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Dothage, Hawes, Castleberry, Shelby and Grenert win; Crash ‘em up BOMBERS added for Cy Francis Memorial Saturday By Bob Burbach |
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Marysville, CA - July 27, 2008 --- Spectacular racing action and some
high-flying thrills & spills kept the fans and competitors on their toes
Saturday at Marysville Raceway Park. Paul and Kathy Hawes hosted a blur of
high-speed activity in all five divisions at the well prepared clay oval. A new,
well situated sound system was in place for the event. The evening brought
together the four primary divisions and the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars. The Yuba City
Dairy Queen provided free Dilly Bars for everyone in the place. Dilly Bar Night
was well attended and the fans did not go home disappointed.
The Dwarf Cars brought out their feature first and it was a knock down drag out side-by-side battle for a good portion of the twenty lapper. Former champion Brian Quilty of Sacramento and Dan Weger of Grass Valley spent much of the first half of the race nose to tail and side-by-side. Both would retire and leave the final laps to a serious battle between the point leaders. Mike Grenert of Travis AFB and Brett Barstow of Ballico spent the last few laps locked together in a tight tussle for the top spot. Both drivers sailed quickly into the final circuit. Grenert had a slight lead in three, and Barstow pitched it wildly in a last turn attempt to pass. It didn’t work and he parked it sideways leaving Grenert to take the checkers. Marysville’s Neil Stinson flashed by into second before Barstow regained control and came in third. The MRP Wingless Warriors were next up on the hooked up, challenging track. Pole sitter Cortney Dozier got the jump on Blaine Varner and took the field into one. The rest of the full field of cars fanned out with equal numbers going high and low. The MRP Wingless Sprint Car Series continues to provide a visual that is some thing to talk about. With the track so racy in the last few weeks new stars and winners are beginning to emerge. Second row starter Jeremy Hawes in his Flyin’ Ford camped on Varner’s tail and the pressure began. Eleventh starting Tony Richards took a lap or two to sort things out, then went immediately to the top and started marching to the front. It was an exciting ride for all the participants and with elbows up, this was a fun one to watch. On lap two Varner cranked it in too hard and Hawes was by in a flash for second. Yuba City’s Phillip Shelby got third and by lap five Richards had roared into fourth. Richards was on the move. Then the complexion of the race changed dramatically. Leader Dozier rolled to a stop in two and his night was inexplicably concluded. Hawes was the leader at the new green. Shelby was now second with Richards coming fast. Hawes could not get away from his two protagonists and this one was turning into a nail biter. Richards flew by Shelby for second and parked in behind the Hawes’ #01. You could throw a blanket over the top three as three real chargers in this division struggled in a very entertaining dice. The long green flag segment brought the leaders into lapped traffic. While it seemed that Hawes could lead at will, Richards and Shelby would creep up and get in behind him. Hawes started to cut through traffic like a hot knife through butter. The challengers did not have the same result. Even with a bounce or two in turn one, Hawes was able to stay in the lead. As the race came to its conclusion Richards tried a desperate move around lapped traffic headed into three. Richards went in too hot and went over the banking. Shelby leapt into second and then started to close with the help of some lapped traffic as the race rolled into the final few laps. Richards recovered and stayed in third. With two to go Shelby got up on the wheel and closed measurably on Hawes. As the pair headed to the white flag Shelby was nearly drafting Hawes. The crowd rose in unison as Shelby crept up on the outside of Hawes on the backstretch of the final lap. Shelby threw his #86 into three, hard…he went in a little too hard. Shelby lost it on the high side and slid to a stop leaving Hawes alone at the checkers. Richards was second, Mason Meyers came from the back of the pack into third after a stellar drive through the field. Varner held onto fourth in a great drive. Once again, the MRP Wingless Sprint Cars provided a thrilling, crowd pleasing racing spectacle. A tip of the hat here, from this observer to Phillip Shelby’s last lap try. His effort came up short, but he never gave up. It was Hawes’ first victory of the campaign after an incredible series of bad luck scenarios have kept the young charger winless until now. Lisa Shelby took her second checkered flag of the year in the MRP Street Stock feature. Shelby rocketed away from the field and easily led the first few laps. Yuba City’s Corey Hall started to pressure Shelby but lost the handle in three while trying for the top spot. Jeff Olschowka came from the back, but could not get past visiting driver Mitch Machado. The long green flag segment that concluded the event allowed Shelby to trounce the field in a dominating performance. Point contender Bill Knoop was not in attendance and Shelby will benefit significantly in the standings. Helping even more, Olschowka had problems in post race tech, and was placed at the rear of the field. The point sheet on Tuesday should be of interest. The MRP Winged Sprint Car feature provided blinding speed and some spectacular crashes. Pole sitter Brent Dothage went wire to wire and put another notch on the wing of his rapid #2. At the start, Korey