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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| FIRST WIN IN 10 YEARS FOR
KURT NELSON by Gary Jacob |
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Winged 360 Sprints, Unwinged 360 Sprints and Hot Stocks |
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Hanford, CA -April 15, 2000--Kurt Nelson from Gilroy
had never won a feature race in his ten years of action, but he took
full advantage of his front row start Saturday night at Kings Speedway
and won the 30 lap feature for the Rebel Cup winged 360 sprint cars.
Nelson was the 1991 rookie of the year at San Jose Speedway and drives
for Babes' Lightning Mufflers. Fast timer Ronnie Day finished 2nd
ahead of Tim Worth, who started dead last after losing an engine early
in the night. A J Burgin's hot season in the Bandit unwinged 360
sprint cars continued as he won their 20 lapper to give him two wins
and three second place finishes in the five races that the series has
run in 2000. Gene Manhire finished 2nd ahead of previous week winner
Jerome Warmderdam. Craig Fromme of Visalia raced to victory in the Hot
Stock 20 lap feature. His son Shawn Fromme had won the previous Hot
Stock race, but broke a motor in hot laps and could only watch his
father's efforts tonight. Claudine Contente was second ahead of
impressive rookie Rick Tarr, who is a teammate of Worth.
The Rebel Cup sprint cars had a 21 car field including a couple long tows from the Petaluma area, Jim VanLare and Tim Grogan. Day was fast timer at 13.900 as he just nipped the 13.910 effort of the first car to run, Craig Stidham. Luke Bebereia had won the first two races on the Rebel Cup schedule and timed third fast at 14.014. Lawrence Edlund and Danny Faria Jr rounded out the five fastest qualifiers. Defending Rebel Cup champion Monte Faccinto broke a motor in hot laps and spent the qualifying session changing motors while the Worth engine change saw him also miss the heat action. Edlund won the first heat over Shane Travoli and Day. Nelson ran second in heat 2 as Stidham won with Faccinto coming from the rear for a third. Bebereia took the third heat ahead of Garrett Ishii and Stan Greenberg. Nelson started outside front row in the 30 lapper and the race got off to a ragged start with two yellow flags and a red before a lap was scored. Nelson took the lead from Ishii on the first scored lap. Travoli challenged Nelson for the first 19 laps as Day worked his way from 10th starting. Day made a late charge at Nelson, but got out of shape in turn 3 and recovered to finish second. Worth came through the entire field to finish 3rd and Bebereia charged from 8th starting to finish 4th ahead of Mike Schriver, Travoli, Faria, Erik Folger, Ron Myska and Faccinto. This class doesn't return to Kings Speedway until May 13 as they next race in Bakersfield on April 22. Warmerdam was fast timer for the 10 car Bandit Sprint Car turnout with a 15.780 lap as Manhire ran 16.257 and Burgin a 16.357. Josh Davis was fourth fast at 16.369 and Greg Porte a 16.439. Porte won his heat ahead of Warmerdam and Burgin. Manhire was heat 2 winner in front of Dave Knott and Jim Phelan. The 20 lap main had caution periods when Larry Dietz lost a rear end and Brian Schuler broke a motor. Burgin got the lead early and fought off the efforts of Manhire and Warmerdam for the win. Manhire won the season opener and Warmerdam has the other two wins. Porte ran 4th ahead of Davis, Knott, Phelan and Keith Silva. The Hot Stocks continue to draw strong fields and 17 cars were on hand Saturday night. They were split into two heats with C Contente the first heat winner ahead of Dave Bush and C Fromme. Roy Hart Jr won the second heat with Tarr second ahead of the Ford of Ron Hurt. Hart was on the pole for the main event, but had overheating woes during the race and opening race winner Joaquin Contente was disqualified from his feature finish. Toyota Sedan graduate Kenny Eskew joined S Fromme as a feature scratch. C Fromme started 3rd in the 20 lapper and used an early backstretch pass on Hart for the top spot. C Contente finished 2nd ahead of Tarr, Bush, J T Contente, Hurt, Richard Yarborough and Bryan Burnes. Jim Birges made his first Hanford start of 2000, but dropped out of the feature. Summary Hot Stock Heat 1-Claudine Contente, Dave Bush, Craig Fromme, Jim Birges, Richard Yarborough. Heat 2-Roy Hart Jr, Rick Tarr, Ron Hurt, Aaron Revious, Joaquin Contente. Main-C Fromme, C Contente, Tarr, Bush, J T Contente, Hurt, Yarborough, Bryan Burnes, Revious, Joey Salazar, Jim Harris, Ken Noland, Birges, Hart. Unwinged 360 Sprint Car Fast Time-Jerome Warmerdam 15.780 Heat 1-Greg Porte, Warmerdam, A J Burgin, Brian Schuler, Larry Dietz. Heat 2-Gene Manhire, Dave Knott, Jim Phelan, Josh Davis, Keith Silva. Main-Burgin, Manhire, Warmerdam, Porte, Davis, Knott, Phelan, Silva, Schuler, Dietz. Winged 360 Sprint Car Fast Time-Ronnie Day 13.900 Heat 1-Lawrence Edlund, Shane Travoli, Day, Mike Schriver, Tim Grogan. Heat 2-Craig Stidham, Kurt Nelson, Monte Faccinto, Craig Smith, Danny Faria Jr. Heat 3-Luke Bebereia, Garrett Ishii, Stan Greenberg, Erik Folger, Mark Barroso. Main-Nelson, Day, Tim Worth, Bebereia, Schriver, Travoli, Faria, Folger, Ron Myska, Faccinto, Greenberg, Smith, Ishii, Davey Key, Mike Lichti, Stidham, Jim VanLare, Edlund, Barroso, Grogan, Matt Morello. |
