Car Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol.
The two-time defending series champion started the feature on the pole with former rookie of the year Stu Snyder to his outside. At the green Snyder slid in line behind Maier, who took the high line around the track. J.D. Johnson, C.J. Johnson (no relation) and Patrick Bourke rounded out the first lap top five.
“I was running around the top early,” Maier said. “It started getting loose and it got a little tight for me so I moved down and was still a little tight”
An early caution came out on lap two for Bourke, who spun in turn 2, elevating Mike Chadd into fifth place. As the field strung out following the restart, the top five remained the same – Maier, Snyder, J.D. Johnson, C.J. Johnson and Chadd. On a restart following a lap seven caution, Don Droud Jr. took fifth place from Chadd.
By lap 10, Snyder closed on Maier but not close enough to try for the lead. On lap 13, Snyder stuck his nose low going into turn 2 but pulled back, unable to make the pass.
“I got in there real hot underneath him,” Snyder said. “It was either move Garry Lee out of my way to take the lead, and I’m not going to do that, or just follow him again.”
When the leaders ran into traffic, it looked at first as if it would help Maier. He seemed to pull a bit further away from Snyder, but Stu recovered to pull back up on lap 19.
C.J. Johnson was able to use the lapped cars to his advantage, however. He used one back marker as a pick to slow J.D. Johnson enough to move into third. He eventually caught the leaders on the 23rd lap to make it a three-car battle for the lead.
“I knew they were coming,” Maier said. “If they were going to pass me they were going to pass me on the outside.”
With the laps quickly winding down, Snyder took one more shot for the lead.
“I had one more chance on the white flag. We got underneath him again and the same thing,” he said. “We were faster but you got to find a way around the guy.”
At the checker it was Maier, Snyder and C.J Johnson pretty much nose to tail. Rounding out the top five were J.D. Johnson and Droud. It was Maier’s 58th career NCRA 360 sprint car win.
With his best finish of the young season, Snyder found his groove early.
“I started in the middle and pretty much ran there all night,” he said. “It looked like we were going to run real good there.”
It was a good run for C.J. Johnson, one of his best in awhile.
“I felt like we were coming on strong there at the end,” he said. “It’s been so long since we’re run up front here lately that it felt good just to be a top five, really.”
Heat #1:
1. (11x) Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron, Kan.; 2. (4) Mike Chadd, Lincoln, Neb.; 3. (6) Mark Walinder, Wheatridge, Colo.; 4. (4P) Todd Plemons, Arvada, Colo.; 5. (16) Scott Cochran, Denver; 6. (29T) Tommy Williams, North Platte, Neb.; 7. (57) Allan Unruh, Valley Center, Kan.; 8. (7) Roger Sundquist, Holdrege, Neb.
Heat #2:
1. (82) Jason Danley, Lincoln, Neb.; 2. (2D) Stu Snyder, Waverly, Neb.; 3. (81) Jon Freeman, Salina, Kan.; 4. (1) Nick Haygood, Centennial, Colo.; 5. (7J) Jace Pennetta, Arvada, Colo.; 6. (74) Zach Merritt, Greeley, Colo.; 7. (11) Chad Corken, Denver; 8. (31x) Josh Flood, Arvada, Colo.
Heat #3:
1. (1x) Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, Neb.; 2. (45x) C.J. Johnson, Quinter, Kan.; 3. (51) Mike Peters, Peck, Kan.; 4. (31RB) Derek Drown, Amarillo, Texas; 5. (77) Mark Sweet, Rock Springs, Wyo.; DNF: (9J) Mark Schmidt, Lincoln, Neb.; DNS: (9m) Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood, Colo.
Heat #4:
1. (98) J.D. Johnson, Goddard, Kan.; 2. (27) Patrick Bourke, Edwards, Colo.; 3. (18) Jeremy Herbst, North Platte, Neb.; 4. (93) Bob Schaeffer, Glenwood Springs, Colo.; 5. (71) Keith Rauch, Thornton, Colo.; 6. (43) A.J. Selenke, Wichita, Kan.; 7. (44k) David Kubart, North Platte, Neb.
B feature (15 laps):
1. (93) Bob Schaeffer, 2. (71) Keith Rauch, 3. (7J) Jace Pennetta, 4. (43) A.J. Selenke, 5. (74) Zach Merritt, 6. (7) Roger Sundquist, 7. (29T) Tommy Williams, 8. (31x) Josh Flood, 9. (77) Mark Sweet, 10. (11) Chad Corken, 11. (57) Allen Unruh, 12. (44k) David Kubart. DNS: (9J) Mark Schmidt, (9m) Ricky Montgomery.
A feature (25 Laps):
1. (11x) Garry Lee Maier, 2. (2D) Stu Snyder, 3. (45x) C.J. Johnson, 4. (98) J.D. Johnson, 5. (1x) Don Droud, Jr., 6. (4) Mike Chadd, 7. (51) Mike Peters, 8. (1) Nick Haygood, 9. (31RB) Derek Drown, 10. (81) Jon Freeman, 11. (27) Patrick Bourke, 12. (6) Mark Walinder, 13. (71) Keith Rauch, 14. (16) Scott Cochran, 15. (82) Jason Danley, 16. (18) Jeremy Herbst, 17. (7J) Jace Pennetta, 18. (43) A.J. Selenke, 19. (93) Bob Schaeffer, 20. (4P) Todd Plemons.
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