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(April 5) The Discount Tire American Sprint Car Series main event Saturday night was a reversal of fortunes for two of Arizona’s top drivers. Jeremy Sherman won the March 29 race and led the most laps while Charles Davis, Jr. was the hard charger of the race as he came from 15th to second. Saturday night Davis won the 30 lap feature and led the most laps and Sherman fell just short of hard charger honors as he came from 12th to finish second.
Davis led the first 19 laps but slipped once and Casey Shuman slipped by to take the lead. Shuman jumped the cushion on the 28th lap and both Davis and Sherman went by. Davis pulled away for his first win of the season, his 44th overall win.
Shuman finished third, Nathan High was fourth ahead of Andy Reinbold. Rounding out the top ten were Jeremy Reagles, Mike Colegrove, Mike Martin, Thomas Ogle and Bobby Taylor. Ogle’s drive from 20th to ninth edged Sherman’s drive by one position for the hard charger award.
The high groove stayed fast and Davis was the quickest. However he jumped the cushion twice. Once when Shuman took the lead but then jumped the cushion at the other end of the 1/3rd track. It really did not matter as a yellow flag waved and the lap was wiped out. He also had a problem with traffic and got a little too high allowing Shuman to take over on the 20th lap.
Shuman made a mistake on the 28th lap when he jumped the cushion and it almost took out Davis and Sherman. Davis made contact with Shuman but stayed on the gas and kept Sherman from taking the lead.
The final two laps were anti climatic as Davis brought the Massey Motorsports car into the winner’s circle.
The roll of the die worked in Davis’ favor as he was 11th in points after the heat races. Sherman was top dog and rolled the die on the front straightaway and it came up 12 indicating that the top 12 in heat race points which include passing points were inverted giving Davis a front row start.
There was little passing in the heat races as Sherman and Colegrove shared honors as both came from the outside of the front row in their heats to take the win
The first heat was worth the price of admission as Jeremy Reagles beat Sherman into the first turn but dropped back to second and then took the lead in the final turn of the eight lap race only to lose a drag race to the checkered flag by less than two feet. Josh Pelkey finished third, Shuman fourth and Ronnie Clark fifth.
The second heat was a wire to wire win for R.J. Johnson as he beat Reinbold, Mike Leslie, Mike Bonneau and Nick Auito. Colegrove beat High, Martin, Davis and Shon Deskins in the final heat.
The night ended with Sherman still atop the point standings with Davis, High and Reagles in a three way tie for second.
Andy Eatwell landed a ride in the Mark Pray modlite and won the AMA modlite 15 lap feature. Eatwell came out of the fourth row and took the lead when Terry Belcher’s car had a brake rotor shatter while leading Eatwell then held off challenges from Brian King and then from Nick Bruce who was seeking a second straight win and his third overall. Eatwell was up to the challenge and barely edged Bruce for his first win. Brandon Echols finished third ahead of Robert King, Jr. with Clayton Echols, the points leader, finishing fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Brian King, Scott Korkosz, Dan Kelly, Chris Shafer and Troy Korkosz
Brian King won the first six lap heat race with a drive from the third row. Clayton Echols finished second after leading most of the race with Terry Belcher coming in third after starting eighth. Jim Chapp was fourth and Bruce finished fifth.
The second heat was a runaway wire to wire win for Eatwell who had Precision Mortgage/Backyard Creations & More car running and handling well as he pulled away from Robert King, Jr., Scott Korkosz, Tom Graham and Troy Korkosz.
Taylor Cuzick was the first driver to take the checkered flag in the 15 lap Desert Dwarf Car feature but Paul Taylor was the official winner after Cuzick’s car failed the post race tech inspection. Taylor became the fourth different winning in the first four races of the 2008 season. Taylor closed in on points leader JJ LeMoine who finished fourth behind Brian Stehr and Aaron Jones. Randy Johnson, who led the first six laps finished fifth. Then came Mike Williams, Troy Wilkinson, Kevin Stalbaum, Mike McGrellis and Todd Bennett. Taylor was also the hard charger of the race as he came out of the fifth row to join Cuzick, LeMoine and Steve Moriarity on the 2008 winner’s list.
Steve Davis won the first heat with a wire to wire win over Jones, Eddie O’Neill, Jerry Hartnett and Steve Kapaun. It was a good win for Davis but his night ended on a sour note when he was the first car out of the main event.
Defending champion Chris Snyder came out of the third row to post the win in the second six lapper. He took the lead from Mike Williams but was under pressure up to the final lap. Behind Williams were Johnson, Chad Stewart and Bennett.
Cuzick beat LeMoine, Stehr, McGrellis and Denny Dowty in the third heat. It is not known whether he was disqualified for the entire night or if he was award the win and points in the heat.
Taylor showed his strength in the final heat with a drive from sixth to first. He took the lead from Stalbaum and pulled away from the field. Stalbaum was second , Troy Wilkinson third, Ryan Irish fourth and Jesse Patterson fifth.
Bennett led all the way in the 10 lap semi main with Steve Kapaun second ahead of Rat Stafford, Kevin Rauscher and Patterson.
Wilkinson scored his first win in the four lap trophy dash.
