Jeff Swindell takes Night #1 of the Southwest 305 Sprint Car Shootout

Southern New Mexico Speedway
Southern New Mexico Speedway

From SNM Speedway

(Las Cruces, NM) With 30 laps on the scoreboard, the field of twenty-four car field rolled to the green flag with Amarillo, Texas shoe Derek Drown on the point with defending Shootout champion John Carney II along side in row one.

Into the first two turns of racing, the caution would be displayed as Lorne Wofford spun his MTS #18 to a stop, sending the field scrambling in all directions.

Back to the restart and the 74b of Drown would jump out the race lead, leaving the 8 of Carney to contend with the hard charging pair of Johnny Herrera and Jeff Swindell. Behind the wheel of the Casey Minks owned 75, the two time and defending Riverside Speedway Champion would battle wheel to wheel with the 45x of Herrera while both drivers worked to keep pace with the 8 of Carney before the caution brought the field to an idle.

Leading the field to the green, the 74b of Drown would fall prey to the Delaware Double File Restart as Carney was able to shoot by for the race lead, bringing the 75 of Swindell and the 45 of Herrera along. Into slower traffic with just over half the race to run, Carney would have to slice his way between cars in a hurry as the 75 of Swindell began to close in.

Working into the sixteenth circuit, the field would again be brought to an idle as the 7c of John Carney Sr. spun, nearly collecting his son in the process.

To the restart, the man on the move was Curt Barnett. After starting eighth on the field, the Barney Harley Davidson 43 had been hanging just outside the top five but as the green flag flew, the 43 was on the move, grabbing the lead within two laps but a spin while working off of turn four would end Barnett’s night.

Reassuming the lead, Carney would not be able to hold off the hard charging Jeff Swindell as the 75 blasted into the race lead and began to pull away. With less than 10 laps to run however, Carney II would begin making up lost ground; pulling to the back bumper of Swindell to challenge for the lead.

Up to third from the fifteenth start position, the Demco Racing 19 of Wes Wofford was reeling in the battle for the lead while Herrera fought desperately to earn a transfer spot after falling back on an earlier restart.

Three laps to go and the 75 and the 8 were in an epic battle with Carney pulling side by side with Swindell in every corner. Two to go and Carney would set up the 75 of Swindell for the pass but a slower cars failing engine would block the 8, allowing Swindell to hold the lead as the caution waved.

With a green, white, checkered finish on hand Swindell, Carney, Wofford, Drown, and Herrera would have to battle it out for a spot on the top 4 with Swindell holding off last lap charge of Carney. Wofford took third while Derek Drown held on to take the final transfer into Saturday’s A-Main while Herrera rounded out the top five.

305 Sprint Cars: Jeff Swindell, John Carney II, Wes Wofford, Derek Drown, Johnny Herrera, Brandon Schure, Royal Jones, Kyle McCutcheon, Art Quijano, Brandon Black, Gary Lee Maier, Bill Boles, Preston Peebles, Cesar Fuentes, Tanner Mullens, Lamar Skarda, Zach Blurton, John Carney, Dylan Harris, Colt Treharn, Billy Roy Harris, Curt Barnett, Lorne Wofford, Robert Herrera