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Deaver wins second straight NSRA Jackson Memorial
Andrew Kunas
EPHRATA, Wash. – Craig Deaver scored his first win of the year with the ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association on Saturday night, and it came at the same track in the same event his last victory did.
For the second consecutive year, Deaver won the Rebel Jackson Memorial at Ephrata Raceway Park. Deaver, however, admitted he was probably lucky this time, getting help from a mistake by a driver in front of him.
The former NSRA champion out of Sumner, Wash. inherited the lead on a lap 29 yellow as race long leader Whitney Nolan of Wenatchee, Wash. was docked one position as a penalty for allegedly hitting a cone earlier in the race. Over the next 19 laps, Deaver had to fend off challenges by Nolan, Paul Dart and NSRA point leader Andy Alberding to secure the victory on lap 48, when the scheduled 50-lapper was checkered after cars started to run out of fuel.
In a surprise, Deaver did not have his usual 360 c.i. motor under the hood of his own No. 15 Stealth, instead going with the limited cast iron motor he used to win a limited sprint car event at Ephrata earlier this year. Because of the slick conditions on the old, worn pavement, the many local cars with the limited motors were able to compete with the NSRA drivers with the bigger motors. Nolan, only in his third year racing, also had a limited motor under the hood.
Nolan, driving his own No. 25n J&J, started on the pole as a result of an eight-car invert. Deaver tried to pass Nolan on a number of occasions, but was not able to get a good run at anytime.
"I got lucky. It was fun to drive with those guys," Deaver said of the local Ephrata cars. "These guys in the local show have really stepped their game up. I was waiting for (Nolan) to make a mistake, but he and (Dart) were great."
Nolan would make a mistake, but not the kind that would allow Deaver to drive by him in green light conditions.
"I just wish Craig would've passed me when we're racing, instead of me hitting the stupid cone," Nolan said. "I had a great time. Last year I didn't even make the A-Main. To run second with these guys is wonderful. I was hoping the car wouldn't overheat. We had problems with that earlier this year. I had to swap spots with Deaver (after hitting the cone). I had no problem with that, since I felt I was as good as he was, (but) I was tight on restarts. I needed three or four laps to heat the tires back up."
Alberding, who started 13th after winning the B-Main, picked his way through the field one by one before reaching Deaver and challenging for the lead. Alberding, however, pulled off the track on lap 36 with a broken rocker arm in the motor. According to Alberding, it was the second rocker arm he has broken. Ironically, the first rocker arm was broken at Ephrata also. Alberding, out of Roseburg, Ore. was credited with 13th and further added to his 83-point lead in the standings going in, as second place points man Monte Zema Jr. of Colville, Wash. failed to transfer out of the B-Main.
Dart, out of Ephrata, started fifth in his own No. 11 J&J and passed Nolan for third on lap 35 before taking second when Alberding pulled off. Dart challenged Deaver for the lead on lap 42, attempting to pass on the outside exiting turn four. Dart, however, backed off and lost some ground after they made contact with each other.
Dart closed in still and chased Deaver through slower cars on laps 44 and 45. Dart, however, got loose on lap 46 and lost the second position to Nolan. Dart then pulled off the track with problems, possibly fuel-related. He was credited with ninth place.
With 47 laps complete the yellow flag came out for Bob Witte and Wes Helgeson colliding and spinning together exiting turn four. Cars were starting to run out of fuel, including Todd Coleman who stopped on the front stretch during the yellow. With that happening, officials decided to throw the checkers.
Former NSRA regular Jeff Bird of Shawnigan Lake, Brit. Col. finished third in his return appearance with the series in his own No. 55 Chevy-powered Tognotti. Helgeson and Witte were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Jake Mann finished sixth. Kevin Burck, Robbie Patterson, Dart and Justin Mack rounded out the top ten.
Coleman was scored 11th and former series champion Pat Bliss was 12th. Matt Hein, who set fast time in qualifying, was scored 15th after running as high as fourth. Ken Hamilton, father of recent Indianapolis 500 competitor Davey Hamilton, finished 16th.
