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Davis & Ream Hang It Out on Manzy's 1/2 Mile |
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Phoenix, AZ (April 20) The Arizona Sprint Car Association journeyed out
onto Manzanita Speedway's famed half mile track for the first time this year and
after watching Charles Davis, Jr. and Bob Ream, Jr. present their version of
"The Clash of The Titans" fans were hard pressed to remember a better
race ever being staged on the Manzy clay. Davis, the 1996 and 1999 ASCA champion has campaigned the past two years with the west coast Sprint Car Racing Association and only gets to race in front of his home town crowd when the SCRA makes a stop in Phoenix or he has an open date. He has had three such dates dating back to last October and he has now won three in a row in the Fred & Evelyn Bryan Buckley. He bested Ream in last year's Buddy Taylor Memorial and then handed ASCA points leader his only loss last month. Ream showed the form that has carried him to 45 ASCA victories but fell a
mere 0.85 seconds short of garnering his first win of the 2002 season. The side
by side, nose to tail action between the two former champions (Ream was the 1998
titlist) kept the crowd on its feet after they both managed to slip past Jason
Sutphen who led the first 14 laps. Sutphen was smooth and Davis had to put everything on the line as Ream was running on his tail. They both made the move on Sutphen and started to separate themselves from the field. They were coming up on traffic and lapped two cars before the only yellow flag of the race came out when Buckman got in trouble on the back straightaway as they worked the 18th lap. Ream threw everything he had at Davis and tried hard to pull it off on the ensuing restart. He had the Monte & Susie Taylor machine working on the bottom and pulled alongside Davis in each turn and was still there when the checkered flag fell. While the champions were the main attraction, fans who could tear their eyes away from them saw some fierce competition behind them. Rick Byler, who has returned to racing after a couple of years off, drove a steady 25 laps and maintained his third starting spot and 1997 champion Josh Pelkey nipped Sutphen for fourth on the final lap. Marty Miller's drive from the back row was also a story of its own. With points leader Wilkins attending a business meeting out of state, the 2000 champion had a chance to move to the top of the standings. He had problems in the trophy dash and then more trouble in his heat race and had to run the semi to make the starting field. He managed to finish third in the 12 lapper to earn the 19th starting spot and, with no yellow flags to help his progress, he used the beautifully prepared track to drive all the way to sixth. He was hoping for more laps as he had the WJS Development Buckley flying. He ended the night still 29 points behind Wilkins, a three time winner this year. Behind Miller came Terry Belcher, Jr. Davey Bateman, Terry Belcher and Lonnie Sherman. Seventeen cars finished and fifteen were still on the lead lap. While the main event ran without serious incident the preliminaries saw yellow and/or red flags in each event except the first heat which was won by Paul Norbury and the trophy dash which went to Paul Beregszaszy. Lonnie Sherman's win in the second heat was slowed by a yellow flag for a harmless spint but the second heat was halted when John Kuescher bicycled in turn three, hit the wall and did an end over end flip. He was treated at the track as he managed to walk away. Two cars got into the fence in the fourth heat which was won by Davis with both Matthew Rossi and John Gaston having their night end prematurely. The track was at its best and Davis turned what may have been the fastest lap ever for a 360 c.i. steel block sprinter when he was timed at 19.36 seconds on his final lap. He joked later that it was quicker that his qualifying lap for the last SCRA race. Actually that 19.36 would have given him fast time for the March 16th SCRA race. Kaylene Verville led the semi for nine laps before she blew and engine continuing a string of bad luck that has plagued her through the first five races. Nathan High then took over and held off Beregsaszy, Miller and Steve Cushman. SCRA's other representive, fifth ranked Jeremy Sherman, had a dismal night as the Joey Moriarity car was never up to speed and Sherman parked it two laps into the feature. SUMMARY Main event (25 laps) Semi main (12 laps) 1st heat (8 laps-Time: 2:44.27) 2nd heat (8 laps, no time) 3rd heat: (8 laps, No time) 4th heat: (8 laps, no time) Trophy dash: (4 laps-Time: 1:23.09) UNOFFICIAL ASCA POINTS Only 16 cars were on hand but a larger field could not have made it better as Manzy's 1/3rd mile track was lightning fast with cars running as many as four abreast as they fought for positions. Edwards, who has had dismal luck this year after finishing all but one race in the top ten last year on his way to a third place finish in the final standings, not only scored his first ever win in convincing style, it also marked his first top five finish of the year and only his second in the top ten. The 19 year old speedster started his Performance Transmission car alongside Scott Mears and immediately sped away from the field at the drop of the green. Mears stalled on the second lap and by then David Birmingham, Jr., the defending champion had jumped from fourth to second with his Hydro Flow Mortar and Plaster Stealth and Mike Welker was running third with Steve Sussex, Jr., Mike Leslie and R. J. Johnson fight their way toward the front. Edwards had no reason to look back but he missed some great racing as Sussex fought his way past Birmingham after starting seventh with eighth starting Mike Leslie following him through. Birmingham drove back past Leslie, who had earlier won his heat race and also came home a winner in the trophy dash for the third time this year. When the checkered flag fell ending the 20 lap race Edwards was 2.55 seconds ahead of Sussex, the 2000 champpion and Birmingham. Leslie crossed the line in fourth, just ahead of R. J. Johnson. The rest of the top ten were Justin Fisher, Welker, Doug Elliott, Rob Clary, Jr. and Mears. With points leader Luke Icke racing at home in Colorado, Sussex moved into the points lead but is only eight points up on high school freshman Johnson with Leslie another six points back. Leslie won the first heat over Edwards and Sussex while Birmingham easily took care of Welker and Johnson in the second heat. The BG Midget Series will not return to Manzanita until they share the card with the ASCA sprint cars in the Arizona Race Mart/Sunoco Salute to Indy on May 25th. SUMMARY Main event: (20 laps) 1. Chris Edwards 2. Steve Sussex, Jr. 3. David
Birmingham, Jr. 4. Mike Leslie 5. R.J. Johnson 6. Justin Fisher 7. Mike Welker
8. Doug Elliott 9. Rob Clary, Jr. 10. Scott Mears 11. Dean Daly 12. Dale Daly
13. Mike Courtney 14. Bugs Norbury 1st heat: (8 laps-Time 1:32.97) 1. Mike Leslie 2. Chris Edwards 3. Steve Sussex, Jr. 4. Scott Mears 5. Doug Elliott 6. Dale Daly 7. Bugs Norbury (DNS-Shane Parker) 2nd heat: 1. David Birmingham, Jr. 2. Mike Welker 3. R.J. Johnson 4. Justin Fisher 5. Rob Clary, Jr. 6. Dean Daly 7. Mike Courtney (DNS-Adam Young) Trophy dash: 1. Mike Leslie 2. R.J. Johnson 3. Shane Parker 4. Adam Young BG CHEMICALS MIDGET SERIES UNOFFICIAL POINTS |
