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Ricky Wright, Jr. Victorious in Ferocious Round #5 Battle in GLR Investments Sprint Car Series Action
By Gary Costa
WATSONVILLE, CA – (6-15-09) – Some say that there is no passing in Winged Sprint Car racing. The GLR Investments 360 Sprint Car drivers put those types of comments to rest in Round No. 5 of GLR series action, as Morgan Hill's Ricky Wright, Jr. charged to victory in his father Rick Wright's potent mount to win an intense 30-lap feature event.
Wright, Jr's win makes him the fifth different winner in five events contested on John Prentice's exciting ¼-mile speed plant.
The 10 pill was drawn, putting Wright, Jr. and Gilroy's Kurt Nelson on the front row of the feature event. When the green lights flashed on around the track, Wright, Jr got the jump and barreled his way into turn-1. Just as the racing was heating up, the yellow came out for a stalled Cory Eliason in the No. 00X. At this point in the event, the points leader coming into the event, Evan Suggs, Salinas' Ronnie Day, and Campbell's Brent Kaeding who was subbing for son Bud Kaeding in the Mike Sala/Brian Matherly owned No. 19, immediately showed muscle in the event.
When the field went green again the intense action picked up once again. With every lap being clicked off, the racing intensified and battle lines would be drawn out on the racing surface. Kaeding was on kill, running the top of the well groomed race track like a man possessed charging forward. Kaeding would begin mixing it up with Tommy Tarlton, Suggs, Kevin Pylant and Ronnie Day who was also ripping up the cushion.
Drama would unfold on lap-10 for Suggs. While running fifth and moving forward he and Jerry Bonnema came together in turns 1-2 with the Suggs Racing No. 33E turning over. Suggs would make repairs and rejoin the field.
When action resumed, Wright, Jr. would get the jump on Nelson once again, with Kaeding, Day, Pylant, Tarlton, Justin Sanders and Brad Furr waging war upon one another. Kaeding was putting the heat to Nelson, as Kaeding tried him high and low but Nelson was able to fight him off. Kaeding eventually got by Nelson on lap-17.
Day moves into contention and gets himself in the mix and proceeds to take his gloves off as the two veterans proceeded to put on a high-speed balancing act. With no room for error, Kaeding and Day would run side-by-side as they charge through lapped traffic. Wright, Jr. also looked like a veteran, working himself through the heavy lapped traffic in the Eric Rossi massaged No. 35.
The final yellow would fly on lap-19 for a stalled Mark Chaves. The yellow would let the fans catch a well needed break from the scorching action out on the track. The top-10 rundown for the final 11-laps were: Wright, Jr., Kaeding, Day, Pylant, Furr, Nelson, Sanders, Tarlton, Jason Newton and Burt Foland, Jr. Foland, Jr. was on a rail in his No. 4. The crafty racer was blasting through the field from his 20th starting spot.
With the cars lined up nose-to-tail, the yellow lights went off around the race track, and the fans in attendance were witness to some of the finest racing that you will see anywhere in the country.
With green flag waving in the air, Wright, Jr. Drag raced into turn-1, Kaeding immediately went to the top of the racetrack and the car bounced up into the air. Day was right there looking to capitalize. Without hesitation, Day immediately went to the top and they raced side-by-side down the back strait with Day pulling a wheelie coming off of turn-2. The trio quickly got into lapped traffic, with Wright, Jr. slicing through it and putting on a show along the way to his electrifying win with Kaeding holding onto second and Day third.
Rounding out the top ten were Furr, Pylant, Sanders, Tarlton, Keith Day, Nelson, and Foland, Jr. Point's leader Suggs, gave it a valiant effort and worked his way back up to 12th with a broken and battered racecar.
"Ronnie Day once told me that in three years you will know if you're a driver or not. Ronnie came up to me a minute ago and said '"you were a driver tonight," the 18-year-old race winner said. "I was looking at the board and got a little nervous under the final yellow. I saw that the number 19 (Kaeding) and 20 (Day) were behind me. This place is so tough to win at. I'm just so proud to get a win here. Everyone that has won here is good and you have to earn every win."
"He impressed the hell out of me tonight! I always knew that he could do it," winning crew chief and former Sprint Car driver Eric Rossi said. "I would say that about the last five weeks, we've found something. He's been doing a great job. He drove a real smart race tonight. Look at how he ran through lapped traffic! This is a big win for us. Look at who's on the podium tonight; Brent Kaeding and Ronnie Day. I'm just so happy for this team. Everyone works hard on this deal and it paid off tonight!"
"The car was good, but after qualifying I didn't think that we would have a shot," second place finisher Kaeding said. "I ran over a tire on the last yellow and we tore a shock right off of the car. I've got to thank Ron Shaver for getting the motor back to Brian (Matherly) and Mike (Sala) so quick. This is the same one that Bud lost at the last race."
