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Bob Burbach
MARYSVILLE, Calif. (April 26) - Paul and Kathy Hawes' Marysville Raceway Park hosted the spectacular Western All Star Late Model show Saturday night. Yuba City's Jeff Olschowka of Yuba City brought his black beauty #96 home 1st in the MRP Street Stocks to make it 4 in a row. Elk Grove's Doug Hunting picked up his 7th victory at MRP in the BCRA Midget Lite feature.
Event Images - Western Allstars at Marysville Raceway Park
A.J. Kirkpatrick tossed back several thrilling challenges to his lead and collected the $3000 first place check in the Western All Star feature. Kirkpatrick and the top 10 competitors endured a series of early race yellows before the racing got serious.
The red flag was displayed during lap 3 when an incredible crash blocked the entrance to turn 1. Some of the impacts were tough ones and the video shows that fully ½ of the 22-car field was involved. Local Late Model racer Leroy Perry of Marysville seemed to get the worst of it as his car caromed off of a number of spinning racers. The orange #79 was in dire shape as it was towed from the track. A couple of additional slowdowns for less serious crashes and spins opened the door for some serious racing for the lead.
Point leader Bobby Hogge of Salinas started 4th and began to move and was camped on Kirkpatrick's rear bumper with Merced's Chris Shannon shadowing the leaders. The crowd was screaming as first Hogge, then Shannon would attempt moves on the tenacious leader. As the ½ way point of the very rapid 30 lapper approached Hogge went high in a daring move up along the back stretch wall. Shannon saw the opportunity for 2nd and dove under Hogge as the lead trio approached lapped traffic. Kirkpatrick went high and thwarted Hogge's attempt as Shannon darted low into second, but only briefly. A lapped car impeded the progress of the lead trio in turn 3. Kirkpatrick forced his way on by, but Hogge and Shannon got together with the lapped traffic and all three chugged to a stop, sideways in turn 4.
With Hogge and Shannon relegated to the back of the pack, Kirkpatrick was dominant from that point forward. Hogge and Shannon would make valiant efforts to get back to the front, but Hogge would get caught up in other skirmishes and would retire with mechanical problems. Shannon started to pass people and got into the top 5 with a handful of laps remaining. Chet Buckley of Lompoc and Ron Bartels of Los Angeles along with local racer Jerry Bartlett of Yuba City would be the show in the last 1/3 of the race with Shannon gaining at a steady rate. The final laps were run caution free and the slugfest for 2nd between the aforementioned quartet was a thriller. Local product (and 3 time track champion) Bartlett, was in the mix. Based on crowd reaction, much to the satisfaction of the locals in attendance. Kirkpatrick sailed under the checkers and into victory lane with a hand in the air.
The battle for 2nd was under a blanket as starter Robin Davies waved the black and white; Buckley-Bartels-Bartlett-Shannon was the order. Kirkpatrick won the All-Star's trophy dash, which seeded the top eight into their feature starting positions.
Olschowka started the street stock main event 3rd on the inside of the second row. The pill pull was a 6. Antioch Street Stock champion Todd Gomez of Antioch, in one of his infrequent appearances here, jumped into the lead from his front row starting position and led the first seven laps. Only 2 yellow flags would slow this fast paced event that was a thriller from start to finish. Olschowka was in 2nd by the end of lap 2 and was hounding Gomez relentlessly. It was great to see these two great stock car stars locked in battle.
While all this was going on, Robert Mull of Olivehurst was on the move. Mull had been relegated to a last row starting position after problems in his heat race. Mull was up on the wheel for the feature and was carving his way forward as Olschowka and Gomez were locked in the fight up front.
On the eighth circuit, Olschowka slid along side Gomez with a slick move off of 2. Gomez shut the door in 3 and the pair nearly lost it as Olschowka inched by into a lead he would not relinquish.
As the race went into it's final 5 laps, point leader Billy Knoop challenged Gomez for 2nd and got the job done with only a handful of laps remaining. That's the way it ended. Mull secured a fine 5th in his stellar run from the back. Benicia's Jeff Silva finished 4th after a heat race victory in his 1st MRP appearance, ever.
Hunting won the BCRA Midget Lite tilt after a race long relationship with the cushion finally cost Rick Holbrook the top spot. Hunting then started to duke it out with Doug Nunes and Richie Hoover. Nunes threw off some body work after a monster bike in turn 3 and had to go to the back. The race up front was an entertaining one all race long. The Lites are a competitive show when they shed the wings. Hunting took the checkers with a 10-car length cushion. Amazingly enough, Hoover took a quick flip in turn 1 after the checkers had flown. He was 4th at the finish line.
Heat race winners include Knoop, and Jeff Silva of Benicia in the MRP Street Stocks, Buckley, Jeff Decker of Morgan Hill, Hogge and Shannon in the Western All-Stars, and Joey Hoover of Elk Grove and Doug Nunes of Kingsburg in the BCRA Midget Lites.
Next week point race #7 will feature the MRP Winged Sprint Cars, The MRP Wingless Sprints, the return of the mighty MRP Mini Stocks and another visit by the BCRA non-wing Midget Lites. The crash and burn antics of the Extreme Bombers will bring down the curtain.
Pit gates open at 3 with the grandstands opening at 5. 1st race always runs off at 7PM. Put www.marysvilleracewaypark.com on your "favorites" button on you computer. Watch this site for press releases, updates and complete results.
Main Event
1 12K AJ Kirkpatrick Castroville, CA
2 32 Chet Buckley Lompoc, CA
3 12 Ron Bartels El Segundo, CA
4 00 Jerry Bartlett Yuba City, CA
5 32S Chris Shannon Merced, CA
6 1 Zack Forster Bakersfield, CA
7 10H Reldon Hatch Reno, NV
8 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA
9 27 Nick Bartels El Segundo, CA
10 4P Richard Papenhausen Chico, CA
11 51C Randy Neal Lincoln City, OR
12 2 Bobby Hogge Salinas, CA
13 57 Craig Eubanks Yuba City, CA
14 5X Dino Napier Corona, CA
15 91X Matt Micheli Yuba City, CA
16 4 Willy Horn Marysville, CA
17 36 Gilbert Dixon
18 24W Rick Wyatt Salem, OR
19 7N Bill Pearson Reno, NV
20 7 Norman Beck Petaluma, CA
21 84 Jeff Decker Morgan Hill, CA
22 79 Leroy Perry Petaluma, CA
complete race results
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