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Nick
Green Nips Rescino At The Line In Second CASA Thriller |
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6-18-05
– Tracy, CA. Sparkling 18 year old rookie Nick Green, who came up just a
foot short of his first California Asphalt Sprintcar Association feature win in
last week’s CASA race at Altamont Raceway & Arena, used the experience
gained for this back to back opportunity to make sure it was he who had the
one-foot advantage at the stripe, and in doing so, became the first rookie
driver in CASA history win a feature event. Green’s ear-to-ear grin in victory
lane said it all as the youngster prevailed over defending CASA champion Nick
Rescino, Jr. in a 50-lap barn burner that had to be seen to be believed. Green
edged Rescino in a similar fashion for fast time honors in qualifications,
posting a fast lap of 17.574 at 102.424 M.P.H., .011 faster than Rescino in a
harbinger of things to come. Destiney
Hayes claimed heat number one after stalking Earle Stanton for several laps, who
in turn held off Green, 2004 CASA champ Tony Iacobitti, Jessica Helberg and
Marvin Mitchell. Heat two went to Rescino over Glenn Hopper, Scott Clough, Joe
Hauck and Craig Smith who retired to repair a driveline vibration. The
trophy dash took on a different look with both Smith and Rescino unable to
answer the call, Smith’s crew in the midst of a drive train repair and Rescino
fixing a problematic throttle linkage the fifth and sixth fast qualifiers were
added as replacements. Helberg and Hopper joined the dash however it was Hayes
over Green, Hopper and Helberg in the four-lap event. Several
CASA drivers, including Green, were interviewed trackside during the always
popular fan autograph session, and it was then that Green let it be known he and
his #14 crew might just have “a little something” for the feature this
evening. With
a six-car inversion Hopper and Helberg paced the field to the green flag,
however as the pair entered turn one, Hayes attempted to go low under Helberg
and the two made contact and slid into the turn one wall. Helberg was able to
make quick repairs to her maroon #4 and rejoin the field but Hayes’ #28
suffered substantial damage and was finished for the night. On
the complete restart, Hopper was penalized back to row two for apparently
jumping the initial start, a decision not universally agreed upon, however this
now placed “Cowboy” Craig Smith and Green on the front row. Smith sped to
the early lead with Green, Rescino and Hopper close behind. Several laps into
the fray Rescino maneuvered his #11 past Green for second while Smith tried to
distance his #32 from the pack. In typical CASA action, Smith could never gain a
comfortable lead though he did fair well until the very same driveline gremlins
returned and doomed his quality run. He and Stanton made their way to the pits
on the same lap with Stanton concerned about a quickly rising temperature gauge. This
left Rescino at the helm but Green was never more than a car length behind at
any time. During the entire 50-lap affair, Green hounded Rescino down every
straight and through every high-speed corner. Closer than a shadow, Green
pressured Rescino as the pair scorched around the half-mile at a torrid pace. As
the caution free event kept clicking the lap counter, Rescino’s mount showed
signs of getting looser each lap under Green’s relentless attack. The two were
the class of the field and with a few laps remaining they put the rest of the
field a lap down, and as the white flag flew Green pressed even harder. As the
lead pair roared through turn three on the final lap Green feigned high through
the middle of the corner then ducked low as they exited turn four. The screaming
fans, again bearing witness to another photo finish saw Green, after a 49 and
nine-tenths lap epic battle, squeeze past Rescino by no more than a foot to
extract a huge measure of redemption over last weeks outcome and win his first
CASA sprint car feature in a sensational effort that will long be remembered by
all. A
jubilant Green crew soaked up the victory and holds the promise of more to come
for their talented young shoe. Rescino, disappointed but gracious, finished
second over Hopper, a rebounding Scott Clough in fourth, his best finish of the
season, and Helberg who returned to run a solid fifth. Tony
Iacobitti plagued with some steering woes finished sixth over veteran campaigner
Marvin Mitchell in seventh. Unfortunately, Joe Hauck’s best run to date was
forced to join Smith in the pits with a similar vibration issue and Hauck was
credited with eighth. Ninth was Smith, tenth went to Stanton and Hayes was
classified in eleventh. CASA
takes a well-deserved weekend off before gearing up for the big Inaugural Mike
McCreary Memorial 100 on July 2nd at Champion Speedway in Carson
City, Nevada. The “Tire Burning Thunder” of the California Sprint Cars is
looking forward to a very special event to remember one of CASA’s founders,
and a true racing icon by having an enhanced purse for which the top CASA guns
will take aim. Please visit www.casaracing.com for more
information on the Mike McCreary Memorial and all CASA activities. 6-18-05
CASA Results QUALIFYING TROPHY
DASH 35
LAP MAIN EVENT POINT STANDINGS 6-18-05
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