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Rookie Galedrige scores first career USAC Western Sprint win. Track record falls. – By Bobby Gerould – May 13, 2006 – Tracy, CA. …Bradley Galedrige used a lap 33 re-start to power around the outside of both Tim Barber, and Tony Hunt on his way to his first career sprint car win Saturday night at Altamont Motorsports Park. Driving the Davey Hamilton APEX Racing #21 Eagle, Galedrige’s 50-lap triumph came in just his third sprint car start.

The 2004 California Ford Focus North Midget driving champion watched from the cockpit as no less than three pilots in front of him held and then lost the lead on the ultra-fast half-mile paved oval.

The first to lead was Brian McClish who jumped in front after one aborted start due to a turn one tangle involving Brian Geiszler (who was hit from behind), Tony Iacobitti, Darren Rusconi and Scott Clough. Geiszler actually tipped onto his top after a quick spin. He was able to continue but forfeited his outside front row starting spot on the 26-car grid.

As McClish led Greg Anderson, and Mike Murgoitio, a tremendous battle erupted for fourth place in the early going between Tony Hunt, Nick Green, and Galedrige. Green blasted into third on lap eight with a deep drive into turn three underneath Murgoitio. Three laps later Anderson took the lead away from McClish – leading by inches at the start-finish line at the completion of lap eleven. Green’s brilliant run was short-lived when he stalled during a lap 12 caution for defending USAC Western Sprint Car champion Kody Swanson who stuffed his sprinter into a tire barrier in turn two after suffering a stuck throttle.

McClish recaptured the lead on lap 14 moments before another caution period turned into a red flag for fuel. As the field restarted on lap 15, McClish ‘lost the rear-end’ on cold tires, spinning into the infield. He continued the race from the rear surrendering the lead to Anderson. Murgoitio wrestled the point away from Anderson with a dive inside as Anderson drifted high on the ensuing restart.

Geiszler meanwhile was making his way back to the front. By lap 19 Geiszler was sixth, at the tail end of the lead pack that included Murgoitio, Anderson, Hunt, Galedrige, and Barber. On lap 21 Galedrige faded to sixth when he went too high in the South turn allowing Barber, and Geiszler to scoot by. The leaders hit traffic on lap 26 making for exciting moments with Murgoitio sliding the rear end of his leading sprinter while fending off the repeated challenges of Anderson, and Hunt.

Nick Rescino Jr. and Matt DeMartini tangled on lap 29 in turn four forcing a caution. Anderson ‘lost-it’ on the restart doing a quick spin on the front chute while running second. The top-five pulled away from the remaining field with twenty laps to go. The caution flag flew again moments later with Jessica Helberg spinning at the start of the front straightaway. McClish, Trevor Cummins and Iacobitti also got a piece of the action.

On the lap 31 restart Geiszler passed Galedrige to take fourth, and then Geiszler shot by Barber for third. Geiszler of Gresham, Oregon continued his charge with a risky low pass of Hunt at the end of the back chute one lap later. As the crowd anticipated Geiszler’s next daring maneuver, they didn’t have to wait long. On the next lap – in the same place – Geiszler tried to steal the lead from Murgoitio with a dive-bomb in turn three. It wasn’t close. Geiszler ran over the back of the #20 car and launched cage first into the concrete wall. The stunning, horrific looking wreck brought out a red flag and halted the proceeding for nearly a half-hour.

Geiszler was transported via helicopter to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley following the race. He was said to be awake and alert. (Further details were not available as of 2:30 AM Sunday morning.)

Officials ruled that Murgoitio was part of the accident and they relegated him to the rear of the pack for the restart. Hunt was leading with Barber in tow when Galedrige made his winning move. Barber and Hunt then dazzled the fans by trading second place three times in the final laps. At the checkered flag it was Galedrige, followed by Barber, Hunt, Jeff Gardner, and Murgoitio.

Rookie “Joe Joe” Helberg earned “Hard Charger” honors advancing to seventh place from the 20^th starting position.

