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| NICE GUYS FINISH 1ST AT TCS; BAIR, SPRAGUE, DOTHAGE AND ROSS CLAIM VICTORY |
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Marysville CA - May 17, 2004. The FEATHERLITE
Pacific Sprint Cars produced a new winner Saturday as Lower Lakes’
Brent Dothage roared to a convincing victory at Clyde and Linda Tipton’s Twin
Cities Speedway. Dothage had a clear shot at the lead after front row starter,
and 3-time champion, Colby Wiesz crashed hard enough to fold his front end in
the second of two aborted main event starts. Wiesz’s trouble gave Dothage a
front row start.
At the original green, two drivers got together in row 3 and immediately had their cars crossed-up at the exit of turn 4. Only six of the 20 starters got through. A red flag was displayed as the entire 4th turn was blocked. Nobody turned over and, amazingly, all the cars restarted. Attempt #2 was thwarted when Colfax’s Wiesz had his problems in turn 2. The third time was the charm and Dothage took full advantage of his good fortune when he assumed the front row spot vacated by Wiesz. Dothage checked out. Behind Dothage there was an impressive knot of racers doing battle for 2nd through 6th. Nevada’s Mike Monohan, the Lovell brothers, Kevin and Korey, Sacramento’s Jack Lowder and Steve Watts were the players. For the 1st quarter of the race this group passed and re-passed each other a number of times. Heading into turn 3 on lap 6, Lowder attempted an inside pass on Korey Lovell for 3rd place. The pair ran side-by-side through turn 3 but bumped wheels as they entered turn 4. Both cars jumped sideways and Sacramento’s Watts had nowhere to go. Watts hit Lowder a ton and flew high in the air. Watts did a masterful job saving his bucking bronco, but spun to a stop in the infield. Lowder’s front end was crushed in the impact with Watts. The race restarted and Dothage had every one else covered. Monahan, in 2nd on the restart, was smooth and quick, but couldn’t catch Dothage. Kyle Scheild, Kevin Lovell and Korey Lovell rounded out the top 5 finishers. Two noteworthy drives spiced the racing in the main event. 16th starting Jeff Halleib fought his way to a 7th finishing position and arrived in second place in the point standings with his effort. The aforementioned Steve Watts, after his crash with Lowder, come from scratch to 9th in only 9 laps. It was his second appearance of the season at TCS. Yuba City’s Korey Lovell took over the point lead with his solid 5th place finish. Kevin Sprague of Yuba City posted an impressive victory in the always surprising TCS Mini Stock feature event. The featured race was stopped on the opening lap by a spectacular flip in turn 3 by Olivehurst’s James Gillaspie. Gillaspie got together with another car as the bunched up field rushed into 3. Gillaspie’s car bounced high in the air and flipped twice. Gillaspie appeared stunned and it was a while before he was extracted from the bent racer. Gillaspie has been one of the pleasant surprises in this class this year running fast and clean in the events he has competed in. Gillespie’s teammate Robert Mull took control at the new green. Yuba City’s Heather Bartlett and Greg Prather were also in the hunt. Sprague began his run to the front from 15th starting position. Charlie Marrs, Jeremy Blackshere and Brandon Dozier hooked up with Sprague and marched with him toward the front. A series of quick yellow flags for minor spins kept the quartet close to the front-runners. This one turned into a great race. Mull slipped high in turn 4 to give up the lead at ½ distance. Sprague was there and shortly thereafter captured the lead with a fine move in turn 2. Sprague’s car seemed better off of 2 than anyone else. That is anyone else except the high flying Dozier. When Dozier got by Bartlett for second he reeled in Sprague. Marrs showed up in 4th. Marrs and Bartlett got together on the front chute and Bartlett took a long lazy slide out of 3rd place. Two more yellows a couple of laps later took Bartlett and Tudor’s Brad Magenheimer out of the mix. With 5 laps to go in the contest Sprague, Dozier, Marrs and Blackshere were at the front. Throw in Mull and all five drivers had a shot at the victory. In the best duel for the lead seen here this year in TCS Mini Stock competition, Dozier and Sprague