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| YOUNG JESSE HOCKETT MAKES
LATE RACE PASS ON HERRERA by Gary Jacob |
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Wingless Sprint Cars |
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Tucson, AZ..Jan 1....Twenty two year old Jesse Hockett from Warsaw
Missouri made it a successful debut weekend for a new car owned by Phoenix
businessman Jim Massey by driving the Massey Truck Repair mount around Saturday
winner Johnny Herrera on lap 33 to win the 40 lap Sunday feature for the SCRL
wingless sprint cars at the 2nd Annual Roger McCluskey Classic at USA Race Park.
Hockett had finished 7th in Saturday's action. He won $2500 for his Sunday
victory. Herrera was the 2005 champion for SCRL and he raced from sixth into the
lead on the opening half lap of the 40 lapper by leaping into an extreme high
line. Hockett got around Ben Gregg for second on lap 28 and managed to stay out
front for the final 7 laps after a lap 33 red flag. Herrera settled for a $1400
second in his father's mount and Gregg pocketed $1000 for his strong effort.
Saturday runnerup Charles Davis Jr won $800 for fourth and an upset Damion
Gardner settled for a $700 fifth. Gardner was lined up behind Davis on that
final restart despite having been in front of him for several laps. The car count for the second day action dropped to 24 cars when four of the Saturday entries did not return. The track would not allow the series to run time trials on both days so Sunday was run on a draw format. The top two finishers from the three heat races then redrew for their starting order in the front of the A Main. Hockett was one of the entries running a 410 engine with a sleeve in the 360 action and he won heat 1 from the pole with a best lap of 19.62. Herrera started 7th in heat 1 and made a final lap pass on 2005 race winner Josh Pelkey to gain second. Pelkey ran third ahead of New Mexico's Scott Box. Fourth starting Chris Bonneau took a quick lead in heat 2 and Gregg came from sixth to second in just two laps. Fifth starting Gardner ran fourth for most of the race, but Bonneau got out of shape coming to the white flag. Gardner ducked to the bottom and was second behind Gregg at the white. Gardner drove by Gregg on that final lap for the win with Gregg second ahead of Bonneau and Rick Ziehl. Third starting Jerry Coons Jr took the lead on the first lap of heat 3, but 8th starting Davis had found a high line and he was second at the finish of lap 1. Davis made an outside pass of Coons in turn 1 on lap 3 and ran a best lap of 20.100 as he paced the remainder of the race. Coons ran second in the Mark Alexander car ahead of Yuma's Mike Martin and Nathan High. Four cars advanced from each of the three heat races and they were to be joined by 8 transfers from the 12 car B Main. The feature was expanded after the B Main was run and all running cars were allowed to start the 40 lapper. Prescott Valley's Brian Swinehart led the first 2 laps of the B Main and Andrew Reinbold took over on lap 3. Reinbold was running away from the field when Albuquerque's Jerry Johnston stalled in turn 3 for a lap 8 yellow. Reinbold went high to miss the stalled car and got into the fence to end his race. Swinehart led the rest of the 15 lapper. Jon Taylor was running second when Arkansas long tow Sean Walden spun and got hit by Johnston for a lap 11 yellow. Taylor's got lost power and he pulled into the infield, his day over. Swinehart won ahead of Ron Kratz, Matt Rossi, Mike Rux Jr and Robert Hall. Taylor was the only car unable to start the 40 lapper and the redraw for the front three rows put Gardner and Gregg in the front row ahead of Coons, Davis, Hockett and Herrera. The race had to be restarted after Walden, Bruce St James and Rossi tangled in turn 3 on the first try. The talented field then ripped off 33 straight green flag laps. The extreme high line of the 3/8 mile clay oval had been watered and packed before the dirt modified feature and became a high speed one line train in that groove for that class. Herrera leaped into that groove at the green for the 40 lapper and had passed everyone as he exited turn 2. Herrera led the opening round over Gregg, Davis, Gardner and Hockett. Hockett took fourth from Gardner on lap 4. After running a half dozen laps in that high line, leader Herrera changed to the extreme bottom line on lap 7. Gardner retook fourth from Hockett at the same time. Herrera checked out while Gregg, Davis, Gardner and Hockett dueled for second. Hockett retook fourth on lap 14 and the midway standings found Coons in sixth ahead of Pelkey, Martin, Bonneau and Box. Some contact racing between Rossi and Rick Ziehl left Ziehl in the pits with a flat tire on lap 24. Herrera's big lead disappeared as he got into the lapped traffic and Hockett took third from Davis on lap 25. Gardner also drove by Davis for fourth on lap 26. With a dozen laps to go, both Gregg and Hockett were right behind leader Herrera. Hockett grabbed second from Gregg on lap 29. Hockett made his winning pass of Herrera on the outside of turn 3 on lap 33. Swinehart made contact with the turn 4 wall on lap 34. The race was red flagged when J T Imperial flipped the Dave Burns car in turn 3 on lap 33. St James hit the wall hard behind him to end the day for both. After the red flag delay, Hockett led the 7 remaining laps for the win. Gardner was visibly upset when Davis was lined up in front of him in 4th for the final green flag. Hockett was chased to the checkered flag by Herrera while Gregg settled for third. Davis did finish fourth ahead of Gardner. Coons ran sixth ahead of Pelkey, Box, Martin and Bonneau. Also finishing lead lap were Rossi, Walden, Ziehl, Ronnie Clark and Mike Rux Jr. On the posted finish, Ziehl was listed as lead lap despite missing the laps between his blown tire and the red flag. At the driver's meetings, series director Hal Burns announced that the Roger McCluskey Classic would be repeated on New Year's Day weekend again next year with a different format. He also announced plans to take his series all the way across the country twice in 2006. Summary Wingless Sprint Car Heat 1-Jesse Hockett, Johnny Herrera, Josh Pelkey, Scott Box, Sean Walden, Brian Swinehart, Jerry Johnston, Robert Hall. Heat 2-Damion Gardner, Ben Gregg, Chris Bonneau, Matt Rossi, Jon Taylor, Ron Kratz, J T Imperial. Heat 3-Charles Davis Jr, Jerry Coons Jr, Mike Martin, Nathan High, Andrew Reinbold, Mike Rux Jr, Bruce St James, Ronnie Clark. B Main-Swinehart, Kratz, Rossi, Rux, Hall, Imperial, St James, Clark, Taylor, Walden, Johnston, Reinbold. A Main-Hockett, Herrera, Gregg, Davis, Gardner, Coons, Pelkey, Box, Martin, Bonneau, Rossi, High, Walden, Ziehl, Clark, Rux, Reinbold, Kratz, Swinehart, Johnston, Imperial, St James, Hall. |
