|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Press Release |
|
|
|
PELKEY DRIVES THE J.D. BYRIDER BUCKLEY |
|
Phoenix, AZ (May 25) The state of Arizona may still be under their long
drought conditions but Josh Pelkey ended his 26 month victory drought in
Saturday night's 50 lap Arizona Race Mart/Sunoco "Salute to Indy" at
Manzaita Speedway while Michael Welker scored his first win of the year in the
co-featured Midget feature. Pelkey, the 1997 Arizona Sprint Car champion, who had been winless since March 11, 2000, took the lead on the second lap but was under constant pressure all the way to the checkered flag in the fifty lap feature which was contested on Manzy's one third mile track. The feature got off to a rocky start when two of the pre race favorites were eliminated while working the second lap. Eric Wilkins, the current points leader, and Bob Ream, Jr., the 1998 ASCA driving champion were the victims of a crowded track and they both flipped in the third turn. Neither driver was injured but both cars were through for the night. Darrell Sickles, who had beat Pelkey on the opening lap, gave way on the restart following the crash. Chuck Buckman kept pressure on the leader until Rick Byler, winner of the semi main, worked his way toward the front after starting 13th and took up the challenge. Despite repeated tries to wrest the lead from Pelkey he could never urge his Lazy Lou's Fish & Chip machine to the lead. Meanwhile the 2000 driving champion Marty Miller found a fast groove on the
bottom of the track and powered his way past Byler with hopes of repeating the
win he scored the last time our at Manzy. He was running second when the final
yellow flag of the night came out just past the 20th lap. The green flew again
at the halfway point and Miller went to work on Pelkey but retired two laps
later with a blown left rear tire. Byler's hopes for a win ended when he jumped the cushion on the 47th lap and Johnson, the defending champion, Buckman and Bryan went by before he could recover. With the leaders in heavy traffic, Johnson took his Weiler Farms Ellis to the inside and almost stole the race but Pelkey threaded his way through the pack and had a scant 1.43 second advantage at the checkered flag. Johnson finished second, his best effort of the year and Buckman was third. Bryan earned the $100 hard charger away as he passed 10 cars for his first top finish of the year and Byler crossed the line in fifth. Behind them were Sutphen, Terry Belcher, Jr., Jay Ervine, Ben Gregg and Sickles. Fifteen of the starters were still running at the checkered flag with the top ten still on the lead lap at the finish. It was, quite naturally, an elated driver and crew of the Gerrie Masseth car in victory lane. "Wow, I never had to look back, I could feel them beating on me or look inside and see Ricky there", Pelkey said in expressing his emotions at ending his drought and pocketing $1200 for the win and another $100 as the leader at the halfway point. The win was his fourth top five finish of the year and moved him one rung up the ladder to fifth in the points chase. Sutphen notched his first heat race win of the year as he bested Pe lkey and Wilkins in the first eight lappper. Ervine also added his name to the heat race winner's list when he beat Johnson and Nathan High in the second heat. The third heat went to Ream who was in front of Henry and Sickles at the finish. Davey Bateman and Chris Bonneau made heavy contact while battling for fourth and both cars were severely damaged ending the night for their drivers. Jeff Henry won his first career sprint car trophy dash over Bryan, Wilkins
and Ream. ARIZONA SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION Semi main: 1. Rick Byler 2. Fred Bryan 3. Ryan Linder 4. Terry Belcher, Jr. 5. Ben Gregg 6. Bernie Smith, III 7. Chris Rhein 8. Travis Cooley 9. John Gaston 10. Brian Stansberry 1st heat: 1. Jason Sutphen 2. Josh Pelkey 3. Eric Wilkins 4. Chuck Buckman 5. Rick Byler 6. Ryan Linder 7. Brian Stansberry 8. Travis Cooley 9. Chris Rhein 2nd heat: 1. Jay Ervine 2. Ricky Johnson 3. Nathan High 4. Marty Miller 5. Fred Bryan 6. Terry Belcher, Jr. 7. Ben Gregg 8. Bernie Smith., III 3rd heat: 1. Bob Ream, Jr. 2. Jeff Henry 3. Darrell Sickles 4. Brandon George 5. John Gaston 6. Josh Foster 7. Davey Bateman 8. Chris Bonneau Trophy dash: 1. Jeff Henry 2. Fred Bryan 3. Eric Wilkins 4. Bob Ream, Jr. UNOFFICIAL ASCA POINTS Welker went back to work and built a 4.03 second lead over the field as David Brimingham, Jr., R. J. Johnson and Justin Fisher battled for second. Fisher, who had earlier won his first trophy dash and then captured his heat race spun and that allowed the field to bunch up behind Welker's Mad Max Upholstery car. However, the battle was again for second as Birmingham, Johnson and Chris Edwards were sometimes three abreast. Johnson claimed second on the seventh lap but traded the position with Birmingham several times before finally making the low side of the track work. After his spin Fisher came charging back to the front and nipped two time
main event winner Edwards on the final lap to claim fourth behind Welker,
Johnson and Birmingham. The young guns rest atop the standings in the midgets as two freshman and a recent high school graduate hold down the top three spots. R. J. Johnson holds a 24 point edge over fellow freshman Justin Fisher with Chris Edwards is third another ten points back. KENZ & LESLIE/BG CHEMICALS MIDGETS 1st heat: 1. Justin Fisher 2. Adam Young 3. David Birmingham, Jr. 4. Dean Daly 5. Tony Everhart 6. Rob Clary, Jr. (DNS–Mike Leslie) 2nd heat: 1. Chris Edwards 2. Michael Welker 3. R.J. Johnson 4. Doug Elliott 5. Dustin Burkhart 6. Mike Courtney 7. Dale Daly Trophy dash: 1. Justin Fisher 2. Mike Welker 3. Chris Edwards 4. Mike Leslie BG MIDGET POINTS |
