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PARK CITY , Kan. (July 14, 2007) – It seemed to take forever to even get to the sprint feature Saturday night at RPM Speedway in Hays, Kan. There were several red flags during the support class features, including a 25-minute delay when the infield and grandstands lights went out.
Once they finally got the sprints running, Don Droud Jr. found the rubber in the low groove late in the race and roared from behind to take the checker in the O’Reilly NCRA Sprint Car Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol.
Droud, of Lincoln, Neb., took the lead with two laps remaining as he passed two-time defending series champion Garry Lee Maier coming off Turn 4 to end the 23rd lap.
“I was just kind of maintaining up there on the top. I was OK but I wasn’t great,” Droud said. “Then the 27 car (Andy Shouse) passed me on the bottom and I tucked in under him.”
“He (Droud) found the rubber and I didn’t find it soon enough,” Maier said. “Just one of those deals.”
A pair of back-to-back red flags delayed the start of the feature even more. The first came when A.J. Selenke, Mike Woodruff, and Mark Schmidt got together in Turn 4 on the first lap. All three drivers went to the pits, Selenke on the hook. Woodruff returned before the race successfully restarted but only ran a few laps before retiring.
When they tried it again, another incident in the same area brought out the second red, again at the end of the first lap. This time it was Mike Chadd, J.D. Johnson, and Stu Snyder in the fracas. Chadd and Johnson spun with Snyder rolling over the front of Johnson’s machine, flipping and landing on all fours. Snyder also went in at the end of a wrecker, done for the night, while Chadd and Johnson continued.
Fortunately, the third time was a charm. When the green flew again, front-row starters Maier and Mike Peters jumped out in front. Pole sitter Maier, from Cimarron , Kan. , was showing the way as the feature went green for the entire 25 laps.
The two of them ran close the entire distance, usually several car lengths in front of the pack. Peters pulled up close to Maier on several occasions, but couldn’t get in position to try for the lead.
Behind them, as many as a half-dozen cars battled for position. Early on it was Droud, Gavin Punch, and Derek Drown rounding out the top five. They were closely followed most of the race by Shouse, C.J. Johnson, and Jon Freeman.
Maier and Peters ran into lapped traffic early but had little difficulty navigating the back markers. By the halfway mark, Maier and Peters had built a lead over the field that looked comfortable, given that most everyone was running the high side.
In seventh after 17 laps, Shouse dropped low and began to move through the field. By the end of lap 18, he had moved up three spots to fourth behind Droud. Two laps later, Shouse, who won July 3 at 81 Speedway , roared into third.
“I thought the track would probably take rubber but it didn’t look like there were that many cars down there,” Droud said. He dropped low and tucked in behind Shouse, figuring that was obviously now a much better line.
After bumping Peters back to third on lap 21, Shouse had problems with lapped traffic through the first two turns of the 22nd circuit. He fell back to fifth while Droud moved into the runner-up spot and headed after Maier.
When you are leading a race, you don’t always know what is going on behind you. Unfortunately for Maier, that’s exactly what happened as Droud took the lead on lap 23.
“Sometimes it’s better to run second or third so you can see where the faster line is there at the end, because the guy in front might not realize the line has moved,” Peters said.
Maier quickly dropped to the bottom for second with Peters still third. But there wasn’t enough time as Droud held on the final two laps for his second win of the season.
“Luckily Mike Peters and Garry Lee didn’t see it (the rubber) before I got by them,” Droud said.
Maier knew the bottom would eventually come in but didn’t know it had until Droud passed him.
“It was just a matter of time before it (the bottom) came in, but I couldn’t do anything about it when it did,” Maier said.
“Part of it was lapped cars were down there,” Peters said. “I couldn’t clear them to get back down there and I think Garry had the same problem.”
Drown passed Peters on the final lap to take third, as Shouse rounded out the top five.
Droud had a good night in his first visit to RPM Speedway , as he also won the Cash Dash.
“This is a great place, with some great fans,” he said. “I was really impressed with how many people were here.”
Heat #1:
1. (51) Mike Peters, Wichita , Kan. ; 2. (1x) Don Droud Jr., Lincoln , Neb. ; 3. (27) Andy Shouse , Oklahoma City; 4. (45x) C.J. Johnson, Quinter, Kan. ; 5. (20) Luke Cranston, Ness City , Kan. ; 6. (7) Roger Sundquist, Holdrege , Neb. ; 7. (7c) Chris Morgan, Topeka , Kan.
Heat #2:
1. (11x) Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron , Kan. ; 2. (31RB) Derek Drown, Amarillo , Texas ; 3. (43) A.J. Selenke, Wichita , Kan. ; 4. (3) Cody Forshee, Wichita , Kan. ; 5. (2d) Stu Snyder, Waverly, Neb. ; 6. (17) Marc Robe, Wichita , Kan.
Heat #3:
1. (81AU) Gavin Punch, Collinsville , Okla. ; 2. (81) Jon Freeman, Salina , Kan. ; 3. (98) J.D. Johnson, Goddard , Kan. ; 4. (4) Mike Chadd, Lincoln , Neb. ; 5. (93) Mike Woodruff, Satanta , Kan. ; 6. (9) Mark Schmidt, Lincoln , Neb.
Cash Dash:
1. (1x) Don Droud Jr., 2. (81AU) Gavin Punch, 3. (11x) Garry Lee Maier, DNS: (51) Mike Peters.
A feature:
1. (1x) Don Droud Jr., 2. (11x) Garry Lee Maier, 3. (31RB) Derek Drown, 4. (51) Mike Peters, 5. (27) Andy Shouse, 6. (45x) C.J. Johnson, 7. (81AU) Gavin Punch, 8. (17) Marc Robe, 9. (98) J.D. Johnson, 10. (20) Luke Cranston, 11. (4) Mike Chadd, 12. (81) Jon Freeman, 13. (3) Cody Forshee, 14. (7) Roger Sundquist, 15. (83) Mike Woodruff, 16. (2d) Stu Snyder, 17. (43) A.J. Selenke, 18. (9J) Mark Schmidt, DNS: (7c) Chris Morgan.
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