above photos by Terry Shaw
Article by Windy McDonald
Jeremy Sherman and Kiley Fellers, points leaders in their respective divisions, each picked up their tenth main event win of the year Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway.
Sherman started fourth in the 30 lap American Sprint Car Series feature, took the lead from Bob Ream, Jr. on the fifth lap and then withstood a late challenge from Charles Davis, Jr. who started 19th after rolling his car in the first heat race. Yellow flags kept the race close but the final yellow with only two laps remaining had no effect on the outcome as Sherman continued his march toward a fourth consecutive driving championship. Behind Davis at the checkered flag was Shon Deskins followed by Mike Martin and Jeremy Reagles. The rest of the top ten were R.J. Johnson, Bob Ream, Jr., Mike Leslie, Josh Pelkey and Bobby Taylor.
Sherman started in the second row and took the lead from Ream on the fifth lap. Davis had moved into 12th on the fourth lap. He was in the top ten two laps later and took over second with six laps remaining. He was allowed to close in on Sherman under the yellow flag but had nothing left for a serious challenge.
Reagles kept Sherman honest in the early going as he had the Mopar humming He jumped the cushion which cost him a couple of positions and was never in contention after that.
Davis痴 trouble started in the first heat race when a couple of cars in front of him tangled and his Massey Motorsports car was hit, sending it rolling on the front straightaway. The crew did their job and had the car ready for the feature.
Reagales won the initial heat with Sherman second, Chris Bonneau third and Johnson fourth. Sherman was scheduled to start on the inside of the second row but was late getting on the track and had to tag and run without passing points.
Bernie Smith had the pole for the second heat and shot away from the field at the drop of the green. He crossed the finish line in front of Taylor, Ream and rookie driver Brenden Higgins. The race was stopped when a fire developed in the #19 car driven by Andy Reinbold. Andy made a quick exit but had the shoe on his right foot blazing. The fire was extinguished before it burned him.
The final heat went to Mike Martin who came out of the second row to beat Brian Swinehart who was in the Ford Powered #78m sponsored by Mammouth Sound. Deskins finished third with rookie driver Zack Sawyer in fourth.
Nathan High beat the field in the Arizona Race Mart trophy dash.
photo by Gaye Allen
Fellers entered the Mini Sprint car race with a 490 point lead over Josh Castro and increased his points lead when Castro flipped in the feature and was credited with a 16th place finish. Josh climbed from his car under his own power but was later transferred to a local hospital for observation. Kyle Shipley, the defending champion, finished second and Dennis Carrier, who was involved in a three car battle for third in the closing laps took the position with Dustin Cormany fourth and Tyler Keesler fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Travis Keesler, Brandon George, Dennis Parks, Mike Visser and Pat Wing.
Tyler Keesler came out of the third row and beat Carrier, Justin Quinn and Jake Grimes in the first eight lap heat race. J.D. Bernal also made a good run from third to take the win in the second heat race with Cormany, Stehr and Paul Martin in pursuit. The final heat was decided on the first lap when Fellers shot to the front and was never headed. Castro shared the front row with Fellers and finished second with Parks third and Cliff Cormany fourth.
Dustin Cormany beat the field in the four lap trophy dash.
Brian Stehr, ranked third in the Desert Dwarf Car standings, cut into Chris Snyder痴 points lead as the points leader finished sixth. Stehr became the fourth different leader when he slipped past Randy Johnson with four laps to go. Johnson hung on for second ahead of second ranked JJ LeMoine. Steve Davis did not run a heat race and started deep in the 20 car field for the feature. He put together a great drive with a fourth place finish ahead of Troy Wilkinson. Behind the top five were Snyder, Ryan Irish, Eddie O誰eill, Denny Dowty and Steve Kapaun.
Chuck Vallone led the firs two laps before yielding to Irish. Johnson was in front on the eighth lap but Stehr took over and led the final four laps.
The dash was halted with two laps remaining when Todd Bennett ran out of room and did a couple of snap rolls and then went end over end. He was okay but his car was through for the night.
The Dwarf Cars ran three six lap heat races with wins going to Dowty, Stehr and Snyder. Dowty beat Johnson and D. Cormany. Stehr held of LeMoine and Kapaun. The final heat had Snyder lined up in the front row and that was more advantage than he needed as he pulled away from the field and led Ryan Henesey, Steve Davis and O誰eill. O誰eill scored his first trophy dash win.
photo by Terry Shaw
R.J. Johnson set a 12 lap record in the midget car main event. He took the lead from points leader Terry Goodwin on the sixth lap and pulled away from the field. Johnson out-dueled Nathan High in the first part of the race and he led all the final laps and was timed at a track record. Terry Goodwin, the points leader, led the first six laps and then Johnson took command and breezed to his second straight win. Goodwin finished second, HIgh third followed by Jeff Perry and Rick Shuman
photo by Gaye Allen
High took the win in the six lap heat race with Johnson, Carrier, Perry, Adam Young. Johnson won the trophy dash.
