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ANTIOCH WINGLESS
SPRINT CARS
ANTIOCH SPEEDWAY - ANTIOCH, CA
June 12, 2004
JIM PERRY, JR. WINS ACCIDENT-MARRED FEATURE EVENT
by John Trussler
Antioch, CA, June 12 . . . Tonight’s All-Pro Wingless Sprint Car
feature event was twice halted for grinding accidents that virtually
destroyed three racecars and left the three drivers injured; two with
relatively minor aches and pains and the third with serious neck and
facial burns. Through it all, Concord’s Jim Perry, Jr. led every lap
of tonight’s drawn-out main event to score his first win of the
year.
This evening’s Wingless Sprint Car program took an unusual twist
when Joey Santos and Daryl Moore “traded” sprint cars for
tonight’s program. Santos, who is currently fourth in the All-Pro
championship point battle, found himself with an ailing motor in his
racecar. Moore, who last week won the “Mel Hall Memorial” Wingless
Sprint Car feature event at Marysville’s Twin Cities Speedway,
graciously offered to swap sprint car rides so that Santos might stand
a better chance of closing on the point leaders in tonight’s
competition. Santos gladly accepted the offer and, at the end of the
night, he was in the winner’s circle with a top three finish. Beside
him was Jim Perry, Jr. who won his first feature event of the year
after the contest was twice stopped for grinding crashes. In one
incident, a popular young woman driver suffered serious facial burns
when her heavily damaged racecar erupted into flames. Before that
frightening accident, the opening lap of tonight’s headliner saw
Billy Fraser slam, head-on, into the first turn wall and then flip
over onto his side after his steering failed. Fraser was shaken and
sore, but walked away from the remains of his heavily damaged racecar
and, when the race resumed, Perry, Jr. pulled away to lead the first
15 laps. Over those laps, Santos held second ahead of point leader Bob
Newberry as Jason McIntosh and Jeff Rose battled for fourth-place.
At the start of the sixteenth lap, Darrell Hanestad was catching the
top five runners when 19 year old Brandi Ford stalled at the end of
the backstretch after her sprint car jumped out of gear. Before the
other racers could slow down, Hanestad slammed into the back of her
disabled racecar at full throttle. The impact punctured Ford’s fuel
cell and she and her car were instantly engulfed in a ball of flames.
The young woman suffered painful burns to her neck, chin and lips
before she could free herself from the cockpit and escape the inferno.
Hanestad was stunned in the horrifying incident that destroyed both
sprint cars. After the two drivers received medical assistance and the
track was cleared, Perry, Jr. led the final 10 laps to record his
first win of the year. Over those laps, Newberry finally moved around
Santos to finish second. Jeff Rose finished fourth and Scott Merrell
grabbed fifth-place as McIntosh suffered an engine failure with three
laps to go.
| 1st Heat |
| 1 |
32
|
Bill Macedo ®
|
| 2 |
36
|
Bob Newberry
|
| 3 |
29
|
Billy Fraser
|
| 4 |
4
|
Daryl Moore
|
| 5 |
95m
|
Rick Martins
|
| 6 |
7
|
Steve Bruno ®
|
| 7 |
23g
|
Dusty Green
|
| 2nd Heat |
| 1 |
21p
|
Jim Perry III
|
| 2 |
33
|
Jason McIntosh
|
| 3 |
17
|
Joey Santos
|
| 4 |
10f
|
Brandi Ford
|
| 5 |
55
|
Scott Merrell
|
| 6 |
22
|
Roy Fisher
|
| 7 |
28
|
Brian Lokmor
|
| 3rd Heat |
| 1 |
6
|
Jeff Rose
|
| 2 |
9
|
David Hays Jr.
|
| 3 |
15
|
Jim Perry Jr.
|
| 4 |
40
|
Darrell Hanestad
|
| 5 |
57
|
Troy Caraway
|
| 6 |
96
|
Arvo Backholm ®
|
| 7 |
5
|
Brad DeArmon ®
|
| A Main |
| 1 |
15
|
Jim Perry Jr.
|
| 2 |
36
|
Bob Newberry
|
| 3 |
17
|
Joey Santos
|
| 4 |
6
|
Jeff Rose
|
| 5 |
55
|
Scott Merrell
|
| 6 |
9
|
David Hays Jr.
|
| 7 |
7
|
Steve Bruno ®
|
| 8 |
32
|
Bill Macedo ®
|
| 9 |
57
|
Troy Caraway
|
| 10 |
22
|
Roy Fisher
|
| 11 |
28
|
Brian Lokmor
|
| 12 |
23g
|
Dusty Green
|
| 13 |
5
|
Brad DeArmon ®
|
| 14 |
57
|
Troy Caraway
|
| 15 |
33
|
Jason McIntosh
|
| 16 |
40
|
Darrell Hanestad
|
| 17 |
10f
|
Brandi Ford
|
| 18 |
95m
|
Rick Martins
|
| 19 |
96
|
Arvo Backholm ®
|
| 20 |
4
|
Daryl Moore
|
| 21 |
29
|
Billy Fraser
|
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