By Sydney Davis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas Two Step Double National at Texas World Speedway proved to be an exciting weekend of racing for all. The Lone Star Region put on a great show despite a few mishaps. The weather on Friday was bitter (including light snowfall in the morning), but the sun came out Saturday and Sunday to give way for some action-packed Nationals on the 2.9-mile course in College Station.
The Wings and Things group got things started Saturday afternoon with a tight battle in the front for the lead. Rusty Mitchell (Texas Region) won the battle and piloted his FE car to overall victory.
During the GT race, Scott Walton (Houston Region) got around pole-sitter David Fershtand (Texas Region) on the start and held the position for several laps until Fershtand took it back and held off for the win. Richard Dickey (Texas Region) and Tony Rivera (Houston Region) had a hard fought battle the entire race in a pair of Mazda RX-8s, but Dickey took the Touring 3 victory.
Houston Region's John Phillips led the 36-car Spec Miata field to the green flag Saturday. Phillips, Matthew Reynolds (Alamo Region) Aaron McSpadden (Lone Star Region) and Blake Clements (Houston Region) pulled away from the field and put on a show. Phillips would go on to take the win Saturday afternoon.
Mike Sauce (Texas Region) broke away from the field to easily take the Formula Ford victory. Charlie Hearn (Houston Region) and Jim Rainey (Texas Region) were neck and neck the entire race, but Hearn was the eventual Formula Vee winner.
In the production race, 2007 National E Production National Champion Tom Thrash started from the back in a Mazda RX-7 to claim victory. It took the Houstonian only three laps to thread his way through the field.
The Spec Racer Fordss took the green flag Saturday afternoon to conclude the day of racing. As the top four checked out, there were problems in the back of the pack. With wreckers on the scene and little time remaining, the race was finished under yellow with Houston Region's Denny Stripling taking the win.
Despite springing forward for Daylight's Saving's Time, everyone was at the track on time, and practice and qualifying were fairly uneventful.
Sunday's Wings and Things race was eventful to say the least. After two red flags and seven wrecked cars, the race got underway. After all the action at the start, the drivers were relatively calm with James Michael of Texas Region driving his Formula 1000 to overall victory.
The GT race was plagued with blown motors as two GT-1 cars fell victim, while Fershtand and Walton finished one-two yet again.
Phillips was once again on the pole in Spec Miata, and once again claimed victory after a hard fought battle with Clements, McSpadden and Reynolds.
Sauce once again stomped the field until a left-front suspension failure took him out of the race, with a 13-second lead. Randy Acock (South Texas Border) would inherit the overall lead and drove on to win the FF National. Hearn and Rainey raced each other from start to finish with Hearn winning again.
The production race saw much of the same Sunday with Thrash winning in EP again. Eric Prill (Kansas Region), took the FP win in his Lotus Super 7, and Robert Weber (Houston Region) took the win in HP in an Austin-Healey Sprite
The final race of the day would be one Doug Azzarito would never forget. After securing the pole in his Spec Racer Ford, the Lone Star Region driver led flag-to-flag, securing his first National win.
The next race on the schedule for the Southwest Division is a Regional/National/ Restricted Regional at MSR Houston. This will be the first National race run in the clockwise direction, which has received high praise from many drivers. Proceeds collected during the weekend will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
For more information or to register, go to www.sowdivscca.org or www.dlbracing.com.