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(JUNE 11, 2005 - TULARE, CA) Many years ago, there was a song
containing the words "Ah slippin' and Ah slidin'," and those were the
words echoed by Andy Forsberg after capturing the curfew-shortened main event at
Thunderbowl Raceway on June 11th.
The normally moist clay dried earlier in the evening after the winged GSC
sprinters completed their caution-filled main event, leaving the SCRA
competitors with a "slick-track" surface on which to run. Forsberg,
who started from the outside of the front row, desperately tired to find some
cushion near the fence but couldn't grasp anything. He quickly "slid"
back to fourth as he and the others tip-toed ever so gently around the 1/3-mile
facility.
Undaunted, Forsberg tried several lines, fought his way back into second and
waited for the opportune time to make his move. He didn't have long to wait as
the scheduled 30-lap final was reduced to a NASCAR type green-white-checkered
finish.
The shootout was also brought about when Matt Day and Grant Jones brought out
the yellow flag on lap 18 when they tangled in turn one. When the green was
unfurled, Davey Pombo led the field heading down the straightaway into the first
turn, but Forsberg found an ever-so-slight opening at the bottom and brushed
aside the leader. He was able to protect his line on the final circuit to
capture his first SCRA win of the season.
Pombo, for the second consecutive time at Thunderbowl, settled for the runner-up
spot and his only consolation was that he finished one spot ahead of Chad
Boespflug, after finishing behind the Hanford youngster his last time out.
Steven Williams finished fourth despite being involved in a crash during the
Passing Masters Dash that appeared to finish him for the evening. However, his
crew did a masterful job of repairing his No. 93 machine, allowing the Merced
resident to remain in the season's point battle with his fourth-place finish.
Rounding out the top-five was Peter Murphy, who piloted the No. 55 car that
Forsberg drove last month. Based on their third and fourth-place finishes,
Boespflug took over the season's point lead from Williams, 398 to 395.
Chris D'Arcy was the hard-luck driver of the night. Starting from the third
spot, D'Arcy passed pole sitter Boespflug on lap one but almost spun exiting
turn four. The effect of all the cars slowing caused Tyler Spath to spin,
bringing out the first yellow of the evening. D'Arcy was placed back behind
Boespflug but passed the teenager once again on lap 10.
With a possible victory in sight, D'Arcy spun on lap 17 in the exact spot as
earlier in the race, and eventually finished in the 10th position.
Earlier in the program, Boespflug, Jonathon Logan and Forsberg captured the heat
races with Boespflug copping the Dash, which was cut short when four of the
six-car field crashed or suffered mechanical problems. As in the main,
D'Arcy started to spin in turn four, causing Williams and Pombo to crash hard
into one another; both received the hook. On the restart, Richard Harvey Jr.
lost an engine heading into turn one, causing D'Arcy to ride over his wheels.
Both competitors headed for the pits. Boespflug held off Forsberg for the
checkers and thereby increased his Forest Transportation Passing Masters point
lead (21) over Olmstead and Spath who each have nine.
Davey Pombo topped the qualifying charts with a time of 17.011 seconds, besting
Williams by a scant .023 seconds. Hard Charger honors went to Peter Murphy, who
started 12th and finished fifth.
Heat #1 Spin Tech Mufflers:
1st #98 Chad Boespflug, 2nd #55 Peter Murphy, 3rd #3 Davey Pombo, 4th #77 Chris
D'Arcy, 5th #69 Aaron Chaney, 6th #77S Brian Schuler
Heat #2 Awards & Signs:
1st #92 Andy Forsberg, 2nd #8 Jim Richardson, 3rd #35 Tyler Spath, 4th #93
Steven Williams, 5th #2H Steven Thomas, 6th #97 Matt Day
Heat #3 Shaver Racing:
1st #32 Jonathon Logan, 2nd #59 Richard Harvey Jr., 3rd #35X Albert Pombo, 4th
#67 Shain Matthews, 5th #12 Grant Jones, 6th #11D Danny Olmstead
Main Event, 20 laps:
1st #92 Forsberg, 2nd #3 D. Pombo, 3rd #98 Boespflug, 4th #93 Williams, 5th #55
Murphy, 6th #69 Chaney, 7th #67 Matthews, 8th #32 Logan, 9th #77S Schuler, 10th
#77 D'Arcy, 11th #35X A. Pombo, 12th #12 Jones, 13th #97 Day, 14th #2H Thomas,
15th #35 Spath, 16th #8 Richardson
Qualifying:
1st # 3 Davey Pombo 17.011
2nd #93 Steven Williams 17.034
3rd #59 Richard Harvey Jr. 17.156
4th #98 Chad Boespflug 17.157
5th #92 Andy Forsberg 17.208
6th #11D Danny Olmstead 17.339
7th #77 Chris D'Arcy 17.459
8th #35 Tyler Spath 17.536
9th #32 Jonathon Logan 17.546
10th #69 Aaron Chaney 17.551
11th #8 Jim Richardson 17.630
12th #67 Shain Matthews 17.735
13th #55 Peter Murphy 17.758
14th #97 Matt Day 17.844
15th #12 Grant Jones 18.081
16th #77S Brian Schuler 18.271
17th #2H Steven Thomas 18.325
18th #35X Albert Pombo 18.438
POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER TOTAL
#98 Chad Boespflug 398
#93 Steven Williams 395
#8 Jim Richardson 316
#35 Tyler Spath 299
#77 Chris D'Arcy 286
#59 Richard Harvey Jr. 257
#11 Danny Olmstead 239
#32 Jonathon Logan 238
#69 Aaron Chaney 205
#55 Andy Forsberg 163
#3 Davey Pombo 159
#51X Rusty Carlile 159
#35x Albert Pombo 154
#97 Matt Day 135
#77s Brian Schuler 135
#21t Howard Smith 97
#2H Steve Thomas 90
#12 Grant Jones 84
#44 David Hair 77
#55 Peter Murphy 57
#21 Jay Ervine 50
#17c Jimmy Crawford 50
#67 Shain Matthews 49
#55 Johnny Rodriquez 49
#51 Jeff Gardner 47
#0 Mike Kirby 43
#3g Greg Porte 38
#75 Todd Hunsaker 36
#22 Jeff Fiscus 31
#33 Daniel Hood 29
#64 Darren Slater 23
#21A Roy Guy III 20
#98x Jeremy Ellertson 19
#33 Evan Suggs 17
#35R Ryan Devitt 11
#19 Terry Foster 10
#35R Ryan Devitt 8
#21t Chris Smith 4
PASSING MASTER POINTS
NAME TOTAL
#98 Chad Boespflug 21
#11 Danny Olmstead 9
#35 Tyler Spath 9
#55 Johnny Rodriquez 7
#93 Steven Williams 7
#77 Chris D'Arcy 4
#32 Jonathon Logan 3
#51 Rusty Carlile 3
#8 Jim Richardson 3
#92 Andy Forsberg 3
#59 Richard Harvey 2
#3 Davey Pombo 2
#69 Aaron Chaney 1
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