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| Press Release |
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SHERMAN STILL
UNDEFEATED IN FRED BRYAN’S #77 |
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Phoenix, AZ (August 21) With over 100 cars in the pits and the grandstands full, Manzanita Speedway put the finishing touches on the running of its 53rd anniversary races Saturday night. Jeremy Sherman was the center of attention as he scored his fourth win of the year in record time in the 25 lap sprint car race on the half mile track. Points leader Anthony Madrid scored his second win of the year in the dirt modified feature which was also contested on the big track. Thomas Ogle captured the mini sprint car main event and Tim Jones prevailed in the dwarf car races on the one third mile oval.
Sherman, who also won last year’s anniversary race, stared tenth and chased down Josh Pelkey on the fifth lap and then lapped all but four cars as he knocked almost a full minute off the 25 lap record. His time was 8:46.16 compared to the old record of 9:39.96 set in the 2002 anniversary show by Marty Miller.
“ We worked on the set-up and did not have it quite right early but Fred hit it just right for the feature as it was near perfect. The top of the track finally wore out a little but the car was just as good when I moved down,” Sherman said in the winner’s circle.
From the time the green flag dropped until he moved out front you could sense that Sherman was on a mission to keep Eric Wilkins and Josh Pelkey from getting away from him. He took third from Wilkins on the third lap and made a great slide job to take the lead a lap later.
While the actual race was run in record time it did not get off to a good start as a three car crash in the first turn halted action almost before it began. The crash started with a spin by Chuck Buckman who started on the outside of the front row. Seainn Hendricson tried to avoid the melee but caught the wall and flipped. Mike Leslie, who had earlier beat Sherman in the semi main, suffered extensive damage to his car when he hit Buckman. No drivers were injured but all three cars were sidelined.
Wilkins and Pelkey diced for second and Wilkins finally took advantage of heavy traffic to move into second but by then Sherman had fashioned a commanding lead. Wilkins blew a tire coming off the final turn and barely beat Pelkey to the checkered flag,. R.J. Johnson was in fourth. The ASCA points leader Bob Ream, Jr. had a bad night early but it turned out well. He flipped hard in the running of the trophy dash and it appeared he would lose his points lead to Wilkins. However he bummed a ride in the car assigned to Tim Beal and tagged the 13 car field in the 12 lap semi main which put 8 drivers into the feature behind the top 12 in points.
When he crossed the finish line in ninth it again seemed that his night was over. However Nathan High had problems in the trophy dash and had to scratch from the feature and that moved Ream into the 20th starting spot. He drove to fifth, the final driver on the lead lap. His drive allowed him to remain atop the standings but Wilkins has closed to within 96 points of the lead with six races remaining on the 2004 schedule.
Rounding out the top ten were Chris Bonneau, Ricky Johnson, Bernie Smith, Brian Hacker and Bruce St. James. Chris McArthur did a very high end over end flip in the semi and his car erupted in flames. He quickly extricated himself and then jogged to his pits uninjured. The next outing at Manzanita is scheduled for September 18th when they share the 1/3rd mile track with the Dirt Modifieds
SUMMARY ARIZONA SPRINT CARS Main Event: 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Eric Wilkins 3. Josh Pelkey 4. R.J. Johnson 5. Bob Ream, Jr. 6. Chris Bonneau 7. Ricky Johnson 8. Bernie Smith 9. Brian Hacker 10. Bruce St. James 11. Ben Gregg 12. Willy Grombach 13. Andy Reinbold 14. Jeff Henry 15. J.T. Imperial 16. Shon Deskins 17. Nathan High 18. Chuck Buckman 19. Mike Leslie 20. Seainn Hendricson (25 laps, Time: 8:46.16—new track record) Lap leaders: laps 1-4 Pelkey, laps 5-25 Sherman
Semi Main: 1. Mike Leslie 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. Brian Hacker 4. Willy Grombach 5. Ben Gregg 6. Seainn Hendricson 7. Shon Deskins 8. Bruce St. James 9. Bob Ream, Jr. 10. Mike Miller 11. Steve Sandroline 12. Chris McArthur
Trophy Dash: 1. Chuck Buckman 2. Eric Wilkins 3. Nathan High 4. Bob Ream, Jr.
UNOFFICIAL POINTS
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