Big crowd opens MRP's 40th season
Local drivers finish up front in Marysville
By Bob Burbach
Special to The Union
» More from Bob Burbach
special To The Union
12:01 a.m. PT Mar 28, 2008
An overflow crowd and 95 cars greeted the 40th Anniversary Season at Paul and Kathy Hawes Marysville Raceway Park Saturday night.
Honolulu, Hawaii's Dean Freitas ran away with the Winged Sprint Car portion of the show. Shaun Ternora, formerly of Honolulu, won the highly competitive Wingless Sprint Car feature event.
Former champ Bill Knoop of Yuba City came from sixth to capture the Street Stock main. Joel Giusti won a stirring, early race duel with Olivehurst's James Gillaspie and triumphed in the MRP Mini Stock closer.
Grass Valley's Pat Weger muscled his way into an early lead to beat a fast closing Kevin Bender in Nor Cal Dwarf Car action.
Earlier in the day 81 racecars showed for the renewal of an MRP tradition. Les Schwab Tires of Linda hosted the MRP racecar show.
The lengthened, newly configured track created a visual spectacle of speed. It was obvious from the first practice session that the fans were in for a treat.
The heat races went off with few problems and all 12 events produced but three yellow flags.
The MRP Wingless Sprint Cars took the first green flag in feature race competition and front row starter Brett Youngman from Grass Valley grabbed the No. 1 spot from his outside pole position.
Ternora, John Anderson, Tim Sherman Jr. and Jeremy Hawes camped on Youngman's tail. Ternora grabbed the lead on lap 15 of the scheduled 20 lapper, eventually taking his first ever feature event win at MRP. Anderson, Sherman and Youngman followed.
Jeremy Burt from Grass Valley, the 2007 MRP Street Stocks champion took third place in his race Saturday, behind winner Knoop.
The Nor Cal Dwarf Cars drew the curtain on the 5-division show with an event that featured a couple of virtuoso drives.
First, Grass Valley's Pat Weger got to the front early and simply checked out. No one was in Weger's class. He led by as much as a 1Ú2 lap at one time.
Second, Kevin Bender was spectacular in the closing laps as he carved through the field with amazing accuracy. The Rocklin speedster had to settle for second, as the race was yellow flagged often in the later laps.
This week the MRP Winged Sprint Cars and the MRP Wingless Sprint Cars will headline the show. The MRP Street Stocks will be back with their slam bang brand of excitement, along with the Open 4 Cylinders' debut.
Pit gates open at 3 p.m. with the grandstands opening at 5 p.m. First race always runs off at 7 p.m.
For more information, visit the Web site www.marysvilleracewaypark.com.
