BAKERSFIELD, CA - MAY 12, 2007 ---If you designed a chart and with two
headings, Bad Luck and Good Luck, it would list the following: Bad Luck, Peter
Murphy, Kiwi Alexander, Todd Hunsaker, Brian Schuler. Good Luck would have only
one name, Davey Pombo.
Pombo won the 30-lap SCRA 360 c.i. wingless Sprint car event at Bakersfield
Speedway (CA), compliments of Murphy, when the latter suffered a flat tire while
running away from the field. Murphy, starting from the pole via his victory in
the Dash, found the dry, slick track to his liking and began hugging the rail
and was “off to the races.” By lap 15, the Australian native built a
comfortable straight-away lead and was on his way to his second consecutive
feature win.
Luck then intervened. John Niggli spun on l7 bringing out the first of two
yellows of the evening. While the cars were parading around, Murphy discovers he
was running on a flat, left rear tire and headed for the pits. It was later
discovered that a “bleeder” valve malfunctioned. He rejoined the field at
the back of the pack in time for the restart, and salvaged the evening with an
exciting run from last to sixth in the final 13 laps.
Pombo started from the fourth spot and patiently worked his way to second,
passing Rusty Carlile and Richard Harvey Jr. on laps six and seven respectively.
However, he had nothing for Murphy on this evening, until Murphy’s tire let
go. From that point forward, Pombo fought off a gallant effort by Harvey for the
lead, and came home the winner by a comfortable margin.
The second yellow waived as the result of a scary looking, but non-threatening
crash on lap 22 when Myles Bishop bounced off the main straightaway wall and was
collected by John Iturriria. Iturriria’s car almost flipped but came to rest
on all fours. Neither driver was injured.
Carlile had his hands full during the thrilling main dueling with Jeff Gardner,
Harvey and Kiwi Alexander. He barley held off the latter to take the “place”
position, while Harvey came home a strong fourth ahead of Gardner. Rounding out
the top-ten were Murphy, Justyne Hamblin, Niggli, Adam Frith-Smith and Jonathan
Logan.
Alexander’s name was on the Bad Luck list as a result of “throwing a shoe”
during his heat race. Kiwi was in a position to earn a direct transfer to the
Dash, which would have positioned him in the first three rows of the Main.
However, with his misfortune he was forced to start 14th on the grid. While most
of the fans were watching the leaders, Alexander sliced through the field like a
sharply honed knife and joined the Carlile, Harvey, Gardner battle. Had he
started near the front, chances are he might have taken home the big dollars.
However, his strong, exciting effort earned him the Hard Charger Award.
Hunsaker was another in the Bad luck column. Finishing a strong third in his
heat, he transferred to the Dash and once again, the opportunity of starting
near the front of the field in the main. However, he flipped in turn three
during the dash and elected to start at the rear of the main, fearing his car
was not up-to-par. Brian Schuler, the final name on the Bad luck list, blew an
engine while finishing fourth in his heat. It was the second time this year the
seasoned veteran suffered that fate.
In addition to providing his hometown fans with something to cheer about during
his heat, (which he won) and his strong showing in the Main, Carlile had them
screaming in the Dash. In the most exciting six-lapper of the season, Carlile
started third but promptly spun and was relegated to the rear on the restart.
However, he powered his way to third as Murphy and Harvey battled side-by-side
during the entire event. Carlile was on their proverbial “bumper” as the
trio came out of turn four looking for the checkers. It was a blanket finish
with the Murphy and Harvey only a half-car length apart, nipping Carlile by a
scant few feet.
Pombo was the fast qualifier for the second time this season with a clocking of
13.105. Heat winners were Niggli, who looked impressive going wire-to-wire,
Murphy and Carlile.
QUALIFYING:
#38 Davey Pombo 13.105, #7 Myles Bishop 13.288, #11 Kiwi Alexander 13.301, #98
Richard Harvey 13.308, #21 Peter Murphy 13.311, #51 Rusty Carlile 13.357, #32
Jonathan Logan 13.368, #51t Jeff Gardner 13.390, #6 Todd Hunsaker 13.520, #97
Matt Day 13.615, #62 Adam Frith-Smith 13.653, #8 Justyne Hamblin 13.754, #9 John
Niggli 13.777, #36 John Iturriria 13.924, #36b Kevin Barnes 14.030, #50 Gordy
Edwards 14.189, #77s Brian Schuler 14.628, #0 Ron Tjarrda 17.783
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT #1-8 Laps: Niggli, Harvey, Pombo, Schuler, Logan, Day
KAEDING PERFORMANCE/KEIZER WHEELS HEAT #2-8 Laps:Murphy, Gardner, Iturriria,
Frith-Smith, Tjaarda DNF, Bishop DNS
SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT #3-8 Laps:Carlile, Barnes, Hunsaker, Hamblin, Edwards,
Alexander DNF
RIDDELL ENTERPRISES DASH-6 Laps:Murphy, Harvey, Carlile, Pombo, Gardner,
Hunsaker DNF
KEIZER WHEELS, ALTERNATIVE SWITCH-WEAR, BR MOTORSPORTS, MATT & GLASS,
STINGER CHASSIS, WELD WHEELS, RACING OPTICS, AWARDS & SIGNS MAIN-30
Laps:Pombo, Carlile, Alexander, Harvey, Gardner, Murphy, Hamblin, Niggli, Frith-Smith,
Logan, Barnes, Day, Edwards, Bishop, Iturriria, Hunsaker, Tjaarda
POINT STANDINGS TOP 25
Davey Pombo 447, Peter Murphy 412, Kiwi Alexander 344, Rusty Carlile 339, Jeff
Gardner 302, Richard Harvey Jr. 269, John Niggli 260, Jonathan Logan 257,
Justyne Hamblin 248, Ryan Kaplan 190, Kevin Barnes 159, Garrett Ishii 141, Myles
Bishop 136, Brian Schuler 135, John Iturriria 129, Jesse Mack 118, Adam Frith-Smith
117, Daniel Hood 109, Jace VanderWeerd 83, Albert Pombo 69, Matt Day 60, Dwayne
Marcum 56, Steven Williams 50, Ron Tjaarda 46, Brandon Thomas 43
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