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Hockett's travel time, pays off in
the end |
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January 1, 2006...TUCSON Ariz. --- Jesse Hockett escaped the chilly Missouri winter to ring in
2006 under the warm Arizona sun.
Hockett's 20-hour drive from Warsaw, Mo., paid off in the end by winning the
Sprint Car Racing League's main event Sunday at the Roger McCluskey Classic
at United Sports Arizona Race Park, and in doing so collected the $2,500
purse.
"I haven't won a race in my home state for a while," Hockett said. "The last race I won was in Australia about a month ago. So it was good to come out here and win." Hockett took the lead on lap 32 of the 40 lap race as he over powered Saturday's winner Johnny Herrera of Albuquerque N.M. "I caught Johnny pretty quick then coming out the back straightaway I got a real good run on him and just kind of drove up around him," Hockett said. Hockett will head to the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa Okla. before heading to Florida for some races later this month. "It's great to have a car owner who is willing to bring me out here and give me a chance to run during the winter time," Hockett said, referring to his car owner Jim Massey. In Saturday's race, Herrera held off a late charging Davis for the win. With the win Herrera of Albuquerque N.M. clinched the SCRL's Southwest series points championship. After taking the lead at the halfway mark, Herrera held an 18-second lead on lap 29, but Jason Tanner of Albuquerque N.M. flipped end-over-end on lap 37 coming out of turn 3. Causing a huge hole in the fence and bringing out the first red flag of the race. "I didn't know how much tire I had so I was playing it a little easy," Herrera said. "But after the restart I found out I had a little more tire so I ran a little harder." Drivers were informed at the pre-race drivers meeting that tire management was going to be an issue and that drivers had to conserve on tires. However, no major tire issues took place as the race was mostly clean with only three cautions. "I think you only seen one flat tire in the whole race but that was early in the race," Herrera said. "But I think all the guys did a good job managing their tires. We knew what we had to work with and that's all we had." Sprint Car Racing League results
Roger McCluskey Classic
Sunday at Untied Sports Arizona Race Park, Tucson, Ariz.
1. Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, Mo.; 2. Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, N.M.; 3. Ben
Gregg, Glendale, Ariz.; 4. Charles Davis, Buckeye, Ariz.; 5. Damian Gardner,
Concord, Calif; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, Ariz.; 7. Josh Pelkey, Phoenix
Ariz.; 8. Scott Box, Albuquerque, N.M.; 9. Mike Martin, Yuma, Ariz.; 10.
Chris Bonneau, Phoenix, Ariz.; 11. Matt Rossi, Phoenix, Ariz.; 12. Nathan
High, Goodyear, Ariz.; 13. Sean Walden, Bentonville, Ark; 14. Rick Ziehl,
Las Cruces, N.M.; 15. Ronnie Clark, Tucson, Ariz.; 16. Mike Rux Jr, Mesa,
Ariz.; 17. Andrew Reinbold, Chandler, Ariz.; 18. Ron Kratz, Tucson, Ariz.;
19. Bryan Swinehart, Prescott Valley, Ariz.; 20. Jerry Johnston,
Albuquerque, N.M.
Sprint Car Racing League Results
Roger McCluskey Classic
Saturday atUnited Sports Arizona Race Park, Tucson, Ariz.
1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Charles Davis, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Damion Gardner,
5. Josh Pelky, 6. Sean Walden, 7. Jesse Hocket, 8. Mark Martin, 9. Ben
Gregg, 10. Bruce St. James, 11. Jon Taylor, 12. J.T. Imperial, 13. Nathan
High, 14. Rick Ziehl, 15. Scott Box, 16. Andrew Reinbold, 17. Ronnie Clark,
18. Jason Tanner, 19. Chris Bonneau, 20. Mike Rux Jr.
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