FULL MOON RISING AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS IN
RACING---WATCH OUT!!!
By-Sandy Combs
5-29-10
The 20 lap IMCA feature was a wild one
as it needed two restarts to get going. The second restart saw six cars pile up
in turn two and many of them had to head to the pits but most were able to
rejoin the field. At the third green Ryan Roath jumped into the lead holding
back John Thwaits and Jim MacNeil. Lap four the second and third place cars got
together for a yellow and now Scott Smith had second with Jeff Sheppard Jr. in
third. One lap later we had cars stopped in both turn one and two. Roath
contined to lead holding back Smith and Sheppard Jr. With eight laps down Jeff
Stafford got by Sheppard Jr. for third and Smith got by Roath to take the lead.
With eight to go Stafford took the runner up spot and headed for Roath. Two laps
to go Stafford snuck by Roath and took it in for his second win of the season.
Roath settled for second and third went to MacNeil, who had worked his way back
from his earlier yellow. Fourth to George Fronsman and fifth to Sheppard Jr.
Rounding out the top ten were Bill Miller, Phil Baillie, George Stange, Bill
Slocum and Norman Uptain Jr. Trophies were sponsored by Gecko Automotive Glass.
The Pure Stocks took to the track for their first race of the Memorial double
header with 19 cars taking the green in their 20 lap feature. Eddie Bogan took
the lead first but after only one lap Mike Colclasure took the point. By lap
five the leaders were already lapping cars and one lap later George Fronsman had
taken second from Bogan. First yellow flew as Kyle Daugherty and David Jones got
together and the pace slowed. Colclasure held off Fronsman and Bogan to half way
and then Fronsman roared to the front. Lap 15 saw a yellow to make it a five lap
dash for the win. Fronsman took that challenge and took home the Tri-City Towing
trophy ahead of Scott Kleintop, Colclasure, Steve Shumaker and Bogan. Finishing
out the top ten were Mike HOugh, Richard Markley Jr., Jason Parks, Patrick
Shumaker and John Hough.
All the Hobby Stocks must have watching the moon instead of the racetrack as of
the 14 that started only four took the checkered flag at 15 laps. They also
started with two restarts each with multiple cars involved. So with only one lap
down only nine were still on the track. DJ Riley led lap one but points leader
Dave Barnes took over at lap two and never looked back as he took it in for the
win. Amazingly after the restarts the 15 laps of real racing went all green.
Following Barnes across the line were Riley, Rick Morris, Trevor Edwards and
Harley Miner. Trophies were sponsored by Barnes Boys Racing. The rest of the top
ten were John Rustman, Randy Auringer, Scott Wild, Bobby Kase and Tami Barnes.
The Bedrock Remodeling Az. Outlaw Dwarf Cars had their largest field of the
season as 15 of them signed in to do battle. Mike Williams took the lead for the
first half of the 20 lap race and thru three yellows. Lap ten Jeff Stafford took
over putting Williams to second with Jerry Larrabee in third. With five to go
Stafford was still to go and now had Larrabee and Billy VanMeter behind him. Van
Meter had been put to the rear earlier in the race for a mishap. One lap later
VanMeter took over and took it in for the win. Williams had to settle for second
ahead of Jeff Adams, Stafford and AJ Breu. Rounding out the top ten were Randy
Dutra, Larrabee, Melanie Williams, Josh Randal and John Ogden.
Only six Challenge Cup Sprints showed up but they put on a great show for the
packed grandstands. They had the first feature and the track was in excellent
shape and they were fast. Art Mankel III led it first with Bryan Swinehart right
on his rear tail section. This pair went this way all the way to lap 19. Mankel
took the white flag and then his car broke giving the win to Swinehart. Second
went to Fritz Croy ahead of Chris Beal, Mankel and Johnny Shelton.