This message was edited on
July 16, 2008 at
02:01:45 PM by Pete Curto
Faria takes emotional Bandit victory July 13, 2008 By Mike McKean / Santa Maria Times Sports Production Editor
Emotions were high and hugs were being passed around en masse in Victory Lane at Santa Maria Speedway on Saturday night, all because Danny Faria Jr. won one for a fallen friend.
The Tipton-based driver took the 30-lap victory in the Bandit Sprint feature, then jumped out of the car and began hugging crew members and other racers, taking in the highs after the lows of the previous days.
"We came over here to cheer up the Ozzie Martin family," said Faria in a Victory Lane interview about the relatives of Faria crew member Ozzie Martin Jr., who died in a motorcycle accident on Thursday. "We love him to death, and we're really going to miss him. This one's for him."
Faria took to the 1/3-mile clay oval with a heavy heart due to the passing of Martin, affectionately nicknamed "Lil' Oz", but came out and drove an inspired race in the Bandit feature, dueling with Clovis' Peter Murphy for most of the 30-lapper.
"I drove the car as hard as the guys had it set up for," said Faria. "I can't believe it held up in this one."
Murphy, the Bandit Sprints point leader originally from Sydney, Australia, was the first competitor to congratulate Faria after his victory.
"I was giving it all I had, and there was nothing left there," Murphy said. "I tried everything I could, and got beside him a few times, but just couldn't get by him. He was just on fire, and has been the last few weeks."
Faria took the lead from Visalia's Richard VanderWeerd 10 laps into the main and tried to pull ahead, but VanderWeerd and, eventually, Murphy stayed right on Faria's tail. Murphy got around VanderWeerd for second by using the lapped car of Lompoc's Jeff Culver as a pick in turn two on lap 15.
After that, Faria and Murphy put on a show, ducking and dodging through traffic while contesting the lead. Murphy got by Faria for part of lap 21 with a low-side move around turns one and two, only to have Faria counter the move and re-take the top spot in the north turns.
After two late restarts, Murphy took one last shot at Faria on lap 28, but just couldn't make the move stick.
"Hat's off to (Faria) and his crew, because they've done (a great) job the last few weeks," Murphy said. "There was nothing more I could do. That's as good as I was, and he was better."
Atascadero's Greg Porte climbed through the field to take third, while Taft's Jayson May got past VanderWeerd for fourth. (Richard VanderWeerd was actually credited with 4th and May 5th-PC)
In the other action of the all open-wheel night of racing, Huntington Beach's Nic Faas extended his point lead in the USAC Western Midget Series by rumbling past Chico's Ryan Kaplan in his SMS debut, and Chuck West of Clovis equaled the feat in the NMRA TQ Midget series with a storming victory in the 25-lap feature.
Faas and Kaplan were fighting tooth-and-nail in the latter stages of the 30-lap USAC West feature, and Faas was finding it difficult to get past the leading Kaplan.
"We were driving along the bottom, and I thought, 'Well, I've got to get something, because I can't pass him on the bottom,'" Faas said. "I tried the top and got a good run on him."
That run set up Faas' slide job of Kaplan in turn three on lap 22, a move that got him past the leader for a moment, only to have Kaplan re-take the lead coming out of turn four.
On the ensuing lap, Kaplan bobbled slightly, enough to give Faas a window to move ahead for good.
"I thought I had it going well tonight, and then all of a sudden, there's Faas," Kaplan said. "He was just awesome at the end of the race."
Once Faas got ahead, he took off into the night, establishing a quarter-lap lead on Kaplan over the final seven circuits.
C.J. Sarna of Palm Desert, who had also been in the running in the early stages, took third, followed by Justin Grant of Ione and Robby Flock of Murietta.
The 25-lap NMRA feature was largely a processional affair, with very little passing amongst the 11 starters on the grid. One driver who bucked the trend was West, who moved from the eighth starting spot to claim the victory.
"I can't say enough about the race car," said West, who thanked his car owner, cousin West Evans (himself a NMRA racer) after the win. "He and his guys work on the car, week in and week out. All I do is drive it, and I'm lucky."
West displaced early-race leader Scott Dobson of Newbury Park on lap 18, advancing on Dobson when the leader had trouble getting around the back-marking car of Moorpark's Scott Niven.
"Just shows a lack of experience on the driver's part," quipped Dobson about himself. "I just couldn't get around (Niven), and Chuck's been doing this for years. He knows how to make moves like that."
After that, the race fell into line, with Dobson holding off Camarillo's Bruce Hiroshima off for third; Sunland's Kenny Wiley and Richard Ortega Jr. of Camarillo rounded out the top five. Evans, West's car owner, finished sixth.
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