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Tracks >> MARYSVILLE RACEWAY PARK >> Marysville Raceway Park - 7/18 Results
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Message started by LMR on 07/27/10 at 3:56pm

Title: Marysville Raceway Park - 7/18 Results
Post by LMR on 07/27/10 at 3:56pm

Misty ties the record. Hawes, Giusti, and McDaniel win
King of California Sprinters next week. Misty goes for record 10 straight.

By Bob Burbach
Marysville CA - July 18, 2010 --- On a blistering hot Saturday night promoter Paul Hawes installed one of the finest surfaces of the season. All three sprint car divisions ran caution free features after a couple of opening lap troubles. Jeremy Hawes smoked a fine field of Performance Auto Supply Wingless Warriors in a virtuoso performance. Reyna Krueger went wire to wire in the MRP Winged Sprint Car main. Joel Giusti finally kept his hot rod running and ran away from a stout Pro 4 field. The big story of the evening was Misty Castleberry’s ride into history as she got her 9th straight MRP Mini Stock win. Ryan McDaniel glided to an easy victory in the MRP Super Stock feature. Dairy Queen of Yuba City sponsored the event with their 1st Dilly Bar night of the season.

Castleberry started 10th in the MRP Mighty Mini Stock feature and was on the go from the outset. Front row starter Mike Merritt pulled out to a big lead early on. A couple of significant, early race mechanical failures took out a couple of serious threats to Castleberry’s streak. Jeff Olschowka ended his race early on as did Jason Clayton who battled mechanical gremlins all night long. Clayton pitted early. By lap 4 Castleberry was in the top 5 and picking up spots with ease. When she got to Merritt, he put on a terrific race for the lead. Castleberry tried high and low on the perfectly prepared surface to no avail. Then she hooked up coming off of 2 and carried her momentum deep into 3. It was too much for the black 77 as she inched her way by the tenacious Merritt.

Castleberry romped on home from there and Merritt stayed 2nd. Joel Giusti got into 3rd with an outstanding passing job. Jimmy Ford got 4th and Clayton limped home after a series of pit stops, 5th. Olschowka and Kyle Cheney grabbed heat race honors.

Next Saturday night Castleberry goes for 10 straight. Promoter Paul Hawes, as of this race, has posted a weekly bounty of $100 on Castleberry that will roll over and increase by $100 every week for the balance of the season if necessary. In order to claim the bounty a driver must win the MRP Mighty Mini Stock feature, but Castleberry must finish…and a driver cannot take out Castleberry to claim the prize. You must make a clean pass. The extraordinary local sports interest and publicity for next Saturday’s run for the record is remarkable by any standard. Current co-record holder, Jerry Bartlett who, in 1996 won 9 straight stock car events, will be Castleberry’s “Trophy Boy” should she break the record next week.

The MRP Super Stock feature was all Ryan McDaniel. He led wire to wire and was not threatened in Billy Knoop’s potent #73. Behind McDaniel a war was going on as title hopefuls Corey Hall, Jeff Olschowka and Ray Trimble slugged it out behind McDaniel. Added to the mix was a renewed James Castleberry who was monster fast and the only driver that seemed to have anything for McDaniel. Castleberry got to 2nd right away and was turning quicker laps than the leader, but fell victim to a mechanical issue and pulled off.

After Castleberry left, McDaniel cruised. Hall who had been doing most of the passing all night also broke and headed to the pits. Olschowka who brought a 9 point series lead into the conflict marched into 2nd, bringing Trimble with him. That’s how it ended. McDaniel swept the night picking up a heat race win in the process.

