Race One March 30, 2007

FUEL PROBLEM KEEPS TAYLOR FROM CLEAN SWEEP

From Manzanita Speedway web site

  Kelly Jenkins chased Paul Taylor in the closing laps of the dwarf car feature and was in the right place when Taylor's car had a glitch in the fuel pick up system and faltered on the final lap giving Jenkin's his first career win.

  Taylor had worked hard to get the lead as he dogged the 2005 champion Sandy Matthews for the first ten laps of the Desert Dwarf Car main. He finally made the pass as Matthews was tapped and spun while working the 11th lap. Taylor was pulling away when he took the white flag but lost power as he came off the second turn and Jenkins sailed by. Ryan Henesey, the defending champion, also overtook Taylor and finished second. Taylor crossed the finish line in third.

  Kevin Stalbaum crossed the finish line in fourth just ahead of Rick Kochanowski. The rest of the top ten, in order, were Denny Dowty, Steve Davis, Tony Hinsley, Brian Stehr and Sean Kreuziger.

  The feature was halted on the seventh lap when Randy Haugen was involved in a tangle on the back straightaway that resulted in a hard flip. Randy was uninjured in the crash.

  With 40 dwarf cars signing in for their season opener it was necessary to run five heat races. Matthews beat Scott Gannett in the first six lapper with OD Smith edging Mike McGrellis for third. Chris Snyder led Dowty, Ryan Henesey and Stehr to the finish line in the second heat. The third heat went to Stalbaum over Pat Henesey, Kreuziger and Tom Stone. Davis led the way in the fourth heat with Jenkins, Helen Henesey and Ryan Irish in pursuit. The fifth heat went to Taylor over Kochanowski, Greg Loper and Hinsley.

  Hinsley won the first semi as he beat Stone, McGrellis and Haugen. Stehr beat the field in the second semi. Rat Stafford was second ahead of JJ LeMoine and Eddie O'Neill.

  Taylor won the dash over Jenkins, Stone and Jerry Hartnett.

DESERT DWARF CARS

  Main Event: (15 laps) 1. Kelly Jenkins 2. Ryan Henesey 3. Paul Taylor 4. Kevin Stalbaum 5. Rick Kochanowski 6. Denny Dowty 7. Steve Davis 8. Tony Hinsley 9. Brian Stehr 10. Sean Kreuziger 11. Pat Henesey 12. Ryan Irish 13. Chris Snyder 14. Rat Stafford 15. Tom Stone 16. Randy Johnson 17. Sandy Matthews 18. Mike McGrellis 19. Helen Henesey 20. Greg Loper 21. Randy Haugen 22. OD Smith 23. JJ LeMoine 24. Scott Gannet

 Lap leaders: laps 1-10 Matthews, laps 11-14 Taylor, lap 15 Jenkins

  1st Heat: 1. Sandy Matthews 2. Scott Gannet 3. OD Smith 4. Mike McGrellis 5. Randy Anderson 6. Randy Johnson 7. Chad Stewart 8. Joseph Razzano

  2nd Heat: 1. Chris Snyder 2. Denny Dowty 3. Ryan Henesey 4. Brian Stehr 5. Randy Haugen 6. JJ LeMoine 7. Trevor Peres 8. Eddie O'Neill

  3rd Heat: 1. Kevin Stalbaum 2. Pat Henesey 3. Sean Kreuziger 4. Tom Stone 5. Steve Kapaun 6. Erin Harrison 7. Todd Bennett

  4th Heat 1. Steve Davis 2. Kelly Jenkins 3. Helen Henesey 4. Ryan Irish 5. Richard Hoelzer 6. Austin Gemmell 7. Barbara Stafford

  5th Heat: 1. Paul Taylor 2. Rick Kochanowski 3. Greg Loper 4. Tony Hinsley 5. Rat Stafford 6. Jerry Hartnett 7. Robert Ostrom 8. Heather Henesey

  1st Semi Main: 1. Tony Hinsley 2.Tom Stone 3. Mike McGrellis 4. Randy Haugen 5. Randy Johnson 6. Bob Shackelford 7. Richard Hoelzer 8. Barbara Stafford 9. Erin Harrison 10. Trevor Peres 11. Jerry Hartnett

  2nd Semi Main: 1. Brian Stehr 2. Rat Stafford 3. JJ LeMoine 4. Eddie O'Neill 5. Ryan Irish 6. Todd Bennett 7. Randy Anderson 8. Robert Ostrom 9. Chad Stewart 10. Steve Kapaun 11. Austin Gemmell

  Trophy Dash: 1. Paul Taylor 2. Kelly Jenkins 3. Tom Stone 4. Jerry Hartnett

KOCHANOWSKI IS BEST IN THE 44 CARS IN THE DWARF CAR EVENTS

From Manzanita Speedway web site

  Forty Four Cars? No problem for Rick Kochanowski. Rick passed Denny Dowty on the second lap and kept the field at bay as he scored his third main event win at Manzy. His last win came October 14, 2005. Paul Taylor slipped by Dowty and then began working on Kochanowski but fell just short in a near photo finish.

