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4-FOR-4! ESTEBAN WINS PHRA SUNSET FEATURE FROM 11TH

PACIFIC HARDTOP RACING ASSOCIATION

Source — Andrew Kunas

Date Posted — June 02, 2009

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BANKS, Oregon — There was no stopping Corey Esteban. Again.

The two-time and defending Pacific Hardtop Racing Association champion won his fourth dwarf car main event in as many tries Saturday night at Sunset Speedway Park. Like many of his wins before, the evening was a clean sweep for the Gaston, Ore. driver. Esteban also won his heat race and the A-Dash before racing his way from the 11th starting spot to win the 25-lap main event.

Kyle Thompson, a first-time pole sitter, and Mike Chadwick shared the front row thanks to a larger than usual invert. Chadwick took the lead and held the spot until Lap 12 when eighth-starting Dave Cantu got him coming out of turn 4. While that was happening, Esteban had moved up to fourth.

After Chadwick lost the lead to Cantu, he and the tenth-starting Henry Corbin III and Esteban engaged in a wild three-way battle for second place in choppy track conditions. It was Esteban who emerged ahead of everyone and he wasted no time going after Cantu. He needed only a couple of laps to catch Cantu and take the lead from him on Lap 16. From there, Esteban drove away from the rest of the field.

Cantu held onto the second position before Corbin passed him on the final lap. Chadwick finished fourth with Thompson following. Ron Love, Adam Stoecklein, Jack Mires, B-Main winner Ronnie Gilmore Jr. and Henry Corbin II rounded out the top ten.

For Esteban, he's yet to be beaten in a PHRA dwarf car main event this season. He won the season opener, also at Sunset Speedway Park, on April 25th before sweeping the PHRA's return to Cottage Grove Speedway on May 9th. He made it a hat trick on May 16th at River City Speedway.

Esteban started his day by winning the first heat race from the pole. Corbin, Mitch Meeuwsen and Cantu also won heat races. The four drivers raced against each other in the A-Dash, and it was Esteban who won over Corbin, Cantu and Meeuwsen. The B-Dash was won by Henry Corbin II over Clay Goben, Tristan Wood, Kevin Dykstra and Jim Fischer.

Richard Petty won the C-Main event to transfer, taking Roger Moore Sr, Bill Van Housen and Alex Banks with him to the B-Main. Gilmore's win in the B-Main event came over Roger Moore Jr, Corbin II and Petty, who ran the alphabet on Saturday evening.

In an usual twist in the B-Main, both Moore Sr. and Moore Jr. started the event. When Moore Jr. was involved involved in an opening lap pile-up that resulted in his car being towed away. Because a lap wasn't completed, Moore Sr. pulled into the pit area and climbed out of his car. Roger Moore Jr. then climbed in his father's car for the complete race restart, which was legal by PHRA rules. Moore Jr. drove from the back of the field to finish third and transfer to the A-Main.

After Ron Love raced his car in the second heat race, he turned that very car over to his grandson Alex Banks, a Private in the Marines who will ship out on Monday for Japan. Banks finished third in the fourth heat race. Because Love had already transferred to the A-Main from his heat in the very same car, Banks had to give up his A-Main spot. He was allowed to drive that same car and start at the back of the C-Main. Banks finished fourth in that race to transfer to the B-Main, where for a time he was actually in a transfer position to the A-Main before missing the cut by two spots.

The next event for the PHRA dwarf cars is its first ever points event at Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday, June 20th. The club had run non-points events at the Elma, Wash. track before but has not been back since the track underwent its major reconfiguration prior to the 2004 season. The club also amended rules for the event as instead of the usual 16 or 18 cars, a big field of 20 cars will start A-Main event at Grays Harbor Raceway.