2-time MRP Mini Stock Champion, Joel Giusti finally got his 1st open wheel victory in the incredibly competitive Pro 4 Sprint Car feature. Giusti led wire-to-wire and finished ½ lap in front of point leader P.J. Petersen. So how does a ½ lap victory make this a highly competitive event? The sterling efforts of Petersen and 3 time Pro 4 Champ Tim Maclaughlin coming from the back made this one a thriller. The race featured a pair of 3 wide passes and the Pro 4 heat race got the crowd up on its collective feet. It was a good night for the 4 cylinder sprinters. Maclaughlin got 3rd ahead of Chad Compton and Misty Castleberry, who, like Giusti did double duty. Giusti said in victory lane that this is only the 2nd time he finished a race all year. If Giusti can solve his mechanical woes, he will surely be a force to be reckoned with in future Pro 4 events. Gary Eckman won that thrilling heat race earlier in the evening.

Surely, Saturday night’s Performance Auto Supply Wingless Warrior Sprint Car Series event was one of the finest presented this year. It showcased a rejuvenated and wickedly fast Jeremy Hawes in a wire-to-wire victory from the pole. But that’s not even close to the whole story. Hawes came from 8th to 1st in his heat race with a scary, daring high side ride to the front. The feature event also featured a masterful run to 2nd place by perennial favorite Terry Schank. What made Schank’s run to 2nd even more impressive was that he did it in a non-stop 20 lapper. You had to go and go hard to do well in this one.

Hawes put on a clinic getting through traffic so smoothly that from about lap 5 on, unless a yellow flag appeared, Hawes had the race in the bag. But, by his own admission in victory lane, he had no idea how far out front he was. So, he just stayed on the gas with an impressive, hammer down effort.

Last week’s feature event winner and point leader coming into Saturday’s race, Taylor Simas had a dismal main event by his standards. Simas cruised home 7th in the end and lost the point lead to Schank. Rowdy Mc Clennon, on the other hand, had his best outing yet. Mc Clennon lost the ride last week in his silver 13. This week he was back in the seat and turned in a dazzling performance. He battled hard with Schank and had to settle for 3rd. David Sprigg was in the hunt for 2nd all night as was Brian Southers. 2nd through 5th was always in doubt as these 4 racers swapped positions all race long in this remarkable event. Mc Clennon won his heat.

Reyna Krueger easily won the MRP Winged Sprint Car closer. Picking up her 2nd victory of the season and 3rd of her career, Krueger soundly beat Mark Michelet to the stripe. A bizarre series of events had an effect on this feature event as Brandon Dozier clipped the wall as the drivers warmed up for the event. Dozier got airborne and flipped in front of the grandstand. He was OK.

On the initial start point leader and 4-time champ Korey Lovell broke and slowed instantly. Garry Burdick slammed into Lovell and killed the front end of the gleaming #22. Lovell, Burdick and Dozier were unable to restart. Jimmy Steward finished 3rd in the, thereafter, caution free event. Krueger almost didn’t make it to the finish line herself as the shock absorber on the left front exploded. Krueger nursed the car home with the front end bouncing wildly at the checkers.

Next Saturday the Golden State King of California Sprint Car Series will head into MRP with point leader Brent Kaeding and fellow sprint car standout Kyle Larson (last season’s Rookie of the Year) slugging it out for the title. Kaeding is looking for his 14th King of California title as the 410 sprinters make their 1st appearance at MRP in more than a decade. As a special treat 3 of MRP’s finest will challenge the traveling racers. 4-time champion Korey Lovell is expected to drop a 410 into the Yuba City Scrap and Steel Special. 2004 MRP champ Mike Monahan aboard his Superior Hydraulics hot rod will do the same. 3-time MRP champ Colby Wiesz told this observer that he’d be bringing his family 360 sprinter to the show.

In addition, the Mighty MRP Mini Stocks will make up a rained out show. Amazingly enough Misty Castleberry will try for racing history trying to secure her 10th consecutive feature event victory. The MRP bounty of $200 will be in place for this unusual and unprecedented event.

The pit gate opens at 3PM. The spectator gates will open at 5 PM with Hot Laps at 6 PM. Qualifying for the sprinters will follow hot laps with the first event underway immediately after qualifying at about 7.30.

Note: Please make this observer aware of any names that are misspelled or incorrect. The text is based on information we have at the time of its release. Complete finishes, stats and points become official and available at the close of business on Tuesday and will be posted to the web site.