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Marysville Raceway Park
Press Release 5.6.07
For immediate release
By Bob Burbach
Russum repeats; wire to wire for the Shelbys
MRP hooked up and smokin’…again!
Marysville CA. Promoter Paul Hawes pulled a second rabbit out of the hat Saturday night and had a perfectly prepared racetrack waiting for the superb 4-division show presented at Marysville Raceway Park. The ¼ mile clay beat afternoon winds that kicked up to 30 MPH at times during the sunny parched afternoon. The fan friendly, thunder and lightning show, that included full fields, was concluded at 9.30 PM. Over all, the well-crafted event featured dozens of thrilling side-by-side races and personal introductions of all drivers in all divisions on the front stretch prior to their main events. The evening also included a monster, heart-stopping flip up the back chute and a spectacular fire.
In the MRP MiniStock feature point leader Lisa Shelby of Yuba City led every lap from her outside pole position starting spot. James Foster of Marysville dropped into 2nd and shadowed the leader for most of the event. A resurgent Floyd Youngblood of Berry Creek found 3rd and hounded the lead duo until his Toyota Mini pick up gave up the ghost with but two laps remaining. All eyes were on 4th row starting Gary Holsey of Yuba City. Holsey staged a charge that would bring him to 2nd in the final tally. By his own admission he simply “ran out of laps” in a race that was slowed only once by a caution flag.
Foster made a challenge for the lead in the late laps, but lost the handle on his quick #3 in turn one. Foster recovered, but he reentered the fray in 4th. He eventually came under the checkers in 3rd. Foster and three other competitors were disqualified in post race for not reporting to the technical inspectors immediately after the race. The infractions moved Yuba City’s Blane Baker, Joel Guisti and Marysville’s Damian Merritt into 3rd through 5th respectively.
Shelby, who swept the program, slipped through traffic with ease and sailed under the checkers with a comfortable margin.
Much like his sister in the previous race, 2006 MRP champion Phillip Shelby of Yuba City led wire to wire in the MRP Street Stock feature. Shelby out gunned Yuba City’s Heather Bartlett into turn one and was never headed. Bartlett never gave up, however, and pulled along side Shelby with but two laps to go. Shelby got the wake up call and pulled to a two car length lead at the flag. Bartlett stayed 2nd with a charging Ray Benkowski in 3rd. Jerry Bartlett finished 4th after Benkowski got by but was disqualified in post race inspection.
Benkowski’s remarkable drive to the checkers started with a last place starting spot in the feature event. Benkowski got up on the wheel and picked off cars at will and arrived in 3rd after the pass on Jerry Bartlett. Yuba City’s Billy Knoop was not in attendance to defend his point lead. Heather Bartlett will take over the top spot with her 2nd place finish and heat race victory. This marks the first time in the 39-year history of MRP Street Stocks that a female driver has lead in the standings.
Shelby swept the MRP Street Stock portion of the show to obtain the maximum number of points available in the competition.
The race was red flagged at ½ way by a huge flash of flame and a fire that, for an anxious, and seemingly endless, few moments engulfed the entire car of Marysville’s Jimmy Ford. Ford’s car burst into flames in the engine compartment exiting turn four. Flames licked into the cockpit for the length of the front stretch. Ford scrambled out of his racer very quickly as fire personnel met the orange #12 as it rolled to a halt off of turn one. Ford was unhurt in the spectacular looking blaze.
A textbook diamond off of turn two bolted Sacramento’s Pat Russum into the lead at ¾ distance in the MRP Wingless Sprint Car main event. He went on to win the feature that capped the point racing competition on this thrilling Saturday night. A sticky-fast ribbon of clay greeted the field as Yuba City’s Mark Hill shot from his outside pole position starting position into the lead. Cameron Park’s Gary Lewis shadowed the fleet Hill #8 for the first few circuits. Then Hill pulled away at a rapid clip. Russum fell into 3rd during the early going. Hill was untouchable as he mastered the hooked up surface.
Russum got by Lewis with a nice high side move, but Hill was gone. Then the complexion of this event changed when Auburn’s Jimmy Steward jumped the wheel of another racer and flew through the air from the flag stand to the entry of turn one. Steward’s landing was a lucky one as the yellow racer landed on its wheels after a pair of perilous bounces. Pat Couch came to a stop during the incident, but, amazingly, Steward kept going. It was the races’ only yellow flag.
The slowdown allowed Russum to close up on Hill and two laps later Russum went low on Hill got the lead. Hill remained in 2nd at the flag with Lewis, Sacramento’s John Anderson and Steve Fletcher in 4th and 5th respectively. It’s worth noting here that the battle for 3rd through 5th was worth the price of admission. It was hard to look away from the spectacular side-by-side tussle these drivers presented. It was scary to watch at times.
Hill and Sacramento’s Tim Sherman Jr. came into the event deadlocked at the top in the point standings. In his heat race, Sherman got together with another car and flipped spectacularly some 40 yards up the backstretch landing at the entry at turn three. Sherman was motionless for a few frightening heartbeats as rescue personnel reached the battered car. Then there was movement and everyone breathed easier. Sherman was banged around and stunned in the grinding crash, but essentially unhurt. The team spent the entire evening pasting the #1jr back together. Sherman barely made the call for the feature, but he took the green flag. Sherman soldiered along and he began to make some progress through the field. He finished a fine 8th.
The SORA Sprint 100s took advantage of the fine racetrack and presented the final event of the evening. Pleasanton’s Tony Gaioran ran away with the show after some heart-stopping traffic driving that kept his challengers at bay. His closest rival, Colusa’s Tim McLaughlin finished a fine 3rd after his top wing left side panel ripped off and was deposited on the track early on. Point leader McLaughlin went to the back and made a notable effort that resulted in his fine finish.
Next week the Outlaw Karts will kick off the weekend on Friday night. On Saturday night, the MRP Wingless Sprint Cars, The MRP Street Stocks and the MRP Winged Pacific Sprint Cars will be on hand for complete programs. The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars will also be on the card.
Make our website (marysvilleracewaypark.com) one of your “favorites” on you computer. Watch this site for press releases and updates.
Pit gates always open at 3PM. Pit meeting and pill draw are at 5PM. Spectator Gates Open at 5PM with racing getting underway at 7PM. Contact the promoters at 1.530.743.1327 or email as indicated on the home page.
Note: Please make this observer aware of any names that are misspelled. The text is based on information we have at the time of its release.
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