Green shattered the existing one-lap USAC track record previously held by Tony Stewart. Green circled the newly re-paved racetrack in 16.595 seconds. The old mark was 17.237. A total of 13 drivers were under the old standard. Rescino, Murgoitio, and Rusconi were heat race winners.

USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 13, 2005 – Tracy, California – Altamont Motorsports Park (Co-Sanctioned by CASA)

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Nick Green, 114, Green-16.595; 2. Bradley Galedrige, 21, Hamilton-16.646; 3. Tony Hunt, 4, Kaiser-16.697; 4. Kody Swanson, 75, KT-16.709; 5. Greg Anderson, 2, Anderson-16.737; 6. Mike Murgoitio, 20, Hamilton-16.837; 7. Brian Geiszler, 44, Geiszler-16.897; 8. Brian McClish, 04, McClish-16.906; 9. Tim Barber, 14, Pierson-16.910; 10. Jimmy Pelk, 7s, Scott-16.937; 11. Cowboy Smith, 32, Kderca-17.124; 12. Danny Ebberts, 14x, Ebberts-17.136; 13. Jeff Gardner, 51, Gardner-17.141; 14. Matt DeMartini, 6, Carr-17.246; 15. Nick Rescino Jr., 11, Rescino-17.270; 16. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-17.299; 17. Glenn Hopper, 8, Hopper-17.396; 18. Ivan Worden, 63, Worden-17.446; 19. Jessica Helberg, 4x, Helberg-17.492; 20. Trevor Cummins, 17, Cummins-17.518; 21. Joe Helberg, 7x, Helberg-17.732; 22. Tony Iacobitti, 71, Oval Chassis-17.787; 23. Ryan Baumgartner, 24, Baumgartner-17.802; 24. Scott Clough, 5x, Clough-18.174; 25. Darren Rusconi, 66, Sullivan-18.258; 26. Jim Kaiser, 94, Kaiser-18.323; 27. Travis Berryhill, 16, Dolner-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rescino, 2. Hopper, 3. Barber, 4. Hunt, 5. Geiszler, 6. Green, 7. Smith, 8. Gardner, 9. Anderson. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Murgoitio, 2. Galedrige, 3. McClish, 4. Swanson, 5. Worden, 6. Hogg, 7. Ebberts, 8. Pelk, 9. DeMartini. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rusconi, 2. Joe Helberg, 3. Cummins, 4. Kaiser, 5. Iacobitti, 6. Jessica Helberg, 7. Clough. NT

FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Bradley Galedrige, 2. Tim Barber, 3. Tony Hunt, 4. Jeff Gardner, 5. Mike Murgoitio, 6. Shauna Hogg, 7. Joe Helberg, 8. Jimmy Pelk, 9. Darren Rusconi, 10. Cowboy Smith, 11. Ivan Worden, 12. Danny Ebberts, 13. Jim Kaiser, 14. Trevor Cummins, 15. Brian Geiszler, 16. Greg Anderson, 17. Jessica Helberg, 18. Glen Hopper, 19. Brian McClish, 20. Tony Iacobitti, 21. Matt DeMartini, 22. Nick Rescino Jr., 23. Nick Green, 24. Kody Swanson, 25. Travis Berryhill, 26. Scott Clough. NT

**Geiszler flipped on lap 32 of the feature, was transported to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Calif. for treatment and held overnight for observation.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 McClish, Laps 11-12 Anderson, Laps 13-14 McClish, Laps 15-31 Murgoitio, Lap 32 Hunt, laps 33-50 Galedrige.

NEW WESTERN SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Hunt-193; 2-Murgoitio-175; 3-Galedrige-167; 4-Rescino-148; 5-Swanson-130; 6-Green-127; 7-Pelk-122; 8-DeMartini-118; 9-Gardner-115; 10-McClish-113.

NEXT WESTERN SPRINT CAR RACE: June 3 – Madera, (CA) Speedway

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