HammerDownUSA.com
Hunt wins feature, Wease
“This is a
great racetrack!” exclaimed Hunt, to infield announcer Jim Krum, moments after
the feature finished. “I appreciate the support of the fans to the great group
of racers in our series. Everyone out here was using their head and racing with
courtesy and respect.”
The
courtesy was needed with action close and fast as 20 sprint cars took the green
flag for the feature event. Shauna Hogg led the opening three laps before being
overtaken on the front chute by fellow front-row starter Mike Murgoitio. A
three-way battle for fifth erupted by lap five with Billy Wease, Kody Swanson,
and Green dicing to the fans delight.
The first
of four caution flags flew on lap six for Tony Iacobitti who had spun in turn
four. The restart saw Wease fall to sixth as he got ‘hung out’ on the outside
groove. In four laps the Noblesville, IN pilot was running fourth on the heels
of Hogg, and behind the lead pack of Murgoitio, and Hunt. Wease passed Hogg for
third low in turn one on lap 13.
The battle
for the lead was intense on laps 15-17 as Murgoitio worked the low groove with
Hunt mirroring his moves in the top-lane. Hunt completed the winning pass on
the outside at the end of the back-stretch heading into turn three.
The second
caution flag was for a tangle between Darren Rusconi, and Matt DeMartini on lap
20. At that juncture, Green was in fifth place. On lap 23 – Green moved into
fourth position low in turn four with a pass of Greg Anderson. Two laps later
the third yellow-flag of the race appeared for a stalled
Green saw
an opening low in turn one on lap 27, and managed to pass both Wease and
Murgoitio to move into the runner up spot. The final caution came out on lap 32
for Anderson who lost power on the McClish MotorSports #04 that he was piloting
for the first time.
The final
18 laps were run under green-flag conditions with the top four of Hunt, Green,
Wease, and Murgoitio pulling away from the field. Hunt was running laps under
the track record – turning one amazing lap of 16.4 seconds. In traffic, on lap
45, Hunt became ‘bottled up’ behind Ivan Worden allowing Green to close in.
However, Hunt safely cleared Worden and won by .386 seconds over Green. Third
place fell to Wease, who was followed by Murgoitio, and 1998 USAC Western
Sprint Car Champion Jeff Gardner.
Wease made
the most of his pavement sprint car
Bradley
Galedrige and McClish won heat races.
Tim Skoglund
became the first repeat winner in the USAC Ford Focus California Pavement
Midget series. The companion feature event for the Focus cars was contested on
USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE
RESULTS:
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Billy Wease, 40, Western Speed-16.518; 2. Greg Anderson, 04, McClish-16.598;
3. Nick Green, 114, Geeen-16.656; 4.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Galedrige, 2.
Wease, 3. Rusconi, 4. Helberg, 5. Rescino, 6. Murgoitio, 7. Swanson, 8.
Bumgartner, 9. Iacobitti, 10. Green. 2:46.97
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. McClish, 2.
Worden, 3. Hunt, 4. Hogg, 5. Hopper, 6. Matt DeMartini, 7. Greg Anderson, 8.
Jeff Gardner, 9. Jim Kaiser, 10. Marvin Mitchell. 2:19.78
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Tony Hunt, 2. Nick
Green, 3. Billy Wease, 4. Mike Murgoitio, 5. Jeff Gardner, 6. Kody Swanson, 7.
Nick Rescino Jr, Bradley Galedrige, 9. Shauna Hogg, 10. Joe Helberg, 11. Jim
Kaiser, 12. Ivan Worden, 13. Ryan Bumgartner, 14. Greg Anderson, 15,
FEATURE
LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Hogg, Laps 4-16 Murgoitio, Laps 17-50 Hunt.
NEW WESTERN SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Hunt-502;
2-Murgoitio-456; 3-Galedrige-406; 4-Swanson-389; 5-McClish-375; 6-Hogg-315;
7-Rescino-286; 8-Gardner-264; 9-Green-254; 10-DeMartini-229.
NEXT WESTERN SPRINT CAR RACE: August 5 –
USAC
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Michael Faccinto, 4, Scelzi-13.037; 2. Laura Poorter, 32, Maier-13.184; 3. Tim
Skoglund, 40, Camarillo-13.251; 4. Ian Miille, 3, Sutton-13.308; 5. Jace Meier,
9, Sutton-13.329; 6. Levi Roberts, 42, Sutton-13.345; 7. Chris Veach, 63,
Veach-13.386; 8. Paul Zimmerly, 8, Sutton-13.440; 9. Daniel Bedford, 12,
Bedford-13.457; 10. Jenna Frazier, 29, Frazier-13.483; 11. Laura Hayes, 27,
Hayes-13.510; 12. Cameron Veach, 53, Veach-13.544; 13. Ryan Rusoni, 98,
Rusconi-13.630; 14. J.R. Williams, 74, Williams-14.021.
FIRST
HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hayes, 2. Faccinto, 3. Skoglund, 4. Meier, 5. Chris Veach,
6.
SECOND
HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cameron Veach, 2. Zimmerly, 3. Frazier, 4. Miille, 5.
Poorter, 6. Williams, 7. Roberts. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Tim Skoglund, 2.
Michael Faccinto, 3. Jace Meier, 4. Ian Miille, 5. Levi Roberts, 6. Laura
Poorter, 7. Jenna Frazier, 8. Cameron Veach, 9 Chris Veach, 10. Daniel Bedford,
11. Ryan Rusconi, 12. J.R. Williams, 13. Paul Zimmerly, 14. Laura Hayes. NT
FEATURE
LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Meier, Laps 8-30 Skoglund.
NEW
CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS PAVEMENT STANDINGS: 1-Faccinto-330; 2-Skoglund-291;
3-Meier-277; 4-Roberts-271; 5-Zimmerly-230; 6-Chris Veach-227; 7-Poorter-215;
8-Frazier-201; 9-Cameron Veach-194; 10-Hayes-192.
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Homey the clown