MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND MEMORABLE FOR PATRICK

Source: MVS Media Relations/lb
Date: 05/28/2007

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- For most of the race it was a battle for their first win between Pepsi Premier drivers David Patrick and Travis Monett last Saturday night at Magic Valley Speedway – but at the end of the 50-lap main event race it was Patrick who made the long-awaited trip to Victory Lane.

The pair started off the race side-by-side after they each won their qualifying event and continued to run door-to-door for 14 white-knuckle laps before Monett was able to establish a not-so-comfortable lead over Patrick. In the meantime, Rob Vest and Dale Rogers fought it out for third several car-lengths behind as point leader Steve Jones tried desperately to dig his way out of traffic from his position deeper in the pack.

What would be the only caution in the race came out at lap-21 for debris on the track which setup another door-to-door restart for Monett and Patrick. Monett got the jump for the lead, but now he had TJ Woodhall to contend with as well as Patrick and soon the trio was going around in circles dangerously close to each other as they fought for position.

At lap-40 Monett made a critical bobble in the front stretch which allowed Patrick to slide by. Soon Woodhall also got around the rookie Monett and began to zero in on the 21-car of Patrick with just six-laps remaining in the race. As Woodhall began to make his move on Patrick, he too had a miss-step going into the front stretch which gave Patrick just enough room to reel in his first-ever main event win.

“The five got around me a couple of times because I missed my marks,” said a relieved Patrick. “Once I started to realize I needed to hit my marks just right I got back around. I thought we were going to race side-by-side the whole race – and I couldn’t believe my car was sticking as well as it did on the outside tonight. When I looked up at the flagman - at Bill (Detamore) - and saw the five laps to go sign I thought ‘oh man – this is it’ – and I knew I really had to concentrate and hit those marks.”

Patrick adds his crew has been a big asset this season.

“Having guys who help – that’s made a big difference so I can concentrate on driving a little bit more.”

Woodhall’s second place finish has become a familiar sight for the driver of the 99 car, with his fourth runner-up finish of the year.

“I’m starting to feel like Mark Martin”, Woodhall explained.

Monett’s third place showing was satisfying - but he is still hungry for that first win. However, the new driver kept his cool the entire race under a lot of pressure.

“David Patrick gave me a lot of room,” Monett said. “We raced side-by-side for about thirty laps and it was so much fun. I appreciate him racing me clean – me being the rookie. But I tried to give him room and he gave me room – he did an excellent job. The thing that hurt us was we had a pretty good lead and the caution came out - and had that not come out I think we would have had our first win. But I’ll take third – I’m happy with it.”

Stevie Fisher wound up fourth, followed by Rob Vest and Dale Rogers.

Louis Lopez redeemed himself with a win in the Budweiser Grand Nationals division, his third of the season. Lopez had built up a substantial advantage over the rest of the field after taking over the lead from Jonathon Gomez at lap-9, but a caution 10 laps later put him and the No. 50 truck of nemesis Kenny Hatke as next-door neighbors for the restart. Lopez and Hatke gravitated toward each other more than once as the laps in the race wound down, each wanting the lead position. Jerry McKean, who was keenly aware of the situation ahead of him, was soon battling with Hatke for second when Lopez began to pull away after retaking the lead. At the checkered flag it was Lopez coming across the finish line first, with Hatke just edging out McKean for second.

The Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks presented their fifth race of the season with Jim Shirley netting the main event win. Shirley grabbed the lead from John Hoogendoorn early in the 30-lap race as he literally smoked his way to his first trip of the season to the winner’s circle – his brakes visibly overheating in the turns. Brian Lopez, last week’s main event winner, managed to wrangle out a second place finish with Hoogendoorn hanging in for third. Jim Howard was able to retain the lead in the point standings with a fourth place finish, while Lopez jumped into second in the ranks.

The Quale’s Electronics Queen Bees stung the crowd with some of the best racing of the season at MVS. On the center ring one-fifth mile track Darcy Harcourt – who was defending her top spot in the standings – and Misty Greco fought to the bitter end to be the first across the finish line in the second of eight events for the division this year.

The two battered each other in nearly every turn and as the checkered flag flew at the end of the 20-lap race, the girls crossed the finish line with the cars virtually hooked together. Not having transponders on the cars left the officials with a very tough call as to the winner, but it was Harcourt who got the nod and went home with her second win of the season.

Finally, Bob Bachman came though with somewhat of a surprise win as the Idaho Super Sixes topped of the night of racing. Backman, of Kuna, took control of the top spot on lap fourteen of the 30-lap race from Walter Calkins. In spite of the bold attempts of Jason Skyberg to overtake Bachman on the finals laps, Bachman was able to beat Skyberg to the line by a little more than one-tenth of a second. Pat Quinn, who has practically owned MVS in the past, finished fourth.

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