"We tried some old stuff that works for me tonight. I believe that we're gaining on it now," third place finisher Day commented. "The guys did a great job tonight. Brent showed me the fast way around and we had a great race together! We have some real good young drivers out here. I want to thank Chris Luck for all the support that he's shown towards me and the series."
In preliminary action Craig Smith would lay down a 12.083 qualifying lap garnering him quick time out of the 22-car field.
In Heat No. 1, Santa Cruz veteran Kevin Pylant and Kurt Nelson would run each other hard into turn-1. Pylant was relentless in his charge to the front. He eventually worked his way around the hard charging Nelson and took off and hid from the field in the Kaeding Performance No. 09. Craig Smith biked hard at the start of the race, but gathered it up and powered on, crossing the line in third. Cory Eliason was impressive as he took the Jake Vickers wrenched No. 00X to finish fourth after finding the line.
Ricky Wright, Jr. would lead them into turn-1 in Heat No. 2. As the laps wound down, a blanket could have been thrown over Brad Furr, Tommy Tarlton and Ronnie Day, as all three were battling for second place. However on the fifth lap, Matt Sargent took a vicious series of flips as he hopped a wheel. Sargent was just starting his entry into turn-3. The No. 14 flipped violently and covered a lot distance as he sailed over the "k-rail". Sargent would walk away uninjured from the scary wreck unscathed. The team immediately went to work and made repairs to the battered mount. Amazingly, Sargent was able to make the call for the feature event where he would ironically finish 14th. Furr would take the win in dramatic fashion in his No. 2, as he charged from his sixth starting spot.
Round No. 1 winner, Brent Kaeding would dash into turn-1 and carry the lead out of turn-2, in Heat No. 3 action. Evan Suggs would begin his charge from fourth and proceeded to drop to the bottom of the racetrack looking to make a move on Keith Day. Kaeding and Suggs were feeling out the surface by trying different lines looking to gain more speed. On lap-5 Billy Chester would take a hard series of barrel rolls through turns 3-4. Under the red flag, drama would ensue as race leader Kaeding was moved to the back of the field. Officials maintained that Kaeding drove passed the wrecked car of Chester. When racing resumed, Suggs would take the win over a racy Justin Sanders.
The next event for the GLR Investments 360 Sprint Car Series will be held on June 26th. The event will be the 1st qualifying race for the Johnny Key Classic. www.oceanspeedway.com
TIME TRIALS:
1. Craig Smith, 39- 12.083; 2. Tommy Tarlton, 21- 12.139; 3. Evan Suggs, 33E- 12.147; 4. Zach Zimmerly, 2- 12.317; 5. Ronnie Day, 20- 12.329; 6. Justin Sanders, 17- 12.372; 7. Kevin Pylant, 09- 12.379; 8. Jerry Bonnema, 58- 12.387; 9. Keith Day, 22- 12.393; 10. Anthony Simone, 10- 12.408; 11. Kurt Nelson, 72W- 12.451; 12. Ricky Wright, Jr., 35- 12.494; 13. Brent Kaeding, 19- 12.498; 14. Devin Ostheimer, 6X- 12.510; 15. Matt Sargent, 14- 12.542; 16. Jason Newton, 31- 12.567; 17. Cory Eliason, 00X- 12.582; 18. Brad Furr, 2- 12.588; 19. Mike Stallings, 83M- 12.691; 20. Mark Chaves, 33- 12.822; 21. Burt Foland, Jr., 4- 12.939; 22. Billy Chester, 28- 13.397.
HEAT RACE 1: (8 laps)
1. Kevin Pylant, 2. Kurt Nelson, 3. Craig Smith, 4. Cory Eliason, 5. Devin Ostheimer, 6. Anthony Simone, 7. Mark Chaves, 8. Zach Zimmerly
HEAT RACE 2: (8 laps)
1. Brad Furr, 2. Ronnie Day, 3. Ricky Wright, Jr., 4. Tommy Tarlton, 5. Jerry Bonnema, 6. Burt Foland, Jr., 7. Matt Sargent
HEAT RACE 3: (8 laps)
1. Evan Suggs, 2. Justin Sanders, 3. Keith Day, 4. Jason Newton, 5. Brent Kaeding, 6. Mike Stallings, 7. Billy Chester
FEATURE: (30 laps)
1. Ricky Wright, Jr., 2. Brent Kaeding, 3. Ronnie Day, 4. Brad Furr, 5. Kevin Pylant, 6. Justin Sanders, 7. Tommy Tarlton, 8. Keith Day, 9. Kurt Nelson, 10. Burt Foland, Jr., 11. Jason Newton, 12. Evan Suggs, 13. Jerry Bonnema, 14. Matt Sargent, 15. Zach Zimmerly, 16. Devin Ostheimer, 17. Craig Smith, 18. Anthony Simone, 19. Mike Stallings, 20. Cory Eliason, 21. Mark Chaves, 22. Billy Chester (DNS)
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