From: keeper@deeptht.armory.com (Ron O'Dell)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: 8-8 Sprint Cars @ Watsonville
Date: 10 Aug 92 01:22:03 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: The Armory



Next week we'll probably get some of the NARC guys, but they had a show
elsewhere this night, so it was mainly the San Jose Speedway regulars.
This show did not count for San Jose Speedway points (nor will next week),
but is a little championship of its own.  It allows the San Jose Speedway
regulars to continue racing while the Santa Clara County Fair takes over
their fairgrounds facility.  On the week after next, the San Jose guys
still won't have a points race, but the World of Outlaws will be in town,
so they will try their hand against the big names in sprint car racing.

My recorder was acting a little funny after the winner and I got doused
with pink Gatorade while I was interviewing him ... it's OK now, though.
My pocket clock has some visible liquid on its liquid-crystal display now, too.
yeesh

But anyway, here's this show's report.  I'm only given 8-10 inches for
these, since they're not full of local drivers and aren't a regular series.
There's a slight error in the penultimate paragraph.  Due to fiddling with
how I was going to word the bit about next week, there's a grammatical error;
the word `have' should be `has'.  Originally, the noun of the sentence was
"Drivers from NARC," but then I changed it to just the NARC series, but
neglected to change the verb tense.


Following the article will be a results table, including the entire field
finishing order of the main event, plus top four finishers of the B-main
and heat races, the trophy dash results and fast qualifying time.

August 8, 1992   Santa Cruz County, California

 
   WATSONVILLE -- Saturday night, in the first of only two races this
year at Watsonville Speedway, San Jose's Jason Statler won his first
career sprint car feature race.
   Statler, who has been racing sprint cars for three years, had to 
contend with a last-lap attack by the night's fastest qualifier, Tom 
Henry of Gilroy, but kept to the low line while Henry got alongside 
but could not handle the high groove in Turn 2.
 
   Not long after setting the fast qualifying time and winning the 
trophy dash, Henry's night had gone upside-down, quite literally.
   Trying to work his way up to the front in his heat race, Henry 
lost too much traction to the 1/4-mile track's clay surface. He opened
the throttle in an effort to save himself from spinning, but the 
enormous horsepower of the sprint car's engine caused it to 
wheelstand. When the front end came down, the car made a couple lazy 
flips.
   Because heat races are used to qualify for the main event, Henry's
flip forced him to run in the semi-main, where all the non-qualifiers 
from the heat races have one last shot to make it to the feature race.
Henry won that race handily, so the stage was set for the race that 
counted.
   Statler took the lead on lap 2 and led the rest of the way, but 
had Henry breathing down his neck for the final 20 laps.
 
   In the San Jose Speedway sprint car series, Statler has not had a 
good year.
   ``This year, I've really tested the crew on how much they take 
part in putting together the race car,'' Statler said. ``Tonight 
really makes up for a lot of the sorrows we've had.''
 
   The fastest heat race of the night was won by the only driver in 
the field from Santa Cruz County, Jamie Hood of Scotts Valley. The 
speed did not stay with him into the main event, however, where he 
finished a lap down, in 14th.
   ``We just missed the setup,'' Hood said. ``We were trying to run 
the top, but the bottom of the race track is where it was at. That's 
just the gamble you take. But any time you can bring these home on the
trailer, in one piece, it's been good.''
 
   The sprint cars will be back at Watsonville next Saturday night, 
perhaps with a bigger field, since the Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC)
sprint car series have no venue scheduled.
   Among the drivers from NARC who may appear next week are Santa 
Cruz's Kevin Pylant and Corralitos' Jerry Bonnema, who has clinched 
that series' Rookie of the Year title.
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Saturday's sprint car results from Watsonville Speedway:
 
   Fast Time -- 12.711 seconds; Tom Henry, Gilroy, and Pat Rose, San Jose
 
   Trophy Dash, 4 laps
 1. Henry
 2. Jason Statler, San Jose
 3. Randy Hannagan, San Jose
 4. Rose
 
   Heat Race 1, 8 laps
 1. Dave McGourty, Campbell
 2. Howard Fergerson, Sunnyvale
 3. Statler
 4. Mark Chaves, San Jose
 
   Heat Race 2, 8 laps
 1. Howard Kaeding, Campbell
 2. Dave Rule, San Jose
 3. Jim Perry Jr., Concord
 4. Rose
 
   Heat Race 3, 8 laps
 1. Mike Sargent, San Jose
 2. Earl Stanton
 3. Aaron Miller, San Jose
 4. Hannagan
 
   Heat Race 4, 8 laps
 1. Jamie Hood, Scotts Valley
 2. Jeff Mendes, Gilroy
 3. Peter Gimeniz, Gilroy
 4. Chuck Miller, Morgan Hill
 
   Semi-Main Event, 12 laps
 1. Henry
 2. Joe von Schriltz
 3. Ryan Bailey
 4. Gary Wiley, San Jose
 
   Main Event, 30 laps
 1. Statler
 2. Henry
 3. Hannagan
 4. Rose
 5. Chuck Miller
 6. Mendes
 7. Kaeding
 8. Chaves
 9. Sargent
10. Aaron Miller
11. Stanton
12. McGourty
13. Gimeniz
14. Hood
15. Bailey
16. von Schriltz
17. Wiley
18. Fergerson
19. Perry
20. Rule