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| JUNE'S
SOUTHWEST REPORT by June Lowitz |
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ASCA Sprint Cars At Manzanita Speedway 4/12/2003 |
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Where
to start? This weekend
was a great weekend for racing.
The weather was perfect, a slight breeze was up... not too
bad just slight, but when I walked into the racetrack and up to my
seat in Turn 1, I was a bit disappointed.
I took a good look at the track and knew in my heart that it
was going to dry out come main event time.
Even though I knew it was going to become dry slick, I
settled back for a great night of fun and racing at Manzanita
Speedway. I was a bit shocked at the low car count for the Sprint Cars, but I was reminded by my good friend and racing bud Derek, that USAC Sprint Cars were running at the Imperial County Fairgrounds in El Centro, California. I had heard that Kaylene Verville and Mike Boat would be at the USAC race, but didn't realize that so many Phoenix based drivers would travel to El Centro to race with USAC with a race at home. I can't blame them though because I love that little racy track in El Centro. I remember when CRA used to open their racing season at El Centro. I have a lot of good memories at El Centro and I hope to make it back there someday soon. Back to Manzanita, well what can I say? Chargin' Charlie Davis, Jr. started the night off where he left off the week before by winning the Trophy Dash. Charlie broke his 4-lap track record and now has it down to 58.09 seconds. WOW!!! He looked like the man to beat for the night. He won his heat race too, in record time again with a new 8-lap track record of 1:55.72. By main event time for the Sprint Cars, Derek's and my predictions for a dry slick track came true. We wondered what type of main this would be? Would the low groove come in? The top groove proved to be very tricky as a few drivers went up and over the top. Jeff Henry started on the outside front row with Eric Wilkins starting right behind him. Eric took the lead early on and looked to have it in the bag; but Jeff wasn't giving up. Eric would pull Jeff on a couple of the restarts but Jeff would hang in there. Then the track started to take rubber. You could smell the burning rubber in the air, even when the track was under the yellow flag. There was a yellow on lap 14 or 15 and Eric was in the lead with Jeff Henry in 2nd. In about 2 laps Jeff had the track figured out and found where the rubber was laid down and got his tire on that rubber, got a grip of the track and that shot him around Eric. Jeff never looked back. When the checkered flag dropped, there was a driver who hadn't won a main before in victory lane. I was so excited for Jeff Henry, his wife Cindy and their 2 cute little boys. Jeff drove the wheels off of the Robbie Allen owned Steve Coury Pontiac-Buick-GMC, ABC Body Shop, Adirondack Chimneysweep, B & R Automotive, Maxima Oils, abcmotorsports.com and deserved the win. I asked Jeff who (if any) his idols were/are in racing and he named Lealand McSpadden, Ron Shuman and Wayne Bennet. Jeff said he's been racing for 20 years in Modified Midgets with this year being his 3rd year in a Sprint Car. In asking Jeff what track is his favorite he says Manzy is his favorite and he really enjoys running the half-mile. He also says he's run well at Canyon Speedway in the Sprint Car and there's a track in Oklahoma called Port City. Jeff states that the Port City track was banked as, "high as a house and always had 2 grooves." When I asked Jeff is there was anyone in particular he wanted to thank, he stated, "My wife, my parents, Robbie Allen, Larry Pauli, Bill Thompson, Mark Keever, Donny Stone, Bob & Bobby Ream & his crew, Buckley Chassis, JD Dout, Ed Wilson, everyone that helps us and ALL OF THE FANS." I
had a nice long talk with Jeff's car owner Robbie Allen as well.
You'd probably recognize Robbie, as he's the one in the straw
sun hat. Robbie is one
of the nicest people I've met in the pits so far and he always keeps
me laughing. I
asked Robbie how long he's been in racing and he said since he was a
young child watching his uncle race figure 8's in Islip, NY.
Robbie reminds me of myself in that I always thought racing
was a part of life like eating or breathing.
Robbie said that he started out with Jeff as a sponsor of
Jeff's car when Curry Lee owned it and when Curry Lee decided he
didn't want to continue, Robbie bought Curry's car and 2003 is
Robbie's second year as a car owner. I asked Robbie what his first thought was when he saw Jeff
take the checkered flag and he said he started jumping around and
yelling. Robbie stated
that he started missing his dad rally bad as he and his father
talked about putting a team together before he got sick and passed
away in 1994. Robbie
said he doesn't remember much more than that other than he thinks he
hugged about everybody. Robbie
also stated that " now that we have had a win, I feel more
equal to everybody we race with."
Robbie, I'd like to tell you I think you were just as equal
before the win and it just took time for your team to gel together
to get that first win. I asked Robbie if there was anyone he wanted to thank and
here is his response word for word "GAYEJEFHENRYLARRYPAULITORCHDONNYSTONEJDDOUTTWINDYKIE I have to say that watching someone new win and the 1st win look on not only the drivers face but his family and his friends as well is something that I love to see. I'm sure that we'll be seeing more of the Jeff Henry/Robbie Allen team in victory lane. If I understood Ladd and Windy correctly, I understood that the mini sprint main event winner and the midget main winner as well as the sprint car main winner were all first time winners. It was a great night. I have to say good job to all of the fans also. Manzanita had the drivers come up into the stands and take up a collection for injured driver Marty Miller. The fans donated over $850 for Marty. Way to go Manzy fans!!!! On a sad note, I have to send my condolences to the Sokola Family on the loss of Mark Sokola who passed away Saturday. Mark was once a driver in CRA and I just saw him at the Gary Sokola Classic. RIP Mark. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep Marty in your good thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery. That's all for now. This weekend is an off weekend for ASCA, so you can find me at my real job working. I hope to see everyone out at Manzy the following weekend. Remember now to keep on smiling cuz it makes people wonder what the heck you've been up to. IF they ask, tell em you've been to a sprint car race. Happy Easter June
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