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Marysville
CA - August 19, 2007 --- Elbows up and hard on the gas produced winners in
the 4 division show staged on Taco Bell Night at Paul and Kathy Hawes Marysville
Raceway Park Saturday. A noisy, fun crowd enjoyed some spectacular open wheel
racing. Korey Lovell and Jeremy Hawes got the attention of the checkered flag
clad ladies who awarded the trophies in the sprint car divisions. Tony Gaoiran
took the laurels in the Sprint 100 feature and Kevin Bender got the nod in the
Nor Cal Dwarf Cars.
The Wingless Warriors of the Wingless Sprint Car Series were the first of the
primary divisions to try their hand at 20 laps around the MRP ¼ mile. Pole
sitter Josh Tucker was flanked by Jeremy Hawes in the Flyin’ Ford. Point
leader Pat Russum had a dismal heat race and was mired in the rear of the 19 car
starting field.
Hawes gunned his yellow and red rocket into the lead at the green flag with
Tucker in tow. Chico’s Tony Richards blew into the high-side cushion an found
3rd right away with last week’s winner John Anderson right on his tail. Point
contender Mark Hill diced for 4th through 6th while Russum was unable to make
any progress in the first few circuits. In fact, Russum was the first driver to
retire from the feature event after a turn 4 tangle with Santa Rosa’s Dave
Press. Russum’s front end was folded in the collision and he was done for the
night. Russum finished 19th. During that yellow flag segment, Richards also
pulled off with an unknown malady, never to return.
When the new green appeared, Hawes was gone, but 2005 champ Steve Stein showed
up in the top 7. Only Stein, from his 13th starting position, was going forward.
Stein hooked up on the high side and as the race approached ½ way, picked off
cars at will. He flew around first Hill and then Mark Ziske in a single lap
securing 4th. Hill jumped to the high side after Stein’s pass and he, too,
sailed by Ziske.
The race would quickly run to its conclusion after that. A 2 lap dash to the
checkers did nothing to unseat Hawes. He led wire to wire for the impressive
victory. Anderson stayed 2nd all night after a smooth pass for the runner up
spot on Tucker. Newcomer Tucker tucked in behind Anderson and drove to a fine
3rd place ahead of Stein and Hill.
It will be interesting to see how the point standings are shuffled after
tonight’s events. Hill’s 5th place finish combined with Russum accumulating
the minimum points available to him may bring Hill within striking distance of
the title with 2 races to go. Hawes run dominated the event and Stein’s
passing job kept the fans on their toes.
The Winged Sprinters were next and in the words of feature winner Korey
Lovell…WOW! It was also one of the most exciting, crowd pleasing winged car
events of the year. If you were going to win this one, you were going to have to
get your elbows up and work for it. Jeremy Burt of Grass Valley was the pole
sitter flanked by 3-time champion Korey Lovell of Yuba City. Lovell got the jump
at the start and 4th starting Mike Monahan was soon in the runner-up spot behind
the potent #71. The next 10 laps were among the most exciting winged sprint car
laps of the year. Monahan dove to the inside and pulled even to challenge Lovell
in turn 1 on every one of those 10 laps. They were side by side exiting turn
2…nearly every lap. In turns 3 & 4 they would tiptoe through the turf with
Monahan getting the best run much of the time, but unable to get by the
screaming car of Lovell. Again and again Monahan would dive to the inside in
turn 1 only to be turned away by Lovell’s skillful high side runs through the
clay in the same turn. By any measure it was a great sprint car race. The winged
rockets were on the edge on the challenging surface and that was an added,
heart-pounding component to a thrilling show.
While all this was going on for the lead, quick qualifier, Herman Klein was on
the top and carving his way to the front from 11th starting position. The
struggle up front may have overshadowed Klein’s charge initially, but Klein
was slamming his way through the cushion and got to 4th by ½ way.
