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Marysville CA - May 11, 2008 --- Another beautiful evening and another packed house saw another well-crafted, ambitious 5 division show. 88 cars were on the grounds as Marysville Raceway Park continues to lure racers from all over with excellent purses and contingency awards all up for grabs. Over 200 laps of racing were presented with action and crashes and, still, the fans were on their way home at a reasonable hour once again. Promoters Paul and Kathy Hawes’ hosted 28 MRP Wingless Sprint Cars in a spectacular show of continued strength in that division. Paradise veteran Tony Richards picked up some $1850 in prize money and contingency awards for the 2nd straight week with a dominating run in that class. Ryan McDaniel used a late race pass on Nevada hot shoe Shawn Natenstedt top grab the $1000 1st place prize in the Modifieds. Sutter’s Corey Hall won his 1st ever MRP Street Stock finale after a bizarre final lap that still has folks talking. Josh Hiatt of Stockton got an enormous gorilla off his back as the “Caped Crusader” picked up his 1st ever Nor Cal Dwarf Car win after 6 years of trying. Trevor Canales of Roseville snatched up the trophy in the Winged Sprint 600s.
Richards started on the pole in the MRP Wingless Sprint Car main event and dominated the entire race. Nobody could get close to Richards as he sailed to his 2nd consecutive $1800 plus payday. Behind Richards was one of the most entertaining races seen all season. 19 of the 20 original starters took the checkers, but there’s more to it than that.
At the green Richards was gone. But, 20th starting Terry Shank of Santa Rosa went to the top and started a banzai run to the front that had the fans on their collective feet. Grass Valleys Billy Wallace made his 1st appearance of the year and, like Shank, immediately went to the top. With relatively few yellows to slow the proceedings this one went off quickly. Wallace was a mid pack starter and was in the top 5 by ½ At the green Richards was gone. But, 20th starting Terry Shank of Santa Rosa went to the top and started a banzai run to the front that had the fans on their collective feet. Grass Valley’s Billy Wallace made his 1st appearance of the year and, like Shank, immediately went to the top. With relatively few
With the pack tightly bunched, the final green flag of the event was waived. 19 of the original 20 starters were still in the show. Richards protected his lead as Wallace flew into 2nd. Shank quickly went to the top and tried to close. Richards beat Wallace to the checkers with Meyers and Shank in tow. Tyler Simas of Orland crossed the line 5th with Marysville’s Jeremy Hawes right behind. Then it all went wrong in a big way.
At the flag stand, 7th finishing Tim Sherman Jr. got over Hawes’ right rear. The black 1jr went into a lazy slide and nearly flipped on the front stretch. Marysville’s Cort Dozier hammered Sherman and that settled the Sherman car back on its wheels. The rest of the pack started to dart every way possible to avoid the mess. Point leader John Anderson was next into the pile up and his #12 hit Sherman with terrific force and flipped. Brett Youngman of Grass Valley also got into Anderson. The Anderson impact straightened Sherman out, and as Sherman chugged to a stop near turn 1, Wheatland’s Tim Barnes burst Sherman’s fuel cell with a wicked hit. Thankfully, there was no fire as the fuel poured from the stricken car. Other cars spun or stopped without being involved in the melee. But, in all 8 cars were involved with Brandon Dozier hitting Barnes to end the mayhem.
All the drivers were extracted from their cars. Some needed some time to walk off effects of the wreck. Others just sat down for a moment or two. The crash overshadowed what had been the finest, most competitive feature event of the year. Cars were using both grooves on a track that appeared to be too dry-slick for such maneuvers after a 90-degree day and wind that battered the clay surface. It was, simply, a great show.
Jeff Olschowka didn’t win again in the MRP Street Stock finale. But, he tried. The race started out with Olivehurst’s Robert Mull jumping into an early lead followed closely by Ryan McDaniel of Marysville. Point leader Bill Knoop found 3rd right away and Olshowka got into 4th. Mull was doing a nice job up front, but pushed a little wide in turn 4 and let McDaniel inside. The pair battled mercilessly for a circuit or two before McDaniel took command.
As the race approached ½ way, Knoop cranked it into one just a little hard and spun out of 3rd. Knoop went to the pits as the green light stayed on. In a race with few caution periods the racing was intense as Olschowka tried for 2nd.
