By Bob Burbach
Marysville- Paul and Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park will host Best Collateral’s Night at the Races this Saturday with all four primary divisions on tap. The mighty MRP Winged Sprint Cars will head the card with their 100 mph slides through the clay. The MRP Super Stocks will head a three division stock car offering that will include the MRP Mini Stocks and the MRP Hobby Stocks. This will be the last time this season that all four divisions will be scheduled on the same night. Best Collateral representatives will be on the grounds when the gates open Saturday and the first 100 people through the gates will get free T-Shirts with their compliments. There will be other items given away as well.
Best Collateral’s Night at the Races will showcase the run for the tile in all four divisions, but all eyes are on the MRP Winged Sprint Car Division. Once again defending champion Billy Wallace in his Bully Dog #1m will try to fend off the relentless challenges of former champion Jeremy Burt. Burt in his familiar Geico #2b will once again turn up the wick and press Wallace. Burt’s recent banzai charges through the field to the front have been spectacular but they have been answered by Wallace wins. Burt’s valiant efforts have not put a dent in the point differential between the two, but he remains close. With 50 points available to win in each event Wallace’s 20 point lead is not remotely secure.
As an example 3 time champion Brent Dothage drove to a 34 point turnaround in only 3 races when he won his 2nd title in 2006. The points were scored somewhat differently then and the point swing using today’s scoring methods can be quicker and more dramatic.
The truth be told, Wallace is having a banner year. Some of the best are scratching their heads trying to figure out why Wallace is so fast. Up front starts lately have helped, but he’s charged from deep in the pack as well during the year. On May 19th Burt and Wallace got together while in a dice for the lead. Burt chugged to a stop. That incident alone was a 12 point turn around. This thing is far from over and if there’s a driver who’s due, it’s Burt. He has matured as a driver and is never afraid to sling his hot rod with reckless abandon toward victory.
It’s all good as far as the buzz goes regarding MRP’s new surface. The entire sprint car program ran off almost caution free with near qualifying times being turned during the feature. The nice thing about all of this is that the new clay has retained the speed, but opened up new passing opportunities. It’s a positive one-two punch that the MRP staff had hoped for after long days in 100 degree heat getting the new clay into place for last week’s program. No one expected a hooked up track last week in 107 degree temperatures, but that’s exactly what the fans got. This week should be just as rocket-fast.
As always this week’s MRP Winged Sprint Car event on Best Collateral’s Night at the Races is a Contingency Connection event. The Contingency Connection offers some $1500 weekly to the winner in additional awards above the cash purse payouts.
The fendered title story seems to be a little clearer these days. MRP Mini Stock point leader Misty Castleberry is making a runaway of the title chase in that class. The run to 2nd in points is less clear and somewhat up for grabs. 3 rookie contenders and a sophomore rocket are all dicing for the place trophy in this division. Though it would appear that Travis Carter is the odds on favorite for the 2nd spot, the show position is marked by a fierce struggle between Miranda Hammons who has been a picture of consistency this year and lead foot charger Kyle Davey. A single point separates the two drivers with Hammons in 3rd. Austin Merritt is 5th in points in his rookie campaign.
The MRP Super Stock championship picture remains pretty much the same. While veteran racer Ray Trimble bounced Brent Hall out of the winners circle Saturday night, Hall extended his lead in the points with an easy 3rd place finish. He finished ahead of his closest rival James Castleberry. Look for a full, fast field of Supers this Saturday. Paint and fenders tend to fly as the season winds down.
In addition the $100 Richmond Gear “Weekend Warrior” prize packages will be available to each winner for the next 3 races in both the MRP Mini Stocks and the MRP Super Stocks. Richmond Gear Weekend Warrior prize packages are in house for presentation to winners at the next 3 Richmond Gear Weekend Warrior race nights in each class. Each box contains a $100 retail value gift inside…including a $75.00 certificate, NEW official Richmond Gear T-Shirt, bottle opener, pen, and decals.
The thrilling dice for the lead in last week’s Hobby Stock feature didn’t really impact the point situation all that much. But, Jeremy Hammons did increase his stranglehold on the title chase as Jim Waller lost ground again last week. The Hobby Stocks continue to be crowd pleasers with more noise seemingly coming from the grandstands than from the cars themselves. It’s a gas!
Don’t forget to monitor our facebook page during the coming week; we’d love to hear from you. Updates are constantly being forwarded to the page on race night. Every Thursday night at 8PM MRP gives away 2 free tickets to the following week’s events. So, pop on to facebook (marysvilleracewaypark) and grab a couple of freebees on Thursday.