|
Marysville
CA - March 23, 2008 --- An overflow crowd and 95 cars greeted the 40th
Anniversary Season at Paul and Kathy Hawes Marysville Raceway Park Saturday
night. Honolulu Hawaii’s Dean Freitas ran away with the Winged Sprint Car
portion of the show. Shaun Ternora, formerly of Honolulu won the highly
competitive Wingless Sprint Car feature event. Former champ Bill Knoop of Yuba
City came from 6th to capture the Street Stock main. Joel Giusti won a stirring,
early race duel with Olivehurst’s James Gillaspie and triumphed in the MRP
Mini Stock closer. Grass Valley’s Pat Weger muscled his way into an early lead
to beat a fast closing Kevin Bender in Nor Cal Dwarf Car action.
Earlier in the day 81 racecars showed for the renewal of an MRP tradition. Les
Schwab Tires of Linda hosted the MRP racecar show. It was a rousing success as
racers got to show off their brightly colored creations on a brilliant, sunny
day. The Linda fire department provided 100’s of hamburgers for the fans and
racers alike.
The lengthened, newly configured track created a remarkable visual spectacle of
speed. It was obvious from the 1st practice session that the fans were in for a
treat. The heat races went off with few problems and all 12 events produced but
3 yellow flags. The big loser in heat race action was the quickest timed Street
Stock racer in hot lap sessions. Jeff Olschowka parked his quick #96 after a few
laps in his heat. Olschowka would have to start at the rear of the 20-car
feature event. That, in itself, would be one of the big stories of the night.
Yuba City’s Blane Baker won the MRP Mini Stock B-main to cap off preliminary
race action in advance of the 5 main events.
The MRP Wingless Sprint Cars took the 1st green flag in feature race competition
and front row starter Brett Youngman from Grass Valley grabbed the #1 spot from
his outside pole position. The race was a thriller as 5 cars broke into a torrid
battle for the lead. After a couple of quick yellow flag slowdowns for minor
spins, the race rhythm picked up. Ternora, John Anderson, Tim Sherman Jr. and
Jeremy Hawes camped on Youngman’s tail. Many wondered if the new track would
give racers the opportunity to pass high. The race was only 5 laps old when
Sherman picked off cars with a couple of nifty high side passes that brought him
to 2nd. Then Hawes took his “Flyin’ Ford” to the cushion and became the
quickest car on the track. Anderson stayed steady on the bottom.. The rugged
battle continued as the positions switched with regularity. Ternora grabbed the
lead on lap 15 of the scheduled 20 lapper, but Hawes was rapidly closing on the
leaders. Hawes made a determined charge into 3rd place and tried to make it a
two-car pass but the effort fell short and Hawes slipped back a spot. A quick
yellow turned into a 3-lap dash to the finish but Hawes’ car bounced
unexpectedly to a stop it turn 1. Hawes then bailed out of the car while cars
continued at speed around him. It turns out that a part in the rear end (some
bolts worked loose) had failed and poked Hawes in the back, a painful blow.
Later conversation revealed that Hawes thought the pain was from fire that may
have erupted from the rear mounted fuel cell, thus his hasty retreat from the
car. With Hawes out of the picture Ternora glided through the final laps to his
1st ever feature event win at MRP. Anderson, Sherman and Youngman followed.
During the course of this event Wheatland’s Tim Barnes had an adventure of his
own. Starting last in the field Barnes weaved his way to a stellar 5th place
finish. Barnes run to the front would have been the show had the race up front
been any less intense. Ternora’s victory was a popular one with the fans as
many have followed the young Hawaiian’s (and his brother) adventures here on
the mainland at MRP. In Ternora’s last appearance at MRP he took a nasty flip
off of the banking in turn 3 in the final event of 2007. The crash really rocked
him hard. Saturday’s victory must have been particularly sweet.
The MRP Street Stocks were next up. 2001 MRP champ Knoop rapidly got into 3rd
place in the early going as Craig Eubanks and a surprisingly quick Lisa Shelby
paced the field. Eubanks was an early out and Shelby tried to hold off the high
flying Knoop. Knoop was not to be denied and he slipped past Shelby after a
brief, but entertaining battle.
Back in the pack a whole other world existed. Last starting Jeff Olschowka
started to charge through the field bringing Ray Benkowski with him. In a race
that featured long green flag segments, Olschowka picked off fellow racers with
skill. The large, boisterous crowd picked up on Olschowka’s moves and began to
cheer him on. Olschowka blitzed his way into second after a short battle with
2nd running Shelby. Olschowka simply ran out of time as he closed in on Knoop.
Knoop grabbed his 2nd consecutive opening night feature event. Olschowka was 2nd
and Shelby stayed 3rd. The luckless Benkowski rolled to a stop on the
backstretch with serious mechanical issues in the latter part of the event.
Robert Arruda made his MRP debut with a fine 4th. Sacramento’s Les Friend
found 5th in the end after a quick spin out of the top 5 early on. Friend
returned to MRP some 10 or more years after competing in Mini Stock action
during that time.
