ANDERSON, California -- You don't have to lead every lap in order to win the race. That was a lesson learned in a big way on Sunday afternoon at Shasta Raceway Park, as Ryan Foster led 89 laps of the Win River 100, but fell out of the race due to a failed ignition with only eleven laps to go. The beneficiary was Redding’s Steven Gannon, who steadily maintained his second place position through most of the race, and was ready to pounce at any sign of trouble. His consistency and smooth driving allowed him to take the lead with less than ten to go, and effectively take the title of Win River 100 winner, which made for a $4,000 payday. Other A-Main event winners on the weekend included Jay Linstroth in the Modifieds and Bart Smith in the Late Models.
Super Late Models from all over the Western United States and Canada showed up in Anderson for the Win River 100, with a total of 37 cars taking time in qualifying. After many trophy dashes, heat races, and a B-Main event, a 24 car field was set for the A-main. Anderson’s Ryan Foster started the race on the outside of the front row, with Tim Bost on the pole. The first 20 laps of the race ran smoothly, with Foster taking the lead on lap one. The first caution of the event came on lap 21, when Bost lost an engine in turns three and four, spilling fluid on the track. After the re-start, Foster began pulling away from the field, steadily maintaining his lead while battles brewed behind him. Things did get rough at points during the race, with Neil Gordon spinning three times and Josh Bews showing some frustration with David Miller in the form of on-track retaliation under caution. Bews has been disqualified from the event for his actions. There were some hits with the wall as well, though most drivers avoided major damage. Through it all, however, Foster, Steven Gannon, and Howard Ford maintained their advantage on the field, and continued to turn smooth lap after smooth lap. The surprise of the event came on lap 89, as Foster went into turns one and two. Suddenly, his car stopped running due to an ignition problem, and he drifted high, the field passing below him. Looks of bewilderment filled the grandstands, but there was likely a wide smile on the face of Steven Gannon, as he took the lead going down the back straightaway. After that, the race was set, as Gannon took the victory by 0.817 seconds over Ford, Jr. Roddy, John Moore, and Trevor Emond. Anderson’s Michael Hubert III turned in a notable ninth place performance in the event as well. Foster would be relegated to 16th place following his ignition troubles.
Domination is the only word to describe the 75-lap Late Model main event, as drivers from out of town put on a show for both the fans and SRP’s usual drivers. Tim Christie started on the pole for the A-main event, and led the first 15 laps of the race, before relinquishing the lead to Bart Smith. From then on, Smith ran away with the event, leading the remaining 60 laps to take the victory. Todd Carmichael, who’s rear quarter-panel wound up in the back of the clean-up truck following an incident, obviously had a fast car and a lot of determination, as he made his way back up to second. Tim Christie, Neil Gordon, and Gary Pyszora rounded out the top five. Rich Oller, one of the usual drivers at SRP, had a rough afternoon, with his race ending in 15 laps due to engine failure. He was credited with a last place finish, just behind John Pedersen, who also had a rough event and finished 23rd. For his efforts, Smith took home $1,500.
An astounding 52 Modifieds showed up for the Win River event at SRP, with positions 1-47 separated by less than a second in qualifying. Twenty-four of those cars would start the A-main event, with Jay Linstroth on the pole. He had a lot of clean air. From green flag to checkered flag and through a fueling break at lap 48, Linstroth held the lead and showed no signs of weakness. At race’s end, he took the victory by 0.915 seconds over Scott Winters, Derek Thorn, Guy Young, and Steve Daniels. On a weekend marred by what seemed to be an endless amount of crashes in this division, a smooth run like Linstroth’s was refreshing. He took home $2,000 for his efforts. The main event itself though did have its moments, though, with at least two multi-car pileups at various parts of the race track. All drivers, however, were okay, and most were able to drive away.
One event remains on the 2005 Shasta Raceway Park schedule- an open show for the Legends, Bombers, and Mini-Stocks. That event will be on October 22nd and 23rd. More information will be available shortly on www.shastaracewaypark.org .
