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Burt, Russum Sprint Car Champs Harvey, Holsey, Bartlett and Richards win 1st “Beer Cup” and “Beer Belly Contest” Saturday By Bob Burbach |
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Marysville CA - September 2, 2007 --- It was 107 degrees at Marysville
Raceway Park at about 4:30 and all the preparation in the world was not going to
beat Mother Nature this time. Hot and dry-slick conditions greeted the full
compliment of racers at Paul and Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park Saturday
night. The open wheel divisions crowned their champions. It was the night of the
“showdown” as Patrick Russum brought a single point lead into the evening in
the Wingless Sprint Car Series. The KKCY Stock Cars and the KKCY Mini Stocks
also presented outstanding feature events. A fine crowd braved the searing heat
and was rewarded with great performances by all of the competitors. The KKCY Country 103 Cup Stock Cars were first up with their feature and while the field was a slim the action was fierce and a new winner headed to victory lane. Heather Bartlett took over the top spot when early race leader (and championship point leader) Phillip Shelby rolled to a stop near ½ way. Heather Bartlett who had a car length or two on dad Jerry Bartlett cruised on into victory lane in a race that featured long green flag segments. Heather Bartlett mastered the slicky track conditions, and in the end, began to pull away from Jerry Bartlett who was looking for his 5th feature event win of the season. Guy Bean was third in the event. Heather Bartlett also won the “Dash for Cash” earlier in the show…. and it was her 21st birthday! It was an extraordinary evening for Miss Bartlett as she also shaved a few points off of Shelby’s lead in the quest for the Country 103 Cup. The KKCY Mini Stocks rolled off next for their feature and it was a side-by-side thriller until Yuba City’s Gary Holsey masterfully worked lapped traffic to get by and sustain a lead on hard charger James Foster of Marysville. Foster jumped to an early 5 or 6 car length lead while behind him this race proved to be very competitive. As the race neared ½ way Holsey and 3rd running Joel Giusti started to reel in dash winner Foster who was having all kinds of problems getting through lapped cars. It appeared that Foster was going to be uncatchable without some problem. Lapped cars became the problem. Holsey and Giusti jumped to the high side and cleared the lapped traffic quickly. Meanwhile, Holsey and Giusti’s battle for position raged on in the midst of all the lapped cars. It was a real crowd pleaser on many levels. Finally with a brilliant turn 3 and 4 Holsey took the measure of both Giusti and then Foster in the same move. Giusti slipped by Foster at the same time as Foster was having continuing problems with lapped cars. This one went into the record books with Holsey under the checkers 1st followed by Giusti, Foster and point leader Lisa Shelby who got into 4th in the late stages. It should be noted here that both Damien Merritt and Jamey Ollar had great runs and were having great races with the leaders until they were involved in a late race crash with a lapped car. Ollar was sidelined with heavy damage and Merritt held on to a fine 5th in the final outcome. Giusti crept in on Shelby a little as the point race in the KKCY Mini Stocks tightened. The winged Pacific Sprint Car finale was a bizarre and very interesting race that as many as 5 drivers could have won. The point championship was decided early when Grass Valley’s Jeremy Burt fired for his heat race. When he took the green flag in that event, Burt became the new champ. His point total for the season eclipsed anything that 2nd runner Jim Marsh could do to prevent it. Burt can wear the crown proudly as he parlayed an early season victory together with incredible consistency to amass the point total that secured the championship. Santa Rosa’s Roberto Kirby led the field to starter Robin Davies green banner and took a lead up the back chute. The track was rock hard and slick having been punished by the monstrously high temperatures all evening long. The race stayed green for the first few circuits as 3rd starting Dennis Harvey of Sacramento slipped by Kirby with a slick pass off of turn 4. Geoff Duppman quickly got to 3rd. 12th starting Mike Monahan made some quick passes and started to pick off the top 10 as the race went to a yellow flag during lap 4 of the 20 scheduled. Brandon Dozier was also challenging for a top 5 position early on. At the new green Duppman quickly got by Kirby and closed rapidly on Harvey. Dozier was pressing forward in 4th. Duppman lost the handle a lap later and spun to a dusty stop in the turn 1 infield causing track Photographer Mike Dehoogh to sprint wildly out of the way. Dehoogh stopped looked back, shook off the dust and took a shot of Duppman as he sat silently in the infield. With Duppman gone and Dozier on the move, the next few laps were laps to remember. Harvey and Dozier fought brilliantly for the lead. Even as Dozier seemed to have it, Harvey would answer with a high side rebuke of Dozier’s try. The tires whined under the strain as the two leaders tried to find traction. It was a fantastic dice. The video shows the cars side by side with a paper width separating the wildly spinning tires at times. Dozier won that battle a couple of laps later and began to pull to the biggest lead of the event. Dozier had this one in his back pocket, or so it seemed. Monahan had done the best passing job and was already 6th. Then it all unraveled for Dozier, as he was unable to avoid a spinning lapped car and bumped to a stop in 2. Harvey returned to the lead with drivers representing 9 championships tucked in behind him. Mike Wasina, Monahan (to 3rd from 12th), Korey Lovell and Brent Dothage took the new green on Harvey’s tail. But, Harvey took off to a 4 car length lead on the restart. 