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| Press Release |
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Guisti breaks through
to victory; Olshowka,
Hanestad and McDaniel also score |
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Marysville, CA - May 8, 2006... Joel Guisti has been knocking at the door for two seasons
now. Last Saturday night he broke down the door and scored his first ever
feature event win at Greg and Linda Kearns Twin Cities Speedway.
Guisti had to earn it in the abbreviated feature event. The
main event featured some of the best racing we’ve seen in the class as
Guisti and last week’s feature event winner Gary Holsey slugged it out
with a quick Jamie Ollar for much of the distance. A myriad of yellow flags
plagued the event. Included were a 5-car pileup and a red flag for a fire.
But, all things considered the final green-white-checkered segment was worth
the price of admission.
As the final green flag waved leader Guisti had a paper thin
advantage over Holsey who shadowed the rapid #17. Holsey threw his white #2
into turn three in a last ditch effort to get by Guisti as the pair headed
toward starter Tim Dillon’s white flag. Guisti was in the center of the
track as Holsey started a run out of turn 4. Holsey’s trajectory off of
the turn caused his car to clobber the 4th turn wall. Holsey’s
car continued to pound the wall as the right front wheel rode the top of the
concrete. Holsey’s hot rod then flipped and landed on its roof. Holsey’s
own philosophy of “win it or wear it” went to the “wear it” side on
Saturday.
As spectacular as Holsey’s exit was, Guisti’s run to the
front was equally impressive. Perhaps the biggest story of the race was the
duel between Guisti and a remarkably fast Ollar. In fact, Ollar was the
class of the field until Guisti and Holsey showed up behind him. Ollar
begrudgingly gave up the top spot to Guisti after Guisti had a terrific run
through turn two with just a handful of laps to go.
Holsey was unhurt in the flip and Ollar got second when the
race was called complete after Holsey’s flip. A high flyin’ Shane Stoker
took 3rd followed by a rapidly closing Lisa Shelby. Mike Merritt
had a consistent ride to round out the top five finishers.
The Hunt Magneto Wingless Warriors feature was a slam-bang
affair with a scary moment thrown in for good measure. On the second attempt
at a start (following front row starter Ed Butterfield’s original start
spin) the field was roaring into the backstretch when it all broke loose.
Pole sitter Gary Lewis was surprised by eventual winner Darrell Hanestad’s
move to his inside. Lewis checked up and fast closing Billy Macedo reacted.
Macedo came together with Jeremy Hawes and last week’s main event winner
Rick Eversult. Hawes’ #01 was thrown high in the air and took a wild
series of flips. Eversult also launched into the night air and flipped to a
grinding halt. Eversult began to unbuckle right away but Hawes sat
motionless in his car as safety personnel rushed to his aid.
It took some 20 minutes for Hawes to be stabilized and
removed from his battered mount. According to car owner (and Dad) Paul
Hawes, a revived and bruised Jeremy objected vehemently when he was told
that a ride to the hospital was necessary. Hawes was released shortly after
his arrival at the hospital.
Eversult and Hawes are two of the primary players in the
championship point hunt and this crash didn’t help. Macedo kept going and
made it to the work area as did Lewis and others involved in the melee.
When the race restarted it was a runaway for the veteran
driver Hanestad. During the green flag segments, Hanestad could easily pull
to a straightaway advantage at will. Behind Hanestad there was a storm
brewing and the racing was fiercely competitive at times.
2005 Champion Steve Stein looked to have 3rd place
in hand behind second running Macedo when, on the final circuit, he blew
through the cushion on turn one. He saved the car, but drifted back to a 10th
place finish. Macedo took a distant second to Hanestad with rising young
star Kevin Sprague in tow. Jake Servin was 4th across the line
and Charles Williams recovered from an early race spin to finish 5th.
Sprague’s great run was to meet with disappointment in the
post race inspection. Sprague’s car was found to be too light and he was
disqualified from the event moving everyone behind him up a notch.
Macedo will likely be the point leader heading into next
weekend’s event. Macedo has been a pleasant surprise in the first two
events taking a 2nd and a 4th place finish
respectively.
In an amazing night of racing, not one yellow flag was thrown
once the races were started in the Riebes Racing Series Stock Car events. A
wickedly fast Jeff Olshowka won the feature event. Olshowka’s only worries
were prompted by lapped traffic. Everyone else was in another race. Olshowka
won going away.
Behind Olshowka the best race of the young season was being
contested by Robert Mull and a rocket fast Ray Benkowski. Benkowski and Mull
had the fans on their feet in the final laps. The struggle was finally
decided when Benkowski slipped by for 2nd. Benkowski started 7th
in the event and surged forward from the green needing every lap to get to 2nd.
Point leader Phillip Shelby had an adventure to say the least. On more than
one occasion last week’s feature winner lost the handle on his potent #86
finishing a distant 7th. Finishing in 4th was Bill
Knoop ahead of consistent competitor Pat Couch.
The Mighty Modifieds returned for an event that drew but 6
cars. However, the races were among the best of the night. Ryan McDaniel
looked to the high side for a late race pass on dad Randy to take the
checkers in the non-stop feature. It was obvious to this observer that the
Modifieds could be an OUTSTANDING show at TCS. The cars can
carry their left fronts in the air the length of the straightaways. The
crowd Ooo’d and Ahhhh’d as the racers flashed around the track.
Hopefully the next scheduled event can draw a more representative field.
The BCRA Midget Lites rounded out the 5-division program.
Chris DeRyder led from start to finish in a race that labored under a
multitude of minor spins and mechanical breakdowns. The event was called
complete when, with only seven cars running BCRA Champion Doug Hunting
flipped in turn 1.
The Hunt Wingless Sprint Cars will return this Saturday night
to headline another great show. The winged Pacific Sprint Cars, the
MiniStocks and the Nor-Cal Dwarf Cars will complete the program.
Gates open at 5 this Saturday night with racing starting
promptly at 7PM. Grab some of the best racetrack food on planet earth at
Linda’s Restaurant, just behind the grandstand.
Call the business office at 530.675.2050 or, on raceday, call
the track at 530.742.9222. You can visit us on the web at
twincitiesspeedway.net for all the latest updates.
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