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Top Guns in town Saturday for Sprint Car Nationals; 2007 BCRA Mini Sprint Nationals also on the card By Bob Burbach |
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Marysville CA - October 2, 2007 --- Paul and Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park will host the
1st Annual Wingless Sprint Car Nationals this Friday and Saturday night. The $2000 to win event has attracted many of the top guns in the sport. The 40-lap championship final will pit many local sprint car stars against a seasoned assault of veterans from all over the west. These include former World of Outlaw veteran Darrell Hanestad. Hanestad’s appearance adds luster to a sterling field of competitors expected for this inaugural event. Returning to the track that brought him a championship in 2004 is the bay areas own Chris Magoon. Magoon returns to MRP after suffering serious injuries in his last race here in 2004. He was airlifted after his car was struck broadside, while stopped, and his helmet slammed into the roll cage. Magoon has also had to overcome a critical illness in the time he’s been away. Magoon will return to the sprint car wars in the familiar #77 that has made his name synonymous with sprint car racing at MRP and other west coast racing facilities. Davis California’s Steve Stein will join the field as well. Stein is the 2005 MRP champion and is a serious threat whenever he straps on the helmet. Stein has been victorious on several occasions this season, though he drove a limited schedule this year. Stein is a charger and one of the smoothest drivers in the business. Sacramento’s quickest shoe will also be at MRP on Saturday. That would be a hammer down racer named Pat Russum. Russum burst onto the scene at MRP this year and promptly won 6 features in a row on his way to the MRP track championship. Russum has had some wild moments including a horrific end for end flip up the backstretch at MRP this year. He’s shaken off the occasional bad luck and come back looking for more victories. With so many proven veterans expected in the ranks this weekend, Russum could well have something to prove. His driving style has surely has made Russum a fan favorite. Two local stars that will throw ‘em sideways this weekend are Marysville’s Jeremy Hawes and Yuba City’s Mark Hill. Hill was nipping at Russum’s heels in the track point race all year and won early on in the campaign. His final two point races proved luckless as he crashed and spun out while making tremendous charges to the front in both. Hawes has won and won big here and at other tracks. Hawes and his fabulous “Flyin’ Ford” will be a serious contender when the green drops. While Russum was the most successful at MRP this year, Hawes may have been the fastest. Hawes’ limited performance schedule kept the bright yellow and red rocket on the sidelines for much of 2007. But when he showed, he was a factor. That brings us to Paradise. That is, Paradise’s own Tony Richards. Richards was a 4-time winner in 2004, a 5-time winner in 2005, a 4-time winner in 2006 and once again, Richards found victory lane here again this year. Richards, too was running a limited schedule and is expected to be a factor in his black #76. As an open show with no championship points involved, racers from all over the west are headed to MRP. Also, the talented Tenora brothers are flying to MRP from Honolulu Hawaii. According to our sources both racecars have been stored in Reno for the last month and the swift pair of racers will be meeting their cars at MRP. Shaun Tenora came up 1 lap shy in his quest for a victory at MRP 6 races ago. Stein managed a last lap pass to thwart Tenora’s astounding effort. It was only his 2nd try at MRP. As a note of interest, Darrell Hanestad has made 11 appearances at Marysville Raceway Park in the last 4 years. He has won 8 of those races. The car count is expected to be considerable for this event. The payout is among the highest all year in this division, regardless of the venue. The 40-lap distance will challenge drivers and crews alike. The rough and tumble drivers of wingless sprint cars are among the bravest on the planet. This is a “MUST SEE” event for any racing fan. If this is your 1st opportunity to see dirt track sprint car racing, don’t miss it. Alcohol burning sprint cars will be flying around MRP all weekend. The track will also host the 2007 BCRA Mini Sprint Nationals this weekend. Entries from as far away as Washington and Colorado have been filed. The Mini Sprint field should swell significantly with many Southern California and Arizona racers headed north for this inaugural event. This is one of 3 western National events that will determine the Western States Mini Sprint Champion. Events at Mojave Raceway in Arizona and Deming Speedway in Washington will also be staged. Washington Mini Sprint Champion Aaron Fell has tendered an entry into the Marysville race and several competitors from that area will accompany Fell. BCRA Midget Lite champion Doug Nunes will be among the many northern California stars entered. BCRA will bring a strong contingent of racers that will include 6-time feature event winner (at MRP) and 2-time BCRA champion Doug Hunting. The series dubbed “Best in the West” is the 1st effort at bringing Mini Sprint sanctioning bodies together (in California Mini Sprints are called Midget Lites). The host sanctioning body, the BCRA (Bay Cities Racing Association) is California’s oldest sanctioning body reaching back to the post WW11 era. All open wheel and all-out exciting action is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday night at MRP. 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 web site 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. Information regarding Marysville Raceway Park can be found at www.marysvilleracewaypark.com. |
