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LAP 23
PIVOTAL IN MARTY MILLER'S SPRINT CAR WIN |
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Phoenix, AZ (March 15)
A total of 85 cars filled the pits
for Manzanita Speedway's Sprint Car, Mini Sprint and Dwarf Car season opener
Saturday night and Marty Miller, Terry Palmer and Rick Kochanowski were the
three drivers celebrating in the winner's circle. Past champions in general and
Marty Miller and Ricky Johnson in particular had the attention of the fans
Saturday night. Although Miller led all 25 laps it took a daring move on the
23rd lap to preserve the win for the Bill & Linda Sweeney Buckley.
Miller shot past pole sitter Shon Deskins at the drop of the green and Johnson followed him on the outside line into second. The duo ran that way as they were slowed numerous times for spins and crashes and the race was briefly halted when Chris Bonneau did a slow roll. While Miller was hearing Johnson's motor roaring behind him, the chase for third on back was hectic with Kaylene Verville holding off the challengers until Brandon Lane who started 11th finally worked his way past her. Just behind them were Charles Davis, Jr. and Bob Ream, Jr. who repeatedly traded postitions. The two made contact on the 21st lap with Ream spinning and Davis flying off the end of the track. Some heated words were exchanged as Davis confronted Ream while the track was being cleared but the exchange ended peacefully as the drivers expressed their ideas on the cause of the contact. When the green flag fell for the restart it was again Miller running low and Johnson still on his rear bumper. As the duo headed for the first turn on lap 23 Johnson, a five time champion, pulled out all the stops and put the Bobby Martin Ellis to the outside. He shot past Miller and had a three car length lead as he drove into turn 3. Miller never lifted his heavy right foot and the Buckley stuck like glue on the bottom of the track. He was back in front before the lap was completed. Johnson was a car length back at the checkered flag with Terry Belcher, Jr., taking third after starting in the seventh row. Lane was fourth and Jeremy Sherman came from 15th to claim fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Verville, the ‘97 champion Josh Pelkey, Bernie Smith, Mike Martin and Ben Gregg. Belcher was the hard charger of the race as he passed ten cars on his way to his third place finish. Sherman and Smith also improved ten positions in the 25 lapper. Pelkey was a surprisingly easy winner in the trophy dash as he beat Ream into the first turn and was able to pull away. Ream came back to get an impressive win in the first heat by driving out of the third row to beat John Gaston and Chris Bonneau. The second heat ended up with only three cars taking the green flag after two unsuccessful starts and Davis won over Ben Gregg and Jeff Henry. Jimmy Norman, Bernie Smith, Paul Norbury and Tony Smiley were all involved in the incidents that caused the restarts and all were sidelined. The third heat went to Lane who led all the way to beat Pelkey and Johnson. Miller got by Verville midway through the fourth heat and went on to win with Kaylene edging Shon Deskins for second. The semi main was a showcase for two top
contenders for rookie of the year honors. Justin Fisher who finished second to
R.J. Johnson in the 2002 Midget points, got the win with Johnson taking second
over Jay Ervine. Bernie Smith was fourth and Smiley took fifth. SUMMARY ARIZONA SPRINT CARS Semi Main: 1. Justin Fisher 2. R.J. Johnson 3. Jay Ervine 4. Bernie Smith 5. Tony Smiley 6. Bugs Norbury 7. Jason Sutphen 8. Joey Moriarity 9. Paul Norbury 10. Mike Kuemper 11. Jess Dunham 12. Mike Deskocick 1st Heat: 1. Bob Ream, Jr. 2. John Gaston 3. Chris Bonneau 4. Terry Belcher, Jr. 5. Joey Moriarity 6. Jesse Dunham 7. Mark Deskocick 2nd Heat: 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 2. Ben Gregg 3. Jeff Henry 4. Jimmy Norman 5. Bernie Smith 6. Paul Norbury 7. Tony Smiley 3rd Heat: 1. Brandon Lane 2. Josh Pelkey 3. Ricky Johnson 4. Jeremy Sherman 5. Justin Fisher 6. Jay Ervine 7. Bugs Norbury 4th Heat: 1. Marty Miller 2. Kaylene
Verville 3. Shon Deskins 4. Mike Martin 5. R.J. Johnson 6. Mike Keumper
(DNS-Eric Wilkins) PALMER FALTERS, THEN MAKES LATE CHARGE
TO WIN MINI SPRINT FEATURE The yellow was displayed for a stalled car and Mathus suddenly lost power and dropped to the back of the field turning the lead over to Greszler. Palmer had moved into contention and had the lead a lap later and then beat Greszler by three car lengths. Charles Mokry came out of the fourth row to finish third ahead of Dustin Carmony and Don Keesler. Behind the top five were Thomas Ogle, Brent Yarnell, Mark Stroh, Kiley Fellers and Jim Mattison. Mokry started off well as he beat Carmony in the trophy dash and then went wire to wire to beat Kurt Stults and Mattison in the first heat. Ogle bested Greszler and Carmony in the second heat and Fellers worked his way from seventh to first in the final heat to win over Mathus and Palmer. MINI SPRINTS Semi Main: 1. Judd Hathaway 2. Tony Osculi 3. Don Keesler 4. Brian Shaw 5. Lance Petersen 6. Dan Goodman 7. Dennis Parks 8. Dale Janisse 9. Robert Mobley 10. Brandon George 1st Heat: 1. Charles Mokry 2. Kurt Stults 3. Jim Mattison 4. Rick Alexander 5. Lance Petersen 6. Tony Osucli 7. Dave Alexander 8. Dan Goodman 9. Soctt Birdzell 2nd Heat: 1. Thomas Ogle 2. Jeff Greszler 3. Dustin Carmony 4. Mark Stroh 5. Judd Hathaway 6. Brian Shaw 3rd Heat: 1. Danny Mathus 2. Terry Palmer 3. Kiley Fellers 4. Brent Yarnell 5. Don Keesler 6. Dale Janisse 7. Robert Mobley Trophy Dash: 1. Charles Mokry 2. Dustin Carmony 3. Jeff Greszler 4. Terry Palmer 5. Mark Stroh 6. Dennis Parks NEW CAR MAKES KOCHANOWSKI A WINNER Clovis drove his Ford pickup to a win over
Matthews and Kochanowski in the first heat: Stalbaum won the second heat after
starting sixth as he bested Pat Hennesey and Craig Austin while Lund stayed in
front of Bruce and Tim Jones in the third heat. DESERT DWARF CARS 1st Heat: 1. Garry Clovis 2. Sandy Matthews 3. Rick Kochanowski 4. Art Garcia 5. David Brodeur 6. Denny Dowty 7. Helen Hennesey 8. Rick Hoelzer 9. Larry Stewart 10. Mike Wooster 2nd Heat: 1. Kevin Stalbaum 2. Pat Hennesey 3. Craig Austin 4. Storm Phillips 5. Greg Loper 6. Chuck Vallone 7. Theron Bobbitt 8. Ryan Hennesey 9. Chris Snyder 3rd Heat: 1. Matt Lund 2. Nick Bruce
3. Tim Jones 4. Jason Swonger 5. Tom Jones 6. Mark Pasucci 7. Nick Escobedo 8.
Gary Sibley 9. Rob Chevalier |
