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4
new winners at TCS |
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Marysville CA - July 5, 2004. A trio of first time winners and a savvy veteran making his first appearance of 2004 carted off the trophies at Clyde and Linda Tipton’s Twin Cities Speedway Saturday night. The 4-division program featured all of the primary divisions at TCS. It was nearly 100 degrees by race time, with a prevailing southerly wind, as the races kicked off the Salute to the USA race program. All ten heat races went into the books with relatively few slowdowns and some great racing action. The track was changing dramatically during the heat races and most of the teams in the seventy car field were adjusting to the rapidly changing conditions well. The main event for the wingless warriors of the Speedway Sprint Car division was scheduled to go off first. Pole sitter and hard luck racer Rick Eversult launched into the lead from his pole position start. Jeremy Hawes shadowed Eversult through lap 1 before veteran Tim Sherman grabbed the runner-up spot. Point leader Chris Magoon found third as the field completed lap three. During this time a hard charging Jimmy Steward had come from the back, on the high side, to challenge the lead trio. A quick yellow at lap ten for a minor spin in turn four tightened the field. Magoon wrested second from Sherman at the new green and a lap later a three- car crash in turn two ended Steward’s night as Nathan Johnson, Jeremy Hawes and Steward collided. The final five laps were just plain great as Magoon pressed Eversult hard. The track was changing rapidly as the sun baked the clay quarter mile. Eversult protected the bottom with Magoon showing Eversult his silver #77 on the high and low sides. Eversult was up to the task and thwarted the point leader’s challenges. The pair raced nose to tail into lap 18 as third placed Sherman faded. Magoon an Eversult nearly collided in turn one as Eversult firmly closed the door. As the pair headed toward the white flag Eversult gave Magoon an opening out of turn two and Magoon was ready for it. He slipped on by. In a finish that had the crowed buzzing, Magoon picked up his first win ever at TCS. “There was enough racetrack left for me to keep the pressure on Rick,” Magoon said in victory lane. The entire Magoon crew and family were enjoying a great celebration. Eversult and Steward had stellar rides in this one and both chauffeurs put on a great show. Marysville’s Robert Luster showed the rest of the field his heels all night long. Luster dominated the main event by leading every lap of the race. Luster got the jump on pole sitter Damian Merritt on lap one and everything else happened behind Luster’s quick #68. Luster was able to pull full straightaway leads at some points in the race. The track was getting harder during the race, but that didn’t slow the progress of point leader Kevin Sprague as he and James Castleberry whipped through the field from deep in the pack. Point contender Heather Bartlett probably was wondering what was going on as she was caught up in a heat race skirmish and a lap two main event bumping match that had her bouncing off the turn two wall. Robert Mull, also a contender for the crown was caught up in the same problem when Floyd Youngblood tried a daring move on the inside of turn one that didn’t work. The three kept going. The rest of the field had to check-up, and Luster took off like a rocket. By lap five Luster was all alone as the field tried desperately to catch up. Shane Stoker, James Gillaspie and 2003 track champion Jeremy Blackshere lined up nose to tail and tried to run down Luster. As the field approached ½ way it was apparent that the Mel Hall Memorial champion, James Castleberry was nursing an ailing mount and he began to fade. Then on lap eight in a most unusual occurrence, Robert Mull started tail whipping on the front straightaway with his car’s engine roaring and Mull fighting to stop it. Mull’s ride made a quick left turn and rocketed across the infield at a very high rate of speed. The car sped through the infield from the end of the front stretch to turn two where it collided heavily into Youngblood’s mini-truck as Youngblood negotiated the exit of turn two. Youngblood and Mull had a few words, but cooler heads prevailed. The red flag was thrown for this one and Luster’s lead evaporated. At the new green it was apparent that Luster had them covered. He led by 100 yards a couple of laps later and cruised home ahead of Stoker, Gillaspie and Blackshere. Stoker was disqualified during a post race technical inspection moving everyone