Flag rookie Cooke shows improvement

Things are looking up for George Cooke.
With two Northern Arizona Dwarf Car Association (NADCAR) races under his belt, the Flagstaff-area rookie has posted improvements across the board.
After placing last in both his heat and in the main event at the Thunder Raceway in Show Low in his debut May 29, Cooke's No. 17 car moved up one spot in Saturday's six-car heat in Show Low.
He topped that in the main event where he took 13th in the 17-car field.
Flagstaff's Pat Henesey grabbed the checkered flag in his heat -- his third in seven tries -- and was runner up in the main.
The showing was his fourth top-three finish this season. Henesey won the season opener at the Prescott Valley Raceway, then again three weeks later at in Show Low.
Henesey's son Ryan rebounded from a last-place heat race finish with third place in the main.
He has posted four top-five finishes in his last five outings.
Helen Henesey, Pat's wife and Ryan's mother, was runner-up in the heat, but took 15th in the main.
Page's Matt Lund also sparkled to start the night, but he ended the night near the back of the pack.
Lund, who took the main event's checkered flag in Show Low May 29, followed up a second-place heat finish with a 16th in the main.
Seven races into 26-race association calendar, Pat Henesey leads the eight-person local NADCAR contingent in the points race in second.
Ryan Henesey is third; Lund is fourth and Helen Henesey is fifth.
Cooke is 32nd.
Tom Peck (16th), Randy Anderson (21st) and Tim Cotherman (23rd) did not race Saturday.
DESERT DWARF CAR CLUB
Pat Henesey posted his third DDCC top-five finish in six outings with a fourth-place showing in the 21-car field at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix Friday.
Ryan Henesey nabbed his best finish in six races with in fifth.
Anderson, who has five top-five finishes -- including a main event win -- under his belt, was 19th.
Anderson's fifth in the points race. Pat Henesey's 11th. Ryan Henesey is 18th.

On the Web:
NADCAR: www.noazdwarfcar.com
Desert Dwarf Car Club: www.desertdwarfcarclub.com
Thunder Raceway: www.thunderraceway.com
Prescott Valley Raceway: www.pvrraceway.com