Phoenix, AZ (April 9) Charles Davis, Jr., ranked second in points in the
California based USAC/CRA sprint cars, took advantage of a break in his schedule
to make his first start with the Arizona Sprint Car Association and had the fans
on their feet as he captured the 25 lap feature on Manzanita's half mile track.
Jeremy Sherman, who has been practically unbeatable since taking over the Fred
Bryan sprint car, took the lead from Bobby Boone on the fifth lap and
appeared to have his third win in four starts sewed up. However Davis, after
winning the semi to put his car in the feature, had his sprinter on the
move from his seventh row starting berth and was up to
fourth by the ninth lap. He went to the inside to take third from Boone
and it appeared that contact between the two cars may have sent Boone into the
fence. A few laps later he passed Bob Ream, Jr. for second with
Jeremy holding a comfortable lead.
Despite repeated tries to wrest the lead from Sherman as he cut a one second
lead into a nose to tail race through the heavy traffic.
Davis was still running second when Mike Martin brought out a yellow flag which
slowed the field with two laps remaining.
Josh Pelkey was a lap down and was between the two leaders. Pelkey went to the
bottom of the track so Davis could make a last ditch attempt to win. Davis
followed Sherman into turn three and used a slide job that is a Sherman
trademark to take the lead with one lap remaining. Sherman made a hard drive
into turn one but did not have the momentum to make a successful slide job and
Davis was home free with a two car length lead.
R.J. Johnson, another USAC/CRA driver from the valley, celebrated his 18th
birthday a week early as he came out of the sixth row to finish a strong third
ahead of Ream. Matt Rossi came home in fifth followed by Jay Ervine, Pelkey,
Jeff Henry and then two rookies who were in their first feature. Michael Munday
was ninth and Mike Mundy tenth.
Mike Leslie was running fifth when he caught the wall on the 11th lap and came
down across the track. Andy Reinbold was full throttle when he slammed into
Leslie's car and rolled. Although both cars suffered extensive damage the
drivers were not injured.
Henry beat Boone, Nathan High and Andy Reinbold in the first heat to take main
event berths. Sherman stayed perfect in heat race competition as he came out of
the second row to beat Scott Pasmore, Mundy and Bonneau. The third heat went to
Marty Miller with Ream, Johnson and Ervine in pursuit. The final heat was won by
Rossi who bettered Bernie Smith, Pelkey and Leslie.
Davis had problems in his heat and failed to finish. That put him in the third
row for the 12 lap semi. He quickly moved to the front and had a good lead over
Martin, Chuck Buckman and Sean Hendricsen at the checkered flag.
The semi was delayed several minutes for a horrifying crash that sent Willy
Grombach to the hospital. Grombach and Ben Gregg were battling for position when
Chris Bonneau hit the front straightway wall and veered down the track. Grombach
and Gregg made contact trying to avoid Bonneau's car and Grombach flipped high
in the air in an end over end flip.
He was conscious when the was transferred to the hospital with undetermined
injuries.
Willy Grombach was Transported to St. Joseph's hospital as a result of the
crash. It is reported that he has a concussion and lost part of a little finger.
He was up and around but still hospitalized at press time.
ARIZONA SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION (1/2 Mile track)
Main Event: 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. R.J. Johnson 4. Bob Ream,
Jr. 5. Matt Rossi 6. Jay Ervine 7. Josh Pelkey 8. Jeff Henry 9. Michael Mundy
10. Mike Bonneau 11. Scott Pasmore 12. Marty Miller 13. Nathan High 14. Mike
Martin 15. Bernie Smith 16. Seainn Hendricsen 17. Mike Leslie 18. Andy Reinbold
19. Bobby Boone 20. Chuck Buckman.
Lap leaders: laps 1-3 Ream, lap 4 Boone, laps 5-23 Sherman, laps 24-25 Davis
1st Heat: 1. Jeff Henry 2. Bobby Boone 3. Nathan High 4. Andy Reinbold 5. Thomas
Ogle 6. Davey Bateman 7. Johnny William, Jr. 8. Chris Bonneau
2nd Heat: 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Scott Pasmore 3. Michael Mundy 4. Mike Bonneau 5.
Chuck Buckman 6. Charles Davis, Jr. 7. Ben Gregg (DNS-Trey Deane)
3rd Heat: 1. Marty Miller 2. Bob Ream, Jr. 3. R.J. Johnson 4. Jay Ervine 5. Mike
Martin 6. Seainn Hendricsen 7. Art Garcia 8. Brad Donahue
4th Heat: 1. Matt Rossi 2. Bernie Smith 3. Josh Pelkey 4. Mike Leslie 5. Shon
Deskins 6. Brian Hacker 7. Willy Grombach 8. Jimmy Drinan
Semi Main: 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 2. Mike Martin 3. Chuck Buckman 4. Seainn
Hendricsen 5. Thomas Ogle 6. Ben Gregg 7. Chris Bonneau 8. Jimmy Drinan 9. Art
Garcia 10. Johnny Williams, Jr. 11. Davey Bateman 12. Brian Hacker 13. Shon
Deskins 14. Willy Grombach 15. Brad Donahue
Trophy Dash: 1. R.J. Johnson 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. Mike Martin 4. Davey Bateman
|
