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USAC: McQuarrie Nearly Perfect in Russell Triple Crown Opener

28 June 1999

Tyler McQuarrie of Silverston, England returned to the United States for Saturday's opening race of the 1999 Russell/USAC Triple Crown Pro Series presented by Yokohama. He led all but the first lap of the 30-minute, 21-lap contest at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. and leads the series standings into round two, scheduled for July 25 at Sears Point.

McQuarrie posted the fastest laps of the Thursday and Friday practice periods but was nosed out of the pole starting position in the final three minutes of Friday's qualifying session by Nathan Smith of Escalon, Calif. Smith led the opening lap of the race but lost the lead to McQuarrie under braking in turn 11 on the second lap and was relegated to second place at the finish. McQuarrie went deep into the final turn on the last lap but was able to hold off Smith at the checkered flag.

McQuarrie averaged 80.933 mph for the 21-lap distance on the 1.95-mile course and his victory margin was just over a second.

USAC RUSSELL PRO TRIPLE CROWN STANDINGS

1. Tyler McQuarrie 20 6. Timothy Barber 6
2. Nathan Smith 16 7. Toshi Kanamoto 4
3. Chris Pettet 12 8. Bob Hagerty 3
4. Dave McEntee 10 9. David Farley 2
5. Warren Washer 8 10. Patrick McDowell 1

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