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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series
#21 Peter Murphy. Photo by Lance Jennings.
PETER MURPHY WINS HANFORD'S WINGLESS COTTON CLASSIC
By Lance Jennings
HANFORD, CA – OCTOBER 17, 2011... Charging from the fifteenth starting spot, Peter Murphy of Clovis surged past Ryan Bernal on the last corner to win the wingless portion of the Cotton Classic. Last Saturday's victory at Hanford's Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway was Murphy's second USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series triumph of the year and his efforts were greeted with a huge roar from the large crowd in attendance.
Dennis Howell grabbed the early lead from the pole position and looked to close out the year with his first victory of the season. Looking strong on the Hanford clay oval, Howell set to distance himself from the pack and began to inch away from the competition. Behind the leader, it was an all out battle for position as veteran drivers Davey Pombo of Kerman, Tipton's "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr., and Campbell's Bud Kaeding looked to move forward.
T.J. Smith had worked his way up to second after falling back to fourth in the early stages. Sander Engineering Fast qualifier Ryan Bernal chose the outside lane of the speedway to make his charge and dropped Smith to third on lap eight. By this time, Peter Murphy was methodically making his way forward and sat in eighth. Two laps later, Murphy had motored past Kaeding to claim sixth.
Despite several yellow flags and an early flip for Jeff Gardner, Dennis Howell continued to maintain control of the event with Bernal in pursuit. As the laps counted down, Murphy secured third from Smith and set his sights on second. With Bernal now feeling pressure from Murphy, Ryan quickly reeled in Howell and executed a momentum pass to take command on lap twenty-one. Still in pursuit, Murphy shot past Howell to take second as the leaders began to work their way through slower traffic.
Using the low groove of Scott Woodhouse's Kings Speedway, Murphy threatened for the lead with two laps to go. Bernal continued to run "top shelf" and began to inch away from the second place car. Ryan flew past the starter stand taking white flag with Peter gaining ground. Bernal had the advantage down the back straight and heading into turn three. Needing to make up some ground, Murphy drove his machine deep into the north turns and coming to the line it was anyone's race. With checkered flags in the starter's hand, it was Murphy with a late surge to the finish line over Bernal. Howell claimed third, Smith was fourth, and Pombo scored fifth. The large "Cotton Classic" crowd roared in approval of the finish and cheered for a fan favorite of the series.
Piloting Tom Tarlton Sr.'s pink #21 "Breast Cancer Awareness" car sponsored by Tarlton and Son Inc. and Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Peter Murphy won his series leading eighth career feature. In the process, the Australia native prevented Bernal from tying his 2009 club record of six main event wins in a season. Murphy claimed fourth in his heat race and earned his second Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Award of the 2011 campaign. The veteran driver closed out the year sixteenth in points with seven top-10 finishes and five feature laps led.
After taking the lead from Dennis Howell on lap twenty-one, Ryan Bernal of Hollister looked for his sixth victory of the year. Driving Danny Olmstead's #11D S&S Automotive / Dorso's Automotive Maxim, the 2011 Rookie of the Year lost in a close finish at the checkered flags. Bernal was close to sweeping the "Cotton Classic" by earning his third Sander Engineering Fast Time Award and scoring his fourth heat race of the season by taking the Extreme Mufflers sponsored event. The new Santa Maria track champion finished the year second in series points with thirteen top-10 finishes and led the series with 153 feature laps led.
Dennis Howell of Rancho Palos Verdes led two thirds of the feature before coming home third in the family owned #62 San Pedro Auto Body / Howell-Meyer Racing Maxim. The USAC Western Midget Series graduate was third in his heat race and finished the year fifth in the point chase with one Sander Engineering Fast Time Award, three heat race victories, twelve top-10 finishes, two Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Awards, and twenty-three feature laps led to his credit.
Fresno's T.J. Smith looked to break a string of bad luck and took fourth despite front end damage of his machine. Piloting the Steve LeGras owned #14 UHL Rubber / S&S Automotive Maxim, last year's Santa Maria champion was second in his heat race and claimed eighth in series points with one Sander Engineering Fast Time Award, three heat race victories, seven top-10 finishes, and thirty feature laps led on the year.
Davey Pombo of Kerman battled hard with veteran drivers Danny Faria Jr. and Bud Kaeding to take fifth in the 30-lap wingless "Cotton Classic." Driving Joey Eames' #3E Eames Trucking / Cool Hand Luke's Maxim, last year's Southwest Contractors 360 Clash Champion was second in his heat race and closed out the season eleventh in the point chase with nine top-10 finishes on the year.