traded the lead back and forth. Marrs, Mull and Blackshere battled it out for the show position. A quick yellow with 2 to go set up a wild dash to the finish. Dozier got Sprague on the restart, but Sprague pulled even off 2 and reassumed the lead. The crowd roared its approval of this thrilling race. Dozier made another charge off of turn 4 coming to the white flag, and lost it. Dozier sawed at the wheel and began to straighten the car out as he headed to turn 1. Third place Marrs tapped Dozier as the pair entered turn 1 and Dozier started a long slide that resulted in a spin in turn 1. Sprague flew under the checkered flag with Marrs in second. Mull rebounded for a well-deserved 3rd place finish. Blackshere and Prather completed the top five. A frustrated Dozier recovered from the spin and placed 9th in the final result. Point leader Sprague was a happy driver in victory lane and said that his advantage in turn 2 was the difference. “I could really hook up coming off of turn 2.” he reflected. “But this is why we come here…to race like this”. Nice guys do finish first. Woodland’s Kenny Bair picked up his first ever TCS Speedway Sprint Car main event victory with a wire-to-wire drive that was described by one railbird as “smooth as silk”. Front row starter Bair just ran away at the green flag. End of story for Bair. Behind Bair a spectacular tussle was going on. Track record holder, Tim Sherman, point leader, Chris Magoon, Jake Servin, Rick Eversult and 1st time racer in this class, Steve Stein slugged it out for the entire distance. One red flag marred the event as a three-car tangle, at ½ way, had Dave Kinnard resting on his roll cage. There were no injuries. The new green, for Bair, was pretty much like the old green. He drove away. Vacaville’s Stein was the passing master in this one. He finished in second. Stein was the only one who could move in on Bair, but he simply ran out of time. Sherman placed 3rd after a consistent effort and some help from Magoon. A three abreast finish for 4th had the fans screaming. The finish required a slow motion video analysis to determine the outcome. 3rd place runner Magoon lost control coming out of turn 4 on the final lap. Magoon saved it, but the group of cars behind him went for whatever opening they could find. Magoon, Jake Servin and Eversult came across the line under a blanket. Magoon placed 4th and Servin was 5th. Eversult was placed 6th. Stein was a late entry into the show, but proved to be a contender. Stein has converted his winged Pacific Sprinter into a non-wing Speedway Sprint Car. Stein had to start last in his heat and passed seven cars in eight laps. He then pressed through to second in the main event. Bair seemed amazed in victory lane. “I didn’t think I’d win this soon.” mused Bair. He’s only raced his crisp looking Speedway Sprinter four times. Bair’s remarkable runs have landed him in 6th place in the point standings. What makes this all the more notable is that he actually missed one show for a family obligation he had committed to. The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars were the traveling series hosted by TCS this week and the outcome was perhaps predictable but hard fought nonetheless. For the 14th time in his career, Howie Ross of Sabastopol won at TCS. Ross benefited by starting on the pole. Ross attributed his victory to the pill draw, but it was more than that. Ross was under constant pressure from Stockton’s Steve Albirdi Jr. and Mike Grenert. The trio bumped banged and passed back and forth for the duration of the event. Only two minor yellows slowed the furious pace. Once again, the Nor Cal club put on a professional program with quality, sparkling racecars throughout the field. Saturday May 22nd the winged FEATHERLITE Pacific Sprint Cars will return to Twin Cities for round 6 of the 2004 point season. The TCS Mini Stocks, the TCS Stock Cars Series and the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars will also be on the card. It will be Scout Nite. TCS will salute local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troupes. 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. MINI STOCKS TWIN CITIES SPEEDWAY - MARYSVILLE, CA MAY 15, 2004 - POINTS RACE #6 FEATHERLITE PACIFIC SPRINT CARS HEAT RACE WINNERS MAIN EVENT SPEEDWAY SPRINT CARS TCS MINI STOCKS MAIN EVENT |
