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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| RICCI FARIA GETS WINGLESS
WIN by Gary Jacob |
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Unwinged 410 Sprint Cars, Ford Focus Midgets and IMCA Modifieds |
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Hanford, CA...June 4...A normal winged sprint car racer coming off a 4th
place finish in the Golden State Challenge Series race at Watsonville on Friday
night, Ricci Faria took his wing off for Saturday night's USAC/CRA unwinged 410
sprint car action at Kings Speedway and he led the final 21 laps after starting
on the pole to win the 30 lap feature. Faria was 11th quick and ran third in his
heat race. Outside front row starter Josh Ford led a couple laps and Rickie
Gaunt was out front for seven before pole hugging Faria took command of the
race. Despite being sick, point leader Rip Williams came from fifth to finish
second and improve his point lead to 70 points over Damion Gardner. Gardner set
quick time, but was 19th in the feature. A recent high school graduate, R J
Johnson battled from 13th to finish third ahead of Chico's Jason York and Mike
Spencer. The USAC Ford Focus midgets were also in action and Chase Barber led
the final 6 laps after getting around Friday night Watsonville winner Alex
Harris to win the 20 lap feature. Harris ran second and closed to within 28
points of point leader Audra Sasselli, who finished 5th. Barber is only 21
points out of the point lead. Fast improving Aaron Barnell won the IMCA Modified
feature and improved his track point lead to 9 points over Steve Smothermon.
Merced resident Barnell wheels a D&M Performance Chassis. Defending track
champion Bryan Burnes finally got his new car together and returned to action
with a second place finish ahead of Alex Stanford. Stanford is third in points,
15 behind Barnell. He spent the night on the phone communicating with father
Jack Stanford, who traveled to Aztec NM to meet Chub Daniels and take delivery
on a former Alan Sharpensteen car. The traveling USAC/CRA unwinged 410 sprint cars brought a 30 car field to the 3/8 mile clay oval. A former dwarf car star, Gardner set quick time with his 14.943 lap in the Chaffin entry. Cory Kruseman ranked second at 15.239 and Rodney Argo was third at 15.485. Williams ranked fourth and local Bandit unwinged 360 racer Davey Pombo Jr was fifth at 15.531. Al Pombo was in attendance and the racing legend was celebrating his 80th birthday. Gaunt ranked sixth ahead of Danny Sheridan and York. Faria was 11th quick behind Charles Davis Jr and Ford. The top four finishers in each heat advanced into the 30 lap feature. Gardner came through the pack to win heat 1 over Mike Kirby and Seth Wilson. Bobby Graham won heat 2 in front of Kruseman and Ford. It was young Evan Suggs from Santa Cruz getting the win in heat 3 over Argo and Faria. Johnson won heat 4 ahead of Tony Jones and young Bakersfield racer Alan Ballard. There were five transfers from a 14 car B Main and Pombo Jr won that event ahead of Mike Spencer, Bobby Cody, York and Steve Ostling. Just missing the move up were Jimmy Crawford, Tom Stansberry and Bandit racer Jimmy Reeves. The feature lineup was an 8 car inversion of the heat race transfers and that placed Faria and Ford on the front row ahead of Davis Jr and Gaunt. Williams and Argo shared row 3 ahead of Kruseman and Gardner. The teams faced extreme dry slick track conditions for the feature action. Ford led two laps from his outside front row start and 4th starting Gaunt led 7 before the pole starter Faria nosed out front. Faria was flawless in the bottom groove and the ill Williams made a move forward from his third row start to finish second ahead of Johnson, 10th starter York, 12th starter Spencer, 21st starting Ostling, Suggs, Cody, Pombo Jr and Kirby as only a dozen of the 21 starters finished. Going to Perris on June 11, Kruseman is third in points, 14 behind Gardner and 9 ahead of Kirby. Davis Jr ranks fifth ahead of teammate Gaunt and Wilson. The USAC Ford Focus midgets had a 14 car turnout with usual midget racer Chris Rahe returning to his old division. Cameron Veach won the opening heat race over Cal Smith and Jake Vail. It was a perfect night for Barber as he won heat 2 ahead of Harris and Sasselli. Harris paced the first 14 laps of the 20 lap feature as he chased his second win of the weekend, but he was passed by Barber on lap 15. Barber won ahead of Harris, Rahe, Cameron Veach, Sasselli, Vail, Smith and Keith Janca. Smith is fourth in points on the dirt series, 48 behind Sasselli. Despite the other area tracks being in action, the IMCA Modifieds attracted a 21 car field that was divided into three heat races. Rodney Freitas put his new Coelho car in the winner's circle for heat 1 as Claudine Contente ran second ahead of Paul Stone. Stanford put his D&M in the winner's slot for heat 2 ahead of newly sponsored Ray Mayer and Smothermon. Marcus Aue recently returned to action and he won heat 3 in a Victory Chassis ahead of Barnell and Joe Chapman. Barnell then picked off his first feature win as Burnes ran second ahead of Stanford, Jason Selvidge, Freitas, Joe Gonella Jr, Contente, Mike Villaneuva and Smothermon. Former street stock star Scott Hensley made his division debut in 21st. Barnell came out of the night with a 9 point lead on Smothermon, 15 ahead of Stanford, 19 in front of Villaneuva and 21 ahead of Contente. On June 18, a special Grand Slam Series for the Bandit Sprint Cars opens with the IMCA Modifieds and Hot Stocks also in action. The special series combines the Bandit Sprints with the VRA unwinged sprint cars from Ventura Raceway. Summary IMCA Modifieds Heat 1-Rodney Freias, Claudine Contente, Paul Stone, Mike Brumit, Ed Nichols. Heat 2-Alex Stanford, Ray Mayer, Steve Smothermon, Jason Selvidge, Tom Stidham. Heat 3-Marcus Aue, Aaron Barnell, Joe Chapman, Joe Gonella Jr, Bryan Burnes. Main-Barnell, Burnes, Stanford, Selvidge, Freitas, Gonella, Contente, Mike Villaneuva, Smothermon, Chapman, Jon Schlundt, Stidham, Nichols, Mayer, Stone, Brumit, Johnnie Baptista, Scott Selsor, Aue, Keith Anderson, Scott Hensley. Ford Focus Midgets Heat 1-Cameron Veach, Cal Smith, Jake Vail, Todd Carroll, Carrie Smiley. Heat 2-Chase Barber, Alex Harris, Audra Sasselli, Chris Rahe, Jet Davison. Main-Barber, Harris, Rahe, Cameron Veach, Sasselli, Vail, Smith, Keith Janca, Carroll, Smiley, Jenna Frazier, J R Williams, Davison, Chris Veach. Unwinged 410 Sprint Cars Fast Time-Damion Gardner 14.943 Heat 1-Gardner, Mike Kirby, Seth Wilson, Charles Davis Jr, Davey Pombo Jr. Heat 2-Bobby Graham, Cory Kruseman, Josh Ford, Rickie Gaunt, Tom Stansberry. Heat 3-Evan Suggs, Rodney Argo, Ricci Faria, Nadine Keller, Steve Ostling. Heat 4-R J Johnson, Tony Jones, Alan Ballard, Rip Williams, Jason York. B Main-Pombo, Mike Spencer, Boccy Cody, York, Ostling, Jimmy Crawford, Stansberry, Jimmy Reeves, Josh Williams, Jonathan Logan. A Main-Faria, Williams, Johnson, York, Spencer, Ostling, Suggs, Cody, Pombo, Kirby, Argo, Graham, Wilson, Keller, Gaunt, Davis, Kruseman, Ford, Gardner, Jones, Ballard. |
