From MRP
Marysville, CA — Marysville Raceway Park hosted a thrilling 6-division card Saturday night for United Rentals Night at the Races. Shannon McQueen trounced a stellar BCRA Midget field and made it 2 in a row at MRP for the swift lady racer. BCRA Midget Lite champ Jason Sneep took the checkers in that feature. Johnny Reeves posted a popular win in the Wingless Warrior Sprint Car finale after flipping hard after his heat was over. Shawn Merritt clawed his way to the front to capture the MRP Mini Stock feature while PJ Petersen won the Pro 4 main before Josh Wilson won the Hobby Stock capper.
In the MRP Wingless Warrior Sprint Car Series winner Johnny Reeves did it the hard way. Reeves and Jeremy Hawes dueled for 2nd place in their heat race with Hawes taking the measure and finishing in the runner up spot to winner Brett Youngman. It’s hard to say who took exception to what, but Reeves’ white 25 and Hawes’ 7 got together on the back chute and Reeves went into a quick series of barrel rolls coming to rest upside down. Hawes was DQ’d for the night as a result of the altercation.
Reeves crew went to work and by the time the feature rolled out, Reeves was able to take his position on the front row. Reeves made quick work of the field and roared to an easy win in the main event. Jay and Brett Youngman followed Reeves across the stripe.
Shawn Merritt won a spectacular MRP Mini Stock main event after a torrid duel with 2-time champ Misty Castleberry. With but a handful of laps left, Merritt, who had crept to the front with some 1st class moves reeled in the champ. Merritt tagged Castleberry as the pair struggled for the top spot in turn 3. Castleberry jerked a bit sideways, saved it, but it was a momentum killer. For his part, Merritt after the contact, hammered his brakes and allowed Castleberry to recover. Merritt had won the battle. He finished off by winning the war as he quickly motored away to a convincing win. Castleberry stayed 2nd as hard charging Howard Law finished a credible 3rd.
2010 Pro 4 champ PJ Petersen simply ran away with the main event win. Petersen who has been plagued with an assortment of mechanical ills showed what this combination is capable when everything comes together.
A couple of restarts (one for a spectacular turn 4 flip by Chad Thompson) didn’t help the rest of the field, as it was clearly a race for 2nd all race long. Joel Giusti grabbed 2nd as 3 time champ Tim Maclaughlin got show money.
The 2nd ever MRP Hobby Stock feature was won by Josh Wilson as the entire hobby stock field either crashed, spun, broke or burned during the course of the night’s action. That is, everyone except Wilson. Never say die driver Armond Sarcomo was 2nd after he spun, high-sided his car for 4 laps in turn 2 and lost a tire. The crowd became cheerleaders for the hapless driver who was the only other car running at the checkers in the crowd-pleasing event.
Shannon McQueen picked up her 2nd consecutive victory in the BCRA Full Midget feature, as did Jason Sneep in the BCRA Midget Lite division. For a full story and rundown of the BCRA show please see www.bcraracing.com .
Next week, the mighty MRP Winged Sprint Cars will be back with their patented brand of hammer-down racing to the MRP oval for race #3 of the 2011 season. It will be Buttes Insurance night at the raceway. The rip-roaring, slam bang Super Stocks will be back. The MRP Mini Stocks and the Pro 4 sprinters will return as well. In addition, next week the all-new MRP Hobby Stocks will run their 3rd event of the new season. It should be a gas.