3 circuits later both Lovell brothers and Burt were stopped in turn 2 having endured a wheel banging incident that sent them all to the back. The rest of the race was all Harvey’s. He pulled to a 10 car length lead in the end as Brent Dothage made the final laps interesting when he got past Monahan and Wasina for the runner up position. It was Harvey’s 2nd win at MRP and he thanked his brother for all his help on the black #10. Shortly thereafter he was surrounded by a couple of extraordinary trophy girls and no longer had anything to say. It was a great victory for a team that tries hard and always puts on a great show. In the MRP Wingless Sprint Car Series, heat race fortunes for the contenders had Russum up by 6 over Hill as the field came down for the start. Russum was in the 3rd row and Hill was in the 7th. Hill had his work cut out for him. Early race leader Matt Fontaine kept the field at bay with some rather notable throttle control on the dry slick surface. The first caution was waved during lap 3 as Jeremy Hawes came to grief after hitting a tractor tire marking the line into turn 1. Paradise resident Tony Richards had second place in hand after 2nd place runner Tyler Haylett slowed and then chugged to a stop on the front chute during the Hawes yellow. On the new green Richards began to apply relentless pressure to Fontaine. For a while Fontaine showed reserve and the savvy to hold off Richards. But Richards and 2005 champ Steve Stein grew impatient and slipped by Fontaine as the race neared the ½ way point. Russum was 4th and seemed content there as Hill struggled to get to the front. The charge to the front wasn’t happening fast enough for Hill if he was going to catch Russum. Russum was driving a mistake-free race. The leaders began to run away from Russum and he didn’t seem to care. Hill fought his way into 7th by mid race, but it was hard to pass on the slick MRP clay. Richards was so smooth at the head of the pack that he started lapping cars almost a ½ lap ahead of 2nd place Stein. Fontaine faded in the final laps after his notable early run. Russum got to 3rd. Hill remained in 7th in a big battle with John Anderson that lasted several laps. Then on lap 18 Hill’s championship attempt came to and abrupt end, much the same way his race ended last week. 4th place runner Mark Ziske clipped a tire on the inside of turn 3. He folded the front end. Ziske tried to keep it off of the wall and veered into the path of the hapless Hill. Hill clipped Ziske and slid nearly the length of the front chute, to a halt. Hill restarted, but his championship hopes were dashed as Russum’s were secured. Richards won this one by a wide margin and gave the crowd a show with his traditional victory salute. Sacramento’s Russum is the new champion with 6 victories on the record. The Championship victory parties went on into the night…and a birthday celebration for Heather Bartlett ensued as well. Early this year official track announcer Tim Gilbert bet with Heather Bartlett that if she won a main event he would dye his hair pink to match her car. This is a reminder from this observer to Mr. Gilbert that one should not make foolish bets. Next week’s appearance by Tim could be as bizarre as the show…and it will be a WILD show!! MRP promoter Paul Hawes will stage the first “BEER CUP” and “BEER BELLY CONTEST”. “We can’t afford gold, but we can afford beer”, Hawes joked when coming up with the plan. The extraordinary promotion will feature the KKCY Mini Stocks, Stock Cars, Sprint 100s and Nor Cal Dwarf Cars. The EXTREME BOMBERS will bring down the curtain and headline the show. They will run through a crazy series of tasks that will include, but not limited to, using paint ball guns to blast road signs and other objects placed around the speedway. The drivers will have to drive one handed while holding long neck bottles in one hand. This may border on the insane, but the slam bang crashes and wild tasks will be motorized mayhem at it’s most extraordinary. It’s not to be missed. Over 150 laps of championship racing are scheduled PLUS the EXTREME BOMBER-PAINT GUN-LONG NECK finale. Don’t miss the 1st annual “BEER CUP” at MRP this Saturday night. During a break in the action any fan may enter the “BEER BELLY CONTEST”. The fans will vote for the best beer belly. This competition is open to any human (must be human) over the age of 21. Maybe the “BEST” beer belly won’t be big at all. So ladies, it’s open to everyone. The winner gets 2 beers, 2 hot dogs and 2 free tickets to the races. The strange, the bizarre and a wild slam-bang night will be in store for everyone. Lucky program giveaways will also take place. 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. Complete finishes, stats and points become official at the close of business on Tuesday and will be posted to the web site. |
