|
9-17-05
– Carson City, NV
...The California Asphalt Sprintcar Association closed out the final event ever at Carson City’s Champion Speedway with young charger Nick Green capturing the 100-lap 42nd annual Silver State Classic, and defending CASA and Nevada State Sprint Car Champion Nick Rescino, Jr. locking up his second Nevada title with a second place finish in the feature event.
The venerable high-banked speedway, host to many of the greatest drivers in oval track racing history will be torn down to make way for a housing development in the rapidly expanding Carson Valley. One of the longest running racing facilities in the region, the exciting quarter-mile perhaps best known by it’s original name, Tahoe-Carson or “T-Car Speedway”, now goes the way of it’s neighboring tracks, the late Reno Speedway and Lemon Valley Speedway.
Fifteen CASA sprinters graced Champion Speedway’s final night after a pleasant afternoon BBQ hosted by the track and Model Dairy to thank all supporters over the last 42 seasons. Many folks with long associations to the track visited and reminisced as the afternoon progressed. When qualifications were over Nick Green established fast time for the third time in this his rookie campaign in a sprint car.
The $100 Dash-For-Cash consisted of a card draw for position and Rescino, Jr. son of legendary Nick Rescino bested the six car field of genetically predisposed racers including fellow second-generation driving star Eric Silsby, son of long-time Carson City competitor Tom Silsby, multi-generational driver Matt DeMartini, son of BCRA stalwart Marty DeMartini, Ryan Baumgartner, Nick Green, son of Knoxville Speedway and NARC champion Tim Green, and Glenn Hopper, son of NASCAR State Championship car owner Bill Hopper.
The CASA feature began with a fully inverted field and Alan Beck, also the son of a veteran campaigner Bob Beck, brought the field to green as they powered past the packed grandstand and blasted into turn one. Amy Barnes though grabbed the early lead until Beck spun out between turns three and four collecting Tom Haxall aboard the Dan Grode entry to bring out the caution on lap three. Both returned to action as Scott Clough retired from the event with a fuel pump problem a lap later. The fastest qualifiers, Green, Rescino, and DeMartini were working their way up through the pack when Rescino bumped DeMartini inducing a 360-degree spin that slowed the field again. DeMartini later slowed to a stop with a flat tire for another caution period in which his crew made quick repairs allowing him to return to the action.
Rescino slipped past Barnes for the lead shortly after the restart and a few laps later Barnes spun out, trapping Green behind her for another caution flag. Lap 28 produced yet another yellow flag as sixth running Earle Stanton was rear-ended and spun through the infield, kicking up so much dust that he appeared like a phoenix through ashes when emerging on the front straight, but the track crew was summoned to sweep the fourth turn clean before racing could resume.
With the track clear, Rescino continued to lead despite Beck’s second spin on lap 35 that landed him out of harms way in the center of the infield and required no caution flag. Laps recorded quickly and when the red refueling flag waved, Rescino was on the point, with rookie driver Jessica Helberg, after a great save of a near spin, Green who had been thundering back through the pack since his entrapment, 2003 CASA champion Tony Iacobitti, 2002 track champion Glenn Hopper holding down the top spots.
After the refueling stop, the caution flags that marred the first half of the event suddenly disappeared as if the evening’s full moon had lost its power. The final 50 laps brought “perhaps the best sprint car race seen at Champion in a long time,” according to track manager Les Kynett. “The fans just went wild.” Green squeezed past Helberg and set sail for the fleet Rescino while Iacobitti and Hopper continued their battle that had raged since lap one. DeMartini, despite his earlier adventures remained fast and determined as ever and caught both “Yak” and Hopper in lapped traffic and soon thereafter took third from Helberg as the laps registered quickly on the scoreboard.
Green continued stalking Rescino in and out of lapped traffic and ever-present were battles for position, especially as the final laps approached. Rescino, suffering with a car that was “just a little too tight in the center” of the corners, continued to lead the fiercely determined Green past the 90 lap mark. Green, who despite his earlier interruption appeared likely the fastest car on the track kept the pressure on as they approached a group of lead-lap cars still contesting their positions. With a scant few laps remaining, Green pounced on the opportunity and dispatched Rescino from the lead as they mixed in with the nearly lapped cars. With the white flag waving and the near capacity crowd roaring their approval and Rescino trying to recapture his lead, Green proved just too strong and he flashed under the checkers first to capture his third feature win of his inaugural sprint car season and the last ever Silver State Classic held at the speedway.
