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Havasu 95 Speedway May 3rd Race review
Results Submitted by cruisin95 on 05/06/2008 at 12:06 AM Send To Friend | Report Results

 DANNY GAY WINS THE RACE WHILE BOBBY KEIRNS WINS THE WAR AT HAVASU 95 SPEEDWAY.
BY DAVE GRAYSON
 
Make no mistake about it, the Havasu 95 Speedway had one terrific night, May 3d, and treated a huge crowd to the resolution for three different division championships with all three loaded with dramatic moments. The racing, on the ASA sanctioned quarter mile paved oval located in Lake Havasu City-Arizona, featured the JJ&B Late Models, the Super Clean Modified Series, the ASA Street Stocks and the ASA Factory Stocks.
 
The JJ&B Racing Late Model Racing Series is a special points championship based on events at the Havasu 95 Speedway and the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe-California. The series final race was loaded with excitement that eventually turned to a very surprising level of high drama. Going into the series' final 35 lap race of the speedway's winter season, Bobby Keirns held a two point lead over Kevin James. Mathematically speaking if Keirns finished one position over James then he would be the new series champion. If James finished two positions over Keirns the championship would be his. If James finished one position ahead of his rival then the two drivers would be tied.That meant that speedway officials would have to invoke the tie breaker policy which is based on who won the most feature races during the season. Under that system James would also be the new champion.
 
As the cars roared underneath the initial green flag all eyes were on these two drivers. James lined up sixth on the starting grid while Keirns started tenth. With approximately ten laps left in the race the pair of drivers found each other and a door to door race for a championship was on with the crowd standing on their feet to watch it. On lap 28 Keirns pulled in front of James but it wasn't long before they were door to door again with the race running out of time and laps. The drama hit a zenith on the final lap of the race when the two drivers collided into each other, coming off of turn four, which produced the final yellow flag of the race as Keirns went spinning wildly in a screen of tire smoke. When the race was over both drivers drove their cars to the victory lane area. They simply were not sure who the new champion was. 
 
But Havasu 95 Speedway officials were more than sure and the final decision was based on their rule book and the fact that they do not count yellow flag laps. This means that the field is lined up, following a yellow flag, in the order they were running during the previous completed green flag lap. Explaining it further was Dennis Rudin, speedway co-promoter, who said "what happened was Kevin James actually caused the spin out by Keirns. Technically, according to the rules, both cars were sent to the back of the pack for causing the yellow flag. Because we don't count yellow flag laps in our races the running order reverted back to the last green flag lap. That lap showed that Keirns was running in front of James. The decision was not because of rough driving. It was an actual scoring decision. That in turn made Keirns the champion."
 
Commenting on the final outcome, a very happy Keirns said "I didn't want to win it that way I wanted us to go all the way to the finish line and let the better man win. It all came down to a dramatic call, that's why the officials are here so they can make the decisions that they do. I think we put on a really good show tonight and I had a lot of fun. I know that deep down he, (Kevin James), had fun too.I think things will be fine. I've got a lot of respect for Kevin he's one hell of a racer. We've had a lot of fun this season. We've traded a lot of paint. I guess that's the way it goes. I'm taking the championship home." Keirns said he wasn't exactly sure about his personal racing plans for next season except for the fact that he planned to go racing on behalf of his son who is an up and coming driver in the speedway's Bandolero Division. "I might push out of the limelight a little bit and push more towards him. I think that's a lot more fun. I've been racing for eleven years straight and I finally go my championship so I think I can finally kick back a little bit," the track champion added. 
 
By the way, all of this championship drama was going on in the middle of one terrific 35 lap late model race. Mark Schriner and Austin Murphy led the 17 starters under the initial green flag. Murphy quickly jumped into the lead and it appeared he was going to pull off another one of his patented runaways that we've all seen before. On lap 14 Schriner managed to pull alongside of the race leader and they spent multiple laps running door to door. Murphy managed to fend off each repeated challenge and kept his lead. However a new player was entering this racing scenario. Danny Gay was working his way to the leaders and took over second on lap 23. He caught a huge break one lap later when the caution flag came out due to a spin out on the backstretch. When the race returned to green flag conditions the battle was on and, by lap 29, Gay and Murphy were running side by side. This went on all the way to lap 32 when Gay was finally able to take command of the race. He crossed under the checkers with Murphy and Schriner right behind him. Ron Daniel and Robbie Brand completed the top five. 
 
