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| Bryan
Bullard Wins CASA McCreary Tribute at Carson City by Glenn Hopper |
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9-18-04
– Carson City, NV. An ever-inspired and especially determined Bryan
Bullard raced his way to victory at Carson City’s Champion Speedway in what
may have been the most impressive win of his career. While Bullard has a great
many victories to his credit, this win was difficult on both a professional and
personal level. Professionally, Bullard had to contend with the always potent
Nick Rescino, Jr. and Nevada’s own Amy Barnes who has always proven tough to
beat when defending her home turf. Personally, Bullard pilots Mike McCreary’s
Oval Chassis Research Special. McCreary,
who is dying of pancreatic cancer, was honored at tonight’s race in tribute to
his 40 years of excellence as a championship driver, car builder, engine builder
and innovator. Mike was in attendance tonight, despite his poor health, and a
veritable parade of friends, fellow racers and fans came by his trailer to visit
and share old memories. While Mike was both weak and tired, he enjoyed all
visitors, shared some laughs, and especially enjoyed watching Bullard
masterfully guide his black #71 to victory in the Mike Coy Concrete Construction
Trophy Dash-for-Cash and the 100-lap California Asphalt Sprintcar Association
feature. Following
an afternoon barbeque in McCreary’s honor hosted by Danny Barnes and Model
Dairy, Rescino began the 41st running of the “Silver State
Classic” by turning fast time in qualifications with a 12.41
second tour around the high-banks of the historic quarter-mile. The
Trophy Dash-for-Cash featured a draw of cards to determine the start, and 2003
CASA Champion, Tony Iacobitti aboard McCreary’s second entry drew the ace to
start from the pole, however, teammate Bullard grabbed the early lead. As the
field completed the fourth lap, local star Mike Ogden climbed the right-rear
wheel of Iacobitti, clobbered the end of the turn one wall while airborne and
executed a frightening series of cartwheels, which carried his car over the wall
and all the way to the bottom of the banking. The car settled at the base of the
outside signboards but to the relief of all, Ogden was uninjured. Track
officials called the event complete, allowing track personnel time to clean up
and inspect the crashwall’s integrity. Well shaken and with a sore foot, Ogden
walked away to the pits. However his beautiful blue #7 was a complete loss —
nearly every component suffered major damage, including the engine. As
feature time rolled around, Earle Stanton in his Nobel Construction #8 and Ryan
Baumgartner aboard Joe Hauck’s #85 lead the field to green. Stanton thundered
into turn one and seized the advantage from the pole as the front row sped down
the back straight with a field of 15 all dicing for early positions. Stanton was
challenged early by Pennsylvania transplant Tom Haxall aboard the silver Grote
#72, but Stanton was able to repel Haxall’s attempts to pass. Meanwhile
Rescino’s Bayshore Engines #11, Barnes’ Model Dairy #12, and Bullard’s OCR
#71 were engaged in battles to find their way towards the front. The
caution flag flew on lap 14 as Iacobitti made contact with another car and spun
to a stop at the top of turn four. Iacobitti suffered just enough suspension
damage that he was unable to rejoin the field. After the restart, Stanton’s
mount began to suffer some handling problems and he was unable to hold the lead
much longer. Rescino gained the point by lap 40 and was beginning to enter
lapped traffic when he made contact with Scott Clough between turns three and
four. Clough spun to the infield and the caution waved a second time, whereby
Rescino pitted to inspect his damaged front end. His crew quickly made repairs
and he and Clough rejoined the field. The
green fluttered over Amy Barnes as she assumed the lead and set about putting
some distance on the field. Barnes lead for several laps, but while extremely
fast, she could not gain any advantage over Bullard. Bullard stalked Barnes for
several more laps and was finally able to slip past for the lead. By
the three-quarter mark, Bullard, in heavy lapped traffic led Barnes,
“Cowboy” Craig Smith, fresh from last weeks CASA victory at Altamont and
making his first appearance at Champion Speedway, 2002 Champion Speedway rookie
of the year, Mark Beck in fourth, and a pugnacious Haxall who held fifth. As
the laps wound down, Bullard skillfully used lapped traffic to keep least one
lapped car between himself and Barnes who was less than 100 feet behind. The
lapped cars were all battling for positions themselves and the racing was tight
and fierce, making the leaders jobs much more difficult. Every time Barnes would
clear traffic, Bullard would pass another car to maintain some space and build a
buffer between he and Barnes. When
the double-checkered flags dropped at the completion of lap 100, they fell
before Bryan Bullard, streaking home with another win for Mike McCreary’s
shinny black Oval Chassis Research number 71. Amy Barnes took a hard fought
second, Smith posted a solid third, and Mark Beck ran an impressive fourth over
Tom Haxall in fifth, and 2002 track champion Glenn Hopper in sixth. Clough
rebounded from his early misfortune to take seventh over Rescino, Bob Beck in
ninth and Marvin Mitchell rounded out the top ten with his best finish at
Champion. Alan Kaiser finished eleventh ahead of Stanton and Baumgartner.
Iacobitti was credited with fourteenth place.
The
“California Sprint Cars” make their inaugural visit, Saturday September 25th,
to Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson, California at the super fast 3/8ths mile.
This next CASA race will be a combination show with the Bay Cities Racing
Association at the scenic Shasta County Fairgrounds. 9-18-04
CASA Results FAST
TIME COY
CONCRETE TROPHY DASH 100
LAP MAIN EVENT POINT
STANDINGS 9/18/04
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