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AUGUST 5, 2007 --- Wingless Warrior, Chico’s Tony
Richards triumphed in what was arguably the best feature race of the season at
Paul and Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park. Hard charging Robert Luster
repeated in the KKCY Mini Stock class and Jeff Olschowka added to his long list
of feature event victories in the KKCY Stock Car class.
The KKCY Stock Cars presented their feature event first. 4th starting Olschowka
used a brilliant maneuver through the first set of turns to lead coming onto the
backstretch on lap 1. Olschowka would not be headed after that.
Fellow front row starter Heather Bartlett was in the mix early on and was dicing
with Marysville’s Ryan McDaniel. Heather Bartlett and McDaniel found each
other in turn 3 of lap 4. Bartlett got into McDaniel sending him spinning.
Bartlett was sent to the rear of the pack for the incident.
Yuba City’s Jerry Bartlett and point leader Phillip Shelby then settled into a
sweet battle that would decide the runner up spot in the race. The duel became a
walk for Bartlett as Shelby seemed almost content with 3rd, keeping Bartlett in
his sights.
Meanwhile Heather Bartlett was on the march from the back. She sliced through
the field with abandon and remarkably found 4th in the final results. Olschowka
was so far ahead by the time Jerry Bartlett cleared Shelby that only a yellow
flag could make the difference, and that never came. Bartlett followed Olschowka
to the line with Shelby and Heather Bartlett in tow.
Olschowka won the dash with Shelby and Guy Bean taking well deserved heat race
wins.
103-degree temperatures and a stiff south wind did not adversely affect track
conditions as promoter Hawes brought the hooked up surface in nearly perfectly.
By feature time it was a 2-groove track that would produce a stirring sprint car
feature event.
Richards started on the pole of the Wingless Sprint Car feature and immediately
brushed up against fellow front row starter Yuba City’s Mark Hill. Hill
hammered the wall, got some air time and saved the white #8, but dropped to 10th
on the initial lap. The race would be furious for the top spot, as the talented
field of racers would run green until lap 18 of the 20 scheduled. 5th starter
Terry Shank of Santa Rosa clawed his way into second eclipsing point leader Pat
Russum, for 2nd, with a daring outside move at ½ way.
Then the real dicing took place as leader Richards, Russum, Marysville’s
Jeremy Hawes and Shank maneuvered side by side through traffic. It was
simply…a thriller. On more than one occasion the trio bumped wheels and, from
time to time, bounced into the air. On each occasion the drivers saved their
cars and motored on. Shank finally made good a pass for the lead after poking
his nose ahead of Richards now, and again. The video clearly shows Shank and
Richards creating tire smoke as the pair rubbed wheels while racing side by
side. Russum slipped by Richards a couple of laps later as Richards had some
trouble with lapped traffic.
The racing behind the lead trio was as exciting as the lead trio itself and it
was hard to know where to look. Steve Stein had made it to 5th and was having a
great duel with Hawes who was now 4th.
With 4 to go, leader Shank encountered heavy lapped traffic and had trouble
getting by a quick running Jimmy Steward. 2nd running Russum pounced into the
lead as Shank tried high in turn 4 but his opening past Steward closed. Richards
slipped by as Shank fought his way past Steward, then shadowed Richards as the
pair raced into the 19th circuit. Shank tried a bold outside move in turn one on
Richards to regain 2nd. Shank ran over Richards’ right rear and started a
startling series of end over end flips that hushed the onlookers and quieted the
motors in this exceptional event. To everyone’s relief, Shank popped out of
the top of his battered racer with a roar of approval from the appreciative
crowd.
Richards retained the lead when scorers reverted to the last scored lap. The
final 2 laps produced a daring move on the last lap as Russum tried to get by
leader Richards in turn 3. Russum slid high and Richards took the checkers with
Sacramento’s John Anderson and Stein in tow. Russum fell back into 4th with
Hawes a fine 5th.
Anderson’s outstanding run to 2nd was virtually unnoticed in the frenzy that
was going on at the front. Anderson started 9th and did the best passing job of
the event. Hill recovered to finish 8th after his 1st lap problems.
Richards, Hill and Russum won the heats and Russum got the cash in the Dash for
Cash.
The KKCY Country 103 Cup Mini Stocks were next. Damian Merritt and Robert Luster
shared the front row with Merritt jumping to an early lead. A series of
incidental yellow flags slowed the pace of this race to a significant degree.
Once rolling it was a good one, Merritt ran away with the early laps until a
flat right front tire ended his hopes of victory. Jamey Ollar found 2nd ahead of
Luster during the 1st ½ of the race and point leader Lisa Shelby was a strong
4th. Ollar seemed invincible once Merritt was out of the picture.
Then the race took an exciting turn. Ollar had big trouble with lapped traffic
and Luster and Shelby began to reel him in. In the ensuing dice Shelby popped
out of the mix and into the lead with a slick move in traffic. She was hammered
by a lapped car 1 lap later and Luster took over as the leader.
Luster had clear sailing from there to the checkers to pick up his 2nd
consecutive feature flag. But, there is one more spectacular story to tell. Yuba
City’s Blane Baker started dead last in the feature and had the best passing
job OF THE SEASON. Baker came flying through into 2nd at the checkers. Baker won
the Dash for Cash earlier in the evening.
Shelby, Ollar and feature winner Luster took the heat race victories.
The Extreme Bombers brought down the curtain with some wild car crunching
action. Judging from the crowd’s reaction, a good time was had by all.
The “Wingless Warriors” Wingless Sprint Car Series will be back for a
complete program of their heart-stopping wheel-to-wheel action next Saturday.
The Mighty KKCY Stock Cars and Mini Stocks will also be back with their
slam-bang form of all out action. The ever-popular Extreme Bombers will be
featured with their wildly successful figure 8 action. This is not to be missed.
It will be a gas. The Extreme Bomber races have turned into high-speed
demolition derbies of a sort and are real crowd pleasers.
Pit gates always open at 3PM. Spectator Gates Open at 5PM with racing getting
underway at 7PM. Contact the promoters at 1.530.743.1327 or email as indicated
on the home page. Put www.marysvilleracewaypark on your “favorites” button
on you computer. Watch this site for press releases, updates and complete
results.
Note: Please make this observer aware of any names that are misspelled. The text
is based on information we have at the time of its release.
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