MERCED, Calif — - Chris Shannon is definitely the driver to beat this season at Merced Speedway. He strolled to another victory in the DIRTcar West Modfied Stock Car division feature event on Sunday night.
“I didn’t look at the car all week,” Merced’s Shannon said in victory lane. “I’ve been focused on football.”
Shannon is an assistant coach for the Merced Bears youth football team. His car was prepped by crewmembers Bill Vale, Tom Simpson and Bobby Borba. They work on the car in a shop less than a quarter mile from the speedway.
“This week, I showed up to drive,” he said. “They burned the midnight oil making sure everything was right, and they did a great job.”
The battle of the race was for second place, as Robbie Jeppesen of Merced took on Ryan Porter and Bill Egleston, both of Atwater. In the end, it was Jeppesen who edged out the Atwater duo for second, Porter finishing third and Egleston taking home fourth.
Shane Hausmann scored his seventh Hobby Stock win of the season after coming back from the rear of the field because he was tapped and spun out. Archrival Ryan Hart had to come from the back three times to finish second in the rough and tumble feature event. The two Mercedians escaped the worst of several bad crashes.
“I was hoping for Ryan to come back up and catch me,” Hausmann said. “He worked his way back up and he was there at the end.”
The worst crash since the speedway reopened last year occurred in the Hobby Stock main event. First time driver Raymond Debraal of Atwater flipped his brother-in-law’s racecar four times over as it left the speedway and landed on an access road.
“It didn’t hurt at all,” he said after emerging from the wreckage. “I wasn’t scared until the second flip. Then I realized what was going on. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to race again.”
Winner of the Super Stock main event was veteran driver Darrin Thomas of Atwater, a three time speedway champ in the 90’s. He fought off a hard charge from Mariposa’s Ricky Thatcher.
“As long as I have this car, I’ll keep racing,” he said in victory lane. “But, it’s time for me to call it a career and help my 12 year old son, Chase start his racing career.”
The “Four Banger” division had some fast new drivers. Antioch Speedway front-runner Dan Downey of San Jose visited Merced for the first time and scored a victory over the locals.
Second place Tim Elias of Merced was happy to race the newcomers.
“There was a lot of dicing going on out there,” he said. “It was pretty wild. We had a great race.”
Downey has scored victories twice at Antioch, and once each at Watsonville and Merced.
“I love this track - I’ll be back,” he said. “I’m trying to drive at as many tracks as possible.”
For Snelling’s Tim Goodson, the second win in two weeks was sweet.
“I’m starting to get the feel of the car,” he explained. “And, I’m learning how to drive. It felt good to fight off that challenge by Tim (Prothro) on the last lap.”
Prothro, who won previous to Goodson, made several moves for the lead on the last lap of the feature.
08/14/11 Merced Speedway Results:
DIRTcar West Modifieds:
Heat 1
1. 32 Chris Shannon
2. 49 Troy Foulger
3. 14P Ryan Porter
4. 1J Jeff Streeter
5. 19 Bob Williamson
6. 78 Jarod Fast
7. 66 Kevin Fitzgerald
Heat 2
1. 13 Vance Beltram
2. 15 Bill Egleston
3. 84 Robbie Jeppesen
4. 3 Dereck Colvin
5. 19X Royce Mull
6. 1X Steve Streeter
Main
1. 32 Chris Shannon
2. 84 Robbie Jeppesen
3. 14P Ryan Porter
4. 15 Bill Egleston
5. 13 Vance Beltram
6. 49 Troy Foulger
7. 66 Kevin Fitzgerald
8. 1J Jeff Streeter
9. 19 Bob Williamson
10. 1X Steve Streeter
11. 78 Jarod Fast
12. 3 Dereck Colvin
13. 19X Royce Mull
Super Stocks:
Heat 1
1. 15 Larry Damitz
2. 36K Steven Hannah
3. 23M Danny Roe
4. 71 George Lefler
5. 23 Dennis Rolfe
Heat 2
1. 14T Darrin Thomas
2. 61 Ricky Thatcher
3. 2 Tim Ragsdale
4. 88 Buddy Thatcher
Trophy Dash
1. 61 Ricky Thatcher
2. 14T Darrin Thomas
3. 23M Danny Roe
4. 36K Steven Hannah
Main
1. 14T Darrin Thomas
2. 61 Ricky Thatcher
3. 23M Danny Roe
4. 15 Larry Damitz
5. 2 Tim Ragsdale
6. 71 George Lefler
7. 23 Dennis Rolfe
8. 88 Buddy Thatcher
9. 36K Steven Hannah
Valley Sportsman:
Heat 1
1. 69 John Goodson
2. 57M Mark Odgers
3. 55M Mike Haussman
4. 32 Buddy Thatcher
5. 23 Tim Prothro
6. v8 Mike Henault
Main
1. 69 John Goodson
2. 23 Tim Prothro
3. 57M Mark Odgers
4. 55M Maike Haussman
5. 32 Buddy Thatcher
Hobby Stocks:
Heat 1
1. 55 Shane Haussman
2. 7 David Soares
3. 78 Dwayne Fast
4. 8 George Silva
5. 92 Charles Parmley
Heat 2
1. 38 Ryan Hart
2. 70L Robbie Loquaci
3. 73 Christi Shearer
4. 18 Ray Debraal
5. 2 Don Franco
Main
1. 55 Shane Haussman
2. 70L Robbie Loquaci
3. 38 Ryan Hart
4. 78 Dwayne Fast
5. 7 David Soares
6. 18 Ray Debraal
7. 92 Charles Parmley
8. 73 Christi Shearer
9. 8 George Silva
“Four Bangers”:
Heat 1
1. 71R Ronnie Cole
2. 30 Andrew Fountain
3. 17 Tim Elias
4. 806 Mike Shapiro
5. 33 Paul Espino
Heat 2
1. 20 Nick Sagmiller
2. 56 Dan Downy
3. 22 Justin Magleby
4. 4T4 Josh Strickland
5. 99 Richie Ragsdale
6. 13 Emily McAbee
Main
1. 56 Dan Downy
2. 17 Tim Elias
3. 20 Nick Sagmiller
4. 33 Paul Espino
5. 22 Justin Magleby
6. 4T4 Josh Strickland
7. 99 Richie Ragsdale
8. 13 Emily Mcabee
9. 30 Andrew Fountain
10. 71R Ronnie Cole
