|
Marysville CA – August 29, 2004. In the most intense point race in
the history of Clyde and Linda Tipton’s Twin Cities Speedway, Sparks
Nevada’s Mike Monahan took the crown by one point. The Featherlite Pacific
Sprint Car Se-ries came down to a single position decided on the final lap of
the final race of the season.
The Mini Stock, Stock Car and Speedway Sprint crowns had been decided as the
season finale curtain went up. Only the Pacific Sprint Car title remained up
for grabs. Monahan and three-time champion Korey Lovell were dead-locked at
the top.
The atmosphere was thick with drama as the field prepared for qualifying. Four
points, with a one point drop were available as the powerful winged ma-chines
tested the well groomed clay. Monahan was the second car out and Lov-ell would
be third. Monahan, like Lovell, a terrific qualifier turned a time that he
later said he’d like to have back. Then Lovell took to the speedway and,
while turning a time a tick quicker than Monahan, had to settle for an
unin-spired run. At the end the official stats showed Lovell qualified two
spots ahead of Monahan in tenth. Neither received any qualifying points. Quick
qualifier Mike Wasina Jr toured the track in 11.475 to take the top spot.
Heat race inversions put Monahan on the pole of the first heat race and he ran
away with the victory. Lovell was placed in row two of his heat race and could
do no better than third. Monahan would go to the feature with two points in
hand.
The pill draw was a zero and Sacramento’s Wasina sat on the pole. The
feature rolled off with Lovell on the outside of row five and Monahan on the
outside of row six. As the field rolled down for the start a two-car tangle
sent first time participant Kevin Gray into a quick flip on the front chute.
He and Dennis Wood tangled at the starting line right in front of the two
championship con-tenders. Both avoided the crash and a restart was in order.
The new green saw Wasina, Brent Dothage, Kevin Lovell and Colby Wiesz lock up
in a great fight for the lead. But all eyes were on the battle in the mid-dle
of the pack. As the race began to sort out Korey Lovell was able to keep two
cars, Kyle Schild and David Sprigg between himself and Monahan. Jer-emy
Phillips joined the battle up front and the top five were having a great dice.
Any other time they would have had the crowd roaring with delight, but this
was like no other time in the history of the speedway. If Lovell could keep
Monahan where he was he could secure the title. Then a rare occurrence changed
everything. As the race approached half way Colby Wiesz had a rare miscue in
turn three and spun to a stop bringing out the yellow flag.
The field closed with Wasina getting a lucky break as Dothage had just pulled
off a nice pass for the lead; just as Wiesz spun out. Wasina got his spot back
and was never headed thereafter. But as the green flag waved for the final
segment of the season, Monahan nipped past Sprigg and set sail after Schild
and Lovell. The point race was now tied as they headed into the final two cir-cuits.
Monahan closed on Schild, but it was going to be too little too late as the
white flag flew. The last lap was outrageous!
Third running Phillips flew off turn one and left the race with mechanical
ills after bouncing off the wall at the last restart. Then as the field headed
out of turn two headed for the checkers, Lovell got sideways and Schild
rocketed by. Monahan camped on Lovell’s tail for the final half-lap and
secured his first ever sprint car championship.
It was a storybook ending to a race that capped a storybook season for the
for-ty-six year old veteran. Monahan, who never claimed to be running for the
title, was as nervous as we’ve ever seen him while promoter Clyde Tipton tal-lied
and re-tallied the evening’s points to make sure. A few minutes after the
checkered flag waved it was official. The champagne began to flow at the
Monahan pit instantly.
Wasina led Dothage, Kevin Lovell and Steve Watts across the line in victory.
Brandon Dozier, Monahan and Gray won the caution free heats.
Yuba City’s Heather Bartlett won the TCS Mini Stock main event in
convinc-ing fashion. She won the first and last main events of the year.
Bartlett was in command almost from the start in what was considered a car
without “the good motor”. Bartlett kept the 2003 titleholder Jeremy
Blackshere at bay throughout the race. Greg Prather, James Castleberry and
Robert Luster rounded out the top five.
Several caution flags and restarts plagued the race and with the exception of
a come from behind drive by James Castleberry after a tough turn two crash,
Bartlett was the story. Robert Mull finished in sixth position after his motor
laid down late in the contest. He was still able to finish in sixth place and
se-cured a runner up spot in the final standings. Bartlett finished third in
the championship point race. Yuba City’s Kevin Sprague was the champion
going into the feature and drove a heads-up race with a wounded car until a
series of misfortunes relegated him to the pits.
A superb field of Speedway Sprint Cars made the tow on Saturday and the racing
was as good as the field. Napa’s David Goodwill won a very competitive race
that featured a number of outstanding drives. Once Goodwill was in front he
was gone, but for the second week in a row Sacramento’s Rick Eversult had
everyone looking in on his progress. A number of slick moves planted Eversult
into the runner-up spot and he actually started to gain on Goodwill in the
final laps when the checkers flew.
Vacaville’s Steve Stein raced to fine third place and continued to impress.
Champion Chris Magoon said he had sick motor and nursed his
champion-ship-winning ride into a comfortable sixth place finish.
Jeremy Hawes was on the gas all night. The Marysville rookie not only finished
fourth but also picked up his second consecutive heat race win. Jeremy runs
the only Ford powered Speedway Sprint Car we’ve ever heard of. The
“Wood-land Express” Gary Koster placed fifth in another fine ride.
The TCS Stock Car Series put a period on the point season by having a race
night filled with fireworks. A twenty-three car field entered and there was
rub-bin’ and racin’ going on all night.
