By Gary Jacob
CASA GRANDE, AZ - Leading all 40 laps from the pole position that she earned with her Friday night feature win. 45 year old female racing star Christy Georges from El Paso TX pocketed her biggest career feature win on Sunday as she earned $10,000 for the victory in the Wes Hurst Memorial for dirt modifieds at Central Arizona Raceway. Barnett’s Harley Davidson was the event sponsor and the two Barnett Harley Davidson team cars finished 1-2 in the 40 lapper as Curt Barnett made a lap 37 pass on Saturday feature winner Eddie Martin to get the $5000 runnerup prize. Both Georges and C Barnett were in Shaw by Taylor mounts after Georges had scored a $1000 win in Tucson the previous week in her SkyRocket while her Shaw by Taylor was being repaired from it’s Canyon Raceway Desert Classic damage. The third Barnett Harley Davidson driver, Sherman Barnett, is sitting out the last three months of 2005 after undergoing heart bypass surgery. Martin started outside front row in the Chub Daniels owned D&M Performance house car and settled for the $3000 third place money. Barnett Harley Davidson regional champion Bumper Jones got shuffled back to 4th in the final ten laps and earned $2000 in the D&M formerly driven by Kevin Menapace. Troy Godwin from El Paso was a race long fifth for a $1500 dayday in his Salazar Racing Hughes Chassis and 15 year old Johnny Scott ran a $1000 sixth. Reglars on the tough El Paso-Las Cruces scene took six of the top 7 spots as Royal Jones was a $900 7th in his D&M. 12th starting Butch Reid Sr drove his son’s Shaw by Taylor to 8th ahead of Oregon’s Jon DeBenedetti and Las Cruces hard charger Scott Logston. Both Reid Sr and DeBenedetti had started their Sunday action in the C Main. The pure stock action saw a different winner as Tommy Hussak III blew his engine leading his heat after a $300 win on Friday and a $400 win on Saturday. Coming off a recent $1000 win at Canyon, usual dirt modified racer Darin Center charged from 4th into the lead on the opening lap and ran away from the field for the $500 win in the 15 lapper. Both Marlon Childers and young Tony Steele passed Rene Madrid on the final lap for the 2-3 slots, but Childers ended up being disqualified for driving directly to the tech area at the race conclusion. That moved Steele into the $250 second place money ahead of R Madrid, who won $150. Paul Arseneau was a $120 fourth and Michael Harrison won $100 for fifth.
Seventy dirt modifieds were still on hand for the Sunday action and 30 of them were seeded into the front five rows in the A, B and C Mains based on their Friday and Saturday performances. The remainder were split into a pair of 15 lap Last Chance features with the top seven finishers in each moving into the back of the C Main lineup. Joe Parmeley drew the outside front row for the first Last Chance and led four laps before running off the end of the track on a restart. Northern California race car builder Joe Carr inherited the lead and led one lap before Bakersfield CA long tow Buck Cox took over in his Bob Pierce chassis. Corey Hosler Jr took second from Carr on lap 7 as Carr’s travel mate Jeff Thomas fell out. Track champion R C Whitwell lost a lap changing a flat tire that he got when hit by California star Jimmy Reeves. Canyon Raceway promoter Jeff Stafford passed Carr for third on lap 13 and John Pierce ran off the end of the track racing in sixth. B Cox won ahead of Hosler, Stafford, Carr, Chris Sims, Joe Parmeley and Jason Black. New Mexico’s Ralph Dutcher just missed a transfer in 8th. Albuquerque star Richard Johnson sprinted into a quick lead in the second last chance running a Eddie Martin built car that he recently purchased from Arkansas racer Chad Smith. Johnson was a wire to wire winner. Brian Barsness was a race long second, but contact from third place Chris Olexiewicz sent Barsness spinning on the final lap. Olexiewicz drew a rough driving black flag and Barsness was restored to a second place finish ahead of John Cox, Colorado’s Joe Bellm, Kenny Hatfield, Steve Bender, Oregon MoPar racer Monte Bischoff and Clint Fouts. J Cox was driving the Jay Foster car for the weekend. Oregon’s Brian Bowman just missed a transfer in 9th.
