|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Press Release |
|
|
|
Cavasos
breaks down the door Dothage
dominates AGAIN; McDaniel tops wingless warriors Plus
Spectacular NCDA finish by Bob Burbach |
|
Marysville, CA- April 24, 2005...Big Jake Cavasos has been knocking at the door for three years now. Saturday night he drove his familiar #82 right through it. Cavasos had the fans on their feet with a late race pass that garnered him his first TCS Stock Car Series victory. Brent Dothage continued to keep the winged Pacific Sprint Car competitors at bay while Ryan McDaniel turned back all his challengers in the Hunt Magneto wingless Speedway Sprint Car Series. Kevin Bender won the closest finish ever in NCDCA Dwarf Car action. But there almost wasn’t any racing at all. Early Saturday morning dawned dark, dreary and wet. When I got to the track around eight, I wouldn’t have given much of a chance that the speedway crew could get this event in. I was actually going to change the message machine to tell people we were cancelled. It had rained much of the night and there were more puddles than dry spots all over the thirty seven year old facility. Promoter Greg Kearns was already there with track “jack of all trades” Tim Dillon. With his characteristic ease, Greg walked up to me, smiled and said, “We’re racin’ tonight.” He meant it. With that, Dillon and a host of others including sprint car driver Mark Moore went to work. An aggressive eleven a.m. thunderstorm only delayed the spirited team. It surely didn’t dampen their spirits. By three o’clock the place was looking pretty racy and the haulers started to show up at the pit gate. A forecast for thunderstorms by about six thirty was ignored and the four-division program went off without a hitch. The final checkered flag waved at ten fifteen with every lap in all divisions completed. While other tracks threw in the towel by early afternoon Twin Cities Speedway was working hard to keep things going. Once again, Twin Cities Speedway was the only track running on this cool blustery Saturday night. Those who braved the elements were treated to spectacular racing action. The Hunt Magneto Speedway Sprint Car Series were first up with their featured event. The wingless warriors went green to checkered without a yellow banner to be seen. Marysville’s own Ryan McDaniel finally found victory lane after four weeks of being among the favorites in the class. McDaniel weathered a storm of competitors who would try to take the lead from him. The top four in the early laps of this one included McDaniel, Rick Eversult, of Rio Linda and point leader Steve Stein of Vacaville. Auburn’s Jim Steward was impressive. Steward, a graduate of the Sprint 100 Racing Association has been showing better in recent weeks. As the race approached half distance, the surprise of the race came flying by almost everyone…on the high side. Rookie Mark Hill of Yuba City seems to have had enough of cruising around and learning the ropes. On this night, he came on, hammer down and flying. Hill picked off everyone in his sights as he roared his way into second at times. A couple of mistakes in the late going relegated the beautiful yellow #8 to a sixth place finish. It is clear, however that another local hot shoe will be in the mix in the weeks to come. Steward clambered forward to a second place finish in his best race to date. Stein cruised to third in a back up car having trashed his new ride at another track last week. Eversult hung on for fourth. Corning’s Nathan Johnson had a great run to fifth in his familiar #17n. Only a couple of yellow flags slowed all the preliminary action. Eversult and McDaniel also took heat race wins. This class has produced some vicious rides in recent weeks. It was great to see the first five take the final checkers under a blanket with no flips or accidents to slow the event. On the cool off lap something blew up on McDaniel’s winning mount. The crowd shouted its approval as McDaniel’s #10 was towed past the grandstands. Brent Dothage of Lower Lake acts as if he’s been shot out of a cannon. In three point races he has won two features and was taken out of the lead by lapped traffic in the only other race…while leading. Saturday night he out qualified the field as well. His fourth place finish in his heat got him into the inversion where, as luck would have it, the draw put him on the pole. I don’t think it mattered. Dothage said good-bye to the field as they took the green flag and led wire to wire. Dothage lead by a straightaway most of the time. Yellow flag slowdowns allowed the rest of the field to catch up, only to see the fleet #2b disappear again. Sacramento’s Kyle Schild followed Dothage to the checkered flag followed by Vacaville’s Joey Magurah. The next cluster of four racers should have received badges of heroism as they fought tooth and nail all race long. Local stars Korey and Kevin Lovell were mixing it up with former Civil War champ Mike Henry and current TCS Champion Mike Monahan out of Sparks Nevada. And the sparks did fly on more than one occasion