By Dick Jordan
T.J. Smith of Fresno, Calif. will go for his fourth USAC West Coast 360 Sprint victory in a row Saturday when the series returns to Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway. A victory would give Smith five wins in his last six series starts! Two of those victories came at Santa Maria, in July and August.
Smith scored his third straight USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car win Saturday night, leading the final nine laps of the “Jim Turner Memorial” at Giant Chevrolet Speedway in Hanford, Calif. in the Steve LeGras UHL Rubber/K & N Filters Maxim.
Davey Pombo finished sixth to claim the “Southwest Contractors 360 Clash” championship. Wes Gutierrez led the first 21 laps and finished second ahead of Jared Little, Justyne Hamblin and Richard VanderWeerd. West Coast 360 point leader Craig Stidham was the fastest qualifier. Hamblin’s finish left her as the runner-up in the Southwest Contractors Clash 360 standings.
Danny Sheridan, Jace VanderWeerd and series point leader Craig Stidham also own 2010 victories at Santa Maria so Smith will have plenty of competition Saturday.
USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Craig Stidham-1,040, 2-Davey Pombo-1,025, 3-T.J. Smith-957, 4-Justyne Hamblin-852, 5-Danny Faria Jr.-767, 6-Peter Murphy-731, 7-Rusty Carlile-697, 8-Richard VanderWeerd-694, 9-Jace VanderWeerd-637, 10-Chris Ennis-530.
FINAL SOUTHWEST CONTRACTORS 360 CLASH POINTS: 1-
1-Davey Pombo-232, 2-Justyne Hamblin-221, 3-Craig Stidham-219, 4-T.J. Smith-217, 5-Wes Gutierrez-201, 6-Danny Faria Jr.-168, 7-Rusty Carlile-144, 8-Jared Little-136, 9-Ricky Kirkbride-135, 10-Geoffrey Strole-133.