Lovell fell into second with Grass Valley’s Jeremy Burt in third. On a lap three restart after a minor spin Lovell bounced in two and had to check up, Burt slowed abruptly to avoid Lovell and fourth running Brandon Dozier went over Burt’s right rear. Dozier’s car got some big air and flew into the cables on the backstretch. The car punched a giant hole into the boards and finally stopped hanging in the cables. Dozier was OK, but his bizarre night was not finished. The lengthy red flag segment allowed Dozier to repair his car and he rejoined re-joined the race at the new green. It might have been a bad idea. As Dozier went into turn one on the restart his car simply did not turn and he hit the wall in two. He bounced off of a protective tire at the gore point and it launched him into a lazy flight into the catch fencing on the backstretch…again. This time the black 95 was finished, but Dozier was OK in the strange looking wreck. The race restarted and second running Lovell started to rock through turn one, the car dug in and flipped wildly coming to rest in turn two. He was unhurt, but done for the evening. The race once again was waved off and Dothage was gone. Behind him was a spectacular dice that included 3-time champion Colby Wiesz. But, Wiesz turned out to be the next yellow as he slammed the wall in three after a high side try for fourth. Sacramento’s Tom Baker was a factor before mechanical woes took him out. Baker was spectacular as he diced in the battle for third with Petaluma’s Burt Foland and Gridley’s Shawn Amos. Amos also had a great night throwing his #07 around MRP with great skill. The last portion of the race was a runaway for Dothage. Burt put in another great performance in his run to second. Foland and Amos followed across the line. The Mighty Minis brought down the curtain and a new face graced victory lane. Misty Castleberry flashed under the checkers first after a titanic tussle with race leader Damian Merritt in the final laps. Merritt’s night ended in the infield as he spun into the infield as the pair came to the white flag. Front row starter Merritt roared away from the field easily in the first half of the event. Merritt has been very quick of late and has become a real factor. Merritt led rookie star Nathan Mayo, Joel Giusti, Castleberry and Eric Jones in the early going. Mayo faded early and Giusti spun on an early race restart. All that put Castleberry right behind Merritt with Jones in third. A long, mid-race green flag segment provided some very interesting racing that brought Jamey Ollar into the picture. Ollar got to third and Blane Baker tested Jones for fourth and eventually took the position. Up front Castleberry tried desperately to close the gap on Merritt, but Merritt was up to the task and kept Castleberry at bay. Merritt completed lap eighteen with a comfortable lead (if five lengths is comfortable) when 2007 Rookie of the Year Alan Furuta hammered the front stretch wall. The yellow flew and Castleberry had the opportunity she needed. Merritt, however, had showed his ability to lead at will, all night. The atmosphere was electric for the restart. Could Castleberry cash in? A green-white-checkered would end this one. On the restart, Castleberry got a great run on Merritt and was on his tail by three. Castleberry bumped up against Merritt’s bumper entering three. Merritt loosened up but saved it. Then coming out of four Merritt seemed to have trouble and went for a long lazy slide toward the infield. Merritt tried to save the car, but it darted into the soft stuff at the berm. Merritt fought for control, but the car did not seem to respond. The car came to rest on the infield under the starters stand. Castleberry went unchallenged under the checkers with Ollar second and Baker in third. Castleberry’s great win was coupled with a less than effective race for fellow point contender Giusti. Attrition helped Giusti in the end as he was scored sixth in the final tally. The point battle will tighten as a result of this event. Castleberry has been knocking at the door all season. This time she blasted on through it to win. The racing program was a thriller in all five divisions. Efforts in track preparation are paying off with events that have no dust, fewer time consuming yellows and more competition throughout the fields. Saturday’s events provided aggressive drivers with a track to work with. It was a crowd pleaser all night long. Next week the raceway will present the First Annual Cy Francis Memorial Race. This race will celebrate the life of the original promoter of this raceway. Once again, the MRP Winged Sprint Cars AND the MRP Wingless Sprint Car Series will be the headliners. The roaring action of the MRP Street Stocks, the MRP Mini Stocks and the insane Destruction Derby style antics of the EXTREME BOMBERS will also be on the five-division card. The EXTREME BOMBERS would be a class that would make Francis smile. Remember, MRP is just a few miles from anywhere in the Yuba Sutter area. Stay close to home, save your gas and experience Yuba-Sutter’s only professional sports series. Only at MRP. Pit gates always open at 3 with the grandstands opening at 5. Practice and hot laps start at 6 with qualifying and racing to follow. Put www.marysvilleracewaypark.com on your “favorites” button on you computer. Watch this site for press releases, updates and complete results. $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 weekly $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. You must be a member of the association, but you can buy a membership at any event throughout the year. 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. 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. |
