Aromas
’s Todd Souza was in his element at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma
last weekend. Running in the Top 10, sandwiched between NASCAR
Nextel Cup regular Dave Blaney, Cup up-and-comer Travis Kvapil and
defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch’s younger brother Kyle – a
top rookie, Souza was competing a
gainst some of the best stock car drivers in the world. And,
while it wasn’t Sunday’s Nextel Cup event – the Dodge/Save Mart
350, the Watsonville native who cut his racing teeth on the dirt
tracks of Central California got the chance to trade paint with
drivers from the top level of stock car
racing in Saturday’s NASCAR Southwest Series race – the Blue
Lizard Australian Suncream 200.
Aromas’s Todd Souza was in his element at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma last weekend. Running in the Top 10, sandwiched between NASCAR Nextel Cup regular Dave Blaney, Cup up-and-comer Travis Kvapil and defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch’s younger brother Kyle – a top rookie, Souza was competing against some of the best stock car drivers in the world.
And, while it wasn’t Sunday’s Nextel Cup event – the Dodge/Save Mart 350, the Watsonville native who cut his racing teeth on the dirt tracks of Central California got the chance to trade paint with drivers from the top level of stock car racing in Saturday’s NASCAR Southwest Series race – the Blue Lizard Australian Suncream 200.
Sure, Blaney, Kvapil and Little Busch aren’t exactly Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, but Souza still got another chance to match his driving chops against some of the best in NASCAR. (A better-known driver, former Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip, bowed out of the exotically named Blue Lizard 200 despite qualifying for the event.)
It was a fine opportunity for Souza and 37 other Southwest Series drivers, mostly from California, in Saturday’s preamble to Sunday’s showcase event. Along with Souza, the Central Coast’s Stan Silva Jr. (Castroville), and Jim Pettit II and Doug McCoun (both of Prunedale) also got their shot at bending bumpers with the Nextel Cup drivers on Infineon’s twisting curves in Saturday’s race.
Before most Nextel Cup races, some Cup drivers take their extra practice in a Busch Series race on Saturday. But the Busch Series doesn’t visit Infineon, so it was the Southwest Series drivers who had a little extra talent in their race. While Souza and his fellow Southwest Series drivers have raced against current and former Nextel Cuppers on occasion over the years, the rare road courses like Infineon tend to be an equalizing factor against the massively financed Nextel Cup drivers.
Souza, the 2001 Southwest Series Rookie of the Year, could get a chance to show his talent against more Nextel Cup competition this season if he can qualify for his first Busch Series event, probably at the Pikes Peak International Raceway next month or Watkins Glen in August. He just missed qualifying for a Busch Series event earlier this season at the inaugural Telcel Motorola 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack near Mexico City, Mexico. Souza’s business and main sponsor – Central Coast Cabinets – has a branch in Mexico.
And, the 40-year-old is considering joining the Busch Series full-time in the near future, according to Hollister’s Chuck Harrell, a Watsonville Speedway regular who pitted for Souza in Saturday’s race.
While two other Central Coast drivers had fine finishes in Saturday’s race – defending Southwest Series champion and current overall points leader Pettit II, and Silva Jr. both ended up in the Top 15 – Souza was waylaid by battery trouble and ended up several laps down in 25th place. (McCoun had a fuel pump go out on him and ended up just behind Souza in 26th.) However, Souza showed his driving ability by staying with eventual winner Tom Dyer (Corte Madera) and runner-up Eric Holmes (Escalon) at the front of the pack once he got back on the track.
(Busch and Kvapil both took Top 15 finishes in Saturday’s race, but Blaney had transmission problems and ended up 36th.)
The next race for the Southwest Series is Saturday, July 16 at Stockton 99 Speedway. For more information regarding the Southwest Series log onto www.nascarregionalracing.com
Ironically, in Sunday’s race, Blaney (19th), Kvapil (21st) and Little Busch (27th) did better as a team than the trio of NASCAR’s biggest names, the currently struggling but still wildly popular Earnhardt Jr. (42nd), seven-time Cup champion Gordon (33rd) – who qualified on the pole and usually dominates road courses, and Johnson (36th), who came to Infineon as the Cup points leader and left humbled into second by the road course’s bump, swivel and grind.
Around the horn…
n Congratulations to one local Giants team that isn’t struggling. The San Jose Giants won the California League North Division first-half title with a 43-26 record, and will send five players to the All-Star Classic between the Cal League all-stars and the Carolina League all-stars at Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick, Md. today. Catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, outfielder-dh Eddy Martinez-Esteve, outfielder Clay Timpner, and pitchers Jesse Floyd and Joe Bateman will make the trip east. Perhaps the most interesting player on the Giants’ all-star roster is Martinez-Esteve, a high draft pick out of Florida State who has a reputation as a good hit, no glove prospect. Serving strictly as a DH in the first half due to off-season shoulder surgery that prevented him from playing the field, he hit .353 with 57 RBIs, both among the Cal League leaders. He made his debut in the outfield a week and a half ago. After the four-day All-Star break, San Jose returns to play by hosting the Stockton Ports on Thursday at 7pm at Municipal Stadium. The Giants follow that up with a three-game weekend series against the Modesto Nuts at Muni.
n I understand the reasoning behind it, but doesn’t all the anti-Landon Donovan sentiment among Earthquakes backers seem a little trumped up? Quakes fans booed every mention of his name, and that was before Donovan’s new team – the Los Angeles Galaxy – visited Spartan Stadium on Saturday. Before his first trip back to San Jose, the Soccer Silicon Valley booster club bought a pinata fashioned in Donovan’s image for Quakes fans to take whacks at before the match.
While Donovan’s exodus from San Jose and three-month sojourn to Germany, followed by a return to Major League Soccer with one of its key franchises (the Galaxy) was highly suspicious, local fans ought to be taking out their frustrations on Quakes owner AEG. It’s no coincidence that AEG also owns the Galaxy and has been painfully obvious in its disinterest for the San Jose franchise. And, it’s no coincidence that highly regarded Quakes GM Alexi Lalas also high-tailed it out of town this season for another high-profile location – the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, also owned by AEG.
n Finally, with all due respect to Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, no one should underestimate the impact of six-time NBA champion Robert Horry. With many NBA observers predicting a Spurs choke in Game 7, Horry took charge, scoring 10 first-half points as Duncan struggled. Horry also took a key charge, on Rip Hamilton in the fourth quarter, that spurred a suffocating San Antonio defensive effort.
It’s hard to believe that a decade ago, Horry and the much-maligned, and championship-less, Latrell Sprewell were considered nearly equal prospects out of Alabama. Talk about divergent career paths. While Horry has eschewed the possibility of attaining superstar status by doing all the little things to help his team win, Sprewell has spent his career in a quest for personal stardom at the expense of the teams he’s played on.
Who do you think is the better NBA player?
Jim Johnson is the Morgan Hill Times Sports Editor. He can be reached by phone at (408) 779-4106 (ext. 203) or by email at jj******@*************es.com
