Maier Rebounds to Win at Mid-Nebraska, All but Clinches Crown
By Randy Fisher
NCRA Media Relations

DONIPHAN, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2007) – After an off night Friday in North Platte, point leader Garry Lee Maier returned to the winner’s circle Saturday at Mid-Nebraska Speedway in the O'Reilly NCRA Sprint Car Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol.

Mike Peters grabbed the pole for the second straight night, hoping to duplicate his win of Friday. But it wasn’t to be as Don Droud Jr., sitting on the outside of row one, stayed up top and took the lead from Peters going into the first turn.

At the end of lap one it was Droud, Peters, Maier, C.J. Johnson, and Toby Chapman. They ran in that order for several laps as Droud built a lead.

“I don’t like to start on the front row because you never know where the fast line is,” he said.

Droud encountered slower traffic on the lap five, which gave Maier the chance to catch up.

“Actually I thought the lapped traffic was helping me but it might have slowed me down just enough that Garry Lee caught up with me,” Droud said.

The two of them stayed ahead of the others and skillfully weaved in and out of the slower cars for several laps.

“I did see his (Maier’s) nose a couple times and knew I couldn’t be slacking off any,” Droud said. “I had to make a move, whether it was right or wrong, to get by the lapped traffic.”

Maier pulled underneath Droud at the starter’s stand to end lap 21 of 30. They raced side-by-side on lap 22 until Maier went to the top and took the lead heading into Turn 1 on the 23rd circuit.

“We got into a little lapped traffic that helped to our advantage,” Maier said. “And my car started working a little bit better so I just kept driving harder.”

From there, Maier began to pull away from Droud, who couldn’t keep up.

“I moved the wing back, trying different lines once Garry Lee got by me, but it just didn’t work out tonight,” he said

By lap 27, Droud had his hands full with Johnson suddenly challenging him for second.

“We started running the bottom while everybody else was on the top,” Johnson said. “The lapped cars were kind of bottled up in the middle and we gained a lot of ground by running the bottom.”

Droud said his car unexplainably got loose late in the race, which was one factor that contributed to Johnson catching him.

“I was probably moving around more than I should have,” Droud said. “I probably should have just kept running my line and kept my momentum up but I didn’t.”

The final caution came out on lap 28, setting up a three-lap shootout. By this time, only six cars remained on the lead lap – Maier, C.J. Johnson, Droud, J.D. Johnson, Peters, and Chad Humston.

On the restart, Johnson went low but Maier held him off.

“I knew on the restart our only shot was go to the bottom but I just didn’t have anything for Garry,” Johnson said. “He was just too fast on top.”

Maier collected his fifth win of the season, giving him a series-best 61 for his NCRA career. C.J. Johnson finished second with Droud third

“We just had a third place car tonight so we’ll take it,” Droud said. “It was way better than last night (eighth).”

Rounding out the top five were J.D. Johnson and Humston, who got by Peters for position on the restart.

With just one show left on the schedule, Maier all but clinched his third straight – and fourth overall – championship. It was a nice way to rebound from Friday, when he started and finished seventh.

“Last night was pretty tough,” he said. “Not real fond of those rubbered-down race tracks but tonight this was a racing track. This is a driver’s track, right here.”

Heat #1:

1. Mike Peters, Wichita, Kan.; 2. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, Neb.; 3. C.J. Johnson, Quinter, Kan.; 4. Scott Cochran, Arvada, Colo.; 5. J.D. Johnson, Goddard, Kan.; 6. Josh Flood, Arvada, Colo.; 7. Mark Sweet, Rock Springs, Wyo.; 8. Roger Sundquist, Holdrege, Neb.; 9. Dave Titus, Creighton, Neb.

Heat #2:

1. Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron, Kan.; 2. Chad Humston, Giltner, Neb.; 3. Toby Chapman, Lincoln, Neb.; 4. Stu Snyder, Waverly, Neb.; 5. A.J. Selenke, Wichita, Kan.; 6. Jon Freeman, Salina, Kan.; 7. Mark Walinder, Wheat Ridge, Colo.; 8. Brant O’Banlon, Norfolk, Neb.; 9. Mike Chadd, Lincoln, Neb.

A feature:

1. Garry Lee Maier, 2. C.J. Johnson, 3. Don Droud Jr., 4. J.D. Johnson, 5. Chad Humston, 6. Mike Peters, 7. Toby Chapman, 8. Jon Freeman, 9. A.J. Selenke, 10. Stu Snyder, 11. Scott Cochran, 12. Mark Walinder, 13. Josh Flood, 14. Mark Sweet, 15. Brant O’Banlon, 16. Roger Sundquist, 17. Dave Titus, 18. Mike Chadd.