  Dowty crossed the finish line in third just ahead of the defending champion, Ryan Henesey. Kevin Stalbaum was fifth. The rest of the top ten, in order, were Randy Johnson, Kelly Jenkins, Greg Loper, Chris Snyder and Tom Stone.

  The field was lined up in four heat races with 11 cars in each. Scott Gannett came from fourth to win the first heat over Randy Paris, Rat Stafford and Kochanowski. The second heat saw Sean Krueziger, last year's top rookie, chase down Stalbaum after starting sixth. Behind Stalbaum and making the main event were Steve Davis, up from eighth, and Jim Gemmell who started seventh. Chris Snyder had the pole in the third eight lapper and was never headed. Tony Hinsley was second ahead of Taylor and Loper. In the final heat Dowty jumped out front and was still there at the checkered flag. Ryan Henesey was second then came Jenkins and Sandy Matthews.

  The first of two eight lap semi mains went to Brian Stehr who was under constant pressure from Jerry Hartnett who finished second. Newcomer John Ogden took third and Tim Cotherman was fourth. In the second heat race Tom Stone was the show as he came from the back of the 13 car field to beat Randy Anderson, Eddie O'Neill and Ryan Irish.

  A special "appreciation" race was next out with 13 cars lined up for the eight lap affair. Helen Henesey won a race long duel with JJ LeMoine to take the win. Richard Hoelzer was third ahead of Mike McGrellis.

  Sandy Matthews gave himself a birthday present by beating Helen Henesey, Stone and Rat Stafford in the four lap trophy dash. However the 2005 champion had things go bad and spoil his celebration when he flipped on the fourth lap of the feature. He was not injured.

DESERT DWARF CARS-1/3 Mile Track

  1. (15 laps) 1. Rick Kochanowski 2. Paul Taylor 3. Denny Dowty 4. Ryan Henesey 5. Kevin Stalbaum 6. Randy Johnson 7. Kelly Jenkins 8. Greg Loper 9. Chris Snyder 10. Tom Stone 11. Sean Kreuziger 12. Brian Stehr 13. Jerry Hartnett 14. Steve Davis 15. Rat Stafford 16. John Ogdon 17. Tim Cotherman 18. Scott Gannett 19. Eddie O'Neill 20. Randy Paris 21. Tony Hinsley 22. Sandy Matthews 23. Helen Henesey 24. Randy Anderson 25. Jim Gemmell (no time)

 Lap leaders: lap 1 Dowty, laps 2-15 Kochanowski

  1st Heat: (8 laps) 1. Scott Gannett 2. Randy Paris 3. Rat Stafford 4. Rick Kochanowski 5. Helen Henesey 6. Tim Cotherman 7. Mike McGrellis 8. Todd Bennett 9. Bob Shackelford 10. Chad Stewart 11. Richard Hoezler (no time)

  2nd Heat: (8 laps) 1. Sean Kreuziger 2. Kevin Stalbaum 3. Steve Davis 4. Jim Gemmell 5. Ryan Irish 6. Theron Bobbitt 7. Steve Kapaun 8. Pat Henesey 9. Bob Hewitt 10. Barbara Stafford (time-2:37.47)

  3rd Heat: (8 laps) 1. Chris Snyder 2. Tony Hinsley 3. Paul Taylor 4. Greg Loper 5. Brian Stehr 6. Jerry Hartnett 7. John Ogden 8. JJ LeMoine 9. Gary Tucker 10. Robert Ostrom 11. Erin Harrison (time-2:29.25)

  4th Heat: (8 laps) 1. Denny Dowty 2. Ryan Henesey 3. Kelly Jenkins 4. Sandy Matthews 5. Randy Johnson 6. Eddie O'Neill 7. Randy Anderson 8, Austin Gemmell 9. Kevin Rauscher 10. Joseph Razzano 11. OD Smith (no time)

  1st Semi Main: (8 laps) 1. Brian Stehr 2. Jerry Hartnett 3. John Ogden 4. Tim Cotherman 5. Helen Henesey 6. JJ LeMoine 7. Richard Hoelzer 8. Mike McGrellis 9. Chad Stewart 10. Gary Tucker 11. Erin Harrison 12. Todd Bennett 13. Robert Ostrom 14. Bob Shackelford (no time)

  2nd Semi Main: 1. Tom Stone 2. Randy Anderson 3. Eddie O'Neill 4. Ryan Irish 5. Theron Bobbitt 6. Kevin Rauscher 7. Joseph Razzano 8. Pat Henesey 9. Bob Hewitt 10. Austin Gemmell 11. Barbara Stafford 12. Steve Kapaun 13. OD Smith (no time)

  Appreciation Race: (8 laps) 1. Helen Henesey 2. JJ LeMoine 3. Richard Hoelzer 4. Mike McGrellis 5. Gary Tucker 6. Chad Stewart 7. Pat Henesey 8. Theron Bobbitt 9. Joseph Razzano 10. Erin Harrison 11. Austin Gemmell 12. Bob Hewitt 13. Barbara Stafford (no time)

  Trophy Dash: (4 laps) 1. Sandy Matthews 2. Helen Henesey 3. Tom Stone 4. Rat Stafford (time-1:20.05)