Weather Subsides and Green Flag Drops on 2010 SRP Opener
By Jessica Nickels & Rick Faeth
The threat of weather had already stolen the thunder of SRP’s spring open show, but Promoter Rick Faeth was determined to keep Mother Nature from stealing the rescheduled April 3rd season opener. The skies were grey and there were threats of rain but nothing stopped the green flag from dropping and igniting what is going to be a very exciting season. The night started with the fan favorite I-5 Tire Factory Hornet division, which featured 17 cars. Taking top honors was #22 car of Ed Pulfer followed by Barbara Bruner-Smith of Vacaville, and 2009 Hornet Champ Pete Smith Sr. third, fourth was JJ Crile, and rounding the top five was Wendy Oliver-Smith of Oroville.
Keeping the excitement going, the Les Schwab Bombers followed, putting on an amazing race full of nothing but nail biting edge of your seat action. Leading the pack for the first few laps was the #48 car, Dave Lewallen who led most of the race with the #6B car of Rich “Fireball” Oller following close behind. During the first 15-lap segment Oller’s engine, true to his nickname went up in a ball of smoke and fire, and causing him to retire to the infield. This opened the door for Chris Michael in the #37 car to step in and hold second for the remainder of the race. At the half way point of the 30 lap main event the field turned around to continue in the customary opposite direction. At the half-way point Lewallen was still in the lead followed by Chris Michael, with the #5 car driven by Duane Hoffman and Josh Dorman in the #29 car following even closer. Suddenly Lewallen slowed with mechanical failure for the second time of the night forcing his retirement. Late in the race from nowhere emerges Dorman to seemingly capture his first checkered flag. However, post-race tech inspection found that Dorman was non-compliant and he was disqualified. The win was awarded to Chris Michael, last year’s rookie of the year. This was Chris’ first of what will no doubt be many SRP wins. Duane Hoffman finished second, Dave Capell third, Chester Brown fourth, and Lewallen fifth.
The SRP Legend division followed and 2009 champion Micah Parmer opened up his 2010 season with convincing win over fast improving rival Buddy Cox. Finishing the race behind Parmer and Cox was Howard Hammer in third, John Morrissey fourth, and ‘Bullet’ Bob Kuebler was fifth.
The Sonic Late Models took center stage with another close race and fight for the win, Eric Gannon 2009 Champion, had Mike Doss and Mike Lovell nipping at his heels all night long. Graduate of the SRP Bomber Division David Dillinger Jr. made his debut in the in the I-5 Tire Factory #87 car and found the wall late in the event. Gannon sealed the win by virtue of a late race caution and took the first step in defending his crown.
The night ended with a blazing, non-stop 30-lap BCRA midget feature that took just 7:50 to run. Long-time BCRA pavement midget specialist Chad Nichols capped a memorable night with a clean sweep: fast time, trophy dash, heat race, and main event wins. 2008 BCRA Champ Nick Foster Jr. was second, Snake Livernash a young WMRA midget driver from Washington State was third, SRP Modified Champ Guy Young was fourth and Scott Nail rounded out the top five.
Overall it was a chilly but great night at SRP and a fantastic start to the season. Next week kicks off the season for the Taylor Motors Modifieds, Napa Mini-Stocks, BPT Carburetor Pro-4 Modifieds, Les Schwab Bombers, I-5 Tire Factory Hornets, and the night will conclude with a 4-cylinder demolition derby starring the SRP track officials. For more information visit the track website at www.shastaracewaypark.net.
“We had the car to beat for the Main Event. Steven had a super run leading from the start right up till about lap 103 when Randy Houston was able to get by us.” Said Eric Gannon, owner of the EGR Racing Team. “Right around lap 85 or so the sway bar started to back off and the car just got too loose and hard to turn. It was disappointing to say the least, but overall the team had a great weekend.”
Having just been crowned 2009 Shasta Raceway Park Late Model Champion, Eric had a frantic week trying to prep 3 cars for the biggest race of the year. The #75 for Steven, the #8 for Alan Pyszora and his own BTS Motorsports / Napa Auto Parts sponsored #2. The traditional open show at the Anderson racing facility is a long-standing appointment with for the Gannon family. Roger, Eric and Steven’s father, has a number Open Show wins at the track from several decades he competed on the asphalt oval in the fairgrounds.
Sunday morning’s practice continued to bolster the team’s confidence and especially Eric’s as he was 6th fastest in the short practice time. Alan’s qualifying times and finish in the heat put the National Guard sponsored #8 on the pole at the front of the pack. As the flag waved Steven charged to the front where he held dominion till about lap 85 when the sway bar started to backup and the car got looser and more and more difficult to steer. Still last year’s Fall Open winner managed to hold off the incredibly hard-charging Randy Houston till just after the one hundred lap mark. “As Randy said, ‘It was an Epic Battle’ between himself and Steven.” The handling on the car continued to challenge Steven but he still kept super-fast Canadian Darrell Midgley and Kyle Cattanach behind him to take a third place finish. 
Eric’s feature event had a prodigious start as he climbed up to the third spot till contact came in turn one relegating him to the back of the pack from which he charged a hard-fought battle all the way up to the 8th spot when rear end mechanicals forced him to end his night early. “The rear end gear just burned up. I knew if I kept on racing I was going to do more damage to the car, so I just pulled off.” Alan Pyszora’s car followed suit not many laps later as the head gasket gave way and he too pulled to the pits. “Well, it’s not the finished I’d hoped for.” Said the former Track Champion, Pyszora. “But I had a lot of fun starting up front and just being able to run with my teammates against all these drivers.”