Race Results -- 05/30/2009

PHRA dwarf cars
34 cars Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 36 Corey Esteban, 2. 29 Adam Stoecklein, 3. 56 Jeff Quinn, 4. 57 Tristan Wood, 5. 17 Kevin Dyskstra, 6. 45 Josh Kribs, 7. 7 Sam Larson, 8. 77 Brad Hicks. DNS - 76 Brian Hicks. First three finishers transfer to A-Main. Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 89z Henry Corbin III, 2. 33 Ron Love, 3. 24 Mike Chadwick, 4. 9z Henry Corbin II, 5. 69 Ronnie Gilmore Jr., 6. 31 Roger Moore Jr., 7. 51 Bill Van Housen, 8. 26 Jim Smith, 9. 43 Richard Petty. First three finishers transfer to A-Main. Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 28 Mitch Meeuwsen, 2. 13 Jack Mires, 3. 40 Kyle Thompson, 4. 75 Clay Goben, 5. 81 Charles Millar, 6. 72 Todd Peterson, 7. 78 Kevin Hicks, DNS - 9 Roy Jaha. First three finishers transfer to A-Main. Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 63 Dave Cantu, 2. 18 Shane Youngren, 3. 33r Alex Banks, 4. 3 Jim Fischer, 5. 19 Ryan Bothwell, 6. 10 Dean Hicks, 7. 11 Roger Moore Sr., 8. 2 Gary Sause. First three finishers transfer to A-Main. Due to technicalities, Alex Banks was forced to surrended his A-main spot and run in the C-Main. B-Dash (4 laps): 1. 9z Henry Cobrin II, 2. 75 Clay Goben, 3. 57 Tristan Wood, 4. 17 Kevin Dykstra, 5. 3 Jim Fischer. A-Dash (4 laps): 1. 36 Corey Esteban, 2. 89z Henry Cobrin III, 3. 63 Dave Cantu, 4. 28 Mitch Meeuwsen. C-Main Top 8: 1. 43 Richard Petty, 2. 11 Roger Moore Sr., 3. 51 Bill Van Housen, 4. 33r Alex Banks, 5. 78 Kevin Hicks, 6. 76 Brian Hicks, 7. 26 Jim Smith, 8. 7 Sam Larson. Top four finishers transfer to B-Main. Kevin Hicks also transfer due to scratch from B-Main field. B-Main Top 10: 1. 69 Ronnie Gilmore Jr., 2. 11 Roger Moore Jr., 3. 9z Henry Corbin II, 4. 41 Richard Petty, 5. 81 Charles Millar, 6. 78 Kevin Hicks, 7. 17 Kevin Dykstra, 8. 51 Bill Van Housen, 9. 33r Alex Banks, 10. 10 Dean Hicks. Top seven finishers transfer to A-Main. A-Main Top 12 (25 laps): 1. 36 Corey Esteban, 2. 89z Henry Corbin III, 3. 63 Dave Cantu, 4. 24 Mike Chadwick, 5. 40 Kyle Thompson, 6. 33 Ron Love, 7. 29 Adam Stoecklein, 8. 13 Jack Mires, 9. 69 Ronnie Gilmore Jr., 10. 9z Henry Corbin II, 11. 56 Jeff Quinn, 12. 81 Charles Millar.

PHRA dwarf cars

34 cars

Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 36 Corey Esteban, 2. 29 Adam Stoecklein, 3. 56 Jeff Quinn, 4. 57 Tristan Wood, 5. 17 Kevin Dyskstra, 6. 45 Josh Kribs, 7. 7 Sam Larson, 8. 77 Brad Hicks. DNS - 76 Brian Hicks. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 89z Henry Corbin III, 2. 33 Ron Love, 3. 24 Mike Chadwick, 4. 9z Henry Corbin II, 5. 69 Ronnie Gilmore Jr., 6. 31 Roger Moore Jr., 7. 51 Bill Van Housen, 8. 26 Jim Smith, 9. 43 Richard Petty. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.

Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 28 Mitch Meeuwsen, 2. 13 Jack Mires, 3. 40 Kyle Thompson, 4. 75 Clay Goben, 5. 81 Charles Millar, 6. 72 Todd Peterson, 7. 78 Kevin Hicks, DNS - 9 Roy Jaha. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.

Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 63 Dave Cantu, 2. 18 Shane Youngren, 3. 33r Alex Banks, 4. 3 Jim Fischer, 5. 19 Ryan Bothwell, 6. 10 Dean Hicks, 7. 11 Roger Moore Sr., 8. 2 Gary Sause. First three finishers transfer to A-Main. Due to technicalities, Alex Banks was forced to surrended his A-main spot and run in the C-Main.

B-Dash (4 laps): 1. 9z Henry Cobrin II, 2. 75 Clay Goben, 3. 57 Tristan Wood, 4. 17 Kevin Dykstra, 5. 3 Jim Fischer.

A-Dash (4 laps): 1. 36 Corey Esteban, 2. 89z Henry Cobrin III, 3. 63 Dave Cantu, 4. 28 Mitch Meeuwsen.

C-Main Top 8: 1. 43 Richard Petty, 2. 11 Roger Moore Sr., 3. 51 Bill Van Housen, 4. 33r Alex Banks, 5. 78 Kevin Hicks, 6. 76 Brian Hicks, 7. 26 Jim Smith, 8. 7 Sam Larson. Top four finishers transfer to B-Main. Kevin Hicks also transfer due to scratch from B-Main field.

B-Main Top 10: 1. 69 Ronnie Gilmore Jr., 2. 11 Roger Moore Jr., 3. 9z Henry Corbin II, 4. 41 Richard Petty, 5. 81 Charles Millar, 6. 78 Kevin Hicks, 7. 17 Kevin Dykstra, 8. 51 Bill Van Housen, 9. 33r Alex Banks, 10. 10 Dean Hicks. Top seven finishers transfer to A-Main.

A-Main Top 12 (25 laps): 1. 36 Corey Esteban, 2. 89z Henry Corbin III, 3. 63 Dave Cantu, 4. 24 Mike Chadwick, 5. 40 Kyle Thompson, 6. 33 Ron Love, 7. 29 Adam Stoecklein, 8. 13 Jack Mires, 9. 69 Ronnie Gilmore Jr., 10. 9z Henry Corbin II, 11. 56 Jeff Quinn, 12. 81 Charles Millar.