A double fist-pumping Green pulled into victory lane ahead of Rescino, who despite the disappointment of a runner-up finish captured his second consecutive Nevada State Sprint Car Championship. DeMartini was a close third, Helberg a solid fourth and Iacobitti a well defended fifth. Hopper settled for sixth, the last car to complete the 100 lap distance, Baumgartner recorded 99 laps for seventh, Haxall rebounded to take eighth with 98 laps, Joe Hauck had perhaps his best run of the season in ninth and Marvin Mitchell came in tenth. Alan Beck’s third run in a sprint car yielded an eleventh place finish, the last car running at the end. Amy Barnes retired on lap 75, Stanton suffered motor woes after 29 laps, Silsby had mechanical issues that limited his participation to only 27 laps and Scott Clough had a fuel pump failure on lap four that curtailed his evening.
The Beck team protested their finish based on the two-spin rule. After a board review, the ruling stood as called.
Next up: CASA returns to its roots on Altamont’s lightning fast half-mile October 1st for a scheduled 50-lap tilt, race 15 of the 16-race schedule. For more information on all CASA activity, visit www.casaracing.com
9-17-05 CASA Results
QUALIFYING
Nick Green 12.65, Nick Rescino Jr. 12.72, Eric Silsby 12.83, Matt DeMartini 12.92,
Glenn Hopper 12.94, Ryan Baumgartner 13.00, Tony Iacobitti 13.05, Earle Stanton 13.18,
Jessica Helberg 13.25, Joe Hauck 13.43, Scott Clough 13.44, Tom Haxall 13.59,
Marvin Mitchell 13.64, Amy Barnes 13.68, Allen Beck 13.98
$100 DASH-FOR-CASH:
Rescino, Silsby, DeMartini, Baumgartner, Green, Hopper
100 LAP MAIN EVENT
Nick Green, Nick Rescino Jr., Matt DeMartini, Jessica Helberg, Tony Iacobitti, Glenn Hopper,
Ryan Baumgartner (99 laps), Tom Haxall (98 laps), Joe Hauck (97 laps), Marvin Mitchell (88 laps),
Alan Beck (78 laps), Amy Barnes (75 laps- mechanical), Earle Stanton (29 laps- broken pushrod),
Eric Silsby (27 laps- mechanical), Scott Clough (4 laps- fuel pump)
POINT STANDINGS 9-17-05
1 Nick Rescino, Jr. 640, 2 Nick Green 612, 3 Glenn Hopper 605, 4 Tony Iacobitti 587,
5 Jessica Helberg 516, 6 Joe Hauck 500, 7 Marvin Mitchell 468, 8 Scott Clough 440,
9 Ryan Baumgartner 400, 10 Earle Stanton 322, 11 Jeff Gardner 319, 12 Trever Cummins 234,
13 Craig Smith 196, 14 Ivan Worden 187, 15 Matt DeMartini 182, 16 Anthony Simone 137,
17 Amy Barnes 137, 18 Brad Bumgarner 124, 19 Brian McClish 119, 20 Michael Trimble 117,
21 Eric Silsby 113, 22 Alan Beck 105, 23 Tom Haxall 97, 24 Destiney Hayes 76,
25 Jeff Burrows 66, 26 Ed Amador 62, 27 Burt Silverling 62, 28 Pat Ariaz 61,
29 Shauna Hogg 48, 30 Alan Kaiser 40, 31 Pat Bliss 37, 32 Rob Hammond 36,
33 Bob Beck 34, 34 Michael Zarevich 32, 35 John Silva 28
2005 NEVADA STATE SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINAL STANDINGS
1 Nick Rescino, Jr. 203, 2 Nick Green 185, 3 Glenn Hopper 171, 4 Tony Iacobitti 162
5 Ryan Baumgartner 160, 6 Jessica Helberg 154, 7 Joe Hauck 141, 8 Marvin Mitchell 138,
9 Amy Barnes 137, 10 Scott Clough 130, 11 Eric Silsby 113, 12 Alan Beck 105,
13 Jeff Gardner 104, 14 Earle Stanton 99, 15 Tom Haxall 97, 16 Matt DeMartini 97,
17 Michael Trimble 92, 18 Trever Cummins 70, 19 Brad Bumgarner 43, 20 Pat Bliss 37,
21 Brian McClish 35, 22 Bob Beck 34
|