Rookie contender Trent Canales had the pole position in his 1st ever sprint car
feature race. The 16-year-old graduate of ¼ midgets promptly roared into turn 1
way too hot and spun in front of the entire field. Everyone missed the youngster
and the new start moved 2-time MRP champion Brent Dothage to the pole. Outside
pole sitter Jeremy Phillips drag raced Dothage into turn 1 at the new green, but
Dothage held the advantage up the back chute. Phillips threw his yellow 28 hard
against the 3rd turn cushion and made a daring high side pass of Dothage, but he
lost it in 4. Phillips car came across the track and collected Dothage.
Dothage’s car jumped into the air and, with Dothage still in the gas, the car
pirouetted on its right rear turning completely over and up again without
touching the wing. The roar from the crowd split the night air. The champ’s
car slammed to the ground right side up. For a moment it looked as if he could
restart, but the damage was too great.
The new restart would be single file and put Freitas in front with Phillips in
2nd. Freitas checked out from there on.
3-time champ Korey Lovell had a dismal heat race and did not make it into the
inversion, thus he started in the rear of the field. Lovell went forward from
the green flag on. At about ½ way he encountered 5th running Brandon Dozier.
Lovell made a quick inside move off of 4 and the pair touched wheels. Dozier
hammered the front stretch wall and was through for the night.
An entertaining fight for the runner up spot featured 2007 champion Jeremy Burt
from Grass Valley and Phillips. Both drivers ran side-by-side for several
circuits before Burt had to settle for 3rd. Lovell finished 4th. In 5th place
was Marysville’s Leigh Armstrong. This was undoubtedly Armstrong’s finest
performance to date. Armstrong led a host of other, better-financed teams to the
strong finish. It’s ironic, as this observer talked with Armstrong about
MRP’s underdogs and their role in the grand scheme of things. Congrats on a
great drive.
The MRP Mini Stock finale included a fierce early race battle between James
Gillaspie and eventual feature event winner Joel Giusti. Gillaspie was flying.
In the early laps, while the battle up front raged, Mike Merritt was carving his
way toward the lead with about 5 other cars in tow.
Robert Luster got everyone’s attention in turn 3 when he launched his red and
white #68 into the sky. The car came down on all 4’s, but it was pretty wild
for a moment.
Mid race problems for Gillaspie (a tire?) forced him to the pits, but he
returned shortly thereafter and tagged onto the rear of the field. At the new
green Gillaspie and Luster motored on and went forward. Gillaspie was back into
3rd place within just a few laps. Luster found 5th after his high flyer.
Multiple yellow flags plagued the race in its final stages while Giusti kept
Merritt at bay. While in an attempt to pass for 2nd, Gillaspie lost it in turn 4
and brought out the yellow flag that cemented the event’s fate. Giusti came
under the yellow/checkered with Merritt, Eric Jones, Luster and Blane Baker.
Baker had to make the race through the B main. He systematically charged through
the field and claimed an amazing 5th place finish.
The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars drew the curtain on the 5-division show with an event
that featured a couple of virtuoso drives. First, Grass Valley’s Pat Weger got
to the front early and simply checked out. No one was in Weger’s class. He led
by as much as a ½ lap at one time. He put on a clinic. Second, Kevin Bender was
spectacular in the closing laps as he carved through the field with amazing
accuracy. With the race at 5 laps Bender was mired in heavy traffic toward the
back of the pack, seemingly out of contention. As the race approached 10 laps,
however Bender started to move. Bender found 2nd late in the going with a slick
pass on Bryan Quilty. The Rocklin speedster had to settle for 2nd, as the race
was yellow flagged often in the later laps. Finally a yellow/checkered ended the
race 3 laps shy of its scheduled distance. Weger was flagged the winner with
Bender in tow.
Next week the MRP Winged Sprint Cars and the MRP Wingless Sprint Cars will
headline the show. The MRP Street Stocks will be back with their slam bang brand
of excitement. As an extra, added attraction, the Open 4 Cylinders will debut.
This will be a new venture for MRP and it will be interesting to see what kind
of equipment shows up. This is a “run what you brung” type of series that
features all kinds of highly modified 4 cyliner racers. The rules limits
generally applied to this type of racing are lifted, so it should be a gas.
Pit gates open at 3 with the grandstands opening at 5. 1st race always runs off
at 7PM.
Something to say?: Drop this observer a line at raceproducer@yahoo.com . Were
looking for great racing stories from MRP’s glorious past (or present). Got a
great memory or story? Let’s hear it!! If you email it, we’ll print it
(within the parameters of good taste and humor).
Don’t forget this one: The Western All Stars Super Late Model extravaganza is
on for April 26. Do not miss this show. Visit http://www.westernallstars.com/ to
have a look at some of the fantastic racecars that will challenge MRP
Put www.marysvilleracewaypark.com 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 or
incorrect. The text is based on information we have at the time of its release.
Complete finishes, stats and points become official and available at the close
of business on Tuesday and will be posted to the web site.
|
