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Sarale 1st to last, then last to 1st in
BCRA. |
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Marysville CA - April 18, 2009 --- A smokin’ hot effort by 2 time BCRA Midget champion John Sarale highlighted a brilliant program at Paul and Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park Saturday. Sarale, of Stockton, won the 30-lap championship feature event. Tony Richards of Paradise scored a wire-to-wire victory in the non-stop Browns Valley RV Wingless Warrior Sprint Car Series. Cort Dozier mounted a sprint car top wing on his sleek Super Stocker and roared to victory in that class. The “Colusa Comet” Tim MacLaughlin added another trophy to the mantle with an easy ride in the Pro 4 Sprint Car Series. The final checkered flag waved at 9:30 in the well-choreographed presentation. In the Brown’s Valley RV Wingless Warrior Sprint Car Series feature Tony Richards of Paradise had the pole. The green dropped and some 5 minutes later he had the checkers waving across the bow of the red 86. Richards simply ran off and hid. Bryan Southers of Sutter got to 2nd early and shadowed Richards for most of the race. But, Richards hit traffic just right and was able to separate himself from Southers with ease. A 15-car battle ensued behind the front-runners with Tim Sherman Jr. able to do a credible passing job. A couple of late race passing opportunities forced him out of the groove and backwards, but he recovered to an impressive 7th at the end anyway. Mason Myers stayed 3rd for most of the distance followed by a rejuvenated Johnny Reeves in 4th. Reeves was one of 5 in this class that took scary high flyers last week. Point leader Cody Myers came from deep in the starting field to a fine 5th systematically clawing his way to the front. This kind of mature calculated drive is the kind of thing that can win championships. Mason Meyers and Cort Dozier won the heat races. In the BCRA feature Sarale and fellow BCRA standout Justin Grant hooked up and headed to the front where they stayed during the early laps after digging their way there. A war was going on behind them as front row starter Cole Peard and Glenn Carson slugged it out with 2008 BCRA Champion Nick Foster and ageless Floyd Alvis. This knot of cars provided breathtaking dicing running all over the track in a desperate effort to catch the leaders. Foster’s brave drive at the top of the raceway had the fans on their feet. As the race reached half way Grant became impatient and began to challenge Sarale…big time. A few circuit’s later leader Sarale and Grant collided in turn 1 with both cars chugging to a stop. Both restated at the rear. Carson was now the leader and the war for 3rd was now the war for 1st. It was beautiful to watch as these fiercely fast racers were sliding with abandon on the MRP clay. Meanwhile Sarale was on the move from the back. The impact with Grant severed a brake line and he had no brakes for the rest of the event. It didn’t matter. Grant’s night came to an abrupt end when he tried to follow Sarale into a swarm of cars during their race back to the front. Grant hooked a wheel and flipped high in the air in turn three. He was OK, but done. The restart provided a great dice up front, but all eyes were on Sarale in the back. The brakeless 32 was flying. Sarale fought his way back into the top 5 with 7 laps to go. He then whirled through the leaders and popped out of that struggle into the top spot once again. He had gone from 1st to last and from last to 1st all in 30 laps. It was incredible. Sarale roared under the checkers with the entire grandstand on its collective feet. Yep, it was that good. Grant and Sarale scooped up the heat race victories. The MRP Super Stocks were next and their own brand of motorized excitement produced a new winner. The race was a benefit for front row starter Jeff Olschowka in the early laps. The class had some difficulty getting some laps in early on, but once it got running Olschowka was in command. Marysville’s Cort Dozier brought his winged creation into 2nd right away but could not dig into Olschowka’s lead. Then at ˝ way Olschowka made a rare mistake for someone so cool under pressure and spun not once, but twice, allowing Dozier to fly on by. Dozier was an easy winner after that as Ray Benkowski flashed across the line a distant 2nd. Olschowka recovered for 3rd. The Pro 4 Sprint Car event was another Tim MacLaughlin benefit after archrival Tony Gaoiran flipped into the turn one wall on the opening lap. MacLaughlin flew by early leader Denmark Juan on lap 3 and it was all but over from there. A great drive by PJ Peterson highlighted the event though, as the young charger went to the high side and flirted with disaster lap after lap. Peterson found 3rd in the end, but his drive was without question the most thrilling of the night in Pro 4 competition. Next week the Mighty Modifieds will drift into town for some sling ‘em sideways, alcohol-burning action. The MRP Stock Cars will be back as well. The 1st appearance of the SUDS 4 Modified Minis will also be on the card. The BCRA Midget Lites will come to town for the 1st time.…. Then there’s the 2009 debut of the Prime Time Pizza EXTREME BOMBERS. Automotive mayhem at it’s finest will bring down the curtain this Saturday night. Once again there’ll be something for everyone on the card next week at Paul and Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park. MRP will continue to offer it’s own form of the Economic Stimulus Plan by offering admission prices from the past all year long. The spectator gates open at 5PM with hot laps and qualifying at 6PM. This Saturday the races will start promptly after hot laps at about 6:30. Get there early. The pit gate opens at 3PM. 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. |