The C Main had 24 starters chasing 14 transfers into the B Main. DeBenedetti and Darren Williams shared the front row ahead of dirt late model star Rob Mayea and Reid Sr. Williams had to start in the rear after reporting to the staging area late. Kenny Hatfield ran off the end of the track on lap 1 and DeBenedetti raced into the lead over Reid Sr and Mayea. Parmeley spun for a lap 5 yellow and both Williams and Hosler fell out. Anthony Madrid took fifth from Mark Harrison on lap 7 and the late action saw both Carr and Bender run off the end of the track and Barsness spin. DeBenedetti won ahead of Reid Sr, Mayea, Max Sadler, A Madrid, Harrison, Kenny Wyman, Bryan Burnes, Bellm and Johnson. Bischoff ran 15th but got to race in the B Main as Aztec Speedway champion Porter Smith pulled off before the green flag.
The B Main also found 24 cars chasing 14 transfers into the rich A Main. Defending race winner Jeff Taylor from Arkansas and young 17 year old California star Alex Stanford held down the front row ahead of Nebraska’s Ronnie Wallace and Terry Belcher Sr. Stanford got the jump on Taylor and raced into an early lead over Taylor. Wallace and Texan Alan Sharpensteen both passed Belcher Sr on lap 3 as J Cox ran off the end of the track. Taylor began to put heavy pressure on Stanford and he made an inside pass for the lead on lap 8. When Wallace ran off the top of the track to give up third, the officials pulled the cars into the infield on lap 12 to take a break for the setting sun. Wallace elected to fall out instead of tagging the 24 car field for the restart. As the field refired after the delay, leader Taylor discovered a broken axle on the Royal Jones backup D&M and his weekend was over. Stanford was back out front and he drove to the 20 lap win in his first weekend of action here. Johnson fell out shortly after the race restarted and Sharpensteen chased his young California friend to the checkered flag. Belcher Sr ran third ahead of a fast closing Reid Sr, Jason Noll, Jay Rosales, Jeremy Payne, Adam Crippen and DeBenedetti. Noll was again in the Art Lacy car and Payne ran all weekend in the Brad Campbell car after the Dick Reid mount blew in Friday’s hot laps. The other five transfer slots went to Sadler, Harrison, Mayea, Madrid and Bellm with Burnes just missing ahead of Wyman and Bischoff. The 20 lap B Main was run with just one caution flag.
The field was now set for the rich 40 lapper with Georges and Martin sharing the front row after their wins on Friday and Saturday. B Jones and C Barnett shared row 2 ahead of J Scott and Godwin. The race had to be restarted after first lap contact between Stormy Scott, R Jones, Sharpensteen and Belcher Jr put both Sharpensteen and Belcher Sr in the pits changing flat tires. Georges got the jump on Martin and paced the first lap ahead of Martin, B Jones, Barnett and J Scott. Godwin raced into fifth on lap 2 and briefly took fourth from C Barnett before falling back to fifth on lap 5. J Scott settled into second ahead of R Jones, S Scott, Reid Sr and Fito Gallardo. Belcher Sr got a second flat on lap 1 and lost several laps making the tire change. DeBenedetti took a wild ride off the front stretch on lap 9 without losing a spot. The front twosome of Georges and Martin checked out. S Scott suffered a broken front end and got hung up on the infield berm trying to exit to draw a lap 13 yellow flag. Belcher Sr elected to park the Mike Tahtinen owned D&M. Gallardo fell out after running off the top of the track on lap 17 and Stanford blew his second engine of the weekend at the same time. A flat tire for A Madrid forced a lap 22 yellow flag with R Jones now sixth ahead of J Scott, Reid Sr, Noll and Logston. Payne began to smoke after some contact with DeBenedetti and Georges checked out in the final 18 laps, stretching her lead to 1/3 of a lap. Barnett began to pressure Martin for second and he made the pass on the inside on lap 27 after earlier taking fourth from B Jones. A Madrid blew a second tire late and Rosales lost a few spots when his right rear exploded on the last lap. Georges won ahead of C Barnett, Martin, B Jones, Godwin, J Scott, R Jones, Reid Sr, DeBenedetti, Logston, Noll, Rosales, Payne, Sharpensteen, Mayea and Bellm. Harrison also suffered a late race flat tire.
