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Bartlett,
Fortney duel to the finish, Marrs
and Richards also triumph |
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Marysville CA - May 3, 2004. In perhaps the best race of the new season 3-time champion Jerry Bartlett bested Yuba City’s Donny Fortney after a titanic struggle in the TCS Stock Car Series. Charlie Marrs and Tony Richards took home the gold in the TCS Mini Stock Series and TCS Speedway Sprint Car Series respectively. The TCS Stock Car Series race was a thriller from the word go. Clean, side-by-side racing through the first 5 laps had the fans cheering. Vastly improved lady racer Cindy Sherman took off like a rocket during the early laps of the feature event. Fortney fell quickly into second and started to hound Sherman. Point leaders, and back row starters, Jerry Bartlett and Bill Knoop started their runs to the front. The mid pack fight was a fast one that included Wayne Turk, Chris Paquette and Tony Licari. Lap 4 was an eventful one as Knoop half-spun in turn 1 and was collected by Oregon House’s Dan Kaundart. The impact broke Knoop’s steering and the former champ took it to the pits. Fortney got around Sherman in turn 4 with a quick, slick move. At 1/3 distance Turk and Bartlett started to move through the pack with Rio Oso’s Jake Cavasos in the mix. Then a three-car scrape impacted the leaders. Sherman, Cavasos and Lonnie Taylor III all got together in turn 4. Cavasos was eliminated in the hard impact. Sherman did a masterful job by turning a quick 360 and saving the car. Taylor drove on. At the new green Licari, Archie Flynn and the fast charging Turk were camped on Fortney’s tail. In one move, Turk quickly eclipsed Licari and tried an inside move on Flynn in turn three. The attempted double pass just didn’t quite work. Turk got it sideways and Licari got into him and Turk came to rest on the berm in 4. Turk’s passing job was impressive up. With 10 to go Bartlett was in second after another quick yellow. This set up perhaps one of the greatest duals in the history of stock car racing here at TCS. The new green had Bartlett doing everything but standing his car on its nose as he chased the high-flying Fortney. Lap after lap nose to tail side by side the pair continued to battle. The appreciative crowd could be heard over the scream of the engines. With 3 to go Bartlett crept up beside Fortney and gunned his car by in turn three. Bartlett’s move caused him to go high and Fortney responded with a sharp move of his own, down low, as they headed onto the straight with 2 to go. They raced side by side into 1. Bartlett nosed ahead as they raced into the final lap. Bartlett took the checkered flag with Fortney glued to his tail. In victory lane, Bartlett new he was in a shootout. “I got him in three and thought I’d see the white flag pretty soon after that…and what I saw was that he (Fortney) was fighting back...It was a great show.” The win was Bartlett’s second in three tries. With Knoop and Turk experiencing trouble Bartlett should have a cushion at the top of the point standings when they are released later this week. Bartlett and Fortney beat Chris Paquette, Flynn and Aaron Taylor to the stripe. Yuba City’s Charlie Marrs had to “…show the kids how it’s done…” as he put it in victory lane. Marrs was unstoppable as he carved his way through the field in an exceptional display of driving. Once in front, Marrs easily outdistanced a great field in the TCS Mini Stock Series and captured the main event. The feature was waved off and Yuba City’s Ken Reische showed up at the front by the end of lap 2 and had a nice lead over the fast moving field. Defending champion, Jeremy Blackshere, Marrs, Brandon Dozier, point leader Heater Bartlett and Kevin Sprague were the early movers as the race approached 1/2 distance. 2nd place Blackshere bobbled out of turn #2 and the fast moving Marrs pounced; he had come from the back to second. Marrs then had leader Reische in his sights. Marrs and Reische had an entertaining battle for a number of laps before Marrs took the lead for good. A late race spin by Reische in turn two caused him to relinquish 2nd place to Dozier with Sprague, Bartlett and Blackshere getting by. With 8 laps remaining officials noticed sparks coming from Bartlett’s 4th place car. For safety’s sake, she was brought to a halt for inspection. Bartlett was sent to the pits for some quick repairs and she rejoined the field…in last place. Bartlett cranked it up and roared back to an impressive 6th place finish in the final laps. Marrs, Dozier, Sprague, Blackshere and James Gillaspie, of Olivehurst, were the top five. Gillaspie was a serious player in the mix. He challenged in the top five with a clean, fast drive all night in his best drive to date. Tony Richards, of Paradise won his second TCS Speedway Sprint Car main event of the season. This one was a real tussle. After a couple of slowdowns, including a flip on the front stretch by Sacramento’s Ricky Eversult, the feature ran at a fast and furious pace. Woodland’s Kenny Bair took off with the lead as point leader Chris Magoon, Richards, and quick qualifier Tim Sherman headed for the front. 7th starting Jake Servin put on a couple of nice moves and was in the front pack of cars. Magoon soon made it to the front and got by Bair off of turn 2. 6th starting Sherman drove it into turn 3 way too hard while challenging for 5th and caused a yellow flag. Richards slipped by into second after the restart and began to creep in on Magoon. Magoon and Richards had a great side-by-side battle for the lead as Sherman put on the clinic as he started to claw his way back to the front. The leading pair were side-by-side as they exited turn 4 on lap 7. Magoon and Richards locked wheels with Magoon coming to a stop after a fast spin. With 13 to go Richards checked out. Magoon began a furious charge back to the front and finished in 6th position after a great drive. Servin finished second. Sherman got back to third after his spin and having to visit the pits for a flat tire later in the event. Bair finished 4th ahead of a fast closing Bernie Carter. In preliminary heat race action, Jeremy Hawes took a wild ride in turn 1. He flipped several times after contact with another car. Hawes was shaken, but unhurt in the wildest ride of the new season. The “New Look” BCRA Midget Lites shed their wings and 17-year-old driving sensation David Maples of Sabastopol won his first ever-main event. The race suffered through a series of early race yellow flags, but once it got rolling it was a quick run to the finish. Maples led Scott Kinney across the line as Kinney presented a late race challenge. Saturday May 8th the winged FEATHERLITE Pacific Sprint Cars will return to Twin Cities for round 4 of the 2004 point season. The Speedway Sprint Cars, the TCS Stock Car Series and the SORA Sprint 100’s will also be on the card. Pit gates open at 3, the grandstand gates open at 5 with racing at 7. Visit us on the web at www.twincitiesspeedway.net or call (916) 985-2089 to reach the business office. All the latest updates are always posted to the website first. SPEEDWAY SPRINT CARS, MINI STOCKS, STOCK CARS SPEEDWAY SPRINT CARS TCS MINI-STOCKS MAIN EVENT STOCK CARS MAIN EVENT |
