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| JUNE'S
SOUTHWEST REPORT by June Lowitz |
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ASCA
SPRINTS @ MANZY 5/17/2003 |
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Say hello to summer!
I guess this is the start of very nice warm nights here in
the Valley of the Sun. It
was a HOT dry 107-degree day here, our warmest so far this year.
To me, it didn't feel that hot as I'm still expecting the
humidity from California that I'm used to. I got to the track a bit
late, as this was my weekend to work at my "real" job.
I have to take the time to say "Welcome to My
World" to my boss Bill and his friend Tim as they joined me
this weekend. It was a
pleasure to have them both with me and I sincerely hope they come
back soon. I think they
enjoyed the racing, and I think now Bill understands my
"obsession" with my racing.
Most of my co-workers know I love racing as I have lots of
pictures of different drivers on my desk at work.
I have Bob Ream, Jeff Henry and Scott Pasmore from Manzanita
and from SCRA I have pictures of Rickie Gaunt, Jimmy Gardner, Jr.,
Rip Williams, Cory Kruseman, and Troy Rutherford up around my desk
to simulate me being at the track while I'm at work.
I still have a bit room for more pics and I am a serious
picture collector. Once
I get my apartment done, I'll take some pictures of the walls just
so you get an idea. I'm
a true fan of racing and my house will be decorated in nothing but
racing memorabilia. Back to the racing.....
I wasn't sure what kind of car count to expect and I was sincerely
surprised when Windy McDonald announced there were 34 sprints.
Way to go teams!!! There seemed to be some cars out that hadn't been out this
year. Jeff Slinkard,
Andy Reinbold, and Brian Lender just to name a few.
I was at a disadvantage this week, as I didn't get to the
track in time to hear Windy's rundown of cars and drivers.
I didn't know the
Mini-Sprints were going to run wingless and I really enjoyed the
show. I think it made
for some great side by side racing and really seemed to be exciting.
I'm not sure if it was the guys not running the wings or the
fact there was a full moon two days before the race, but I'm telling
you there were some crazy things happening on the track.
One driver doing double duty tonight was Jeff Henry.
He was in a team car to Scott Pasmore and really was
impressive. Both Scott
and Jeff were in the hunt for the main as were Kiley Fellars,
Charles Mokry and Dustin Carmony.
Mokry took the Dash win as the heat races were won by Brandon
George, Mark Stroh and Charles Mokry.
Carmony won the Semi and the Main went to Charles Mokry doing
the first clean sweep of the season.
Congratulations to Charles and the entire team for their hard
work. The Midgets put on a
great show despite a low car count. Doug Elliot won the Dash; Heats were won by Adam Young and 16
yr old driving sensation R.J. Johnson.
Come main event time, it was all RJ.
He had a great lead and then the racing gremlins got him
again and he slowed down and pulled in.
What is it going to take to get this kid back into the
winner’s circle?
He is awesome. I watched him really take off and use the track to his
advantage when he broke. I
really hope that the racing gremlins go away soon and this kid finds
some luck. He really
deserves it. It was an
exciting race with Doug Elliot winning, Justin Fisher 2nd, and
Colorado drive Andy Eatwell finishing in 3rd.
If I understood Windy correctly, Andy was driving a Buick
powered Midget. It did
sound a lot different from the other cars and I'd love to hear more
about this powerplant. He
seemed just as fast as the others and really was hooked up. I hope
he comes back and races with us soon. The ASCA Sprint car
night started out just like the others have this year with Chargin
Charles Davis, Jr., winning the Dash.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to try and lower his track
record this week, as there was a spin by Jay Ervine.
Well he more went over the top and stopped.
Heats were won by Eric Wilkins, Shon Deskins, Ricky Johnson
and Bugs Norbury. With
34 cars on hand the Semi Main was as big as a main with 19 cars
scheduled to start. Only
1 car was unable to make the call for the Semi so 18 took the green
for 12 laps. It was a
tough race for the cars seeing as you have to get to the front early
and the track was dry, slick and there seemed to be only one groove
at the time. The Semi
was won by Jeff Brannaman with Brandon Lane, Jimmy Norman and Paul
Norbury with RJ Johnson just missing the main. Main event time.... the
track was dry, slick and taking on rubber.
It seemed as the teams all anticipated this and that the low
groove was going to be the way around the track as most of the
front-runners seemed to have their cars set super tight.
I saw a lot of cars pull the left front up off the ground and
a few pull some wheelies coming out of turn 2.
It was anyone's race tonight.
Davey Bateman took the early lead until lap 4 or 5 when Mike
Keumper took over. Keumper
took over the lead until about lap 15 or 16 when he blew a tire.