Again, a big thank you goes out to all the drivers and crews that made this year’s Win River weekend a success. We look forward to more excitement next year!
RESULTS
SUPER LATE MODELS (asterisk (*) indicates transfer to A-Main. Saturday’s heat races determined remainder of line-up)
Fast Time: 20-Howard Ford 15.796
B-Main: 50*-Gary Glenn, 93*-Larry Bayliss, 12*-Chris Ratterree, 3*-Joey Sterns, 23*-Stewert Campbell, 98-Byron Gonzales, 38x-Aaron Byers, 58-Sheldon Campbell, 77-Brad Wausmand, 20m-Chris Paxton, 11-Chris Monez, 00-James Carpenter
A-Main: 38-Steven Gannon, 20-Howard Ford, 41-Jr. Roddy, 27-John Moore, 17-Trevor Emond, 36-Luke Hall, 18-Phil Perry, 100-Angelo Queurolo, 56-Michael Hubert III, 99-Mike Sackett, 04-Rod McCombs, 9-Randy Houston, 23-Stuart Campbell, 3-Joey Sterns, 5G-Neil Gordon, 1-Ryan Foster, 12-Chris Ratterree, 22-David Miller, 50-Gary Glenn, 5x-Mike Simpson, 81-Darrell Midgley, 93-Larry Bayliss, 35-Tim Bost. DQ: 5-Josh Bews
LATE MODELS
Fast Time: Richie Crowell 16.933
A-Main: 1-Bart Smith, 2z- Todd Carmichael, 06-Tim Christie, 77-Neil Gordon, 14-Gary Pyszora, 15-Jerry Nichols, 3a- Chet Danburg, K9-Randy Hirschbock, 8-Ronnie Richards, 17m-Kyle Medina, 98-Kurt Rompain, 1x-Joe Allen, 11-Garth Pedrotti, 00-Josh Whitfield, 45-Sean Caturegli, 64-Greg Barnhart, 78-Bobby Hirschbock, 3-Jason Brown, 17-Kris Keller, 3x-Chad Holman, 32-Richie Crowell, 24x-Kenny Crome, 24-John Pedersen, 106x-Rich Oller
MODIFIEDS (asterisk (*) indicates transfer to A-Main. Saturday’s heat races determined remainder of line-up)
Fast Time: 1-Scott Winters 16.570
C-Main: 25N- Troy Nogosek, 44x-Sam Potter, 20-Gentry Pisca, 24-Shelby Stroebel, 96-Mikey Lehman, 64-Stan Gunderson, 29-Josh Dorman, 68-Al Draper, 54-Ryan Peter, 44A-Allen Gibney, 35-Jeff Goade
B-Main: 11*-Jeremy Ammon, 9*-Craig Swim, 83*-Richie Potts, 6*-Gary Swim, 2*-Wes Taylor, 2x-Sammy Solari, 8x-Richard Lavalle, 16-Scott Sabol, 12, 25-Bobby Vill, 25N-Troy Nogosek, 20-Gentry Pisca, 93, 24-Shelby Stroebel, 97, 5a-Jeff Stevens, 9a-Chris Mayes, 44x-Sam Potter, 11a-Rick Anderson, 27-Rich Lindgren, 5d-Derrick Crayford, 16A-Derek Dorring, 58-Rus Ward
A-Main: 10a-Jay Linstroth, 1-Scott Winters, 80-Derek Thorn, 7-Guy Young, 21-Steve Daniels, 42-Ken Scales, 19-Willie Thomspon, 42x-Jerry Dubach, 15n-Michael Morrissey, 3-Jimmy McFall, 22-Ed Schanuth, 88-Mike Hubert Sr., 31-Kelly Peacock, 16x-Scott Woessner, 9-Craig Swim, 6k-Charlie Kramm, 5-Jason Philpot, 2-Wes Taylor, 11-Jeremy Ammon, 17-Norm Boucher, 83-Richie Potts, 02-Eddie Laws. DNF: 11x-Tom Berry, 6-Gary Swim