Lovell started to put some distance on Monahan as the drivers endured some
pretty stout physical stress in the final 10 circuits. But, Klein kept on flying
high and eclipsed Burt for 4th as the race closed on 5 to go. Klein then put a
nifty move on 2-time champion Brent Dothage and he was 3rd. With 2 to go a
yellow came out when Rod Ramirez parked in turn 2.
Monahan and Klein closed up on Lovell for the final 2 lap dash. When the green
flew, Lovell was the better of his two challengers. Monahan crossed the line
ahead of Klein who sailed into turn 3 a bit hard on the final lap and lost his
chance for a look at 2nd. Dothage was 4th with Burt doing some point racing
soldiering along in 5th.
I think it’s worth noting here that 8th place finisher Jim Marsh of Live Oak
remains seeded in 2nd position in the MRP championship points. Marsh is
schoolteacher and runs a limited budget operation and generally arrives by
himself. It came to this observer’s attention recently that Marsh has
completed every race he has started this season…no DNFs. That, in and of
itself, is amazing, but tonight Marsh had a stellar run in his heat race and won
it going away after a daring turn 3 pass on a track that took some muscle to
drive. While Marsh is realistic about his championship chances, he is ready to
go each and every week. Here's a tip of the hat from this observer to
“Gentleman Jim” on his fine 2007 performances.
The SORA Sprint 100s opened the feature events with a barnburner of their own.
Champion driver Tony Gaoiran parlayed a dismal heat race finish into an
impressive, daring, “on the cushion” run to the front.
Starting in the rear with fellow combatant and point leader Tim McLaughlin, the
fleet pair started their collective runs to the front. But Tony G went to the
top and was simply flying. His heat race problems (a bad coil) solved, Tony G
barely made the starting call.
It took but 6 laps for Gaoiran to find the front and the rest of the race was a
bout for 2nd. John Cardoni brought the race to an early, spectacular finish when
he flipped in turn 3 while challenging Gregg Hansen for 3rd. Hanson, Cardoni and
Jim Pfifer had outstanding runs that deserve mention here. The race was
checkered with a couple of laps to go as the Cardoni/Hansen mess took some time
to clean up. Cardoni was unhurt in the spectacular crash. The video seems to
show the accident as “racing deal” and not much more.
The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars once again put on a whale of a show. Track conditions did
not favor the small, volatile rockets…but it was a good one nonetheless. Quick
Nick Davis led the field for the first few feature event circuits as point
contenders Kevin Bender and Mike Grenert found their rhythm. Pat Weger was
heavily involved in the dicing that got pretty intense at times early on.
At the first yellow flag this quartet seemed to have a grip on things. But,
Bender was smooth on the bottom and that would pay big dividends later on.
Grenert had big problems by ½ way and retired from the event. Yes, dwarf cars
screaming through the infield can move 55-gallon drums of water with ease. Such
was Grenert’s bad luck.
The new green produced a calm, calculated run by Bender as he closed on Davis.
It was quick in coming as Bender slipped by Davis in turn 4 and started to run
away. Davis and Weger would dice for the runner up spot with Davis prevailing in
the end.
The mighty alcohol burning Winged Sprint Cars and the Wingless Sprint Car Series
will be back for complete programs of their heart-stopping wheel-to-wheel action
next week. The 6th annual Yuba City Scrap and Steel Ice Cream Night will be
presented as well. Ice cream will be provided for spectators and competitors
alike. 2nds and 3rds will be available till it all runs out!!! It’s always a
gas and a great time is had by all. The KKCY Mini Stocks, their red hot point
race and the SORA Sprint 100s will also be on the card. In addition the EXTREME
BOMBERS will once again tackle the FIGURE 8 COURSE. If you haven’t yet seen
it…. don’t miss the metal grinding mayhem of this event!!
Pit gates always open at 3PM. Spectator Gates Open at 5PM with racing getting
underway at 7PM. Contact the promoters at 1.530.743.1327 or email as indicated
on the home page. Put www.marysvilleracewaypark on your “favorites” button
on you computer. Watch this site for press releases, updates and complete
results.
Note: Please make this observer aware of any names that are misspelled. The text
is based on information we have at the time of its release.
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