SUMMARY
AMERICAN SPRINT CAR SERIES
Main Event: (30 laps) 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Charles Davis, Jr. 3. Shon Deskins 4. Mike Martin 5. Jeremy Reagles 6. R.J. Johnson 7. Bob Ream,. Jr. 8. Mike Leslie 9. Josh Pelkey 10. Bobby Taylor 11. Nick Aiuto 12. Adam Wirth 13. Brenden Higgins 14. Brian Swinehart 15. Andy Reinbold 16. Chris Bonneau 17. Bernie Smith 18. Seainn Hendricsen 19. Zack Sawyer 20. Steve Tellas 21. Robert King, Jr. 22. Nathan High 23. Jesse Dunham 24. Stevie Sussex
Lap leaders: laps 1-4 Ream, laps 5-30 Sherman
photo by
Terry Shaw
1st Heat: (8 laps) 1. Jeremy Reagles 2. Jeremy Sherman 3. Chris Bonneau 4. R.J. Johnson 5. Seainn Hendricsen 6. Nathan High 7. Charles Davis, Jr. (DNS-Mike Leslie)
photo by
Don Iverson
2nd Heat: (8 laps) 1. Bernie Smith 2. Bobby Taylor 3. Bob Ream, Jr. 4. Brenden Higgins 5. Adam Wirth 6. Nick Aiuto 7. Andy Reinbold-DNS, Stevie Sussex (time-2:25.16)
3rd Heat: ( 8 laps) 1. Mike Martin 2.Brian Swinehart 3. Shon Deskins 4. Zack Sawyer 5. Jesse Dunham 6. Steve Tellis 7. Josh Pelkey 8. Robert King, Jr.
photo
by Don Iverson
Arizona Race Mart Trophy Dash (4 laps) 1. Nathan High 2. R.J. Johnson 3. Andy Reinbold 4. Mike Martin (time: 1:01.32)
ARIZONA MINI SPRINTS
photo by Gaye Allen
Main Event: (15 laps) 1. Kiley Fellers 2. Kyle Shipley 3. Dennis Carrier 4. Dustin Cormany 5. Tyler Keesler 6. Travis Keesler 7. Brandon George 8. Dennis Parks 9. Mike Visser 10. Pat Wing 11. J.D. Bernal 12. Jake Grimes 13. Ryan Walter 14. Katherine Aragon 15. Justin Quinn 16. Josh Castro 17. Paul Martin 18. Cliff Cormany 19. Josh Shipley 20. Mark Miller
Lap leaders: lap 1-15 Fellers
photos below by Gaye Allen
1st Heat: (8 laps) 1. Tyler Keesler 2. Dennis Carrier 3. Justin Quinn 4. Jake Grimes 5. Pat Wing 6. Brandon George 7. Mike Visser (time: 2:25.16)
2nd Heat: (8 laps) 1. Kyle Shipley 2. Dustin Cormany 3. J.D. Bernal 4. Paul Martin 5. Travis Keesler 6. Katherine Aragon - DNS, Gena Thomas (no time)
3rd Heat: (8 laps) 1. Kiley Fellers 2. Josh Castro 3. Dennis Parks 4. Cliff Cormany 5. Ryan Walter 6. Mark Miller 7. Josh Shipley (time: 2:07.41)
photo by Gaye Allen
Trophy Dash: (4 laps) 1. Dustin Cormany 2. Tyler Keesler 3. Kyle Shipley 4. Justin Quinn 5. Kiley Fellers 6. Josh Shipley (time: 1:03.81)
DESERT DWARF CARS
photo by Gaye Allen
Main Event: (15 laps) 1. Brain Stehr 2. Randy Johnson 3. JJ LeMoine 4. Steve Davis 5. Troy Wilkinson 6. Chris Snyder 7. Ryan Irish 8. Eddie O誰eill 9. Denny Dowty 10. Steve Kapaun 11. Jesse Patterson 12. Chad Stewart 13. Kevin Stalbaum 14. Rat Stafford 15. Chuck Vallone 16. Jerry Hartnett 17. Barbara Stafford 18. Ryan Henesey 19. Robert Ostrom 20. Taylor Cuzick (no time)
Lap leaders: laps 1-2 Vallone, laps 3-7 Irish, laps 8-11 Johnson, laps 12-15 Stehr
1st Heat: (6 laps) 1. Denny Dowty 2. Randy Johnson 3. Troy Wilkinson 4. Ryan Irish 5. Taylor Cuzick 6. Chad Stewart 7. Robert Ostom (time: 1:53.41)
2nd Heat: (6 laps) 1. Brian Stehr 2. JJ LeMoine 3. Steve Kapaun 4. Chuck Vallone 5. Jesse Patterson 6. Barbara Stafford 7. Todd Bennett (no time)
3rd Heat: (6 laps) 1. Chris Snyder 2. Ryan Henesey 3. Steve Davis 4. Eddie O誰eill 5. Rat Stafford 6. Jerry Hartnett 7. Kevin Stalbaum (time: 1:52.47)
Trophy Dash: (4 laps) 1. Eddie O誰eill 2. Todd Bennett 3. Robert Ostrom 4. Rat Stafford 5. Barbara Stafford 6. Steve Kapaun (time: 1:20.41)
AMRA MIDGETS
Main Event: (12 laps)1. R.J. Johnson 2. Terry Goodwin 3. Nathan High 4. Jeff Perry 5. Rick Shuman 6. Adam Young, DNS Mike Lapp (time: 3:09.00, track record)
Heat Race: (6 laps) 1. Nathan High 2. R.J. Johnson 3. Terry Goodwin 4. Jeff Perry 5. Adam Young 6. Rick Shuman (time: 1:32.81)
photos by Gaye Allen