The final of the three days of pure stock racing drew a 17 car field with John Drake making his first appearance of the weekend. Center wasted little time getting to the lead from third starting in heat 1 as he ripped off a 21.79 best lap to win over Thomas and Josh Crabtree. Hussak clicked off a 21.97 best before he lost his engine leading in heat 2. Childers made a last lap pass on R Madrid to get that win with R Madrid second ahead of female racer Jackie Parmeley. Steve Shumaker joined Hussak as a feature scratch. Parmeley and R Madrid drew the front row ahead of Childers and Center with Thomas and Crabtree in row 3. Center raced from fourth to the lead on the first lap and R Madrid settled into second. Childers got around Parmeley for third. Miles Widmer spun on lap 2 and John Rider ran off the end of the track. Center had a huge lead in just 4 rounds and Widmer fell out. At the midway mark, Center was ¼ lap ahead of R Madrid and Geoff Hatch had climbed into fourth. Hatch took third from Childers on lap 10 and a red flag for a flip by Drake saved Crabtree, who had driven off the top of the track. It marked the second straight weekend that Drake had flipped at CAR, but he was unhurt. On the restart, Hatch’s great run ended as he ran off the top of the track and Parmeley spun late. Center stayed out front for the $500 win and both Childers and Steele passed R Madrid on the last lap. Childers was disqualified from second for not reporting directly to tech, giving second to Steele ahead of R Madrid, Arseneau, Michael Harrison, Thomas, Crabtree, Hatch and Frank Waszkiewicz.
RESULTS
1st Last Chance-Buck Cox, Corey Hosler Jr, Jeff Stafford, Joe Carr, Chris Sims, Joe Parmeley, Jason Black, Ralph Dutcher, James Pautot, Dave Craft, Tim Clark Jr.
2nd Last Chance-Richard Johnson, Brian Barsness, John Cox, Joe Bellm, Kenny Hatfield, Steve Bender, Monte Bischoff, Clint Fouts, Brian Bowman, Ricky Nelson, Warren Wampole Jr, Troy Cooke, Adam Hilton.
C Main-Jon DeBenedetti, Butch Reid Sr, Rob Mayea, Max Sadler, Anthony Madrid, Mark Harrison, Ken Wyman, Bryan Burnes, Joe Bellm, Johnson, J Cox, Mike Strobl, Stafford, B Cox, Bischoff, Black, Sims, Barsness, Bender, Joe Parmeley.
B Main-Alex Stanford, Alan Sharpensteen, Terry Belcher Sr, Reid Sr, Jason Noll, Jay Rosales, Jeremy Payne, Adam Crippen, DeBenedetti, Sadler, Harrison, Mayea, A Madrid, Bellm, Burnes, Wyman, Bischoff, Rosales, Strobl, J Cox, Stafford, Johnson, Payne, Ronnie Wallace.
A Main-Christy Georges, Curt Barnett, Eddie Martin, Bumper Jones, Troy Godwin, Johnny Scott, Royal Jones, Reid Sr, DeBenedetti, Scott Logston, Noll, Rosales, Payne, Sharpensteen, Mayea, Bellm, Sadler, A Madrid, Crippen, Harrison, Fito Gallardo, Stanford, Stormy Scott, Belcher Sr.
Pure Stock
Heat 1-Darin Center, John Thomas, Josh Crabtree, John Drake, Geoff Hatch.
Heat 2-Marlon Childers, Rene Madrid, Jackie Parmeley, Miles Widmer, Gary Armes.
Main-Center, Steele, R Madrid, Paul Arseneau, Michael Harrison, Thomas, Crabtree, Hatch, Frank Waszkiewicz, Jackie Parmeley, Armes, John Rider, Drake, Widmer.