In victory lane the race winner, from Lakeside-California, said "it was a tough night. Austin's car was working pretty good but we were just able to get our car working a little bit better on the bottom of the track." In the final laps of this race, Gay was able to drive under Murphy's car in the turns only to watch Murphy out run him on the straightaways. Commenting on that situation Gay said "my car worked really good getting into the center of the corner but being on the bottom of the track I was just a little too loose getting off of the corner and that enabled to get a good run on my coming off of the turns. So it turned into a back and forth battle until I was able to get in a little bit harder than him going into turn one there and then I was able to pull off the final pass." On the fenders of Gay's race car were the letters T-MAD. When asked about it he proudly said "that stands for my wife, Tonya, Madison my daughter, Allison my other daughter and myself Danny."
 
The Super Clean Modified Series, presented by Jim Beam, was also a big part of the show on this night at the Havasu 95 Speedway. This regional touring series is scheduled to race at five different tracks in three different states during the 2008 season. By the time the 75 lap feature was over everyone connected with the series was wondering what it was going to take to beat Jimmie Dickerson. The El Cajon-California driver scorched the competition during the April 12th series opener at the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe and he pretty much did the same thing in Lake Havasu City. Dickerson began his evening by setting a new track record, 15.742 seconds, during qualifying. But a pre race roll of the inversion dice turned up the number three so Dickerson had to start the race on the outside of row two. 
 
Scott Brown and Mike Salm led the 22 starters under the green flag and Salm made quick work of jumping into the lead. But by lap seven Dickerson was in second and the two front runners were racing side by side for several laps including some hard tire contact at one point. A lap 12 caution flag, due to a front stretch spin, slowed the pair down. On lap 15 Dickerson pulled down low on the front stretch and made what would turn out to be the winning move. From that point it was all Dickerson all the way to the checkered flag and a $1,000 winner's check. Andrew Phipps, Mike Salm, Chris Gerchman and Scott Brown completed the top five. 
 
In victory lane Dickerson said "the car was good. I just don't know what else to say. This car was awesome and I just made sure that it stayed on the bottom. STR set the chassis up on a brand new car for us." Lapped traffic became a large factor during the course of this race. Commenting on that situation the race winner said "It's still frustrating. You catch up with those guys and some of them are pretty good about giving you room while some of them seem to want to race you and even block you to keep you back a little bit. We got through it and it's all good right now."
 
While the Super Clean Modified Series was presenting the fans with round two of their schedule, there were some strong local implications connected to this race. The Havasu 95 Speedway's Modified Division points championship was very much on the line. The principles were drivers Jeff Gibson and Chris Gerchman who arrived at the track tied for the lead with 244 points each. Unfortunately for Gibson the potential championship drama never materialized. On lap four he brushed the wall and had to limp to the pits with a flat tire. He was able to return to the race, hoping for a miracle, but it never happened and Gerchman won the championship. After the race Gerchman said "the lapped traffic was unbelievable but right now I'm just happy to finish fourth and get this championship." 
 
When the ASA Street Stocks rolled onto the Havasu 95 Speedway for their 25 lap feature Rick Layman only had to finish eighth or better to claim the division championship for 2008. However Layman made it very clear that he was not particularly interested in finishing eighth. Layman came off of his outside starting spot on the fourth row and jumped into the lead. He held that point to lap nine before Mike Sutterfield, who's been winning a lot of Street Stock races lately, made a race winning pass on the low side of turn four. Sutterfield made quick work of running out the final 11 laps to the checkers. Layman took second, and a championship, while Ralph Adams, Chip Campbell and Rick Maddox Jr completed the top five. 
 
In victory lane Sutterfield saluted the new champion and said "Rick Layman really puts on a show out here. He makes it real exciting to race with him. He races real hard but he races real clean." The race winner also revealed that he had a little problem prior to the race. "Right before I was going to come out on the track my shifter broke and I couldn't get the car into high gear. Danny Gay, Mark Schriner, Rob Munoz and some other late model drivers came running over, jacked my car up, got it in third gear and pushed me out onto the track to get me started. I really got to thank those guys," he said.
 
Meanwhile newly crowned champion Rick Layman was already in the party zone and screamed "Lake Havasu City rocks." Commenting on the race he said "I saw him, (Sutterfield), coming in my mirror and I knew that I couldn't hold him off. So I got a little high and he went right underneath me with a clean pass. This division has really come around. We're racing our hearts out and the racing is clean as a whistle." Layman next climbed the front stretch fence for the fans similar to what NASCAR driver Tony Stewart used to do. The big difference is Layman is in better shape than Stewart. The truth be known Layman's fence climbing ability is likely the reason Stewart stopped doing it. 
 
In ASA Factory Stock Action Mark Berlant picked up this third feature win of the season. Jeff Reid, Michael Fullum,Thor Connely and Mike Harris completed the top five. Berlant and Reid each won eight lap heat races while Lisa Snell took the trophy dash. The ASA Factory Stocks still has one more race to run, on May 17th, before they finish their season and crown a division champion.     
 
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