Eight cars transferred out of the ten-lap B-Main. Following Alberding were Mack, Bliss, Witte, Ray Jones, Don Kudrna, Ralph Deaver and Helgeson. Craig Deaver, Mann, Patterson and Dart each won eight-lap heat races that transferred three cars each to the A-Main.
Mike Fought won the B Dash while Jake Mann bested Hamilton, Hein and Alberding in the A Dash, which featured the four fastest qualifiers. Hein's top qualifying time of 12.395 seconds around the ¼-mile, high-banked asphalt oval was only one one-thousandths of a second off Craig Deaver's track record time of 12.394.
Twenty-nine cars, the largest car count of the season for the NSRA, took part in the Rebel Jackson Memorial at Ephrata Raceway Park. The NSRA continues its season on August 25 with the historic Daffodil Cup at Western Speedway in Victoria, Brit. Col. The NSRA will race the first Rory Price Memorial on September 15 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash.
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ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association
Rebel Jackson Memorial
Ephrata Raceway Park
Ephrata, WA
August 4, 2007
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
29 cars
Fast qualifier: 98h Matt Hein, 12.395 seconds
B Dash (4 laps): 1. 78 Mike Fought, 2. 23 Wes Helgeson, 3. 25n Whitney Nolan, 4. 13 Mike Basher.
A Dash (4 laps): 1. 51 Jake Mann, 2. 98 Ken Hamilton, 3. 98h Matt Hein, 4. 76 Andy Alberding.
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 15 Craig Deaver, 2. 98 Ken Hamilton, 3. 25n Whitney Nolan, 4. 57 Tony Thomas, 5. 46 Larry Davies, 6. 25 Monte Zema Jr., 7. 55k Don Kudrna. Top three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 51 Jake Mann, 2. 82 R.J. Fronsman, 3. 65 Kevin Burck, 4. 66 Kevin Herr, 5. 7 Bob Witte, 6. 4 Greg Middendorf, 7. 13 Mike Basher. Top three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 1 Robbie Patterson, 2. 55 Jeff Bird, 3. 44 Todd Coleman, 4. 49 Pat Bliss, 5. 76 Andy Alberding, 6. 27 Ralph Deaver, 7. 78 Mike Fought. Top three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 11 Paul Dart, 2. 98h Matt Hein, 3. 96 Kevin Hill, 4. 23 Wes Helgeson, 5. 17 Justin Mack, 6. 82j Ray Jones, 7. 01 Rally Root, 8. XX Russell Root. Top three finishers transfer to A-Main.
B-Main (10 laps): 1. 76 Andy Alberding, 2. 17 Justin Mack, 3. 49 Pat Bliss, 4. 7 Bob Witte, 5. 82j Ray Jones, 6. 55k Don Kudrna, 7. 27 Ralph Deaver, 8. 23 Wes Helgeson, 9. 57 Tony Thomas, 10. 25 Monte Zema Jr., 11. 4 Greg Middendorf, 12. 66 Kevin Herr, 13. 46 Larry Davies, DNS – XX Russell Root, 01 Rally Root, 13 Mike Basher, 78 Mike Fought. Top eight finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main – Rebel Jackson Memorial (47 laps, fuel): 1. 15 Craig Deaver, 2. 25n Whitney Nolan, 3. 55 Jeff Bird, 4. 23 Wes Helgeson, 5. 7 Bob Witte, 6. 51 Jake Mann, 7. 65 Kevin Burck, 8. 1 Robbie Patterson, 9. 11 Paul Dart, 10. 17 Justin Mack, 11. 44 Todd Coleman, 12. 49 Pat Bliss, 13. 76 Andy Alberding, 14. 82 R.J. Fronsman, 15. 98h Matt Hein, 16. 98 Ken Hamilton, 17. 55k Don Kudrna, 18. 96 Kevin Hill, 19. 82j Ray Jones, DNS – 27 Ralph Deaver.
Lap leaders: Whitney Nolan 1-28, Craig Deaver 29-47
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NSRA: Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association
www.nsraracing.com
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