CASA GRANDE, AZ - Leading all 40 laps from the pole position that she earned with her Friday night feature win. 45 year old female racing star Christy Georges from El Paso TX pocketed her biggest career feature win on Sunday as she earned $10,000 for the victory in the Wes Hurst Memorial for dirt modifieds at Central Arizona Raceway. Barnett’s Harley Davidson was the event sponsor and the two Barnett Harley Davidson team cars finished 1-2 in the 40 lapper as Curt Barnett made a lap 37 pass on Saturday feature winner Eddie Martin to get the $5000 runnerup prize. Both Georges and C Barnett were in Shaw by Taylor mounts after Georges had scored a $1000 win in Tucson the previous week in her SkyRocket while her Shaw by Taylor was being repaired from it’s Canyon Raceway Desert Classic damage. The third Barnett Harley Davidson driver, Sherman Barnett, is sitting out the last three months of 2005 after undergoing heart bypass surgery. Martin started outside front row in the Chub Daniels owned D&M Performance house car and settled for the $3000 third place money. Barnett Harley Davidson regional champion Bumper Jones got shuffled back to 4th in the final ten laps and earned $2000 in the D&M formerly driven by Kevin Menapace. Troy Godwin from El Paso was a race long fifth for a $1500 dayday in his Salazar Racing Hughes Chassis and 15 year old Johnny Scott ran a $1000 sixth. Reglars on the tough El Paso-Las Cruces scene took six of the top 7 spots as Royal Jones was a $900 7th in his D&M. 12th starting Butch Reid Sr drove his son’s Shaw by Taylor to 8th ahead of Oregon’s Jon DeBenedetti and Las Cruces hard charger Scott Logston. Both Reid Sr and DeBenedetti had started their Sunday action in the C Main. The pure stock action saw a different winner as Tommy Hussak III blew his engine leading his heat after a $300 win on Friday and a $400 win on Saturday. Coming off a recent $1000 win at Canyon, usual dirt modified racer Darin Center charged from 4th into the lead on the opening lap and ran away from the field for the $500 win in the 15 lapper. Both Marlon Childers and young Tony Steele passed Rene Madrid on the final lap for the 2-3 slots, but Childers ended up being disqualified for driving directly to the tech area at the race conclusion. That moved Steele into the $250 second place money ahead of R Madrid, who won $150. Paul Arseneau was a $120 fourth and Michael Harrison won $100 for fifth.
Seventy dirt modifieds were still on hand for the Sunday action and 30 of them were seeded into the front five rows in the A, B and C Mains based on their Friday and Saturday performances. The remainder were split into a pair of 15 lap Last Chance features with the top seven finishers in each moving into the back of the C Main lineup. Joe Parmeley drew the outside front row for the first Last Chance and led four laps before running off the end of the track on a restart. Northern California race car builder Joe Carr inherited the lead and led one lap before Bakersfield CA long tow Buck Cox took over in his Bob Pierce chassis. Corey Hosler Jr took second from Carr on lap 7 as Carr’s travel mate Jeff Thomas fell out. Track champion R C Whitwell lost a lap changing a flat tire that he got when hit by California star Jimmy Reeves. Canyon Raceway promoter Jeff Stafford passed Carr for third on lap 13 and John Pierce ran off the end of the track racing in sixth. B Cox won ahead of Hosler, Stafford, Carr, Chris Sims, Joe Parmeley and Jason Black. New Mexico’s Ralph Dutcher just missed a transfer in 8th. Albuquerque star Richard Johnson sprinted into a quick lead in the second last chance running a Eddie Martin built car that he recently purchased from Arkansas racer Chad Smith. Johnson was a wire to wire winner. Brian Barsness was a race long second, but contact from third place Chris Olexiewicz sent Barsness spinning on the final lap. Olexiewicz drew a rough driving black flag and Barsness was restored to a second place finish ahead of John Cox, Colorado’s Joe Bellm, Kenny Hatfield, Steve Bender, Oregon MoPar racer Monte Bischoff and Clint Fouts. J Cox was driving the Jay Foster car for the weekend. Oregon’s Brian Bowman just missed a transfer in 9th.
