|
Marysville Raceway Park
Press Release 5.27.09
For immediate release
By Bob Burbach
Hall has never won Hall Memorial
Big field heads for MRP Saturday
Marysville- This Saturday night Paul and Kathy Hawes will host the 2009 signature spring event “The Mel Hall Memorial Race” at Marysville Raceway Park. This race will feature a spectacular field of MRP Winged 360 Sprint Cars. Champions representing every 360 sprint car track in northern California will be headed to MRP for this annual celebration of spectacle and speed. Cars from Nevada and Oregon will also make the big tow to Yuba Sutter’s only weekly professional sports facility.
The event commemorates the impact that Grass Valley resident Mel Hall had on professional sprint car racing in this area. An Arkansas native, Hall began to promote big time sprint car racing at MRP in 1994. His untimely death in 1999 left a lot left to do. He was responsible for taking the facility from primarily a stock car racing venue to the sprint car racing track it is today.
In the ten years that this race has been presented one name stands out as the primary beneficiary and that name is Colby Wiesz. The “Colfax Comet” as he is referred to here has won this prestigious event on four occasions (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006). Wiesz has another three top five finishes in other Mel Hall Classics. Wiesz also has 36 feature event victories at MRP (second only to fellow 3 time champion Korey Lovell who has 37).
In a sharp contrast to Wiesz’s remarkable success in the event, one driver who has won often at MRP still has not taken the race named after promoter Hall. That is Mel’s son Mark. Grass Valley’s Mark Hall brought three Winged Sprint Car Championships with him when dad Mel took over at MRP in late 1994 (Ernie Purssell Memorial Speedway in Grass Valley is where Mark picked up his 1st three titles). When Mark Hall came to MRP it was with a revolutionary V-6 engine that screamed on with a nerve-shattering whine. It was a successful one though. Mark Hall picked up 2 more Sprint Car Titles at MRP before semi-retiring to take over promoting the track after Mel’s passing.
Much time has passed and now with MRP finally in the capable hands of current promoters Paul and Kathy Hawes, Mark Hall continues to race. BUT…and this is one big BUT…he has never won the race named in honor of his father Mel. Mark, who won 26 main events here, has never been able to gather in the checkers in this one particular race. Last year this observer asked him how he would feel if he could win it, Hall simply replied in his calm, engaging fashion, ”It would be nice.”
Nice? I guess so. This observer suspects that if Mark Hall can get this one victory in this particular race that has eluded him for so long, the party would be staggering. Like all great sporting events, this one will be riddled with brilliantly prepared equipment and boiling over with driving talent. There will be wickedly fast visitors all over the pit area Saturday night. So, Hall’s task will be a daunting one. It is one of the great sprint car races…period. This event also pays points in the 2009 MRP Winged Sprint Car driving championship.
A full field of alcohol guzzling winged sprint cars are ready to go to war this Saturday night. The Western States Modifieds have been added to the show for a look at some wild alcohol burning, open wheeled stock car action. The pit gate opens at 3PM. Spectator gates open at 5PM. Hot laps start at 6 with qualifying and racing events scheduled immediately after hot laps.
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.
|
