|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Press Release |
|
|
|
SHERMAN MAKES IT TWO IN A
ROW By Windy McDonald |
|
Phoenix, AZ (July 31) With four former Arizona Sprint Car Association
champions in hot pursuit Jeremy Sherman mastered the traffic to score a second
straight main event win at Manzanita Speedway and Jeff Greszler took
the mini sprint car feature.
Unlike his win the previous week on Manzy’s half mile track Sherman had plenty of company at the front of the pack in this one. Bob Ream, Jr., the 1998 champion and current points leader, repeatedly tried to make the low groove on the one third mile track pay off but Sherman was up to every challenge. A jubilant Sherman explained his high grooving, “I would rather run second in the high groove than win on the bottom”. For the second straight week most eyes were on the 2002 champion Eric Wilkins who again had to win the semi main to earn the 17th starting berth in the feature. With only one yellow flag, on the sixth lap to assist him, Eric was spectacular as he was third at the finish line and closing fast. Josh Pelkey, the 1997 title holder, finished fourth. Mike Martin turned in another good drive as he came from 18th to finish sixth just behind Nathan High who scored his eighth top five finish of the year. Rounding out the top ten were R.J. Johnson who started 12th, J.T. Imperial, up from 11th, Jeff Henry and 19th starter Andrew Reinbold. Ream’s night consisted of second place finishes in the trophy dash and in his heat race as well as the feature. He padded his 186 point lead over Wilkins and will carry a 234 point lead into the August 7th race. The heat races whetted the fans appetite as the 30 car field fought for 16 of the 20 main event berths. The first heat race was the best as Chris Bonneau turned in a great drive to beat Bobby Ream who came out of the back row to challenge the race long leader. Bonneau saw the nose of Ream’s bright orange car in each turn for the last five laps but refused to yield to the former champ and came away with his first heat race win of the year. Marty Miller and Tim Beal earned the other two main event berths. Brain Hacker also became a first time winner as he beat High, Bernie Smith and Ryan Linder in the second heat which was briefly halted when Ben Gregg bicycled in turn three and did an end over end flip. Gregg was not injured. The third heat saw Seaninn Hendricson win in a race long battle with Jeff Henry. Imperial was third and Rob Davis fourth. The final heat went to front row starter Josh Pelkey who won over Sherman, R.J. Johnson and Jeff Slinkard. Behind Wilkins in the 12 lap semi were Martin, Reinbold and Jeff McDonald. Six time champion Ricky Johnson had a fire in his car during hot laps and had to scratch from the evenings competitive racing. UNOFFICIAL ASCA POINTS 1. Bob Ream, Jr. 3128 2. Eric Wilkins 2894 3. R.J. Johnson 2457 4. Ricky Johnson 2315 5. Nathan High 2079 6. Josh Pelkey 2004 7. Jeff Henry 1860 8. Marty Miller 1816 9. Chuck Buckman 1707 10. Bernie Smith 1697
SUMMARY
ARIZONA SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION Main Event: 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Bob Ream, Jr. 3. Eric Wilkins 4. Josh Pelkey 5. Nathan High 6. Mike Martin 7. R.J. Johnson 8. J.T. Imperial 9. Jeff Henry 10. Andrew Reinbold 11. Marty Miller 12. Jeff Slinkard 13. Rob Davis 14. Bernie Smith 15. Tim Beal 16. Chris Bonneau 17. Brian Hacker 18. Seainn Hendricson 19. Ryan Linder 20. Jeff McDonald Lap leaders: laps 1-2 Hendricson, laps 3-25 Sherman
1st Heat: 1. Chris Bonneau 2. Bob Ream, Jr. 3. Marty Miller 4. Tim Beal 5. Mike Martin 6. James Aragon 7. Buddy Earle (DNS, Ricky Johnson---time: 2:02.75)
2nd Heat: 1. Brian Hacker 2. Nathan High 3. Bernie Smith 4. Ryan Linder 5. Andrew Reinbold 6. Ashley Corey 7. Willy Grombach 8. Ben Gregg
3rd Heat: 1. Seainn Hendricson 2. Jeff Henry 3. J.T. Imperial 4. Rob Davis 5. Jeff McDonald 6. Davey Bateman 7. Steve Sandrolini
4th Heat: 1. Josh Pelkey 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. R.J. Johnson 4. Jeff Slinkard 5. Eric Wilkins 6. Scott Pasmore (DNS, Brandon Lane)
Semi Main: 1. Eric Wilkins 2. Mike Martin 3. Andrew Reinbold 4. Jeff McDonald 5. Scott Pasmore 6. Willy Grombach 7. James Aragon 8. Davey Bateman 9. Steve Sandrolini 10. Buddy Earle
Trophy Dash: 1. R.J. Johnson 2. Bob Ream, Jr. 3. Josh Pelkey 4. Mike Martin |