As the event came to its conclusion, Olschowka lost it in turn 1 while trying an outside pass on the stubborn Mull. Olshowka’s yellow flag created a shootout in the final 2 laps. After Olschowka’s spin, 4th running Hall was now 3rd. At the final green Mull was up on the wheel and pressed McDaniel hard. Heading into the final set of turns Mull got inside of McDaniel and the racers collided. Mull and McDaniel traded paint for the entire distance of turn 4 before Mull broke free and crossed the line 1st. McDaniel came to a stop in 4 and Hall came across the line in 2nd.
Mull was ticketed with a rough driving penalty of 2 positions and placed 3rd in the final result behind the consistent Hall and Robert Arruda who claimed 3rd. Olschowka came back for a fine 4th place finish followed by John Johnson of Yuba City.
Fourteen-year-old Trevor Canales of Roseville won the Sprint 600 main event, holding off Kenny Allen of Chico. Canales is the son of many time MRP Winged Sprint Car feature event winner Tracy Canales.
Hiatt won the Nor Cal Dwarf Car main event, passing Dan Weger of Grass Valley on the last lap. The popular chauffer gained his 1st Nor Cal win with a move that had the fans screaming. Hiatt had spent the race pretty much in the shadow of the high flying Weger, who had led easily from his front row starting position. With 3 to go after a number of spins and crashes had slowed the pace, Hiatt got hot. With his familiar “Bat Cape” flying in the wind he started to close on Weger at a brisk pace. As the pair took the white flag Hiatt got inside Weger. Both cars were side by side up the back chute but Hiatt had the line. Hiatt inched ahead with a brilliant turn 3-4 and grabbed his 1st win ever! It was a real thriller. “Alimony Al” Ghiorso was an aggressive 3rd in his 1st appearance of the year followed by a charging Mike “Spanky” Grenert.
Ryan McDaniel passed Shawn Natenstedt of Fernley, Nevada, with two laps to go and held on for the win in the “$1000.00 to Win” Modified feature. McDaniel and Natenstedt were beneficiaries of some bad luck on the part of the early leaders. McDaniel, who was doing double duty, battled with Natenstedt for most of the race. As early race leaders and McDaniel’s father Randy fell off the pace the battling duo found themselves at the front. Natenstedt was the leader with 5 to go with Ryan McDaniel attached to the fast Nevada visitor. Petaluma’s Joe Carr had motored his way from the back after early race problems and joined the pair at the front in an entertaining match up. With 3 to go McDaniel edged up on the inside of Natenstedt right in front of the grandstand. He moved on by and took the checkers with Natenstedt glued to his rear nerf bar. Carr held on for 3rd. It was good to see a quality field of Modifieds in the pits for this event with most of the field towing long distances to race at MRP.
Mason Myers of Browns Valley won the MRP Wingless Sprint Car B main event. Heat race winners were Olschowka and Knoop in the MRP Street Stocks, Brett Youngman, Cody Myers, Taylor Simas of Orland and Shank in the MRP wingless sprints, Ryan McDaniel and Natenstedt won heats in the Modifieds, Matt Peterson of Wilton in the micro sprint 600s, and Kevin Bender of Rocklin, Brett Barstow of Ballico and Weger in the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars.
Next Saturday night Paul and Kathy Hawes will present point race #9 and FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT featuring the MRP Wingless Sprints, the MRP Stock Cars, the MRP Mini Stocks and the return of the EXTREME BOMBERS. The SORA Sprint 100s will also be on the card. All admission prices will be ½ off and hot dogs will be $1 all night long.
$300,000 in contingency rewards ongoing through 2008:
Remember, our racing program will get $150,000 worth of contingency dollars for our winged and wingless sprint cars. The way it works is that Contingency Connection has signed up 181 sponsors nationwide who contribute products or merchandise each race to the winner. The only catch is that drivers must be sporting the decal of that sponsor to earn the bonus. If a driver who wins the MRP Winged or Wingless feature race has every decal on his car, he could receive some $1150 in products or merchandise. The vouchers can be saved and traded in for larger ticket items. The bonus is a healthy addition to the $1,000 promoter Hawes already pays to the winner of MRP winged sprint car main events and the $750 he pays to MRP wingless sprint car feature winners.
In addition to the $150,000 Contingency Connection is providing during the regular season, the program also has earmarked another $150,000 toward a year-end bonus for the top two drivers as well as four other "at-large" drivers whom the promoters believe are deserving of some added cash.
Pit gates always open at 3 with the grandstands opening at 5. Practice and hot laps start at 6 with qualifying and racing following. 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.
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