The C Main had 24 starters chasing 14 transfers into the B Main. DeBenedetti and Darren Williams shared the front row ahead of dirt late model star Rob Mayea and Reid Sr. Williams had to start in the rear after reporting to the staging area late. Kenny Hatfield ran off the end of the track on lap 1 and DeBenedetti raced into the lead over Reid Sr and Mayea. Parmeley spun for a lap 5 yellow and both Williams and Hosler fell out. Anthony Madrid took fifth from Mark Harrison on lap 7 and the late action saw both Carr and Bender run off the end of the track and Barsness spin. DeBenedetti won ahead of Reid Sr, Mayea, Max Sadler, A Madrid, Harrison, Kenny Wyman, Bryan Burnes, Bellm and Johnson. Bischoff ran 15th but got to race in the B Main as Aztec Speedway champion Porter Smith pulled off before the green flag.
The B Main also found 24 cars chasing 14 transfers into the rich A Main. Defending race winner Jeff Taylor from Arkansas and young 17 year old California star Alex Stanford held down the front row ahead of Nebraska’s Ronnie Wallace and Terry Belcher Sr. Stanford got the jump on Taylor and raced into an early lead over Taylor. Wallace and Texan Alan Sharpensteen both passed Belcher Sr on lap 3 as J Cox ran off the end of the track. Taylor began to put heavy pressure on Stanford and he made an inside pass for the lead on lap 8. When Wallace ran off the top of the track to give up third, the officials pulled the cars into the infield on lap 12 to take a break for the setting sun. Wallace elected to fall out instead of tagging the 24 car field for the restart. As the field refired after the delay, leader Taylor discovered a broken axle on the Royal Jones backup D&M and his weekend was over. Stanford was back out front and he drove to the 20 lap win in his first weekend of action here. Johnson fell out shortly after the race restarted and Sharpensteen chased his young California friend to the checkered flag. Belcher Sr ran third ahead of a fast closing Reid Sr, Jason Noll, Jay Rosales, Jeremy Payne, Adam Crippen and DeBenedetti. Noll was again in the Art Lacy car and Payne ran all weekend in the Brad Campbell car after the Dick Reid mount blew in Friday’s hot laps. The other five transfer slots went to Sadler, Harrison, Mayea, Madrid and Bellm with Burnes just missing ahead of Wyman and Bischoff. The 20 lap B Main was run with just one caution flag.
The field was now set for the rich 40 lapper with Georges and Martin sharing the front row after their wins on Friday and Saturday. B Jones and C Barnett shared row 2 ahead of J Scott and Godwin. The race had to be restarted after first lap contact between Stormy Scott, R Jones, Sharpensteen and Belcher Jr put both Sharpensteen and Belcher Sr in the pits changing flat tires. Georges got the jump on Martin and paced the first lap ahead of Martin, B Jones, Barnett and J Scott. Godwin raced into fifth on lap 2 and briefly took fourth from C Barnett before falling back to fifth on lap 5. J Scott settled into second ahead of R Jones, S Scott, Reid Sr and Fito Gallardo. Belcher Sr got a second flat on lap 1 and lost several laps making the tire change. DeBenedetti took a wild ride off the front stretch on lap 9 without losing a spot. The front twosome of Georges and Martin checked out. S Scott suffered a broken front end and got hung up on the infield berm trying to exit to draw a lap 13 yellow flag. Belcher Sr elected to park the Mike Tahtinen owned D&M. Gallardo fell out after running off the top of the track on lap 17 and Stanford blew his second engine of the weekend at the same time. A flat tire for A Madrid forced a lap 22 yellow flag with R Jones now sixth ahead of J Scott, Reid Sr, Noll and Logston. Payne began to smoke after some contact with DeBenedetti and Georges checked out in the final 18 laps, stretching her lead to 1/3 of a lap. Barnett began to pressure Martin for second and he made the pass on the inside on lap 27 after earlier taking fourth from B Jones. A Madrid blew a second tire late and Rosales lost a few spots when his right rear exploded on the last lap. Georges won ahead of C Barnett, Martin, B Jones, Godwin, J Scott, R Jones, Reid Sr, DeBenedetti, Logston, Noll, Rosales, Payne, Sharpensteen, Mayea and Bellm. Harrison also suffered a late race flat tire.
