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MURPHY LEARNS LESSON, WINS SCRA FEATURE
By Dan Fleisher
JUNE 23, 2007 --- There’s an old adage that says, “you’re never too old to learn,” and that was the case for 39-year-old veteran Peter Murphy as he learned a good lesson from 21-year-old Jonathan Logan and passed Davey Pombo to win the SCRA 360 wingless 30-lap feature at Kings Speedway (CA). The lesson, take the high groove in turns three and four.
Murphy was destined to finish second to Pombo as the entire field of 22 cars carefully tip-toed in the low groove around the mostly dry, slick track. Everyone that is, except Logan, who started a distant 18th and found some moisture in the high groove. He used it to his advantage and steamrolled through the field, moving to seventh by lap 10, sixth on lap 13, fourth on lap 16, and then flew around Murphy on the outside on lap 18 as they crossed the line. Murphy however, continued using the bottom in turns one and two, the best line at that end of the track, and regained the second spot.
Realizing that Logan’s line in three and four was the way to go, Murphy used it to his advantage and passed Pombo on lap 20 and then withstood the latter’s challenges for the final 10 laps to record his third victory of the season. Pombo held onto second over Logan, last year’s series champion, who enjoyed his best finish of the season.
Celebrating in victory circle, Murphy said if not for Logan, he would have settled for second. “I want to thank Jonathan for showing me the way around this place,” he gleefully said.
The start of the event was somewhat of a fiasco. After one false start, the field took the green from starter Lee Jaskowiak only to have pole-sitter Myles Bishop spin in front of the entire field as they negotiated turn two. Six cars were involved in the get-together, eliminating Bishop, Dave Knott, and Dwayne Marcum. On the complete restart, Pombo took control over Murphy, Rusty Carlile, Michael Faccinto and Steven Williams. The positions held until lap 10 when Richard VanderWeerd spun in turn one and collected Richard Harvey Jr., whose machine flipped, ending his evening. Three laps later, another yellow was unfurled when Adam Frith-Smith spun in the same turn. Williams, poised for his best finish of the year, pulled off with mechanical woes one lap later
Most of the fans were focusing on Logan’s bold moves and therefore they missed Brandon Thomson collect Faccinto, once again in turn one, ending the 16-year-old (Faccinto) from what probably would have been a second straight top-five finish. He was credited with 15th. It was the final yellow of the evening.
Rounding out the top-ten were Carlile, Brett Lowder, Jeff Gardner, Albert Pombo, Brandon Thomson, Kevin Barnes and Matt Day. Lowder came from 16th, Gardner from 19th and Pombo from 20th, all fine drives.
Several of the other top point contenders suffered during the evening. John Niggli (8th) finished a distant 14th, Alexander (5th) was credited with 19th, and Harvey (7th) was awarded 18th.
Heat race winners included Murphy, Williams, Bishop (after Albert Pombo was disqualified for being under weight) and Barnes. Teenager Bishop collected his first-ever Dash and answered “yes sir” to most of the questions posed by PA announcer Dave Munoz. Davey Pombo recorded his third quick qualifying time of the season over 25 other entrants, the largest of the year. Alexander captured the “B” main, the first one of the season.
RESULTS:
Qualifying:
#38 Davey Pombo 17.032
#51 Rusty Carlile 17.067
#91 Dwayne Marcum 17.094
#19 Brandon Thomson 17.105
#21 Peter Murphy 17.387
#$11 Kiwi Alexander 17.577
#7 Myles Bishop 17.642
#51t Jeff Gardner 17.669
#28 Dave Knott 17.934
#93 Steven Williams 17.941
#9 John Niggli 17.944
#36 John Iturriria 18.056
#21t Michael Faccinto 18.062
#35 Albert Pombo 18.107
#10 Richard VanderWeerd 18.161
#97 Matt Day 18.203
#98 Richard Harvey Jr. 18.204
#23 Jerry Wise Jr. 18.312
#14 Adam Frith-Smith 18.639
#17 Jim Riddell 18.763
#4 Burt Foland Jr. 18.815
#44 Brett Lowder 19.208
#36b Kevin Barnes 19.636
#28t Jim Turner 25.189
#32 Jonathan Logan N/T
Extreme Mufflers Heat #1-10 Laps:
Murphy
D. Pombo
Day
Knott
Iturriria
Turner DNF
Riddell DNF
Kaeding Performance/Keizer Wheels, Heat #2-10 Laps:
Williams
Logan
Harvey
Faccinto
Foland
Alexander
Carlile DNF
Spin Tech Mufflers Heat #3-10 Laps:
Bishop
Niggli
Marcum
Lowder
Wise DNF
Pombo (Won, DQ’ed)
Saldana Racing/Racing Optics Heat #4 10 Laps
Barnes
Thomson
VanderWeerd
Frith-Smith
Gardner
Hood DNF
Riddell Ent. Passing Masters Dash-6 Laps:
Bishop
Pombo
Murphy
Thomson
Marcum
Knott
BR Motorsports/Awards & Signs “B” 12 Laps
Alexander
Carlile
Gardner
Pombo, A
Iturriria
Foland
Riddell
Wise
Turner
Hood DNS
Keizer Racing Wheels, Alternative Stitchwear, BR Motorsports, Matt & Glass, Stinger Chassis Main-30 Laps:
Murphy
Pombo, Davey
Logan
Carlile
Lowder
Gardner
Pombo, Albert
Thomson
Barnes
Day
Foland
Frith-Smith
Iturriria
Niggli
Faccinto
Williams
VanderWeerd
Harvey
Alexander
Knott
Bishop
Marcum
TOP 30 POINT STANDINGS
Davey Pombo 590, Peter Murphy 562, Rusty Carlile 468, Jeff Gardner 409, Kiwi Alexander 382, Jonathan Logan 374, Richard Harvey Jr. 333, John Niggli 315, Justyne Hamblin 287, Kevin Barnes 254, Myles Bishop 197, Ryan Kaplan 190, John Iturriria 186, Adam Frith-Smith 178, Garrett Ishii 141, Brian Schuler 135, Jace VanderWeerd 119, Jesse Mack 118, Michael Faccinto 118, Daniel Hood 109, Albert Pombo 113, Matt Day 101, Brandon Thomson 98, Dwayne Marcum 97, Steven Williams 81, Brett Lowder 76, Burt Foland 68, Dave Knott 48, Ron Tjaarda 46, Matt Streeter 32
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