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Lake Pleasant, AZ....April
17......Taking just 6 laps to take the lead from his second row starting spot,
Eric Wilkins got his first ASCA unwinged 360 sprint car feature win of 2004
Saturday night in the 25 lap feature. The club was racing at the 3/8 mile clay
oval for the first time in two years and the teams battled dry slick track
conditions brought on by gale force winds. The 20 car, 25 lap feature was run
with just a single yellow flag and Wilkins finished a full straight ahead of
Chuck Buckman with Nathan High third. High started front row, but fell back as
far as 10th in the first half of the race. Bob Ream Jr, winner of two of the
first four races on the schedule and the point leader, had to pit with a flat
tire on the lap 4 yellow flag, but scrambled back to finish 10th. The mini
sprint 600 and modified midget 250 classes again ran a combined feature with 23
starters. Only 12 cars finished the hour long marathon 20 lapper and Mike
Colegrove got his first win in the mini sprint 600 class. Ken Caskey ran second
and Stephen Sanchez was advanced to third when Joshua Shipley was penalized to
last for running into the race winner after the checkered flag. John Carioscia
won the modified midget 250 portion ahead of Stephen Harms and Kevin Simington.
Craig Carrajat won his second straight 20 lap pure stock main event, leading
wire to wire. Ron Poe was second ahead of Scott Hollon. With the win, Carrajat
moved into a tie for the point lead with Hollon.
The 28 car sprint car turnout included four teams that were towing to the first
ever SCRA race at Barona Speedway and got turned around when rain forced that
event to cancel at 1 PM. Those included Yuma's Mike Martin, Bruce St James,
Ricky Johnson and R J Johnson. The four heat races transferred the top four
finishers into the 25 lap A Main. Shawn Hendrickson beat St James and Martin in
heat 1 while Wilkins outraced Buckman and Mikey Kuemper in heat 2. Bugs Norbury
outraced Ricky Johnson and Chris Bonneau in heat 3 and High captured heat 4
ahead of Ream and Marty Miller. Wilkins dropped the 8 lap track record from
120.05 to 116.94 in his heat win. Ream set a new four lap record by winning the
dash in 60.29 seconds. Wilkins ran second ahead of High. Jeff Branaman won the B
Main ahead of R J Johnson, Michael Bryan and Buddy Earle with fifth place
finisher Scott Passmore also transferring when Tim Beal scratched. St James led
the first six laps of the 25 lapper and the only caution came on lap 4 as
Hendrickson stalled. Buckman was chasing St James with Wilkins riding in third.
On lap 6, Wilkins high line effort propelled him by both St James and Buckman
for the lead. Buckman pressured Wilkins for a few laps before Wilkins was able
to stretch his advantage over the final half of the speedy feature. All 20
starters finished with 13 on the lead lap as lapping did not start until lap 15.
Wilkins won ahead of Buckman, High, St James, R J Johnson, Martin, Branaman,
Norbury, Ricky Johnson, Ream and Joey Moriarity.
The combined group of 15 Mini Sprint 600's and 8 modified midget 250's were
divided over three heat races. Ken Caskey beat Kenny Hilton in heat 1 and
Colegrove outraced Sanchez in heat 2. Shipley and Derek McCluskey finished 1-2
in heat 3. The 20 lap feature had to be restarted when Chad Boat and C J Sarna
tangled. The race was redflagged after one complete lap when Bryan Arntz flipped
in turn 3. He was unhurt and Shipley was sent to the rear for getting out and
working on his car during the stoppage. Hilton led the first four laps before
Colegrove took over. Hilton retook the lead on lap 5 and set the pace until
Caskey gained the top spot at midway. Caskey set the pace until four laps to run
with Colegrove the final leader. Yellow flags on both lap 17 and lap 18 slowed
the action before Colegrove saw the checkered flag ahead of Caskey. Shipley
stormed back to third only to get penalized to last for hitting another car
after the checkered flag. That moved Sanchez into third ahead of Hilton and an
unidentified #21. John Saunders, Jacob Hawkins and Boat rounded out the top 8.
The modified midget 250's were scored separately and Carioscia got that win
ahead of Harms, Simington, Ryan Copley, Doug Welty and Taylon Center.
The pure stocks split 21 cars into three heat races. Ron Poe beat Andy Huffman
in heat 1 and Carrajat outraced Mike Huneycutt in heat 2. Ty Weidner outraced
Russ Morgan and Hollon in heat 3. With just one lap completed, the race was
slowed three times by yellow flags. Carrajat led wire to wire for a second
straight win. Additional yellow flags fell on lap 4 and lap 7. The lap 7
incident involved top runners Tony Steele, Chris McCurdy and Morgan. Only
McCurdy could continue. Carrajat won ahead of Poe, Hollon, Huffman and McCurdy
after John Drake was disqualified from a top five finish for not reporting to
the postrace claim area. Justin Loflin was sixth ahead of Cody Center, Marlowe
Wrightsman and Gene Hester. Carrajat and Hollon are tied for the point lead,
just 17 points ahead of McCurdy.
The April 24 race will see the return of the IMCA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Pure
Stocks and Bombers.
Summary
Pure Stocks
Heat 1-Ron Poe, Andy Huffman, Tony Steele, Marlowe Wrightsman, Justin Loflin.
Heat 2-Craig Carrajat, Mike Huneycutt, Chris McCurdy, Brandon Jackson, Tim
Worth.
Heat 3-Ty Weidner, Russ Morgan, Scott Hollon, Gene Hester, Jay Pate.
Main-Carrajat, Poe, Hollon, Huffman, McCurdy, Loflin, Cody Center, Wrightsman,
Hester, Jeremy Maggard, William Brumley, Jackson, Worth, Joe Parmeley, Steele,
Morgan, Pate, Weidner, Jeff Smith, Huneycutt, Matt Saunders.
Modified Midgets
Heat 1-Ken Caskey, Kenny Hilton, Chad Boat, Kevin Simington, Ryan Copley.
Heat 2-Mike Colegrove, Stephen Sanchez, Jacob Hawkins, John Carioscia.
Heat 3-Joshua Shipley, Derek McCluskey, Kyle Norman, Bryan Arnst, Ron Copley.
Modified Midget 250
Main-Carioscia, Stephen Harma, Simington, Ryan Copley, Doug Welty, Taylon
Center, Patrick Riddle.
Mini Sprint 600
Main-Colegrove, Caskey, Sanchez, Hilton, #21, John Saunders, Hawkins, Boat,
McCluskey, Norman, Kenny Warren, Arnst, Tony Osuch, C J Sarna, Shipley.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Car
Dash-Bob Ream Jr, Eric Wilkins, Nathan High.
Heat 1-Shawn Hendrickson, Bruce St James, Mike Martin, Jeff McDonald, Jeff
Henry.
Heat 2-Eric Wilkins, Chuck Buckman, Mikey Kuepmer, Willy Grombach, Michael
Bryan.
Heat 3-Bugs Norbury, Ricky Johnson, Chris Bonneau, Joey Moriarity, R J Johnson.
Heat 4-High, Ream, Marty Miller, Tim Beal, Jeff Branaman.
B Main-Branaman, R J Johnson, Bryan, Buddy Earle, Scott Passmore.
A Main-Wilkins, Buckman, High, St James, R J Johnson, Martin, Branaman, Norbury,
Ricky Johnson, Ream, Moriarity, Miller, Grombach, Kuemper, Bonneau, McDonald,
Bryan, Hendrickson, Earle, Passmore.
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