Fullerton and O'Neill split Russell Pro Series victories at Infineon Raceway
Bill Weaver sweeps Standard Formula Mazda event

Rounds 5 and 6

Richard Fullerton survives a late spin at a soggy Infineon Raceway to capture victory in Round Five of the Russell Pro Series on Saturday, April 21, 2007.  Photo  - Eric McCombs
 

On a weekend with constantly changing weather in Northern California Richard Fullerton, of Aspen, Colorado, and Patrick O'Neill, of San Francisco, California traded victories in Rounds Five and Six of the 2007 Russell Pro Series while Bill Weaver, of Fresno, California, drove his Standard Formula Mazda to victory in both Saturday's wet race and Sunday's sunny event.

Drivers were greeted on Saturday morning with clear skies and mild temperatures for practice and qualifying but the weather turned for the worse in the early afternoon as rain swept across the region, creating a very slick racing surface and turning the event into a battle just to stay on course.

Fullerton, driving the #55 RBF Capital World Speed Motorsports Mazda, would survive a spin on the final lap in turn two to take the top spot ahead of Michael Guasch in the #91 Molecule Phenom Racing Group Mazda, who started the final lap with the lead before suffering a spin of his own in turn four.

"I've never run this track in the rain before and I had planned to sit back and follow some of the other drivers around but early on found myself out front when they spun," Fullerton explained. "Michael was able to get around me earlier when I spun in turn six, and I didn't think I had a chance when I spun on the final lap, but he spun a few corners later and made the pass for the win."

Guasch was able to recover from his spin to hold off Larry Schnur in the #3 Schnur Racing World Speed Motorsports Mazda for second place.

While Fullerton, Guasch and Schnur were racing to the podium in their Pro Formula Mazdas, Weaver was leading the field of Standard Formula Mazda drivers gathered for the event in his #67 James G Parker Insurance Mazda. In a race that had 49 reported spins, Weaver was one of the the only drivers to never put a wheel wrong as he claimed the top spot ahead of Shawn Westerhoff in the #31 Verus Technology Solutions Mazda and Derry O'Donovan in the #77 Cygnus Dynastar Mazda.

The storms lasted throughout Saturday night and early Sunday morning but the track was dry by the time of the first morning practice session and would remain dry throughout the day despite the occasional threatening cloud. With a clear surface Patrick O'Neill in the #64 O'Neill Construction Mazda would rise to the top, taking the pole position and leading every lap on his way to his fifth victory of the season ahead of Fullerton and Dave House, who finished on the podium for his second consecutive weekend in the #86 Brocade World Speed Motorsports Mazda.

"Yesterday was a tough race for me after starting on pole only to spin out of the lead at the start and have my win streak snapped so it was nice to get back on top today," O'Neill said. "Richard gave me a good fight and I had to be on my guard when the field got bunched back up behind the pace car with a few laps to go but it worked out well today."

While the caution was cause for concern for O'Neill it provided relief for Weaver as all of the other Standard Formula Mazda drivers had been lapped by O'Neill while he was able to move to the tail end of the lead lap when the pace car collected O'Neill after Tom Brady collected Michael Gesser in turn seven, forcing both drivers to retire from the event. Weaver would cruise to his second victory of the weekend as O'Donovan would take the second spot ahead of Craig Smith in the #69 Mastermind Racing Mazda.

Rounds Seven and Eight of the Russell Pro Series and Mazdapalooza Championship will be held at Infineon Raceway on May 10-13.

Driving the O'Neill Construction World Speed Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda, O'Neill jumped past pole-sitter Richard Fullerton and into the lead on the opening lap and would pull away, leading every lap to capture Round One of the championship on Saturday. O'Neill would repeat the feat on Sunday, after Fullerton , who set new qualifying records on both Saturday and Sunday, was forced to make a brief pit stop during the warm-up laps for a loose shock cover, and had to start from the back of the field.

"My car was working great all weekend and it was a thrill to take the victory on both days against a driver as good as Richard," O'Neill explained. "It's a shame that he had to pit at the start on Sunday as he is fun to race with and by setting the fast lap of the race showed he had a great car as well."

Fullerton, from Aspen, Colorado, finished second in Saturday's sixteen-lap event, and managed to work his way up to fourth in Sunday's nineteen-lap affair, setting a new race record lap of 1:36.294 (93.46 MPH) in the process.

Wrapping up the podium on Saturday was Chris Cumming, from Vancouver, British Columbia, in the 90 Degree Software Inviro Medical World Speed Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda Cumming would finish third again on Sunday, holding off Michael Guasch in the  Molecule Phenom Racing Group Pro Formula Mazda and a late charging Fullerton.

Second place in Sunday's race would be occupied by 2006 Russell Pro Series Champion Stan Kohls, just over four seconds adrift of O'Neill in the #8 World Speed Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda.

Several Standard Formula Mazda drivers turned out on Saturday for the opening round of the Mazdapalooza championship with Doug Smith coming out on top in the Sutro Eyewear Blitzkrieg Racing Standard Formula Mazda. Joining him on the podium were Ted Idlof in the Shoe String Racing Standard Formula Mazda and 2005 Mazdapalooza Champion Chaz Lemmon in the Red Line Oil Pacific Coast Racing Standard Formula Mazda.

Rounds Three and Four of the Russell Pro Series and Mazdapalooza Championship will be held at Infineon Raceway on March 8-11.

OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS

ROUND 1   INFINEON RACEWAY      Track Length  2.5  Miles

Race Length 40.000 Miles, Time of 26:24.534, Average MPH 90.878                       

  1   PATRICK O'NEILL                                       16  1:38.402

  2    RICHARD FULLERTON                                     16  1:38.180

  3    CHRIS CUMMING                                         16  1:39.045

  4    STAN KOHLS                                            16  1:38.897

  5    MICHAEL GUASCH                                        16  1:39.442

  6    LARRY SCHNUR                                          16  1:39.955

  7    TOM HUGHES                                            16  1:42.014

  8    CLAUDIO CORNALI                                       16  1:40.335

  9    MICHAEL GESSER                                        16  1:42.113

 10    DOUG SMITH                                          15  1:49.215

Fastest lap by RICHARD FULLERTON  # 55  time:  1:38.180 on lap  8 @  91.66 MPH 

ROUND 2  Length 47.500 Miles, Time of 30:55.875, Average MPH 92.140                         

  1     PATRICK O'NEILL                                       19  1:37.000

  2     STAN KOHLS                                            19  1:36.798

  3     CHRIS CUMMING                                         19  1:37.014

  4     RICHARD FULLERTON                                     19  1:36.294

  5     MICHAEL GUASCH                                        19  1:37.195

  6     LARRY SCHNUR                                          19  1:37.837

  7     CLAUDIO CORNALI                                       19  1:37.811

  8     MARYEVE DUFAULT                                       19  1:39.831

  9     TOM HUGHES                                            19  1:39.614

 10     PAUL LaHAYE                                           16  1:37.277

Fastest lap by RICHARD FULLERTON  # 55  time:  1:36.294 on lap  19 @  93.46 MPH