There was a party atmosphere in the garage area. One of the ten drivers to compete was celebrating his birthday in what he hoped would be a low key way. Once the word got out the key became high. Normal heckling about old and dinosaur prevailed throughout the hour practice session.

Things got serious quick during qualifying however when newcomer Ben Manning driving the #70 Chevy Monte Carlo dazzled everyone with a time of 15.915 to sit on the Pole. MSRL's Ron Blackwell came close to deseating Ben with a fast 15.976. Not to be outdone the birthday boy, Jack Martel slipped into the third slot with a great 16.150.

After a brief warmup period it was time to do battle for 250 hard laps. There were a number of cautions in this race and most of the drivers were blaming it on the setup they had to drive. It seemed though that most cautions flew at the end of tire runs when things got real slick.

Drivers fought hard and there were a lot of lead changes throughout the 250 lap ordeal. At the end the battle was going to be between 5 cars. #43 Tony Oscar would work his way back to the lead lap and be right in the thick of things. #70 Ben Manning who had been strong all night long. #35 Kevin Adamson who stayed up front with the lead pack the whole time. Another hard charger who overcame being laps down # 90 Val Wuthrich and #03 Jack Martel driving for Roger Penske in the #12 Verizon Dodge Charger. Rubbin' Is Racing was the word of the day aand it provided for a spectacular finish. Jack Martel got his birthday present by way of a trophy and a pocket full of money taking the checkers in fine fashion. H/B Jack!

This is Ray RamJam Chandonnet signing off. have a great week !

This is Ricardo Pirelli reporting from Las Vegas Winner's Circle, where we have Jack "Flash" Martel, the winner of the CanAm Nationwide Fixed Race in his #12 Verizon Dodge!  This was one of the most exciting race finishes I've seen in recent memory!  It was a hard-fought battle from the start, as Kent Thomas took the pole with a blistering lap just under 30 seconds, followed closely by Rich Haynie and Vinny Lewis respectively.  Once the flag dropped, the gloves were off!  
  Rich led the most laps(84), but used up his stuff to the point that Jack Martel, Ray Chandonnet and Ron Blackwell were all able to get by him with just a handful of laps left. With 5 laps to go the yellow flew, #61 Ray Chandonnet and #19 Kent Thomas stayed out to get the lead, but the field behind them hit the pits for fresh tires and repairs, some taking two, some four tires. Ron Blackwell in the #5 car took over the lead , with #12 Flash Martel and #90 Val Wuthrich next in line.  When the flag dropped, Martel made a smooth high-line pass on Blackwell going into the backstretch!  With one to go, nobody was going to catch Martel, so the fight was for second. 

Hey, let's see if we can get a word with the winner!  Flash, tell us about your strategy for the closing laps!
"Well, I knew Haynie had burned up his stuff like usual after I got him to run hard, so then it was down to me and Ray Chandonnet.  I was really sorry to see that flag come out near the end, but we had a strong car and it all worked out.  I'm pleased with this outcome after having a rough week in California.  I'd like to thank Verizon for their support, and congrats to Val on a strong comeback finish!"

Well, that's it for the NWS Fixed race from Las Vegas.  This is Ricardo Pirelli signing off!

There were 18 Nationwide Series transporters unloaded at the Fontana, California track to do battle this day. All 18 with the confidence that today they'd put their car in Victory Circle. The one hour practice session went well with all of the competitors putting up some fine times. 

As the field found out there was a sleeper among them that didn't really show all that he had for them. Tony Oscar driving that all familiar Richard Petty schemed Dodge Charger #43 blistered the track with a Pole sitting time of 40.163. Closest time posted to Tony was by #26 Aaron Needham's Chevy with a stout 40.207. Jack Martel's #12 Dodge Charger would come in 3rd with a respectable 40.231.

The green flag flew right on time and the battle was on. Tony Oscar led the field at the start and looked like he was gonna be the car to beat today. 100 laps is a long way to go and anything and everything can happen. There was but two minor cautions early in the race. This made for some tactics and strategy to come into play with pitstops. A hiccup during a pitstop cost the #43 of Tony Oscar some positions on the track. Not to be outdone Rich Haynie in that #57 Chevy of his got caught speeding on pit road and put him at the back of the field. It looked like Rich finally was going to relinquish his super winning streak. It wasn't long though that Mr. Haynie took over the lead. Wouldn't give it up either and at one point was walking away from the field.

But as I stated earlier, anything and everything can happen. Having had to come back to pitroad to serve his penalty threw Rich out of sequence. He tried his best to make up for it but unbenownst to him and a bunch of other drivers. Val Wuthrich driving his #90 Ford Fusion like the journeyman driver he is quietly set to the task of saving his tires and fuel and took the Checkered Flag in fine fashion. WTG Val job well done!

This is Ray RamJam Chandonnet reporting from sunny California. See you all in Sin City next week.