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| HammerDown Report by Bobby Gerould |
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Lewis sprints to 100-lap Trigueiro Classic loot |
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Madera,
CA. August 21, 2004.
The biggest race of the year for the
USAC Western States Sprint Car Series took place Saturday night at
warm and breezy Madera Speedway. The Trigueiro Classic honored
the family that has produced winning race cars in Central California
for 45 years. Appropriately it was the Larry Trigueiro Jr. wrenched
Western Speed Racing #40 driven by Michael Lewis that emerged
victorious in the 100-lap race. Lewis withheld a late challenge from
teammate Tony Hunt by slicing through traffic with a surgeons
precision. The car was awesome, said Lewis after his
fifth win of the 2004 USAC Western States season. To run 100-laps
with a perfect car is unbelievable. Lewis lapped all but the top-five finishers on
the paved one-third mile oval located just north of Fresno. Hunt
closed in on Lewis in the waning laps, reeling in the defending
series champs lead to a quarter straightaway. However, as he did
all race, Lewis was able clear lapped traffic in time to deny Hunt a
chance at a serious attack. The $6,500 top prize for Lewis came from
the record $29,000 plus purse for the fourth annual event. Lewis
also earned lap-money and a bonus for his track-record quick-time
which pushed his winnings to just shy of $8,000 for a single night
of action. After pre race ceremonies honored race sponsor
Stu Murray of Wirtgen America, the green flag flew over the 25
non-winged sprinters. Rick Hendrix and Greg Anderson set the pace
early, swapping the lead as Lewis charged from sixth up to third in
two laps. Anderson was in front until Lewis charged deep into turn
three on the bottom of the track to assume command. The first of only two caution flags appeared on
lap nine when Garrett Petersen stopped just off the racing groove on
the back chute. As the race resumed a battle between Lewis and
Hendrix erupted that kept the large crowd entertained. Hendrix
dogged Lewis through deep traffic, never getting off the bumper of
the Noblesville, Indiana pilot. Hendrix pressured Lewis from lap ten
to lap 60 until Lewis finally pulled out to a five car length
advantage by lap 69. As Hendrix scurried to stay with Lewis he
became involved in a tangle coming off turn two on lap 79. As Brian
McClish and Destiney Hays raced together, Hendrix spun into the
infield off the back chute to bring out the second caution flag of
the quick-paced race. With the spin, Hendrix surrendered second
place to Hunt, and fell to the rear as the last car on the lead lap.
The other two drivers not down a lap were Tim Barber and Anderson. Hunt had 21 laps from the time the green flag
reappeared to try to get to Lewis. The restart showed half-dozen
cars that were down a lap lined up between Lewis and Hunt. Hunt
quickly closed but ultimately ran out of laps in his quest to catch
Lewis. Barber was a distant third, followed by Hendrix and Anderson.
The top ten was completed by McClish, Nick Rescino Jr., Brad
Bumgarner, Mike Murgoitio, and Greg Taylor. The 100 lap race marked the first time in the
history of the USAC Western Sprint Car Series that such a distance
was covered. Superstar super modified racer, Troy Regier of Dinuba,
CA. made his USAC Western Sprint debut by finishing 14th.
The three-time Copper World Classic winner is a welcome addition to
the quickly growing series that has created quite a buzz on the
Western scene. Lewis started the event off with a new track
record. A single lap turned at 13.398 seconds in his Eagle/Wes-Mar
#40 was good enough to pace the 25 car field. Jeff Gardner won the
10-lap Last Chance Race. In the 40-lap California Ford Focus Midget
North feature event, Bobby McGowan was the winner. Summary: Sprint Car Qualifying
Last
Chance Race: 10 laps 1. Gardner, 2. Bauer, 3. Beck, 4.
DeMartini, 5. Smith, 6. Regier, 7. Hays, 8. Hogg, 9. Barnes, 10.
Mitchell, 11. Petersen Main
Event 100 laps: 1. Lewis, 2. Hunt, 3. Barber, 4. Hendrix, 5.
Anderson, 6. McClish, 7. Rescino, 8. Bumgarner, 9, Murgoitio, 10.
Taylor, 11. Beck, 12. Monico, 13. Gardner, 14. Regier, 15. Hogg, 16.
Simone, 17. DeMartini, 18. Trimble, 19. Mitchell, 20. Smith, 21.
Barnes, 22. Hays, 23. Adamson, 24. Bauer, 25. Petersen. Lap Leaders: 1 Hendrix, 2-6 Anderson, 7-100
Lewis. Next USAC Western States Sprint Car Races:
Friday & Saturday, August 27 & 28, 2004 Meridian
Speedway, Boise, Idaho. NEW
WESTERN SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Lewis-482; 2-Hunt-474; 3-Bumgarner-453;
4-McClish-395; 5-Anderson-366; 6-Trimble-349; 7-Hogg-346;
8-Murgoitio-328; 9-Taylor-311; 10-Barber-301. USAC
CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS (North) MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Nick Morago, 99, Morago-14.800; 2. Chris Rahe, 31, Rahe-14.830;
3. Chase Barber, 91, Barber-14.840; 4. Bobby Grewohl, 42,
Sutton-14.860; 5. Bradley Galedrige, 19, Galedrige-14.890; 6. Bobby
McGowan, 15, McGowan-15.100; 7. Eric Pace, 28, Pace-15.110; 8. Audra
Sasselli, 17, Sasselli-15.110; 9. Josh Lakatos, 4, Bristing-15.190;
10. Cary Tanner, 79, Tanner-15.270; 11. Randy Pankratz, 32,
Pankratz-15.310; 12. Ryan Pace, 14, Pace-15.320; 13. J.R. Williams,
74, Williams-15.370. FEATURE:
(40 laps) 1. Bobby McGowan, 2. Bradley Galedrige, 3. Chris Rahe, 4.
Nick Morago, 5. Randy Pankratz, 6. Eric Pace, 7. Ryan Pace, 8. J.R.
Williams, 9. Audra Sasselli, 10. Bobby Grewohl, 11. Chase Barber,
12. Cary Tanner, 13. Josh Lakatos. NT --------------------------------------- FEATURE
LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 McGowan. NEW
CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS NORTH MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Galedrige-866;
2-Rahe-793; 3-Barber-617; 4-Lakatos-617; 5-McGowan-600;
6-Sasselli-562; 7-E.Pace-552; 8-R.Pace-494; 9-Bobby Michnowicz-492;
10-Morago-453. NEXT
CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS MIDGET CAR RACE (South): August 28 Perris
(CA) Auto Speedway |
