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SWDRA PR
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (April 5) - A last lap melee in turn 3 almost cost Lonnie Parker Jr the win at Central Arizona Raceway Saturday night April 5, 2008. Parker Jr had almost a ½ lap lead over Mark Fowler, Mike Tahtinen and Jerry Fincher on the white flag lap and it looked like he had an easy 25 lap feature win in the bag, but things got exciting coming to the checkers.
Polesitter Joey Moriarty tried to get the jump on Parker Jr at the start but Parker Jr led the field into turn 1 from his outside front row starting spot. Moriarty slipped in behind Parker through the first turn and gave chase. Second row starter Mike Tahtinen got too high in turn two causing him to fall all the way back to the 8th position at the end of lap one. Moriarty was right with Parker on lap 2, but his racing night ended quickly with an expired engine. That scramble allowed Parker Jr to jump out to a big advantage, leaving Tommy Hussak III and third row starter Mark Fowler to battle for the 2nd spot. Wes Hall moved up to 4th with 7th starting Jerry Fincher applying pressure in 5th. On lap 3 Mike Tahtinen was challenging Randy Carder for 6th making the pass on lap 4, setting his sites on the Fincher/Hall battle.
By lap 6 both Fincher and Tahtinen had passed Hall, but were a straight behind the Hussak/Fowler battle. Parker was a ½ lap out front when he got crossed up in turn 2, but was able to gather the car back up without losing much time. On lap 10 Hussak got sideways in turn 2, losing spots to Fowler, Fincher and Tahtinen, falling back to 5th. The field stayed in that order till lap 17 when Fincher got bit by the slick in turn 2, losing a lot of ground to Fowler and Tahtinen.
On the white flag lap, it appeared that the finish would be uneventful, with no seriously contested battles in the top 5. Entering turn 3, Parker was about to put a lap on Keith McKinney, Wes Hall, and Randy Anderson. It was too many cars and not enough race track in turn 3 when they got together, collecting Parker in the crash. Parker Jr's machine bounced up over the inside burm and into the dry infield just inside of the racing surface. Fowler was closing quickly and Parker jumped back on the gas in an attempt to get back on the race track. A huge cloud of dust engulfed turn 3 as Fowler and Tahtinen approached. Parker reentered the track in turn 4 as the crowd came to their feet. Using the high groove, Fowler had the momentum on Parker. At the flagstand, a mangled Parker machine just edged out Fowler by inches.
With a bag of ice on his hand after the race, Parker commented, "I was just amazed that the car was still rolling after the crash in turn three. I think the impact broke my thumb". This was Lonnie Parker Jr's 47 career win.
Only 14 super dirt late models were on tap for Saturday night's event with regulars Lee Hoy, Steve Ricehouse, Harry Harris, Bruce Duckett, Art Lacy, Adam Crippen and Brad Williams unable to make the show.
The next SWDRA race will be at Central Arizona Raceway on April 26, 2008. See you at the races!
The SWDRA would like to thank the following sponsors for their continued support: Hoosier Tire West, Duralite Racing Wheels, Team GRT, www.securetiedowns.com, Braswell Carburetion, Impact Racing, Bell Racing.
Additional marketing partnership opportunities are still available within the SWDRA. Please contact Kyle Porter: (kyle@powerbandmarketing.com) for information.
Official finish
1. (2) 8 Lonnie Parker Jr
2. (6) 95 Mark Fowler
3. (4) 7s Mike Tahtinen
4. (7) 29 Jerry Fincher
5. (3) 16 Tommy Hussak
6. (11) 94 Randy Anderson
7. (8) 90 Keith James
8. (10) 9 Randy Carder
9. (9) 48 Lonnie Parker Sr
10. (5) 35 Wes Hall
11. (12) 3 Wayne Noyes
12. (14) 65 Andy Rudy
13. (13) 6 Keith McKinney
14. (1) 51 Joey Moriarty
( ) denotes starting position
Heat 1
1. Lonnie Parker Jr
2. Mike Tahtinen
3. Tommy Hussak
4. Jerry Fincher
5. Lonnie Parker Sr
6. Randy Anderson
7. Keith McKinney
Heat 2
1. Mark Fowler
2. Joey Moriarty
3. Wes Hall
4. Keith James
5. Randy Carder
6. Wayne Noyes
7. Andy Rudy
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