Sanders Spins and Wins at Marysville


Sanders Spins and Wins at Marysville

Marysville, CA (August 27, 2016)…Justin Sanders won a thrilling 25-lap sprint car main event Saturday night at Marysville Raceway but even he admitted that luck was on his side. “I got lucky,” said Sanders referring to his mid-race spin during the feature event. Sanders was in second and trying to catch leader Colby Wiesz when he began to spin around in turns one and two. As he spun, Sanders lost valuable track positions. However, just past him, William Fielding’s #3F came to a stop and brought out a yellow. Because Sanders kept going, he was able to retain his second place status. A few laps later Sander’s was able to pass Wiesz and go on to win the main event. “It’s been a tough early part to the season but since Knoxville we’ve really hit our stride and building momentum,” said Sanders. 

Wiesz gave a valiant effort and finished in the second spot. Wiesz has been back on top if his game when racing at Marysville in 2016. Cody Lamar surged back to the top in the championship point battle. Lamar came into the night six-points back of Jeremy Burt and left unofficially with a five-point lead. Burt was running in the top five when he slowed under a yellow and headed to the pits. It was reported that the #2B had run low on fuel. The main event was a marathon and after the race many teams reported they were low on fuel too. Burt came back onto the track in 12th but was able to pass a few cars and come home in 9th. Brad Bumgarner ran solid all night and finished a respectable fourth. Mike Monahan held off a charging Heath Hall to capture fifth. Hall originally lined up in the 17th starting spot and should be commended for his charge towards the front. 

Congratulations to Matt Beardslee who won the Pro 4 Sprint Car championship at Marysville. Post-race Beardslee spun his car around and jumped out of the car to salute the fans. It was good to see that kind of emotion after he had secured the championship. The winner of the race was Jaylon Deas driving the Castleberry #95. Deas made a last lap charge to the front that was breathtaking. After the races in victory lane, Deas had a huge crowd of people around him to share in his first win. It was a great way to finalize the year end point race for the Pro 4 Sprints.

First-time economy sprint car driver Darren Johnson thrilled the crowd with a great race between himself and Kevin Dozier. Both drivers should be applauded for their driving skills. It was a close finish but Johnson won the feature event. Point leader Wyatt Brown finished in the third spot. The economy sprints return Friday night, September 23rd, for their final point race of the season. 

Fresh off his championship in Chico the previous night, Todd Cooper continued his great weekend by winning the 20-lap IMCA Sport Mod main event. Cooper charged from outside row four to get the popular win. Late in the race, Todd had to fend off Brian Cooper. Both Coopers enjoyed a great weekend between the two tracks. Between the two Coopers, it was their 11th first and second finish of 2016 and combined 18th main event win. Brian survived an early wreck on lap one and charged back through the field to finish second. Raymond Benkowski held his own and finished third. Two veteran drivers rounded out the top five. Willie Horn Jr. placed fourth. Jerry Bartlett came home in the fifth spot. 

Cody Fenley won the spec sprint main event and should earn a lot of new fans by being so humble in victory lane. Fenley expressed that this season didn’t go as planned but he and his family and crew never gave up. They showed true desire to continue racing and to finally have it pay off with the win was very rewarding. Scott Hall was on the hammer all night and came from his seventh starting spot to finish second. Point leader Josh Vieira held down the third spot at the checkered flag. Tim Sherman Jr. crossed the line in fourth. Johnny Burns had another solid night and finished fifth. Earlier in the afternoon, Sherman Jr. attached green balloons on the front stretch wall in honor of Bryan Clauson. It was a nice tribute.