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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| MICHAEL TRIMBLE TURNS POLE
START INTO $2000 GRAND SLAM WIN by Gary Jacob & Don Low |
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Wingless 360 Sprint Cars |
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Oildale, CA..May 20...A VRA regular at Ventura Raceway despite having to
make the long tows from his San Jose home, 19 year old Michael Trimble turned a
pole start into a $2000 win as the 2006 Grand Slam Series for the wingless 360
sprint cars opened on Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway Park. The six car
inversion for the 30 lapper put sixth quick Trimble on the pole and he was never
headed. His car is wrenched by Tommy Horne and Adam Kaeding. VRA point leader
Greg Taylor came from 15th starting to a strong second place run. It took him
only 12 laps to make the drive into second, but he could only chase Trimble over
the remaining laps. Jimmy Crawford started 7th and ran third with a pass of Luis
Espinoza on lap 21. B Main winner Jesse Mack, a veteran of the modified midget
action at Plaza Park and Lemoore, made a late move to fourth from his 8th
starting slot when Espinoza suffered a flat tire. Heat winner Troy Rutherford
rounded out the top five from 16th starting as the event drew a 43 car field.
The three track series combines the top runners from VRA, the Bandits and SCRA. Bakersfield's own Allan Ballard was easily the quick timer as he ran a 12.821 lap. His slow lap of 13.037 was much quicker than the fast time of second quick Chris Wakim, who ran 13.438. Todd Hunsaker was third quick at 13.578 and Bakersfield's own Rusty Carlile had a 13.580. Eric Severson ranked fifth ahead of Trimble, Crawford, Mack, Jonathan Logan and Evan Suggs. The heat races were invert six lineups with the top four finishers in each advancing into the 30 lap A Main. Rutherford had the pole for heat 1 and won with fellow front row starter Espinoza second ahead of fifth starting Ballard and Severson. Kevin Kierce captured heat 2 from third as Suggs came from fourth to get second. Pole starter John Iturriria flipped in this event to end his night. Wakim started sixth and ran third with fifth starting Trimble getting the last transfer. Having tuned up with a bunch of laps at Ocean Speedway on Friday night, Daniel Hood won heat 3 from the outside front row ahead of pole starter Tom Schneider, sixth starter Hunsaker and Crawford. Taylor had the outside front row for heat 4 and he won ahead of pole starter Ross Millar, senior division star Bruce Douglas and sixth starting Carlile. The top three finishers advanced from a pair of B Mains. Mack had the pole for the first 12 lap B Main and he won ahead of fellow front row starter Clark Templeman III. Oren Prosser Jr started 8th and charged to a third ahead of Angel Figueroa, Matt Day and Lightning Sprint star Jeff Oliver. Ron Wade got the win in the second 12 lap B Main from third starting. Fifth starter Richard Harvey Jr ran second, but was a feature scratch. Steve Conrad ran third and fourth place Jeff Fiscus also advanced. Wes Richardson ran fifth ahead of Mark Weitzman and Ron Tjaarda. The 30 lap feature had seven cautions and a red in the first 10 laps, then ran the final 20 laps with just one additional yellow flag. The six car inversion put Trimble and Severson in the front row ahead of Carlile, Hunsaker, Wakim and Ballard. Crawford and Mack made up row 4 ahead of Suggs and Douglas. Trimble led Severson and Carlile for the first four laps. Ballard had raced into fourth, but he stalled on lap 3 for the first caution and he was joined on the sidelines by Hunsaker and Fiscus. Wakim took over second with Mack into third ahead of Espinoza and Taylor as a spin by Kierce slowed the action. Severson lost second when he half-spun and clipped Carlile giving Carlile a flat tire. The race was red flagged on lap 7 for a flip by Templeman. Schneider climbed the top of the wall for a yellow on lap 8 and Suggs crashed with Wade. Hood had to pit with a flat tire. Douglas spun for the lap 10 yellow. Taylor and Espinoza worked their way around Mack for the 3-4 slots and Taylor took second from Wakim on lap 12. Wakim stalled for the last yellow flag on lap 14 with Espinoza now third over Crawford and Mack. Crawford passed Espinoza for third on lap 21 and Rutherford took fifth from Mack on lap 26. Espinoza's big run ended with a flat tire on lap 29 with Trimble the winner ahead of Taylor, Crawford, Mack, Rutherford, Severson, 20th starter Conrad, Kierce, Prosser and Carlile. Despite finishing the feature in second, Taylor came out of the Grand Slam opener with a two point lead on race winner Trimble. Rutherford is third in points, 6 behind Trimble and 2 ahead of Crawford. Summary Fast Time-Allan Ballard 12.821 Heat 1-Troy Rutherford, Luis Espinoza, Ballard, Eric Severson, Jonathan Logan. Heat 2-Kevin Kierce, Evan Suggs, Chris Wakim, Michael Trimble, Oren Prosser Jr. Heat 3-Daniel Hood, Tom Schneider, Todd Hunsaker, Jimmy Crawford, Clark Templeman III. Heat 4-Greg Taylor, Ross Millar, Bruce Douglas, Rusty Carlile, Richard Harvey Jr. 1st B Main-Jesse Mack, Templeman, Prosser Jr, Angel Figueroa, Matt Day, Jeff Oliver, Heidi Tresler, Rick Gifford, Richard Brace Jr, John Iturriria. 2nd B Main-Ron Wade, Harvey Jr, Steve Conrad, Jeff Fiscus, Wes Richardson, Mark Weitzman, Ron Tjaarda, Jim Thomson, Brian Schuler, Steve Demott. A Main-Trimble, Taylor, Crawford, Mack, Rutherford, Severson, Conrad, Kierce, Prosser Jr, Carlile, Espinoza, Millar, Wakim, Douglas, Wade, Suggs, Hood, Schneider, Templeman, Ballard, Hunsaker, Fiscus. |
