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Lovell,
Sprague, Stein and Ross Score Hooked
up track makes for high speed action; 3 big flips hush the crowd by Bob Burbach |
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Marysville, CA - May 15, 2005...A
hooked up, seriously fast racetrack greeted the four-division show at Twin
Cities Speedway Saturday night. Some serious wheel-to-wheel confrontations
highlighted the spectacular show. Three monstrous flips kept everyone glued to
the action on the track.
Defending champion Kevin Sprague of Yuba City took the checkers in the TCS Mini Stock Series. A feature race, filled with great wheel-to-wheel action, was punctuated by a crowd hushing flip in turn three. Early race leader Greg Prather barrel rolled his black number 45 into a ball as he ran away from the field. Prather simply rocketed away from the field at the start and put a straightaway on the other contenders by lap five. Meanwhile, a vicious battle for second was contested by no less than five other drivers. James Gillaspie, Heather Bartlett, Shane Stoker and Jamie Ollar were trading paint nearly every lap and point leader Ken Reische was carving his way through the field as well. It all came to an end for Prather when his car hooked a rut, tore off the right rear wheel and started flipping. The former modified midget racer has had some upside down time in the past, but this one was a tough one. Prather emerged unscathed, but the car was in bad shape. Second running Sprague inherited the lead and was never headed. Gillaspie ran a close second with Stoker, Reische and Bartlett in tow. Ollar was scored in the top five, but a post race inspection disqualified the red and yellow #8. Korey Lovell, also of Yuba City, went wire to wire in a hotly contested Riebes Racing Series winged Pacific Sprint Car race. Lovell took the lead at the start as point leader Brent Dothage, Reno’s Mike Monahan, brother Kevin Lovell and Colby Wiesz started to duke it out on the lightning fast surface just behind. As the field came off of turn four on lap three a grinding crash and flip brought the proceedings to a halt. Monahan wheelied as he negotiated turn four. The current track champion brought it down and nearly had it saved when he swerved into the path of fast closing Wiesz. Wiesz got into the back of Monahan and the blue 49 pounded the concrete and flipped hard onto its wing. The car took a bizarre twist and landed in an awkward position balancing on it’s wing and tail against the wall. A geyser of hot oil erupted from the pierced oil reservoir. It shot fifteen feet in the air in a most unusual looking display. Monahan limped from the wreckage looking more disappointed than anything else. He is a serious contender for a repeat of last year’s championship run. The race restarted and it was almost scary fast! Wheelies and rim riding displays were the norm on this warm humid Saturday. Wiesz made the biggest move and challenged Lovell in the final laps. Korey Lovell was up to the task and roared into victory lane with Wiesz glued to his tail. Dothage hung on to third as Kyle Schild made a nice late race move to finish fourth. Kevin Lovell was fifth. Vacaville’s Steve Stein got the victory in the Hunt Magneto Speedway Sprint Car Wingless Warrior feature event. It was a war. Stein battled hard for this victory. The early race action was highlighted by a spirited duel by frontrunners Jeremy Hawes, point leader Ryan McDaniel and visiting hot shoe Ty Hawkins. Hawkins came from sixth to second in the first two circuits and started hounding the fleet Hawes. Hawes Ford powered mount seemed up to the challenge holding off Hawkins in fine style. Then everything came to a screeching halt. Jimmy Steward and Rick Eversult were in a knock down, drag it out tussle for fourth when they hooked wheels heading into turn one. Steward’s car jumped left and dug in on the soft left rear. Steward’s car barrel rolled nearly seven times as it headed toward the pit wall scattering personnel in every direction. The car shed its tail tank and it rocketed toward the ambulance parked outside turn two. The car landed on its cage and personnel were there instantly. This was the most serious looking crash we’ve seen in a while. The car covered a lot of ground fast. It seemed to flip forever. This one really hushed the crowd. Jimmy was one groggy individual as he gingerly walked away from the smoking mess that was once his car. I talked to Steward about two hours afterward and he said he was awake through the whole experience. He said he pulled his arms in toward his chest and fought to remain conscious. He said that the most eerie thing that happened is that when rescue workers asked him if he was awake, he couldn’t respond. He knew what he wanted to say, but couldn’t for a few moments. Steward was remarkably composed as he told me what happened. Steward has been one of the great surprises this year stepping up his program in a big way. He had finished second in the last two non-wing Hunt Sprint Car feature events. The race was restarted and Hawes continued to lead with Hawkins breathing down his neck. Stein and Ryan McDaniel watched from third and fourth respectively. At half way the pair approached lapped traffic and went three wide up the back chute toward three. Hawkins tried a banzai inside move for the lead. It didn’t work. Hawkins and Hawes got together folding Hawkins front end and ruining the left rear suspension on the Hawes #01. Stein and McDaniel raced for the lead for the balance of the exciting event with Stein taking the eventual victory. Eversult hung on for third with fast closing Charlie Marrs in for his best finish of the young season. Marrs flipped on the opening lap of the first heat and had the car repaired and rolling for action later on in the evening. Marrs came from last in a virtuoso drive with his re-built ride. Tim Sherman was fifth. The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars were the hosted traveling show…and what a show it was. Howie Ross came from deep in the field to a convincing win. Ross and fellow Dwarf Car ace Zach Hurst carved through the field for a nice one-two finish. Only one yellow flag slowed the action as brothers Pat and Daniel Weger took the next two spots in the finishing order. Frank James “The Gunfighter” Munroe struggled to free himself from a final row start, but made a series of sweet late race passes to secure fifth position. Ross was the star though as he really made some nifty moves in the early going to get to second by half way. Early race leader Scott Dahlgren was simply running away from the field when Ross showed up in second. Dahlgren beat fellow front row starter Heather Bartlett into the first turn and disappeared from the others holding a straightaway lead by lap five. It was Dahlgren’s finest performance to date. During the race’s only yellow flag Dahlgren pulled off with an unknown malady. It was a disappointing end to a brilliant performance by the veteran campaigner. Thrilling, IN YOUR FACE~HIGH SPEED ACTION returns this Saturday night. The fire-breathing Riebes Racing Series Pacific Sprint Cars will appear again. The Riebes Racing Series Stock Cars, the TCS Mini Stocks and the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars 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, MINI STOCKS RIEBES RACING SERIES PACIFIC SPRINT CARS HEAT RACE WINNERS MAIN EVENT HUNT MAGENTOS SPEEDWAY SPRINT CARS MAIN EVENT TCS MINI STOCKS MAIN EVENT |