SUMMARY
DISCOUNT TIRE AMERICAN SPRINT CAR SERIES
Main Event: (30 laps) 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. Casey Shuman 4. Nathan High 5. Andy Reinbold 6. Jeremy Reagles 7. Mike Colegrove 8. Mike Martin 9. Thomas Ogle 10. Bobby Taylor 11. Justin Fisher 12. R.J. Johnson 13. Jonathan Henry 14. Seainn Hendricsen 15. Nick Auito 16. Jeff Henry 17. Mike Leslie 18. Stevie Sussex 19. Josh Pelkey 20. Bob Ream, Jr. 21. Mike Bonneau 22. Ronnie Clark 23. Steve Tellas 24. Shon Deskins
Lap leaders: laps 1-19 Davis, laps 20-27 Shuman, laps 28-30 Davis
1st Heat: (8 laps) 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Jeremy Reagles 3. Josh Pelkey 4. Casey Shuman 5. Ronnie Clark 6. Seainn Hendricsen 7. Stevie Sussex 8. Jeff Henry 9. Steve Tellas (no time)
2nd Heat: (8 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson 2. Andy Reinbold 3. Mike Leslie 4. Mike Bonneau 5. Nick Auito 6. Bobby Taylor 7. Justin Fisher 8. Jonathan Henry (time-1:58.82)
3rd Heat: (8 laps) 1. Mike Colegrove 2. Nathan High 3. Mike Martin 4. Charles Davis, Jr. 5. Shon Deskins 6. Carson Ditch (no time)
Arizona Race Mart Trophy Dash: (4 laps) 1. Mike Martin 2. Charles Davis, Jr. 3. Josh Pelkey 4. Jeremy Sherman (time-1:01.74)
ASCS POINTS
1. Jeremy Sherman 584
2. Charles Davis, Jr. 542
Nathan High 542
Jeremy Reagles 542
5. R.J. Johnson 536
6. Thomas Ogle 522
7. Mike Colegrove 518
8. Mike Martin 516
9. Josh Pelkey 514
10. Justin Fisher 510
DESERT DWARF CARS
Main Event: (15 laps) 1. Paul Taylor 2. Brian Stehr 3. Aaron Jones 4. JJ LeMoine 5. Randy Johnson 6. Mike Williams 7. Troy Wilkinson 8. Kevin Stalbaum 9. Mike McGrellis 10. Todd Bennett 11. Chad Stewart 12. Eddie O’Neill 13. Ryan Irish 14. Rat Stafford 15. Jerry Hartnett 16. Steve Kapaun 17. Denny Dowty 18. Jeff Hoch 19. Jesse Patterson 20. Kevin Rauscher 21. Chris Snyder 22. Melanie Williams 23. Steve Davis (DQ’D, failed tech inspection-Taylor Cuzick after apparent win)
Lap leaders: laps 1-6 Johnson, laps 7-10 Stehr, laps 11-15 Cuzick
1st Heat: (6 laps) 1. Steve Davis 2. Aaron Jones 3. Eddie O’Neill 4. Jerry Hartnett 5. Steve Kapaun 6. Kevin Rauscher 7. Barbara Stafford 8. Trevor Peres (time-2:00.83)
2nd Heat: (6 laps) 1. Chris Snyder 2. Mike Williams 3. Randy Johnson 4. Chad Stewart 5. Todd Bennett 6. Jeff Hoch 7. Melanie Williams 8. Greg Loper (time-1:56.07)
3rd Heat: (6 laps) 1. Taylor Cuzick 2. JJ LeMoine 3. Brian Stehr 4. Mike McGrellis 5. Denny Dowty 6.Rat Stafford 7. Tony Hinsley 8. Robert Ostrom (no time)
4th Heat: (6 laps) 1. Paul Taylor 2. Kevin Stalbaum 3. Troy Wilkinson 4. Ryan Irish 5. Jesse Patterson 6. Rick Kochanowski (DNS-Sean Krueziger, Brian Swartz)
Semi Main: (10 laps) 1. Todd Bennett 2. Steve Kapaun 3. Rat Stafford 4. Kevin Rauscher 5. Jesse Patterson 6. Jeff Hoch 7. Melanie Williams 8. Barbara Stafford 9. Trevor Peres 10. Greg Loper 11. Tony Hinsely 12. Robert Ostrom
Trophy Dash: (4 laps) 1. Troy Wilkinson 2. Chris Snyder 3. Taylor Cuzick 4. Brian Stehr 5. Tony Hinsley 6. Ryan Irish (time-1:20.51)
AMA MODLITES
Main Event: (15 laps) 1. Andy Eatwell 2. Nick Bruce 3. Brandon Echols 4. Robert King, Jr. 5. Clayton Echols 6. Brian King 7. Scott Korkosz 8. Dan Kelly 9. Chris Shafer 10. Troy Korkosz 11. Chris Snyder 12. Tom Graham 13. Mario Razzano 14. Gary Mooney 15. Dan Schuck 16. Tom Nichols 17. Terry Belcher 18. Jim Chapp
Lap leaders: laps 1-2 Belcher, laps 3-15 Eatwell
1st Heat: (6 laps) 1. Brian King 2. Clayton Echols 3. Terry Belcher 4. Jim Chapp 5. Nick Bruce 6. Gary Mooney 7. Chris Shafer 8. Dan Schuck 9. Chris Snyder (time-1:52.21)
2nd Heat: (6 laps) 1. Andy Eatwell 2. Robert King, Jr. 3. Scott Korkosz 4. Tom Graham 5. Troy Korkosz 6. Brandon Echols 7. Mario Razzano 8. Dan Kelly 9. Tom Nichols (time-1:51.79)
AMA POINTS
1. Clayton Echols 585
2. Robert King, Jr. 580
3. Dan Kelly 507
4. Scott Korkosz 503
5. Nick Bruce 495
6. Dan Schuck 462
7. Gary Mooney 454
8. Tom Graham 440
9. Brandon Echols 431
10. Brian King 415
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