up a spot. Luster was a happy camper with his first ever feature event win. He thanked just about everyone in the place in an emotional interview. Roseville’s Tracy Canales had a night off from quarter midget racing with his sons and dropped by to go racing for the first time this year. Canales left with the trophy and the dough in a wire-to-wire win in the Featherlite Sprint Car division. The pacific sprint car heat races featured spirited dicing and wheelies throughout. By main event time, though, the weather had taken its toll and the track was rock hard and taking on rubber. Canales qualified sixth and that was the magic number. The pill draw inversion was a six and Canales was on the pole. This one started out with a bang. Fourth row starter David Sprigg started a long lazy slide as the field roared to the green in turn four. Sprigg’s car started to flip and point leader Mike Monahan hit him. The race was stopped. Monahan was having all kinds of trouble up to that point. The Sparks Nevada veteran flipped during his qualification attempt earlier in the night. The race was restarted and Monahan was able to restart the event. The field lined up behind Canales at the new green and the race restarted. Korey Lovell, Monahan’s closest competitor in the point hunt parked behind Canales and the twenty-car field ran off the first few laps in rapid succession. On lap seven second place runner Lovell got high in turn four and looped his car to a stop. Lovell stood to gain considerably on Monahan in the point chase. Lovell was restarted and lined up at the back of the field. Thirteenth starter Herman Klein was the big mover during the early part of the race challenging for sixth at one point. The race resumed and on lap eight Korey’s twin brother Kevin Lovell spun to a stop in turn two. At the new green, third row starters Colby Wiesz and Jeff Halleib marched through the field and camped on Canales’ bumper. Canales kept the door shut down low and the frustrated pair could not get by. For those who were watching, Korey Lovell became the show to watch. Lovell restarted in twentieth position after his turn four spin and marched forward to a seventh place finish with brother Kevin in tow. Kevin wound up eighth. A succession of minor spins kept the field bunched and the race came down to a two-lap dash. Canales kept a much faster Wiesz at bay during the final two laps by keeping the bottom covered and claimed the victory. Halleib stayed in third. Heath Hall and Troy Degaton rounded out the top five. Yuba City’s Donnie Fortney has been knocking on the door all year long. Saturday night he crashed through it into victory lane in the TCS Stock Car Series. Starting in eight position, Fortney picked off everyone in an aggressive run to the front. The race started off with some serious fireworks. Pole sitter Cindy Sherman and Vic Long got together as the thundering heard entered the back chute on the opening circuit. The pair started to spin as 18 other drivers scattered to get by. Nobody hit them, but Sherman and Long had to restart in the back. The restart had Dan Kaundart and Chris Paquette dueling for the top spot. On lap three Paquette grabbed the lead as Wayne Turk, Billy Knoop and Fortney freight-trained Kaundart on the inside. Fortney was already on the move. On lap four Knoop and Turk spun together in turn four and suddenly Fortney was second. In a bold move on lap eight Fortney eclipsed the leader and took the top spot. A hard charging Jeff Olschowka followed Fortney past Paquette and into second. Point leader Jerry Bartlett was mired in traffic for the first half of this twenty lapper. Bartlett decided to try the high side and started to slowly proceed toward the front. Bartlett’s drive garnered him a credible third place finish as finesse, not horsepower got him to the front. Once Fortney was in front he was never headed. In the last few laps Olschowka was closing, but ran out of time. Bartlett was third, George Magenheimer secured fifth and Kaundart recovered to come in a season’s best fifth. Fortney was overjoyed in victory lane. He thanked about
everyone standing with him during the celebration. Fortney has turned some
terrible luck into victory by being tenacious. It was a solid, popular win. This Saturday night, July 10 TCS will host the California Sprint Car Civil War Series. Gates open at 5pm with qualifying runs slated for 6:30pm. Racing will follow qualifying. Visit us on the web at the Official Web Site for Twin Cities Speedway www.twincitiesspeedway.net or call (916) 985-2089 to reach the business office. All the latest updates are always posted to the website first. |
