SAN BERNARDINO, California — David Ross continued his mastery of the Super Late Models division Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway, but Robby Hornsby Jr. saw his bid for a perfect season in the Team Too Pony Stocks come to an end.
Ross, in his first full season at the ASA Member Track, took the lead just before the halfway point and won the 100-lap Super Late Models main event by 3.813 seconds over reigning champion Mark Shackleford.
It was the fourth win in a row and the sixth in seven races for Ross, 21, of Colton (Ca.) and his margin of victory could have been much larger were it not for a caution flag that bunched up the field and erased his 3.414-second lead with 16 laps to go.
Tony Edwards was third, Rob Kiemele fourth, Dee Cable fifth and past Pro 4 champion Dennis Andrews sixth. They were the only ones in the 17-car field to make it to the finish.
Hornsby Jr., 18, had won all six races this season and eight of nine overall, but a guest appearance by Jim Mardis in a title-winning car brought that streak to an end.
Mardis, the 2006 class champion, had waged many heated battles with five-time champion Jim Edmiston in the No. 37 car owned by Will Cottrell. Edmiston is not racing this year, however, so Saturday, when Cottrell asked if he’d like to drive the red Ford Pinto that he so often had chased, Mardis said yes.
Mardis qualified second and Hornsby Jr. third and they started side-by-side in the fourth row of the 12-car field. Rob Hornsby set the pace early, with Mardis second and his son third. But Mardis grabbed the lead on lap 6 with a great restart after a caution period and held it for the rest of the 35-lap event with Hornsby Jr. constantly on his rear bumper and occasionally alongside. Hornsby Jr. gave Mardis a bump exiting Turn 4 on the final lap and got a little room to accelerate, but Mardis held on to win by 0.163 seconds, about half a car length.
“I broke Robby’s win streak and that feels good,” Mardis said. “I’ve also got to thank Robby. He could have dumped (spun) me and he didn’t. That showed a lot of class.”
Earlier, Dan French got his second win in the past three races for the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, beating reigning champion Dwayne Blay by 0.607seconds. Dan Gutierrez was a career-best third and Kim Marzullo overcame an early-race spin to finish fourth. That left she and Blay tied for the class lead with three races to go.
Riley Sawyers extended his lead in the Budweiser Legends class with his fifth win and Ryan Cansdale got win No. 6 in the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros division.
| Super Late Models (100 laps) |
|---|
| 1. David Ross, Colton, Chevrolet Impala; 2. Mark Shackleford, Riverside, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 3. Tony Edwards, Mentone, Monte Carlo; 4. Rob Kiemele, Riverside, Toyota Camry/Chevrolet; 5. Dee Cable, Santee, Monte Carlo; 6. Dennis Andrews, Redlands, Monte Carlo; 7. Brandon Loverock, Highland, Toyota Camry/Chevrolet; 8. Jack Madrid, Ladera Ranch, Monte Carlo; 9. Barry Karr, Redlands, Monte Carlo; 10. Jake Engle, La Mesa, Impala; 11. Brett Edwards, Yucaipa, Monte Carlo; 12. Kendall Scheidecker, Hesperia, Monte Carlo; 13. Jimmy Rouse Jr., San Bernardino, Monte Carlo; 14. Glen Cummings, Highland, Monte Carlo; 15. John Soares, San Bernardino, Monte Carlo; 16. Gary Stockman, Highland, Monte Carlo; 17. Adrianne Murlin, Corona, Monte Carlo. Margin of victory – 3.813 seconds. Average speed – 37.628 mph. Trophy Dash winner -- Kiemele. Leading qualifier – Ross, 12.924 seconds/69.638 mph. |
| Team Too Pony Stocks (35 Laps) |
| 1. Jim Mardis, Moreno Valley, Ford Pinto; 2. Robby Hornsby Jr., Yucaipa, Pinto; 3. Rob Hornsby, Yucaipa, Pinto; 4. Adrianne Murlin, Corona, Pinto; 5. Jeremy Perez, Chino, Ford Mustang; 6. Bud Smith, Orange, Pinto; 7. Larry McCray, Riverside, Pinto; 8. Jim Gebhart, Yucaipa, Pinto; 9. Sean Spencer, Riverside, Ford Mustang; 10. Kevin Meador, San Bernardino, Pinto; 11. Dan Glass, Moreno Valley, Pinto; 12. Eddie Collins, Desert Hot Springs, Pinto. Margin of victory – 0.163 seconds. Average speed – 36.174 mph. Trophy Dash winner – Hornsby. Leading qualifier – Meador, 14.484/62.138. |
| Interstate Batteries Factory Fours (35 laps) |
| 1. Dan French, Claremont, Toyota truck; 2. Dwayne Blay, Riverside, Toyota truck; 3. Danny Gutierrez, Redlands, Toyota truck; 4. Kim Marzullo, San Bernardino, Toyota truck; 5. Tony Forfa IV, Redlands, BMW 318i; 6. Victor Garcia, San Bernardino, Toyota truck; 7. Gary Mendoza, Bloomington, Honda Prelude; 8. Gary McLaughlin, Garden Grove, Toyota sedan; 9. Tony Forfa III, Redlands, Ford Courier; 10. Tim Cox, Claremont, Chevrolet truck. Margin of victory – 0.607 seconds. Average speed – 54.388 mph. Trophy Dash winner -- French. Leading qualifier – Marzullo, 16.364/54.999. |
| Budweiser Legends Cars (35 laps) |
| 1. Riley Sawyers, Gilbert, Ariz., ’34 Chevrolet; 2. Race Liberante, Palmdale, ’37 Chevrolet; 3. Spencer Gallagher, Las Vegas, ’34 Ford; 4. Nicholas Thigpen, Las Vegas, ’37 Chevrolet; 5. Jairo Avila Jr., Alhambra; 6. Kyle Niquette, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., ’34 Chevrolet; 7. Devin Lindsey, Highland, ’37 Chevrolet; 8. Andrew Muscanell, Las Vegas, ’34 Ford; 9. Derek lacey, Costa Mesa, ’34 Ford. Margin of victory – 1.376 seconds. Average speed – 45.121 mph. Trophy Dash winner -- Muscanell. Leading qualifier – Avila Jr., 14.841/60.643. Friday’s race (25 laps) – 1. Sawyers; 2. Gallagher; 3. Mitchell DeJong, Temecula; 4. Niguette; 5. Avila Jr.; 6. Thigpen; 7. Lacey; 8. Lindsey; 9. Chancellor Tiscareno, Menifee, ’37 Chevrolet. |
| M.C. Erectors Bandoleros (20 laps) |
| 1. Ryan Cansdale, Laguna Beach; 2. Parker Malone, Redlands; 3. RJ Stearns, Rancho Cucamonga; 4. Evan Garvey, San Juan Capistrano; 5. Brandon Schulhof, Simi Valley; 6. Mikael Lovas, Menifee; 7. Cody Langevin, Romoland; 8. Brandon Weaver, Bakersfield; 9. Ricky Schlick, Claremont; 10. Matthew Davey, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; 11. Erika Thigpen, Las Vegas. Margin of victory – 1.482 seconds. Average speed – 58.442 mph. Trophy Dash winner – Langiven. Leading qualifier – Cansdale, 15.052/59.793. Friday’s race (20 laps) – 1. Stearns; 2. Lovas; 3. Garvey; 4. Malone; 5. Davey; 6. Schlick; 7. Langevin; 8. Schulhof; 9. Weaver; 10. Cansdale; 11. Thigpen. |
