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Phoenix, AZ (April 16) Nathan High won a race long duel with
Jeremy Sherman in Saturday night's Arizona Sprint Car Association feature while
Jerry Coons, Jr. topped the field in the Arizona Midget Racing Association
feature and Justin Randall went wire to wire in the Desert Dwarf Car main event.
The Arizona Sprint Car main event Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway turned
out to be a classic match up as Nathan High ran the entire 25 laps in the low
groove and Jeremy Sherman, for the most part, was riding the rim on the one
third mile track. On this night, High proved to be in the right place at the
right time.
High, who had to bum a ride for the night after blowing an engine in his regular
car last week, quickly shot from his fourth row starting berth to have the lead
before the first lap was completed. He pulled away as Sherman, who shared the
fourth row win him, worked the top of the track and movedinto second on the
fifth lap.
Despite seeing Sherman's car on the outside in each turn, High refused to move
off the bottom. Sherman finally grabbed the lead on the 15th lap but High was
back in front two laps later.
Sherman again wrested the lead from High on the 19th lap and then moved to
the bottom in hopes of blocking High but his car would not work down low and
when he slid high and almost spun on the 23th lap High sailed past and was still
in front a lap later when the checkered flag fell.
It marked the first win of the year for High and also for J.T. Tuttle, the owner
of the car.
The two groove track was ideal for passing and the four drivers who had to run
the semi main to earn the final four spots in the 20 car feature all managed top
ten finishes. Bob Ream, Jr. won the semi and then roared from 17th to third with
18th starting Mike Martin right behind him. Shon Deskins came from 19th to
finish sixth, his career best. Jeff Henry was eighth after starting last.
Mike Leslie started fifth and was still in that position when he crossed the
finish line. Other top ten finishers were Josh Pelkey, (7th), Matt Rossi (9th)
and Bernie Smith (10th)
Marty Miller, the 2000 driving champion, started the night on a good note ashe
beat Sherman, Henry and Rossi in the Arizona Race Mart trophy dash. But the
euphoria did not last long and he broke a right front wheel on the second lap of
the first heat race which sent his Bill Sweeney sprinter into a series of end
over end flips. Miller was not injured.
Jay Ervine won the first heat race with Rossi, Pelkey and Smith getting main
event berths. The second heat went to Ben Gregg over High, Chuck Buckman and
Chris McArthur. Sherman remained perfect in heat race competition as he won his
fifth heat of the year by beating Leslie, Art Garcia and Thomas Ogle. The final
heat went to Bobby Boone over Mike Mundy, Andy Reinbold and Scott Pasmore.
ARIZONA SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION
Main Event: 1. Nathan High 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. Bob Ream, Jr. 4. Mike Martin 5.
Mike Leslie 6. Shon Deskins 7. Josh Pelkey 8. Jeff Henry 9. Matt Rossi 10.
Bernie Smith 11. Andy Reinbold 12. Scott Pasmore 13. Thomas Ogle 14. Ben Gregg
15. Bobby Boone 16. Chris McArthur 17. Mike Mundy 18. Jay Ervine 19. Chuck
Buckman 20. Art Garcia
Lap leaders: laps 1-14 High, laps 15-16 Sherman, laps 17-18 High, laps 19-23
Sherman, laps 24-25 High
1st Heat: 1. Jay Ervine 2. Matt Rossi 3. Josh Pelkey 4. Bernie Smith 5. Jeff
Henry 6. Jimmy Drinan 7. Mike Martin 8. Seainn Hendricsen 9. Marty Miller
2nd Heat: 1. Ben Gregg 2. Nathan High 3. Chuck Buckman 4. Chris McArthur 5.
Brian Swinehart 6. Brad Donahue 7. Bob Ream, Jr. 8. Chris Edwards
3rd Heat: 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Mike Leslie 3. Art Garcia 4. Thomas Ogle 5.Bruce
St. James 6. Trey Deane 7. Drew Starck 8. Johnny Williams, Jr.
4th Heat: 1. Bobby Boone 2. Mike Mundy 3. Andy Reinbold 4. Scott Pasmore 5. Shon
Deskins 6. Brian Hacker 7. Mike Bonneau 8. Chris Bonneau
Semi Main: 1. Bob Ream, Jr. 2. Mike Martin 3. Shon Deskins 4. Jeff Henry 5.
Brian Swinehart 6. Seainn Hendricsen 7. Jimmy Drinan 8. Brian Hacker 9. Johnny
Williams, Jr. 10. Brad Donahue 11. Trey Deane 12. Bruce St. James 13. Drew
Starck
Trophy Dash: 1. Marty Miller 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. Jeff Henry 4. Matt Rossi
UNOFFICIAL ASCA POINTS
1. Jeremy Sherman
1106
2. Bob Ream, Jr.
872
3. Josh Pelkey
851
4. Mike Martin
743
5. Matt Rossi
708
6. Mike Leslie
700
7. Nathan High
693
8. Jay Ervine
680
9. Marty Miller
673
10. Jeff Henry
648
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