Riverside FANatic 5-26-07
by Alan Plummer
The Riverside FANatic
By Alan Plummer
Welcome to the first edition of the Riverside FANatic for the 2007 racing season at Riverside Speedway, a P.A.S.S. sanctioned speedway. It was the 2nd annual Bobby Shores Memorial Day Classic. Not only was it a tribute to Shores, but a memorial to three others involved with the track that have lost their lives since last season: Street Stock driver Jake McDowell, Elouise Watson, Wife of Super Stock driver Ron Watson, and Riverside grounds keeper Arnie Krupula Sr. They will all be missed. There was also the first ever blessing of the cars. It was a beautiful evening, which held some great racing
The Daredevil Novice division was first to take the field. These kids were great, with only one caution of the race. I was standing next to some guys who were new to the track, and they couldn’t believe that they were only kids on the track. The 29 of Brendan Hunt started on the pole, with the 47 of Randy Whittum outside. Hunt took the lead. On lap 2 the 62 of Dilyn Switser moved into second with the 44 of Kyle Pembroke moving to third, Pembroke then takes second on the next lap. The 07 of Manville Powers is moving up through the field fast. On lap 7 Pembroke moves into 1st. On lap 12 the 94 of Jarred Ainsworth spins on the front stretch. Pembroke takes the restart over Hunt, and Powers moves into second. Pembroke takes the win followed by Powers and Hunt.
In the Veteran Daredevil division the 2 of Curtis Randall started on the pole with the 8 of Tyler Leighton on the outside. Leighton took the initial lead, but the 73 of Riley Hartshorn shot to the lead. The 5 of Jesse Switser moved to second, and the 72 of Cody Hodge moved to third. On lap 2 Switser moved into the top spot. Hodge took the 2nd spot on lap 7. On lap 9 Hartshorn swipes the backstretch wall and is done for the night. Switser takes the restart and the 27 of Dickie Stanley moves into 2nd. On the following lap Hodge retakes 2nd and the 3 of Kristopher Russell moves into 3rd. On lap 15 the 77 of Brandon Lambert overtakes the 3rd spot. Switser takes the checkers first, followed by Hodge, and Lambert.
The Dwarf Cars were up next. The 36 of Jim Barker had pole position. Outside of him was the 17 of Haywood Herriott. Herriott took the lead and the 2 of Eric Hall moved to 3rd, then on lap 3 Hall took 2nd. On lap 5 the 28 of Ernie Laplant moved to 3rd. Herriott and Hall battle back and forth, but Herriott just can’t make the pass. On lap 13 Laplant moves to 2nd, and the 4 of Nathan Brown moves to 3rd, then 2 laps later overtakes 2nd. Brown got together with another car, and was forced into the wall, came off the wall and flew off turn one rolling over several times. Brown was alright, and walked away from the car. Laplant took the restart, and the 22 of Dana Huoppi moved into 3rd. At the line in was Laplant followed by Hall and Huoppi.
The Street Stocks took to the field next, led out by the Jake McDowell memorial car. The 07 of Bill Stebbins Jr. was on the pole, with the 27 of Troy Randall outside. Randall took the lead and the 38 of Ryan Heuser moved into 2nd. The 22 of Michael Smith overtook Heuser for the 2nd spot on lap 2. On lap 3 the 48 of Tyler Barrows shuts down in turns 3 & 4. Randall takes the restart, as the 04 of Shawn Swallow moves into the 3rd spot. On lap 7 the 1 of Michael McGee loops it in turn 2. Randall again takes the restart, as Swallow moves into 2nd. On lap 9 the 47 of Willy Hennequin gets into Swallow, and Swallow is force real high, but recovers. On lap 17 Stebbins and the 36 of Chris Hodgdon get together, sending Stebbins around in turn 3. Once again Randall takes the lead, and the win, followed by the 12 of rookie Tyler Therrien, and Smith.
Next on the track were the Super Stocks. Most of the racing was behind the leaders, as the 8 of Denny Degreenia and the 13 of Luke Shannon went side by side for almost the entire race. The 1 of Jeremy Lacoss really didn’t have anywhere to go, even though he may have had a faster car than Shannon and Degreenia. On lap 22 the 18 of Ron Watson having a great run coming up through the field, running hard trying to get under Lacoss spun in turn 3. Degreenia was declared the winner, with Shannon in 2nd and Lacoss 3rd.
The Late Models had a very clean race, with only 1 caution. The 2 of Reno Gervais started on the pole, with the 37 of Steve Mandigo outside. Gervais took the lead and the 1 of Cory Mason moved into 2nd. The 68 of Brooks Clark moved into 3rd. On lap 11 the 76 of rookie Ryan Delabruere got together with the 42 of Brian Greer. Gervais takes the restart, and Clark moves into 2nd. The 02 of Russell Clark looked for an opening to get around the 3 of Mike Kenison for the fourth spot, but couldn’t get it. Gervais took the win, followed by Brooks Clark and Cory Mason.
The final event for the night was the Cyclone endure. The 41 of Jeff Ainsworth quickly made his way to the front and stayed there all night. The 20 of Charlie Rockwell was having a great night and closing on Ainsworth, and with only 4 laps to go had a tire go flat. Ainsworth took the win, followed by Andy Simpson in the 3 and Paul Schartner in the 95.
The new Outlaw Sportsman division will make its debut next week. Also on the card will be the Street Stocks, Super Stocks, Angels and Daredevils. Post time 6 p.m., hope to see you there. Pictures and archived FANatic articles can be seen at http://racing.apcomptech.com If you have any questions or comments email me at riversidefanatic@apcomptech.com