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| June's Southwest Report by June Lowitz |
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Manzanita Speedway-ASCA Sprints |
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May 17, 2005...
I wasn't sure how I was going to like Saturday night at Manzy
w/out Jeremy Sherman racing in the Fred Bryan owned, F & E
Development, Dream Office Solutions, Impact # 77. I was
pretty upset over what I read in the newspaper and what I had
heard and read on different message boards. What I thought
was going to be a boring rough night turned out to be one of the
best night's of racing I've seen in a long time.
I walked into the stands and sat down and was told by Trophy
Dash sponsor Bill Shaver that Fred Bryan had his car at the
track. I was shocked at that, then I was informed that
Jeremy was suspended and not Fred or the car. Fred chose
to run the car with none other than "The Bullet" Bob
Ream, Jr., the driver. I didn't know what to think, but
figured that there would be more controversy as the night went
on.
All of the talk in the grandstands was of Jeremy's suspension
and how upset the fans were. There was a rumor floating
around that people were so upset over what they read, that they
emailed the track telling them why they weren't going to be at
the track on 5/14/05. Those that chose to stay away missed
a great race. I'm a Jeremy fan, don't get me wrong.
However, I'm still going to support the very same racing
association that suspended him. People are human and can
make mistakes. In my opinion, this was a mistake made by
the board.
OK, so the night started out with a lot of controversy.
Bullet was in Jeremy's car, which I thought was way cool.
The track seemed good and wet but it was warm out so I wondered
how it would hold up with both sprints and midgets running.
I was glad to see Jeremy racing in the midget division.
All of my other favorites were racing, Bullet, Jeff Henry, Bruce
St. James, Bernie Smith just to name a few. I knew
Jeremy would be missed but that there would still be some great
racing ahead.
The Trophy Dash was the first race on the cards and it was a
barn burner. The Bullet, Bob Ream, Jr., lived up to his
name and shot around the track to win the race. It was
really nice to see Bob in victory lane and to give a shout out
to Jeremy. Bob, being the gentleman that he is made sure
that the fans knew he was only in the car for this race and that
Jeremy called him and asked him to drive the car.
Finishing second to Bullet was Josh Pelkey, Bernie Smith and
Andy Reinbold.
The first heat race pushed off with Pelkey crossing the finish
line in first. Jay Ervine, driving the beautiful red and
white #21 owned by Jimm Tuttle and sponsored by The JR Tuttle
Design and Construction Company, Pennzoil, MAC Tools, Sport
Imports of Tucson, Performance Engines and Jay Ervine's wallet
finished 2nd with Bobby Boone driving the #61 car finishing
third. The final transfer to the main event went to rookie
driver #48 Thomas Ogle.
The second heat race went to Jimmy Drinan in the #91AZ car.
Jimmy was followed by Calif. driver Larry Lloyd, Bruce St. James
and another rookie Michael Mundy. The Radio Flyer, Bruce
St. James looked very impressive in the heat race after starting
fifth and moving up to third making the transfer into the main
event. Bruce, who drives his own #7K Stealth sprint car,
was a man on a mission. He looked very smooth and
comfortable in the heat race. Watch for Bruce as he seems
to get better each week. Don't forget to catch him on his
daily radio show, KTAR 620 am radio from 1:00pm - 4:00pm or go
to www.ktar620.com and
download the software to listen to him if you aren't in the
Phoenix area. It seems like Bruce and his crew chief
Whitey Owens seem to be getting it together.
Brian Hacker in the #31 car won heat three with the BernDog,
Bernie Smith driving the #14 Favorite Systems Trucking and Total
Package sponsored car in second place. Here's another
driver who really is coming on strong. Bernie's another
driver who is on a mission and he sure looked it Saturday night.
Following Brian and Bernie to the main event were Andy Reinbold
and Mike Leslie.
The fourth heat race came out and none other than the Bullet won
the race. Ream was another driver who seemed on rails this
night. In second place was Jeff Henry in the #12 Robbie
Allen owned, ABC Body Shop, Arizona Towman, Maxima Oils, B.