Bugs Norbury took over the lead from Keumper and took off.
You could feel the crowd behind Bugs and cheering him on. Then there was a tangle in turn 4. From where I was sitting in Turn 1, it looked like Jeremy
Sherman tried to take over 4th from Davey Bateman and slid into him
spinning both himself and Bateman out.
Jeff Henry, running a close 6th to Sherman had nowhere to go
and slid into Sherman and Josh Pelkey slid into them causing a
yellow. Immediately you
saw the driver’s head to the top to try and cool down their hot
tires. While they were
trying to untangle the 4 cars, something happened to Paul Norbury's
car and I looked up to see it on fire.
Paul got the car stopped and jumped out and was ok.
But I had to say, it scared the living daylights out of me.
The fire looked to be in the cockpit area.
I'm sure glad Paul was ok.
They threw the red for the fire and after they got it out and
the other cars untangled it seemed that all were able to restart
except for Jeff Henry. Back
to racing with Bugs in the lead... and with Eric Wilkins in 2nd we
all knew we were in for one heck of a race to the end.
I'm not sure what happened to Bugs but something did and Eric
Wilkins came on with the lead with only 3 or 4 laps to go. Congrats to the winner Eric Wilkins and 2nd place Bugs
Norbury. Great driving
job. Ok, here is where I have
to say something about an incident in the mini-sprints that really
has bothered me. I have
gone back and forth as to whether or not to comment on it, but I
feel I have to seeing as I'm me, and this is something that really
bothers me. The
incident was between Kylie Fellars when he lost his front wheel in
the Mini Sprint Main. Now, please remember this is from my point of view and I'm
going on what I saw with my own two eyes.
I saw that Kylie and Scott Pasmore got together... Scott
running up and over the right front of Kylie's car causing Kylie's
wheel to break off and his car to stop almost in front of where I
was sitting. I do
understand that the man was upset and it was the heat of the moment.
However, the poor sportsmanship that he showed by walking
over to the track and gesturing to other drivers just bothered me.
I'm not saying he didn't have the right to be upset, please
don't get me wrong. But
I feel there is a time and place to discuss matters that happen on
the track. I think we
all forget that there are very impressionable children that attend
these races and idolize the drivers and what kind of example are we
showing the children if the adults can't be good sports when things
don't go their way. I'm
sure it was one of those heat of the moment things, but please .....
for the kids....... THINK BEFORE YOU ACT.
My boss happened to make a statement to me about Kylie's
actions because I have a tendency to brag about what great sportsmen
we have here in Arizona. Boy,
did I have egg on my face when this happened.
I'm sure I'm going to take a lot of flack for this, but I'm
just asking the drivers, crewmembers and car owners to remember the
kids. They watch you
more than you realize and believe it or not, in the stands we can
hear more than you think from the pit area. Oh..... in answer to
last weeks little trivia..... the car driver who has gone on to
bigger and better things is Bob East, and the other driver I was
referring to was Rip Williams.
Someone informed me that the information I was given about
Rip being a champion is incorrect, however the information about Rip
Williams that I was using was from his 1995 RACE-PRO Collector Card
and it states on that card that he won the SCRA Car Championship in
1994 and the CRA Car Championship in 1990.
I'm sorry for any confusion.
When I come up with another question... I have to dig thru my
old programs and stuff to get a good one, I'll post it here. One more thing.
I have to say a special HELLO to Robbie Allen, owner of the
#12 car that Jeff Henry drives.
It seems that the weekend ASCA had off, Robbie decided to go
quad riding and he had a terrible accident.
He was suffering a concussion, punctured or collapsed lung,
pelvic fractures and of course other bumps and bruises.
Thankfully now he is out of the hospital and he says he is
doing better. I just
want to say GET WELL SOON ROBBIE.
WE MISS YOU. Plus
I'm still offering to push your wheelchair around...hehehe... you
can email Robbie at: robbie@commspeed.net,
I'm sure he'd appreciate the emails.
If you've ever been injured and home, you know how bored you
can get. Have a great and safe
Memorial Holiday weekend. I'm
going to have 4 days off, maybe even 5 for the weekend.
I'll see you for sure at Manzanita on Sat nite and maybe even
at Canyon on Sunday. OH,
if anyone has directions to Canyon, can you email them to me?
I've only been there once and I'm not 100% sure on how to get
there. My email addy
is: ASCAJune@aol.com. Keep on smiling everyone
cuz it makes people wonder what the heck you’ve been up to.
If they ask, tell them you've been to Manzanita Speedway to
watch the NON WINGED Sprint Cars. |
