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AUGUST
24, 2008 --- Paul and Kathy Hawes hosted dozens of heroes and family from the NARC Stock Car days Saturday night. Phillip Shelby of Yuba City smoked a fast field of MRP Wingless Sprint Cars in the feature event. Jeff Olschowka ran away with the MRP Street Stock main and Joel Giusti extended his point lead in the MRP Mini Stock main. Denmark Juan scored his first ever win in SORA competition. Seventy four year old J.R. Williams of Carson City Nevada led wire to wire in the USAC Ford Focus feature.
The atmosphere waxed nostalgic. A short emotional ceremony during intermission allowed promoter Paul Hawes to introduce and honor the stars of MRP’s first years as a NARC sanctioned stock car venue. Opening in 1968, MRP was the home of short track, dirt stock car racing in northern California. Adding a humorous touch to the rhetoric, Hawes introduced friends and rivals once again. It was obvious to this observer that the facility as it stands today impacted those who have not been here in a few years the most. Several of the veteran racers praised the work that has been ongoing since the start of the 2007 season when Hawes took the reins.
The MRP Street Stocks kicked off feature event point race competition and, once again Jeff Olschowka trounced the field. Lisa Shelby of Yuba City had an adventure as a miscue had her relegated to the rear. Shelby then marched to the front. With but a few laps left, she and Yuba City’s Corey Hall were in a great battle for the runner up spot. Shelby dove into one hard in attempt to get by Hall. The two cars collided sending Hall up the banking.
Early race leader Ray Benkowski slipped into third as Hall nursed his banged up car into a fourth place finish. Olschowka won by a wide margin as his championship hopes look brighter than ever. It was good to see Benkowski so competitive after his up and down season thus far. Ray led from the green and had a spirited dice with Olschowka before the black 96 got by.
In an effort that was as smooth as glass Sutter’s Joel Giusti edged ever closer to his second track title with a victory in the crash marred MRP Mini Stock main. Giusti was in control all the way. Misty Castleberry and Jamey Ollar were putting on eye-popping performances as they sliced their way to the top. Castleberry found second late and Ollar (trying for a fourth consecutive win) got to third in the end. But, once Giusti was in front he stayed in control.
The MRP Wingless Sprint Car main was an elbows up, extremely entertaining sprint car race. This class continues to put on stirring feature events with a stiff rivalry or two beginning to emerge.
Front row starter Phillip Shelby went to the cushion and, like spinning soap on a rope, dashed the competition. The track was heavy early and changed all race long. It took some strong men to blast their way around it. Shelby was breathless in victory lane simply saying, “…I’m really tired”. Well this observer is not surprised as Shelby was in another league in this race.
A late race duel turned into a last lap shootout between last week’s winner Jeremy Hawes and the rugged veteran Tony Richards of Paradise. With Shelby in a zone of his own, Richards was on the move and had finally reached third when he encountered the “Flyin’ Ford”. It was sprint car racing at it’s best as the young lion continued to thwart the efforts of the veteran. The white banner was in the air, and all eyes were on the slugfest. Out of four coming to the checkers, Richards made a last-ditch effort with an impressive outside move. They collided. Hawes right rear collapsed Richards’ front end and Richards went for an uncontrolled high-speed ride into the infield. Hawes recovered for third, but Cort Dozier flashed by to take second.
Point leader John Anderson looked as if he was going to have two consecutive rough nights as the black 12 hammered the infield implement tires in turn four. But, he restarted and clawed his way back to fifth at the flag. Dozier was a factor all night long. Hawes said after the race that he and Dozier had missed the set up. That may be the case, but both racers were in the hunt all night long.
The thrilling finish is worth noting as the MRP Wingless Sprint Cars season draws to a close. With Hawes virtually out of the points hunt and with Richards simply “…here to win”, the next scheduled event September sixth will be a DO NOT MISS show. Looking at it from any perspective, this rivalry is rich; young lion vs. rugged veteran…Ford vs. Chevy… out of town hero vs. local star. The second BEER CUP scheduled for that evening might well be the race of the year.
Denmark Juan has been knocking at the door. This time he knocked it down. The impressive rookie contender collected his first feature event win in SORA competition. A truly unusual set of circumstances presented the talented young charger with an opportunity for victory. He grabbed it and ran with it.
2007 champ Tim MacLaughlin quickly flew through the field in the early laps and found first with relative ease. Then, while cruising in the lead, a piece came off of his nose wing bringing out a yellow flag for debris. MacLaughlin was relegated to the rear of the pack and Juan inherited the lead with Greg Hansen breathing down his neck.
The top two stayed the same to the checkers as Juan bested every challenge by Hansen. The closing laps featured a fine run into third by MacLaughlin.
Seventy four year old J. R. Williams led every lap in the USAC Ford Focus Midget main. It was his first victory in the class at MRP. Elk Grove’s Matt Land finished a close second in the non-stop event.
The MRP Street Stocks will return on Saturday with the Open 4 Cylinder Mini Stocks and Mod 4s and a return visit from the Sprint 100s. The EXTREME BOMBERS will bring down the Curtain once again with some wild, slam bang Destruction Derby action on a high-speed oval.
It will be Dilly Bar Night (part 2) this Saturday. Once again, Mike Hall will provide free DQ Dilly Bars for everyone in attendance, competitor and fan alike. Hall’s Dairy Queen of Yuba City located on Live Oak Blvd will sponsor the event.
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.
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