The final of the three days of pure stock racing drew a 17 car field with John Drake making his first appearance of the weekend. Center wasted little time getting to the lead from third starting in heat 1 as he ripped off a 21.79 best lap to win over Thomas and Josh Crabtree. Hussak clicked off a 21.97 best before he lost his engine leading in heat 2. Childers made a last lap pass on R Madrid to get that win with R Madrid second ahead of female racer Jackie Parmeley. Steve Shumaker joined Hussak as a feature scratch. Parmeley and R Madrid drew the front row ahead of Childers and Center with Thomas and Crabtree in row 3. Center raced from fourth to the lead on the first lap and R Madrid settled into second. Childers got around Parmeley for third. Miles Widmer spun on lap 2 and John Rider ran off the end of the track. Center had a huge lead in just 4 rounds and Widmer fell out. At the midway mark, Center was ¼ lap ahead of R Madrid and Geoff Hatch had climbed into fourth. Hatch took third from Childers on lap 10 and a red flag for a flip by Drake saved Crabtree, who had driven off the top of the track. It marked the second straight weekend that Drake had flipped at CAR, but he was unhurt. On the restart, Hatch’s great run ended as he ran off the top of the track and Parmeley spun late. Center stayed out front for the $500 win and both Childers and Steele passed R Madrid on the last lap. Childers was disqualified from second for not reporting directly to tech, giving second to Steele ahead of R Madrid, Arseneau, Michael Harrison, Thomas, Crabtree, Hatch and Frank Waszkiewicz.
RESULTS
1st Last Chance-Buck Cox, Corey Hosler Jr, Jeff Stafford, Joe Carr, Chris Sims, Joe Parmeley, Jason Black, Ralph Dutcher, James Pautot, Dave Craft, Tim Clark Jr.
2nd Last Chance-Richard Johnson, Brian Barsness, John Cox, Joe Bellm, Kenny Hatfield, Steve Bender, Monte Bischoff, Clint Fouts, Brian Bowman, Ricky Nelson, Warren Wampole Jr, Troy Cooke, Adam Hilton.
C Main-Jon DeBenedetti, Butch Reid Sr, Rob Mayea, Max Sadler, Anthony Madrid, Mark Harrison, Ken Wyman, Bryan Burnes, Joe Bellm, Johnson, J Cox, Mike Strobl, Stafford, B Cox, Bischoff, Black, Sims, Barsness, Bender, Joe Parmeley.
B Main-Alex Stanford, Alan Sharpensteen, Terry Belcher Sr, Reid Sr, Jason Noll, Jay Rosales, Jeremy Payne, Adam Crippen, DeBenedetti, Sadler, Harrison, Mayea, A Madrid, Bellm, Burnes, Wyman, Bischoff, Rosales, Strobl, J Cox, Stafford, Johnson, Payne, Ronnie Wallace.
A Main-Christy Georges, Curt Barnett, Eddie Martin, Bumper Jones, Troy Godwin, Johnny Scott, Royal Jones, Reid Sr, DeBenedetti, Scott Logston, Noll, Rosales, Payne, Sharpensteen, Mayea, Bellm, Sadler, A Madrid, Crippen, Harrison, Fito Gallardo, Stanford, Stormy Scott, Belcher Sr.
Pure Stock
Heat 1-Darin Center, John Thomas, Josh Crabtree, John Drake, Geoff Hatch.
Heat 2-Marlon Childers, Rene Madrid, Jackie Parmeley, Miles Widmer, Gary Armes.
Main-Center, Steele, R Madrid, Paul Arseneau, Michael Harrison, Thomas, Crabtree, Hatch, Frank Waszkiewicz, Jackie Parmeley, Armes, John Rider, Drake, Widmer.
