Olschowka 3-peats as Lovell, Giusti, McColloch and Hawes also win;
Awesome Western All Star Late Models this Saturday
By Bob Burbach

On a night that was bitterly cold with sustained winds of 15-20mph out of the west, a field of 86 cars did battle on the venerable raceway. Car counts continue to be high as the 2007 season gets traction. Promoter Paul Hawes, however, was not going to win his weekly battle with Mother Nature on this night. Dusty, dry-slick conditions were apparent even as qualifying got off to an inauspicious start. Quick time qualifier Brent Dothage, of Kelseyville was almost a full second off of his track record when his effort finally went into the books. The slick conditions made the racing difficult at times, but as the track took rubber, two-grove racing improved with every event.

Olshowka dominated from his second starting position, taking the lead coming out of turn four of the opening lap after a brief, but spirited battle with Robert Mull of Olivehurst. A big crash on the first lap sent John Johnson to the pits after a head on collision with Sacramento’s Wes Shermantine. Shermantine was spinning wildly off of turn 4 creating a huge plume of dust. Johnson didn’t see the errant racer and hit him while at full throttle. Both drivers walked away. 

The tenacious Mull camped on Olschowka’s tail and stayed there until the end. Bill Knoop of Yuba City found 3rd early and challenged Mull relentlessly during the entire event. Mull was up to the task as he held off the former track champion. Yuba City’s Lisa Shelby got to 4th after her own fight with a rejuvenated Kenny Robinson. Robinson was 5th.

The Winged Sprint Car feature was next up and two-time champion Brent Dothage took the pole after a zero pill pull. Lovell was perched on the outside. Dothage out-dragged Lovell into turn 1 and the race was on. Lovell raced to the lead with a slick move on the backstretch of lap four. Point leader Cort Dozier of Marysville was on the move and made several passes on the outside in his exciting ride to the front. Dozier, in a few laps time went from 7th to 3rd. Derek Dozier took to the air in a flip in turn 3 on the 8th circuit. He was dazed, but unhurt in the wing bender. Several yellow flags brought the pack close to Lovell in the final ½ of the race, but there was no stopping the 3-time champ. Lovell won by a straightaway over Dothage, a quick closing Cort Dozier. Infrequent visitor Jim Richardson of Quincy finished a fine 4th with 2007 Champ Jeremy Burt of Grass Valley in 5th. 

Giusti, the 2006 MRP Mini Stock champ burst into the lead from his front row starting position and never gave up the lead. Olivehurst's James Gillaspie was the show though, for the 2nd week in a row. Gillaspie charged through the field and arrived in 2nd place with a head of steam. He relentlessly badgered Giusti, but to no avail. Yuba City’s Brent Hall had his finest ride to date. Hall provided some exciting moments after he got to 3rd place. He and Gillaspie were banging on each other in the end and Hall actually nosed by, but a caution flag elsewhere on the speedway negated the pass and the finishing order remained the same. Misty Castleberry ran a fine 4th with Robert Luster up from the very back getting into 5th. Luster’s run to the front marks the 2nd time he has had to grind his way forward from poor starting positions to a good result. He also won the B main.

James Foster battled from 18th starting spot and rocketed into 3rd place by lap 18 of the 20 scheduled. The Marysville charger was spectacular but spun out with 2 to go. He ended up in another crash at the end and was charged with 2 yellows. His effort garnered him an 11th place finish at the end.

The SORA Sprint 100 feature event pitted “Quick” Nick McColloch and defending champion Tim McLaughlin in a battle at the front after both drivers slashed their way to the front. McColloch was not to be denied in this race as he easily thwarted McLaughlin’s challenges. McColloch cruised in the later laps as he put a cushion between himself and McLaughlin as the checkers fell. 

The EXTREME BOMBERS again brought down the curtain on the night’s activities with an outrageous “Bag over the Head” race. The drivers in the 16-car field had to start the race with a bag over their heads. The idea was to have the co-pilots (or fearless people with no future) guide the blinded drivers over the newly watered, slick as glass, raceway. The bags disappeared rather quickly and the race became an uproariously good time with huge pile-ups and hard contacts the norm. Massive wads of cars were slip-sliding all over the place. Somehow sprint car star Jeremy Hawes blasted through the carnage to the checkers first.

The spectacular Late Model Stock Cars of the traveling Western All Stars Super Dirt Late Models will invade MRP this coming Saturday night. Point leader Bobby Hogge of Salinas will lead a strong contingent of racers who will challenge the MRP clay. Visit http://www.westernallstars.com/ for a look at these spectacular racecars. Their awesome power and “sling it sideways” cornering capabilities has a visual impact you’re not likely to forget. The close competition of the MRP Street Stocks will also be on the program. The late addition of the BCRA Midget Lites will fill out the spectacular evening of racing. Pit gates open at 3 with the grandstands opening at 5. 1st race always runs off at 7PM.

Put www.marysvilleracewaypark.com on your “favorites” button on you computer. Watch this site for press releases, updates and complete results.

Note: Please make this observer aware of any names that are misspelled or incorrect. The text is based on information we have at the time of its release. Complete finishes, stats and points become official and available at the close of business on Tuesday and will be posted to the web site.