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SBRS: Laguna Seca Race Story
SNYDER WRAPS UP PERFECT WEEKEND WITH BARBER DODGE WIN MONTEREY, Calif. _ Todd Snyder of Sheffield, Mass. picked a perfect time to have a perfect weekend. Snyder, the pole sitter and series points leader, used his top starting slot to ...
Edited: Dec 29, 2009, 6:56 PM
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SNYDER WRAPS UP PERFECT WEEKEND WITH BARBER DODGE WIN
MONTEREY, Calif. _ Todd Snyder of Sheffield, Mass. picked a perfect time to have a perfect weekend.
Snyder, the pole sitter and series points leader, used his top starting slot to full advantage as he went wire-to-wire for a victory Sunday afternoon in Round 9 of the $1.1 million Barber Dodge Pro Series at Laguna Seca Raceway.
Snyder throttled every attempt to pass by Jeff Simmons of East Granby, Conn., as the two ran tail-to-nose through the first 19 laps in building a 12-car length lead on the rest of the field. But a four-car crash in turn eight enabled Snyder to seal the victory when the 40-minute timed race ended with six laps under a yellow flag. Jon Fogarty of Portola Valley, Calif. picked up a third-place finish on his home track.
"Jeff definitely would close up. It was looking like it was going to be one heck of a battle," Snyder admitted. "It would have been exciting to see what would have happened."
The win allowed Snyder to extend his lead in the series points standings. Snyder picked up 20 points for the victory and a one-point bonus for winning the pole position to run his season total to 120 points. Simmons picked up 16 points to leapfrog past Thomas Schie into second place in the series standings with 105 points. Schie remained in third with 92 points. Series scoring drops the drivers two lowest finishes in the schedule, which puts Snyder and Simmons in a virtual dead heat in the chase.
"I was just trying to chase down Todd the whole time," Simmons explained. "I knew where I was quicker and I knew where he was quicker. There really wasn't much of an opportunity to pass. (If we had) gone green the whole way, I think I would have tried a little more aggressive move on him."
Fogarty and Rocky Moran Jr. of Coto de Caza, Calif. had a running battle through the course of the 25-lap race for the final podium slot. Fogarty started fourth, passed Moran on lap four and successfully defended his position for the rest of the race.
"I decided to wait it out and stuck right with him up through (turn) six, and popped out the inside of the corkscrew, pointed it toward the apex and went by," Fogarty said. "There was an accordion effect going on all the time. When (Snyder and Simmons) were battling, I was able to close up, but never got a chance to pass."
Moran, for his part, turned in a new track record race lap while chasing the leaders on lap 19 with a 1:26.856 at 97.760 mph and held on to finish fourth. Another local driver, Townsend Bell of Los Altos Hills, Calif. notched a season-best fifth place finish.
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