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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Chowchilla's 4th Annual Open
Wheel Roundup by Debbie Shipherd |
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Chowchilla, Ca Nov.20, 2004...TBS's Scott Holloway of
Oakley took the high groove around Chowchilla Speedway's fast 1/3
mile track on Saturday November 20 to take the lead from Sierra
Tow's Sam Fries of Sacramento and won the 4th annual Chowchilla Open
Wheel Roundup, taking home a $600.00 purse with an additional
contribution from Gary Gonsales of Sacramento's Sierra Tow. Recent storms postponed the show that was originally scheduled on Oct.22-23 with a full lineup of open wheel divisions, then rescheduled for Nov.12-13, only to be rained out again. The 3rd time was the charm and kudos go to promoter Tom Sagmillar and crew for their tenacity and hard work preparing the track. Banquet conflicts prohibited the BCRA midget lites and SORA sprint 100 groups from participating, and the show was scaled down to a one day program featuring 27 Dwarf cars, 17 Wingless Spec Sprints, and several Mini 4's. Crews and cars dodged pit puddles and there was a charge of anticipation in the brisk air for the last race of the '04 season as Wingless Sprint teams representing Antioch, CSRA, Marysville, and NCMA groups gathered for the Roundup. Rookie Sprint drivers Rich Crumley from Roseville and Dave Press from Foster City were both hoping to gain some racing experience with only 1 or 2 races under their belts. In a true testament to the love of the sport, Antioch driver Brian Gray got back in the driver's seat just 3 weeks after suffering a heart attack, and CSRA's Sam Fries was racing again after heart surgeries earlier this year. A Chowchilla Speedway hat purchased by Fries was passed around for Wingless Sprint drivers to sign and was presented to Rev. Ron for his prayers and support for all of the racers. Condensing a two day format into a one day race,Tom Sagmillar tried to give the racers their money's worth of track time. He also moved the tractor tires lining the track closer into the infield and replaced them with cones to accomodate the the open wheeled division. Three sprint heats ran, with the top 3 finishers moving into the preliminary A main, while the last 2 finishers from each heat ran in the consolation dash. The 1st heat was won by Sierra Tow's Sam Fries, followed by Tracy's Charlie Correia and Ed Amador of Modesto. Contra Costa Auto Parts' Keith Shipherd of Pleasant Hill won heat 2 followed by Hale Lumber's Rob Hammond from Morgan Hill,who is the 2004 Rookie of the Year in the NCMA, and Tim Sherman from Citrus Heights. Heat 3 went to Concord's Billy Macedo, followed closely by Pac West Trailer's Bobby Bankson of Rancho Cordova and Rio Linda's Gary's Mower Shop Rick Eversult. Kaeding Performance's David Goodwill of Napa won the consolation dash. The 10 lap preliminary main began with Rick Eversult and Bobby Bankson on the front row. Bankson throttled into the lead with Shipherd, Eversult, and Fries charging hard behind him. As Bankson slowed, Shipherd darted to the front, chased by Eversult, Fries, Macedo and Hammond. At the checkers Shipherd had a 1/2 lap lead with Rick Eversult finishing 2nd and Fries 3rd. The 30 lap Dwarf car main finished and the Sprints were staged for their main while double duty racer Charlie Correia from Tracy was given time to hop out of his Dwarf and strap into his Sprint. As the green dropped for the 30 lapper, pole starter Shipherd charged into the lead with Macedo close on his tail. Contact from behind saw Shipherd spin on lap 6 which collected Rick Eversult, and officials penalized Macedo for rough driving. Eversult inherited the lead as a trip to the pits for a flat tire forced Shipherd to restart in the back. Ed Amador pitted early with problems, and by lap 10 a close battle was being fought as Sam Fries challenged Eversult for the top spot, with Rob Hammond, Tim Sherman and 12th starting Scott Holloway thick in the mix. At lap 15 David Goodwill had smoothly moved up to 6th from his
15th start, and the |
