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| RAYBURN SNAPS THOMPSON
WINNING STREAK by Gary Jacob |
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Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars and Factory Stocks |
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Santa Maria, CA - October 28, 2000- Chasing down
track champion Jimmy Thompson and taking the lead on lap 18, Gary
Rayburn Jr won the 20 lap unwinged sprint car feature Saturday night
as Santa Maria Speedway closed it's 2000 season with the Bill Baker
Memorial. Thompson was seeking a 9th consecutive win and paced through
first 17 laps after setting fast time, but was forced to pit with a
flat left front tire after losing the lead to Rayburn. Wade Griest
finished second ahead of Darrin Simas. Rayburn finished a distant
second to Thompson in the final point standings. Just a few weeks
after his car was severely damaged, Tom Maccianti from Solvang won the
final 20 lap main event for the factory stocks with Mike Wied second.
The track managed to get in it's season finale despite heavy rains
during the week that left much of the track parking lot unusable and
led to very rough track conditions.
With a strong field of visitors, mainly from Ventura Raceway, the unwinged 360 sprint cars had a season high 17 car turnout. Thompson posted fast time at 16.370 to edge out the 16.458 effort of John Jewett, the first car to run. Davey Pombo Jr ran a 16.517, Rayburn a 16.673 and Simas a 16.682. Jewett trailered after time trials and Pombo lost his engine leading his heat race. New Zealand's Greg Keegan won heat 1 over Thompson and James Brown. Rayburn won heat 2 ahead of Griest and Josh Ford. Thompson broke his steering box in the heat action and had to make repairs to run the feature. The 20 lap feature had 14 starters as Mark Bales also scratched. Thompson charged into the lead at the start of the main event over Griest, Rayburn and Keegan. On lap 9, Thompson tangled with the lapped car of Jeremy Ellertson, but continued with the yellow falling for a stalled David Adamo. Simas charged around both Brown and Keegan on the restart for fourth. Rayburn got underneath Griest in turn 4 for second on lap 12, but appeared to have no hope of catching Thompson. Rob Kershaw fell out and he was joined in the pits by Jessie Denome. Rayburn found a quicker route through the rutted corners and grabbed the lead from Thompson on lap 18. He had taken the white flag when Josh Ford stalled in turn 3 for a final yellow flag, leaving two laps to run. Thompson had a flat left front tire, but wanted to continue. The officials forced Thompson to pit and he didn't make it back for the restart. Rayburn won over Griest, Simas, Joey Layman, Keegan, Brown, Jeff Wilson and Ellertson with the top 7 on the lead lap. Layman finished third in points ahead of Bales and the absent Mike Knopf. The 15 factory stocks were split into a pair of heat races. Track champion Brian Brown was not competing as he was making his dirt late model debut in one of Doug Thornton's cars. Ray Sayre won the first heat over Maccianti and Grant Tucker. Dan Herlihy got his first win of any kind in heat 2 in front of Kevin Linson. Tim Ferrari led the first 2 laps of the 20 lap main before his right front tire went flat. Steve Pritchard took the lead from Jeff Torpen as Tim Purkett dropped out. Third place Sayre began to overheat and he dropped out when Herlihy stalled for a lap 6 yellow. The race was redflagged on the restart when Ferrari hit the wall. Maccianti was now third and he gained second when his contact racing with Torpen left Torpen with a flat tire. Maccianti took the lead from Pritchard on lap 12 and Tucker got around Pritchard for second on lap 14. A flat right front took out Tucker as Maccianti stretched his lead to 1/4 lap. Kelly Pusley gained third on lap 19, but Pritchard, Pusley and Kevin Linson all crashed on the last lap in their duel for second. This allowed Mike Wied to finish second ahead of Glen Sparks, Chad Shaffer and Brian Signorelli Sr. Maccianti ended up fourth in points behind champion Brown, Brian Signorelli Jr and Tucker. Summary Factory Stock Heat 1-Ray Sayre, Tom Maccianti, Grant Tucker, Kelly Pusley, Jeff Torpen. Heat 2-Dan Herlihy, Kevin Linson, Glen Sparks, Steve Pritchard, Mike Wied. Main-Maccianti, Wied, Sparks, Chad Shaffer, Brian Signorelli Sr, Pritchard, Pusley, Linson, Tucker, Torpen, Sayre, Tim Ferrari, Herlihy, Tim Purkett. Unwinged 360 Sprint Car Fast Time-Jimmy Thompson 16.370 Heat 1-Greg Keegan, Thompson, James Brown, Darrin Simas, David Adamo. Heat 2-Gary Rayburn Jr, Wade Griest, Josh Ford, Jeff Wilson, Jeremy Ellertson. Main-Rayburn, Griest, Simas, Joey Layman, Keegan, Brown, Wilson, Thompson, Dale Harwood, Ellertson, Ford, Jessie Denome, Rob Kershaw, Adamo. |
