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M.J. Anderson
TUCSON, Ariz. (June 14) - Can anyone stop Lonnie Parker's win streak with 7 main event wins in a row, 6 with SWDRA and one non sanctioned event in 2008? Only Nick Bartels has bested Parker with a main event win at the beginning of the season.
Hot days finally reached the Arizona Desert but Lonnie Parker was even hotter on the track Saturday night June 14, 2008 at USA Racepark in Tucson, Arizona where the daytime temperature topped out at 107. Polesitter Harry Harris and Tommy Hussak III, in his new #16 GRT led the field out for the 25 lap main event. Hussak got the jump on Harris and took the lead in turn 1 followed by Brad Williams, Mark Fowler and Lonnie Parker Jr at the end of lap 1. The yellow came out for Wes Hall who made contact with the wall coming out of turn 2.
At the restart, Williams dove to the low groove going into turn one in and got beside the leader Hussak, but the high line was the fast way around, which allowed Fowler and Parker to advance to the 2nd and 3rd spots down the back straight, putting Williams to 4th. Jamie Throckmorton and Jerry Fincher were now running in the 5th and 6th positions. The yellow came out again for Wayne Noyes who spun in turn 4. Mike Tahtinen headed for the pits with a flat tire along with Harris.
At the next restart for lap 3, Fowler went off the track in turn 2 leaving Parker chasing Hussak. Unbelievably, Fowler's steering wheel came off in his hands as he entered the corner! "At the time I thought, 'That's not good…'", said Fowler after the race. The car naturally turned toward the infield without incident. "I was able to get the wheel back on without hitting anything, but by then I was almost a lap down." Fowler's exit from the track caused Williams and Throckmorton to slow dramatically, losing a lot of ground to Hussak and Parker. By lap 4, Adam Crippen had moved up from his 14th place starting position to the seventh spot passing Randy Carder.
Hussak and Parker were pulling away from the field and it looked like Tommy Hussak had a chance to pull off his first career Late Model main event win. However, on lap 10, Parker got his break as the two negotiated lapped traffic. When Hussak went high, Parker went low into turn one and passed Hussak coming out of turn 2.
Hussak regained his momentum and gave chase to Parker who now had over 1/3 of a lap lead on the rest of the pack. Williams was slowly pulling away from 4th and 5th, but was more than a straight behind the leaders.
Lap 16 Wayne Noyes and Hussak made contact on the front straight with Hussak spinning ending his racing night. Parker began to increase his lead to over a ˝ a lap ahead of Williams by lap 21.
Crippen had moved into the 4th spot and was chasing Throckmorton for 3rd, making the pass at the flagstand on lap 24.
Parker wins with over a ˝ lap lead followed by Williams, Crippen, Throckmorton, Fincher, Tahtinen, Carder, Fowler, Chavez and Lonnie Parker Sr rounding out the top 10. Brad Williams was also the Sunoco Fuel Winner.
The Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series would like to thank the following sponsors for their continued support: bluemedia.com, Hoosier Tire West, Duralite Racing Wheels, Braswell Carburetion, Hoffman's Dairy Queen, Total Seal, Impact Racing, and Bell Racing. Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series approved Hoosier tires can be purchased through Wayne Noyes at 623-363-9624.
Additional marketing partnership opportunities are still available within the Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series. Please contact Kyle Porter: (kyle@powerbandmarketing.com) for information.
Official Results
1. (8) 8 Lonnie Parker Jr
2. (4) 23 Brad Williams - also the Sunoco Fuel Winner
3. (14) 12a Adam Crippen
4. (3) 11 Jaime Throckmorton
5. (10) 29 Jerry Fincher
6. (7) 7s Mike Tahtinen
7. (12) 9 Randy Carder
8. (6) 95 Mark Fowler
9. (9) 94 James Chavez
10. (5) 48 Lonnie Parker Sr
11. (1) X8 Harry Harris
12. (13) 3 Wayne Noyes
13. (11) H8 - Harris -
14. (2) Tommy Hussak III
15. (17) Andy Rudy
16. (16) Wes Hall
17. (dns) Mike Brigner
Heat 1
1. Tommy Hussak III
2. Mike Tahtinen
3. Brad Williams
4. Jerry Fincher
5. Wayne Noyes
6. Wes Hall
Heat 2
1. Lonnie Parker Jr
2. Harry Harris
3. Lonnie Parker Sr
4. Troy Huey
5. Andy Rudy
6. Adam Crippen
Heat 3
1. Mark Fowler
2. Jaime Throckmorton
3. James Chavez
4. Randy Carder
5. Mike Brigner
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