as the quartet ran high and low in a great tussle for position. Short track, bullring racing was never better. When the dust cleared Korey Lovell was in fourth with Monahan and Henry in tow. In victory lane, Dothage let everyone know that he was after Monahan’s crown. He’s certainly headed in the correct direction. The TCS Stock Car Series presented the last feature of the evening. Point leader and pole sitter Andy Aust of Marysville led the thundering heard out of four to the green flag. And that’s where it ended for Aust. The ignition system failed and caught fire. Aust was out of the car immediately and visibly upset by the turn of events. The race would be restarted without the point leader. Luckless Jeff Olshowka was the early leader pressed by Yuba City’s Philip Shelby. Last year’s runner-up in points, Chris Paquette shoved his nose into the fray and a big, three wide fender banging run off turn two threw Shelby into a slide that cost him dearly. Shelby recovered, Paquette hurt his tire and Olshowka bent his car enough for it to throw its driveshaft onto the track a little while later. With Olshowka in the pits and the Shelby/Paquette duo mired in the back with work to do, the race became even more intense. Newcomer, Ray Benkowski was quick to take advantage and rim-rode his electric blue racer to the front followed by a determined Jake Cavasos who had also found his way to the front on the high side. The race was on for the lead. Through lapped traffic and clear track as well Cavasos and Benkowski wrestled with each other all around the quick quarter mile. Big Jake was glued to Benkowski as the race approached two-thirds distance. As the pair got into some heavy lapped traffic Benkowski guessed low and Cavasos went high in three. Cavasos and Benkowski traded paint as Cavasos carried a little more speed onto the front stretch. The crowd was on its feet as Cavasos made it stick and held off Benkowski for the victory. Benkowski is a pleasant surprise in a season of pleasant surprises in the TCS Stock Car Series. Through all of this Jeremy Blackshere shook off a series of disappointing events and fought his way to third place at the end. Blackshere showed some slick, clever moves on his way to his best finish yet. Ryan McDaniel finished fourth in Phil Shelby’s potent #63. McDaniel’s double duty night got him first and third respectively. Fifth was Chris Paquette who stormed back to the front after restarting in last with the early tire problem. Paquette was excellent as he simply picked his way forward. The tough job was handled with finesse by the Live Oak resident. I think everyone in the place was happy for Big Jake. The Rio Oso charger is one of the nicest guys in the association. Cavasos has had a great season passing cars and going forward. The problem is that his bad luck with tires and minor skirmishes has made it necessary for Jake to drive like a madman for his top five finishes this season. His tenacity paid off with a great victory in this event. The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars were the traveling show hosted by TCS this week. Second year star Kevin Bender edged Caped Crusader Josh Hiatt after a sensational war for the lead. Depending on where it happened on the speedway this dynamic duo exchanged the lead on twelve different occasions. Bender and Hiatt rubbed and leaned on each other with respect and good judgment for half the race. In the last seven laps Hiatt relied on the rim and Bender slung it in low; they would meet in the middle of the straightaway side-by-side! It was incredible. Bender nipped Hiatt by a bumper…maybe. It was literally the best NCDCA race in the history of this speedway. Hiatt slammed into the crashwall after it was over. Hiatt had run out of brakes earlier in the event and couldn’t stop his car after his banzai attempt at the victory. Three-time NCDCA champion Frank Munroe smoked his motor in preliminary competition. Munroe will contest the championship this year after a significant lay off. The 10th Annual West Coast Dwarf Car Nationals will be staged at TCS on September 30th and October 1st. Thrilling, IN YOUR FACE~HIGH SPEED ACTION returns this Saturday night. The fire-breathing Winged Pacific Sprint Cars will appear again. The TCS Stock Car Series, the TCS Mini Stocks and the SORA Sprint 100’s will round out the impressive card. Gates open at 5 with racing at 7PM at the one and only Twin Cities Speedway. There is NO increase in admission prices this year. Adult tickets are $10, juniors and seniors $7, children $5 and under six will be admitted for free. In fact, season passes are available for the first time this year at a reduced, per race price. Call (530) 675-2050 or drop by the ticket office on Saturday. Twin Cities Speedway is located at 1468 Simpson Lane in Marysville. For additional information call (530) 742-9222 or go to www.twincitiesspeedway.net. PACIFIC SPRINT CARS, SPEEDWAY SPRINT CARS, STOCK
CARS PACIFIC SPRINT CARS HEAT RACE WINNERS MAIN EVENT JOE HUNT MAGNETOS SPEEDWAY SPRINT CARS MAIN EVENT TCS STOCK CARS MAIN EVENT |