Kyle Miller made the long tow from Eugene, Oregon and won the Saldana Racing Products / Keizer Wheels Heat Race #2. Piloting the family owned #10 Hanford Towing / Osterman Race Wings Triple X, Miller scored fourteenth in his first appearance with the USAC West Coast 360 competition at Hanford.
"Mr. Excitement" Andy Forsberg of Auburn claimed victory in the DJ Safety Heat Race #3. Driving his #92 Autism Awareness / Creative Finishes Plus Maxim, the multi-time California Civil War Sprint Car Champion scored twentieth after an early exit. In limited starts, Forsberg was twenty-ninth in points with two top-10 finishes and one Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Award on the season.
The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Port City Racing, Rod End Supply, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.
For more information on the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series, please visit westcoastsprintcars.com, usacracing.com, racesantamariaspeedway.com, or follow the series on facebook.
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USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT (SPECIAL EVENT) RACE RESULTS:
October 15, 2011 - Hanford, California - Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway - "Cotton Classic"
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS:
1. Ryan Bernal, 11D, Olmstead-15.768; 2. T.J. Smith, 14, LeGras-15.989; 3. Wes Gutierrez, 007, WG-16.002; 4. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell-16.044; 5. Danny Faria Jr., 2, Bowman-16.070; 6. Davey Pombo, 3E, Eames-16.148; 7. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-16.385; 8. Jeff Gardner, 51T, Revcon-16.462; 9. Andy Forsberg, 92, Forsberg-16.533; 10. Jonathan Logan, 32, Evett/Logan-16.555; 11. Burt Foland Jr., 4, Foland-16.710; 12. Kolby Araki, 71G, Ishii-16.754; 13. Kyle Evans, 51, Evans-16.774; 14. Kyle Miller, 10, Miller-16.798; 15. John Iturriria, 27, Iturriria-16.819; 16. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-16.870; 17. Don Gansen, 7G, Gansen-17.079; 18. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Van Meter-17.132; 19. Terry Schank Jr., 1, Gleason-17.173; 20. Jerry Wise Jr., 23, Wise-17.213; 21. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-17.297; 22. Anthony Pombo, 22, Koontz-17.579; 23. Ray Knight, 6K, Knight-18.664; 24. Peter Murphy, 21, Tarlton-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Bud Kaeding, 3. Dennis Howell, 4. Marty Hawkins, 5. Jonathan Logan, 6. Terry Schank Jr., 7. Kyle Evans, 8. Anthony Pombo. NT.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / KEIZER WHEELS HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Kyle Miller, 2. T.J. Smith, 3. Don Gansen, 4. Danny Faria Jr., 5. Jeff Gardner, 6. Burt Foland Jr., 7. Ray Knight, 8. Jerry Wise Jr.. NT.
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Andy Forsberg, 2. Davey Pombo, 3. Wes Gutierrez, 4. Peter Murphy, 5. John Iturriria, 6. Ricky Kirkbride, 7. Jim Richardson, 8. Kolby Araki. NT.
FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Peter Murphy (15th), 2. Ryan Bernal (4th), 3. Dennis Howell (1st), 4. T.J. Smith (3rd), 5. Davey Pombo (6th), 6. Wes Gutierrez (2nd), 7. Danny Faria Jr. (5th), 8. Bud Kaeding (7th), 9. Ricky Kirkbride (19th), 10. Jonathan Logan (10th), 11. Marty Hawkins (13th), 12. Don Gansen (14th), 13. Kyle Evans (18th), 14. Kyle Miller (11th), 15. Jim Richardson (22nd), 16. John Iturriria (12th), 17. Kolby Araki (17th), 18. Anthony Pombo (23rd), 19. Ray Knight (24th), 20. Andy Forsberg (9th), 21. Terry Schank Jr. (20th), 22. Jerry Wise Jr. (21st), 23. Burt Foland Jr. (16th), 24. Jeff Gardner (8th). NT.
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**Jeff Gardner flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS:
Laps 1-20 Dennis Howell, Laps 21-29 Ryan Bernal, Lap 30 Peter Murphy.
KEIZER WHEELS HARD CHARGER AWARD: Peter Murphy (15th to 1st)
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