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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Kent
Wins Showdown by Ron Rodda |
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Winged and nonwing sprints |
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Hanford, CA.September 14.Steve Kent led all 30 laps from his outside
front row starting spot to win the huge California Sprint Car Civil
War/California Rebel Cup winged 360 sprint event on Saturday at Kings Speedway
in Hanford. The long awaited race matched the stars of the northern based
Civil War series drivers against the home team Rebel Cup drivers. Also on
hand were the Sprint Bandits, a nonwing 360 group, and Danny Sheridan won their
25 lap battle on the 3/8 surface. The field of 50 winged sprints were led in qualifying by Johnny Rodriguez who posted a 14.102 as the 36th car to time in. Andy Forsberg, Kent, Brian Coelho, and Ron Myska filled the top five in timing chores. The Civil War format was used so four heats of twelve cars each, inverting six and moving the top four to the main were raced. These very competitive ten lap races were won by Lawrence Edlund, Mark Barroso, Luke Bebereia, and Ricci Faria, all Rebel Cup drivers. The C main moved a pair of drivers one step up and Greg DeCaires and Twin Cities 2002 champion, Korey Lovell took those spots. The B main moved the top four finishers into the headline event and those spots went to Coelho, Rodriguez, DeCaires, and Tim Worth, the incoming Rebel Cup point leader. The loaded B main had five of the fastest seven qualifiers in the field as the combined organizations created a very talented field. Incoming Civil War point leader, Mike Henry, flipped in the B main to end his evening. The zero inversion that is part of the Civil War options assigned Forsberg and Kent to row one while Rodriguez and Coelho formed row two. With 74 sprint cars in the pit area on a warm night, the track was dry and somewhat dusty come main event time for the winged groups. This played right into the hands of Kent and his perfectly setup car was dominant with pressure only coming in traffic. The talented group of 20 drivers in the main only had two quick yellows for spins despite the slick conditions. Kent led all 30 laps for his 3rd win in three Rebel Cup starts this season. Coelho ran 2nd the entire event, losing his chance at overtaking the fleet Kent in traffic when the pair of yellows flew. Racing for 3rd through 5th was intense with Forsberg in control of the spot until a lap 19 left rear tire failure sent him to the pit area. Bebereia took 3rd from his 16th starting spot when Forsberg departed but six laps later Placerville driver, Jimmy Trulli, used the top of turn two to move from 5th to 3rd in one sweep, a spot he held until the finish. Coming from 12th starting, Peter Murphy took 4th from Bebereia in the waning laps. The 24 nonwing Sprint Bandits were led at the clock by Sheridan's 16.120 effort, just ahead of Aaron Altaffer's 16.126 mark. Scott Nail flipped hard during qualifying and was done for the night. A trio of heats saw wins go to Wade Griest, Jerome Warmerdam, and Altaffer. A field of 21 started their 25 lap main with 4 inverted. This math put incoming point leader, Gene Manhire, and John Burnett on the front row while Altaffer and Sheridan filled row two. Only two slowdowns came during the main with Burnett a flip victim on one occasion. Manhire led from the start and looked to be on his way to another win, leading the first 15 laps. With the last yellow falling on lap 9, the long stretch of green conditions meant lapped traffic would play a part in the outcome. That proved to be the case as the field raced into turn three for the 16th time. The leading Manhire went on the outside of a car to lap it and in the process got too high, slipping briefly and allowing Sheridan the opening to grab the lead. Sheridan was 5th after one lap and worked his way forward, taking second from Warmerdam when the latter went high in turn 3 on lap 9. Sheridan was ready when Manhire met similar misfortune in the same turn and led the last ten laps for the win. Manhire held for 2nd at the conclusion while 16th starting, Greg Porte, was 3rd ahead of Altaffer and Terry Shank, Jr. The track announced that the late models have been dropped from the two day October 25-26 show and the Sprint Bandits will take their place. The Bandits will run for $2,500 to win that weekend with a main event purse in the $13,000 range. Civil War/Rebel Cup Sprint Bandits |