Wasson, Larry's Artwork & Details and Lightning Wheels
sponsored car. Transferring to the main were Matt Rossi
and Michael Bryan.
Racing their way from the semi main into the nights main event
were Chris Edwards, Chris McArthur, Yuma's Mike Martin and Chuck
Buckman. The semi was a good race as Edwards and McArthur
swapped the lead a couple of times before McArthur took the win.
OK, main event time. Time to rock and roll. The main
event pushed off instead of lining up on the front straight due
to time constraints I'm sure. Not sure who to really watch
this night, I had my eyes on Jeff Henry. I just had a
hunch that tonight might be his night. I didn't tell
anyone because I didn't want a bunch of egg on my face if I was
wrong, but it just felt like it was time. I was so happy
when I saw Jeff take the lead and never look back. When
Jeff crossed the finish line to take the win, I can honestly say
I was extremely happy for him. Following Jeff was a hard
charging Mike Leslie with Bernie Smith finishing third edging
out Bob Ream, Jr., for the position.
Jeff, being the gentleman and good sport that he is said that he
wished he would have been racing Jeremy, but it felt good to
know that the car was there with Ream behind the wheel.
Jeff emailed me and asked me to please mention that he dedicates
the win and race to a very close friend Judy Mudersbach.
Judy was a good friend to Jeff who passed away from her battle
with cancer on Easter Sunday. Judy was a special person
not only to Jeff but to his family as well and she is sincerely
missed by the Henry's. It looks like the ABC Motorsports
team finally has lady luck on their side. My sincerest
congratulations go out to the entire team on a great win.
I didn't get a chance to go down and congratulate my buddy, the
Bern Dog, Bernie Smith on a great race. I told ya buddy,
you are on your way now. I was so happy to watch how
well you finished. Bernie really looked great in the main
and seemed to hold his own and fight for his spot. What a
difference a year makes!!! Great job Bernie. Keep up
the good work. The winners circle is just around the
corner from you.
The pits seemed to be filled with people who had mixed emotions
about the night. All in all I think it was a good race,
even though we all missed Jeremy. I still don't agree with
the boards decision, but seeing how they made it and enforced
it, it's something we all now have to live with. I guess
it just upsets me to think that a good driver like Jeremy gets
penalized for something that a lot of others should be penalized
for. I sincerely hope that the board comes down as hard on
other drivers as they did Jeremy. I think if they do it to
one driver they need to do it to everyone that drives rough.
The question is, who is going to make the call? Will it
take another protest by a car owner to have something happen or
will the board take the bull by the horns and take action?
The answer my friends is just to wait and see. Please know
that this is my opinion, and not anyone else's. I'm not
easily swayed by others and normally I don't comment over
controversies such as this. This time it just got to me as
I felt that the punishment didn't fit. Maybe I'm wrong,
and if I am, I'll be the first one to admit it. As they
say, there's always the next race. I'm sure Jeremy will be
on a terror as he always is.
Be sure to look for Bruce St. James and Bob Ream, Jr., with
USAC/CRA when they come to town for their last visit on May
21 until September. It will be good to see the 410's
running with Damion Gardner, Cory Kruseman, Mike Kirby and my
own personal favorite and pal, Super Rickie Gaunt. Don't
forget about Charlie Davis, Jr. and RJ Johnson, our hometown
boys who run with USAC/CRA. Be sure to come early as when
USAC/CRA comes to town the stands fill up fast.
I'll see you at Manzy on 5/21/05 from my favorite spot, turn 1.
Make sure you stop by and say hi or email me if you want.
I try to answer all emails. ASCAJune@aol.com.
Congratulations again to Jeff Henry and Robbie Allen on their
win. Special thanks to Robbie Allen for adding my column
on his website, www.abcmotorsports.com.
Be sure to check out the website if you haven't already.
Until next week.. stay safe and have fun.
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