A series of crashes in the heat races resulted in seven of the competitors not
able to make the call for the feature. The feature was filled with action and
only eight cars took the final checkered flag. It looked like the race was
going to be a shootout with young Phillip Shelby and John Johnson leading the
way. Both found misfortune along the way. Johnson was eliminated in a turn two
crash with Knights Landing’s Lonnie Taylor. Phillip Shelby came to grief
with tire woes that took him out of the lead. Amazingly enough, Phillip
Shelby’s problems opened the door for his dad Phil.
A red flag segment for a fire in Dan Kaundart’s car on the front stretch
closed things up and a charge to the checkered was anticipated by all. The
final few circuits provided a great battle that ended with Phil Shelby taking
the flag first. A charging Chris Paquette was breathing down his neck at the
finish as Jerry Bartlett pressed Paquette across the line. Phillip Shelby
recovered from his tire problems and flashed across the line in fourth.
Post race inspection found the winner illegal and Paquette was declared the
winner. This was Paquette’s second victory of the season. Jerry Bartlett was
crowned the champion for the fourth time at TCS.
Parties went into the wee hours of the morning as the champions and the other
participants celebrated the end of an incredible season. If action was the
ba-rometer then TCS was a hurricane during this season. Absolutely amazing
racetracks have greeted the participants in the second half of the season.
Multi groove racing has become the norm at the west’s premier action track.
Next week it’s the inaugural Labor Day Classic. The Speedway Sprint Cars,
the TCS Stock Cars and Mini Stocks will be featured. This rich event will pay
One Thousand dollars to win in each of the three classes. This will be a
star-studded event. CONSULT THE WEBSITE FOR RULES. Note the early start times.
If you are a racer, be there for pre-race tech starting at 2PM and a mandatory
driver’s meeting at 4PM. We will start practice at 5PM. We will start at
6PM. It should be a thriller!!
Grandstand gates open at 5 with racing set to get underway at 6. Visit us on
the web at the Official Web Site for Twin Cities Speedway
www.twincitiesspeedway.net or call (916) 985-2089 to reach the business
office. All the latest updates are always posted to the website first.
FEATHERLITE PACIFIC SPRINT CARS, SPEEDWAY SPRINTS,
MINI STOCKS, STOCK CARS
TWIN CITIES SPEEDWAY - MARYSVILLE, CA
AUGUST 28, 2004 - POINTS RACE #18
Featherlite Championship Nite
FEATHERLITE PACIFIC SPRINT CARS
FAST QUALIFIERS
1. 7W- Mike Wasina Jr., 2. 00Z- Greg Sherman , 3. 16- Kyle Schild, 4. 28P-
Jeremy Phillips
HEAT RACE WINNERS
Brandon Dozier, Mike Monahan, #2SB
MAIN EVENT
1. Mike Wasina Jr., 2. Brent Dothage, 3. Kevin Lovell, 4. Steve Watts, 5.
Kyle Schild, 6. Korey Lovell, 7. Mike Monahan, 8. David Sprigg, 9. Troy
DeGaton, 10. Dennis Wood, 11. Colby Wiesz, 12. Heath Hall, 13. Brandon Dozier,
14. Jeremy Phillips, 15. Greg Sherman, 16. Rich Vant, 17. Christine Zaveson,
18. Leigh Armstrong, 19. Kevin Gray
SPEEDWAY SPRINTS
HEAT RACE WINNERS
Rick Eversult, Jeremy Hawes, Steve Stein
MAIN EVENT
1. David Goodwill, 2. Rick Eversult, 3. Steve Stein, 4. Jeremy Hawes, 5.
Gary Koster, 6. Chris Magoon, 7. Ed Zimmerman, 8. #12, 9. Kenny Bair, 10. Tim
Sherman, 11. Jimmy Steward, 12. #96, 13. Steve Nelson, 14. Tim Sherman Jr.,
15. Charles Williams, 16. Ty Hawkins, 17. #69, 18. Nathan Johnson, 19. #6
MINI STOCKS
HEAT RACE WINNERS
Jeremy Blackshere, Robert Mull, Gary Holsey
MAIN EVENT
1. Heather Bartlett, 2. Jeremy Blackshere, 3. Greg Prather, 4. James
Castleberry, 5. Robert Luster, 6. Robert Mull, 7. Derek Dozier, 8. Doug
McKenzie, 9. Brad Magenheimer, 10. Glen Wingate, 11. Butch Jefferson, 12. Joel
Guisti, 13. Melissa Bryant, 14. Gary Holsey, 15. James Gillaspie, 16. Kevin
Sprague, 17. Shaun Merritt, 18. Mike Merritt, 19. Ryan Francis, 20. Robert
Hunt, 21. Damian Merritt, 22. Chris Cruz
STOCK CARS
HEAT RACE WINNERS
Charlie Duffy, Phil Shelby
MAIN EVENT
1. Chris Paquette, 2. Jerry Bartlett, 3. Phillip Shelby, 4. Charlie Duffy,
5. George Magenheimer, 6. Bill Knoop, 7. #7X, 8. #17C, 9. Wayne Turk, 10.
Chris Warner, 11. Kenny Robinson, 12. Andy Aust, 13. Dan Kaundart, 14. #16,
15. Lonnie Taylor Jr., 16. Archie Flynn, 17. Jeff Olschowka, 18. Dan Doxater,
19. Aaron Taylor, 20. Donnie Fortney, 21. #32, 22. #12X, 23. Phil Shelby
|
