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| Coelho, Sheridan, and Lacy Record Wins by Ron Rodda |
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Bandit Sprint Cars, Winged Rebel Cup Sprints, IMCA Modifieds |
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Hanford, CA...March 27...sprints...Kings Speedway in Hanford opened the winged 360 Rebel Cup season on Saturday and Brian Coelho recorded the win when the leading car of Ricci Faria lost power with 8 laps left in the race. In the nonwing Sprint Bandits, Danny Sheridan enjoyed the win, assisted by a flat tire on Danny Olmstead's leading effort after 15 laps had been scored. The IMCA modifieds held the 2nd Kings event of the season and Lonnie Lacy came back from a miscue to regain the lead to claim the win. A field of 18 Rebel Cup teams converged on the 3/8 fairgrounds facility and uncooperative timing clocks led to a stopwatch effort for time trials. Davey Key was quickest at 13.96, followed by Andy Ferris at 14.08 and Ricci Faria with a 14.14 effort. Three heats inverted six and put the top five into the inversion process. Heat wins went to Garrett Ishii, Lawrence Edlund, and Aaron Altaffer before 17 cars appeared for the invert four alignment for their 30 lap main. Coelho was on the pole with R. Faria alongside when the green waved for the three times necessary to get the race started. Coelho jumped the first start and Robert Ballou spun in turn two and the 2nd try did not work when Rick Williams had rear break on the frontstretch. Debris off of Williams' entry created a flat for fast timer Key. With a single file restart for the 3rd try, Coelho jumped into the lead with R. Faria, Ferris, Tommy Tarlton, and Danny Faria Jr. in pursuit. A red appeared with 3 laps scored when Ballou flipped off of the top of turn two, then a 19 lap green flag stretch followed. R. Faria grabbed the lead for the first top five change on lap 12 when he dove low into turn one to pass Coelho on the bottom. As the field raced down the backstretch on lap 23, R. Faria suddenly lost power and dropped out, elevating Coelho back into the lead. Altaffer and Colby Solomon tangled on the restart with all lead group cars one spot higher with R. Faria's tough luck. Ferris closed the gap a little over the last 8 laps but Coelho was in command to record the win ahead of Ferris, Tarlton, D. Faria, and Ronnie Day. The Sprint Bandits brought 21 cars to Kings for their 2nd point race with fast time honors going to Greg Taylor at 16.02. Three heats put wins in the record book for Danny Olmstead, Brad Evett, and Davey Knott and 20 cars appeared for the ten inversion lineup for their 25 lap main. Evett and Olmstead had the first row while Sheridan started in 4th. Burgin took 4th with a low side pass on lap 12 and used similar real estate to take 3rd a lap later, closing rapidly on the lead pair of Olmstead and Sheridan. Three yellows slowed the pace with the last being after 15 laps when Arizona driver, Alex Pruitt, stopped in turn two. At the same time, Olmstead's right rear came up flat, and Sheridan moved into the lead on the restart. Pressure was increasing from Burgin until a part broke in his steering, sending him into the turn four tire wall as the race ended. Burgin's steering problem elevated Pombo to 2nd ahead of Schank as the result of a last lap effort from Pombo. The 18 IMCA modifieds ran three heats and wins went to Tom Stidham, Bill Wilker, and Steve Smotherman before all 18 appeared for their 25 lap main. Stidham and Lonnie Lacy shared the front row and just a single yellow slowed their pace. Lacy jumped into the lead and was chased by Stidham, Smotherman, Marcus Aue, and Jon Schlundt whose car trailed smoke the entire race. Lacy quickly set a pace that allowed him to establish a large lead. Aue lost an engine for the only yellow on lap 9 and Lacy appeared to be cruising to an easy win. As Lacy approached traffic on lap 22, he slid too high in turn 3 and Stidham was able to grab the lead. What now looked to be a Stidham win ended the last time on the backstretch when he lost an engine and Lacy was first across the line. Smotherman was 2nd, Stidham coasted across for 3rd, while Chad Patterson and Bryan Burnes filled the top five. Rebel Cup Bandits IMCA Modifieds |
