Texas Speedzone - 9th Annual Stock Car Spectacular @ Thunder Hill Raceway

Qualifying for USRA/All Star Race Trucks

Kyle, TX (October 24, 2005) - Craig Roper, fresh off his San Antonio Speedway win, used that momentum to lay down the fastest lap at a 16.374 in the McGinnis Welding Supply, Brians Tire, Bradfords Transmissions, ARTS Chassis with a crate motor.

“Really” said a surprised Roper after having me double check the times. “I sure didn’t know it was the fast time. It didn’t feel fast. We weren’t that fast in practice. We picked up in the last practice but never figured it would be fast enough for the pole. It even got loose on me through turns 3-4. I guess it came around.”
“We probably won’t change much, maybe some tire pressures. The track is going to get slick I’m sure. We’ll watch the other classes and see how they do. Then make adjustments according to how they come out.”
“The momentum off the San Antonio Speedway win is a big help.” added Roper fresh off his first win. The guys are beside me. You do something like that, it keeps them pumped up. They’re willing to go all out and everything they can do to get the truck better.”

USRA/All Star Race Trucks
Magnum Trailers 50
Green Grabs Gold, Going Green to Checkers
The 50 lap USRA/All Star Race Truck feature saw Steve Green and Bud Carroll draw the front row, while fast qualifier, Craig Roper sat in the sixth spot. Coming to green the first time, Roper spun on cold tires with Bill Hamilton, Shane Harris and Brent Bell scattering through the grass to avoid major contact.

The next try was even worse as Green jumped ahead at the start, it was three wide for sixth going into turn three. Bryan Meredith got turned sideways and came down collecting Jon Garrett. Garrett’s truck climbed the nose of Meredith and did a series of barrel rolls before landing on it’s wheels on the turn 4 hill. Several others suffered some body damage, but Garrett was able to climb from his truck uninjured.

The third time was no charm either as Harris spun in turn 2. Under caution, points leader Shawn Paul Lehman pitted to remove damaged body parts. Lehman rejoined the tail of the field as the race went back to green, but spun in turn 2 just as the race resumed. Finally the race was under way with Green getting the point and Colt James getting by Carroll for second.

Roper moved along side Carroll for third and after a brief side by side battle took the spot. James closed in quickly on Green for the lead and was giving Green all he could handle. Lehman’s luck continued to turn bad on lap 9 when Neal Rogers got sideways and came down in front of Lehman, who had nowhere to go. Rogers careened off Lehman’s front bumper and shot into the turn 4 wall to bring out the yellow. Lehman was forced to pit again for more loose body parts.

On the restart, Green got a slight advantage, but James was back on the rear bumper shortly, with Roper right on his tail. The lead duo put a little gap on Roper and Carroll by lap 15, while that twosome had a big gap back to Hamilton and Robert Walton. Green had just began to get away from James when yellow waved for a spin by Keith Patrick in turn 2 on lap 21.

The top three got away on green and at halfway the top five were still Green, James, Roper, Carroll and Hamilton. Lehman was able to work his way back up to seventh as he got by Rusty Mirth on lap 27. James continued to stay on Green for the lead as Roper began to fade a little by lap 30. Lehman picked up another spot on lap 34 when Walton got loose coming out of turn 2.

Lehman’s charge from the back continued as he picked off Hamilton on lap 36 for fifth. Walton was able to get by Hamilton on lap 38 for sixth. Green and James were still at it for lead with Green getting a truck length or two on one lap and James reeling him the next. Green caught traffic on lap 45 with James on his bumper, literally and figuratively.

The lead duet then got to the battle for sixth between Walton and Mirth. As they tried to negotiate through, Walton and James made contact sending Walton spinning to the infield and setting up another green, white, checkered finish. On the restart Lehman used the high groove to get by Carroll, while Roper was looking inside James for second.

Roper was able to complete the pass on the last lap, while James fell back coming to the checkers. As James lost ground positions changed quickly behind him. But it was Green, who consistently qualifies up front and has some misfortune bite him during the race, taking his first win of the season in the Magnum Trailers, Banner Graphics, Smokey J’s Bar-B-Q, ARTS Chassis with a crate motor.

Results of the Magnum Trailers United States Racing Association All Star Truck Series 50-lap feature at the 9th Annual Texas Stock Car Spectacular at Thunder Hill Raceway in Kyle, Texas, 10/22/05, showing:

Position, Car Number, Name, Hometown, State, Laps Complete, Green Laps Led, Fastest Race Lap, Starting Position, Qualifying Time, Purse Won, Points Awarded

1. (54) Steve Green, Marble Falls, TX, 50, 50, 16.543, 2, 16.383, $700.00, 90
2. (40) Craig Roper, Vernon, TX, 50, 0, 16.600, 1, 16.374, $350.00, 92
3. (18) JB (Bud) Carroll, Streetman, TX, 50, 0, 16.648, 6, 16.588, $325.00, 84
4. (28) Shawn Paul Lehman, Manchaca, TX, 50, 0, 16.705, 5, 16.535, $300.00, 81
5. (60) Colt James, Buda, TX, 50, 0, 16.562, 3, 16.415, $275.00, 78
6. (7) Rusty Mirth, Austin, TX, 50, 0, 17.002, 13, 17.048, $250.00, 75
7. (10) Robert Walton, Del Valle, TX, 50, 0, 16.788, 9, 16.709, $225.00, 72
8. (5) Bill Hamilton, Red Oak, TX, 49, 0, 16.769, 8, 16.661, $200.00, 69
9. (33) Josh Freeman, Austin, TX, 49, 0, 17.181, 14, 17.217, $200.00, 66
10. (72) Brent Bell, Katy, TX, 49, 0, 16.935, 12, 16.865, $175.00, 63
11. (38) Cameron Moore Jr, Buda, TX, 49, 0, 17.094, 15, 17.296, $150.00, 60
12. (21) Keith Patrick, Helotes, TX, 26, 0, 16.980, 11, 16.854, $150.00, 57
13. (3) Neal Rogers, Luling, TX, 8, 0, 17.074, 16, DNT, $150.00, 54
14. (22) Shane Harris, Fairfield, TX, 4, 0, 17.382, 10, 16.748, $150.00, 51
15. (30) Bryan Meredith, Austin, TX, 0, 0, N/A, 4, 16.504, $150.00, 48
16. (66) Jon Garrett, Tyler, TX, 0, 0, N/A, 7, 16.590, $150.00, 45

Margin of victory; 1.06 secondsLap Leaders: Steve Green 1-50
Fast Qualifier: Craig Roper 16.374 seconds

“We finally figured out which lap we need to fastest on,” chuckled Green. “It’s that last one, not the first. We just stayed with it all day. Had a distributor break this morning and missed the first practice. But it was pretty decent when we unloaded it. So we rebounded from that. Then the luck of the draw finally went our way. Instead of qualifying first and starting sixth, we qualified outside front row and drew number one tonight.”
“I was only concerned about being passed. I didn’t think Colt(James) would spin me or turn me. Terry James just came over and said that they ran it as hard as they could. That made me feel good. I really need to thank Magnum Trailers for hanging with us, Todd McLemore for all his help and David and JC Umscheid.”
Regarding next year, Green added, “I’m probably going to look at doing something different, but I don’t know what it is just yet. We need to see what happens with the cars here. I’m teamed up with Magnum and I need to see what pans out there.”