FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2010


Santa Maria Speedway   August 14th, 2010   by David Castaneda
The USAC/CRA 410 Sprints came to Santa Maria for their annual visit to the 1/3 mile clay oval at SMS in front of a capacity crowd. Thirty-two sprints showed up to fight for twenty-two starting spots in the 30-lap Feature Event. In the Feature Event Ricky Gaunt of Torrance started on the pole and took the lead on the start but was overtaken by Blake Miller of Yorba Linda on lap 8. A caution on lap 10 slowed the field and on the restart Miller quickly started improving his lead. But a flip by Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda on lap 17 brought out a red flag and Miller found himself facing another restart.  Miller again held his lead through another red flag brought out by a flip by Richard Vanderweerd of Visalia. But the final green flag laps allowed Miller to take the win with Troy Rutherford taking second in Josh Ford’s sprint. Bud Kaeding of Campbell came from 10th place to finish third.

MMI Hobby Stocks returned and got back to points racing after a three week break. Point leader Michael Frazier of Santa Maria started in the front row with pole sitter Tim Correia of Nipomo in the 20-lap main event. Frazier took the lead, but Correia got past him on lap 4 and put a little distance on Frazier until a caution on lap 11 closed the field. After two restarts, Correia maintained his lead, but then a spin by Charlie Scovell brought out another caution that closed the gap between him and Frazier. But Correia was able to hold off the field after the final restart aided by Dan Bryant of Templton who put the pressure on Frazier for second. That allowed Correia to increase his lead and he cruised away for his second victory of the season. Frazier held on for second followed by Bryant for third. Fraziers finish keeps him in the lead of the point standings and Correia’s victory moves him within 6 points of second in points right behind Charlie Scovell of Atascadero who finished 6th.

In the Toste Mini Stocks 20-lap main event it was Chris Larsen of Nipomo who started on the pole, but had a tire problem on lap 3 that brought out the caution and put him to the back of the field. On the restart it was John Penaflor of Nipomo who took the lead over Rob Gilbertson of Santa Maria. Gilbertson, who came into the night’s race with three victories and the points lead, quickly put pressure on Penaflor by coming beside the leader several times before getting loose on lap 12. Gilbertson recovered in time to keep second, but that gave Penaflor a bit of a gap until he approached lapping traffic. Gilbertson again caught up with Penaflor and passed him with 2 laps to go. Gilbertson held on for his fourth victory of the season and a comfortable lead in the Mini-Stock point battle. Penaflor finished second in what was a great run for the #7P. Kurt Larsen of Nipomo, who had won the past two events finished third.

Next weekend is the Don Roberts Memorial with the Papich IMCA Modifieds headlining a show that includes the West Coast Street Stocks, MMI Hobby Stocks and the Toste Mini-Stocks. Check the Speedway website at www.RaceSantaMariaSpeedway.com for ticket prices and times.

USAC/CRA 410 Sprint Main Event Results:    
1 7 Blake Miller  
2 73 Troy Rutherford  
3 2x Bud Kaeding  
4 50 Cory Kruseman  
5 3 Rip Williams  
6 17v Danny Faria  
7 21k Cory Kruseman  
8 88 Jace Vanderweerd  
9 18 Danny Sheridan  
10 3m Marty Hawkins  
11 11x Peter Murphy  
12 11 Jimmy Crawford  
13 4 Tony Jones  
14 51 Rusty Carlile  
15 2 Austin Williams  
16 66 Ricky Gaunt  
17 93 Ronnie Gardner  
18 15 Rick Hendrix  
19 71k Jesse Mack  
20 10 Richard Vanderweerd  
21 37 Matt Mitchell  
22 62 Dennis Howell  
   
MMI Hobby Stock Main Event Results:    
1 64 Tim Correia  
2 15 Michael Frazier  
3 26 Dan Bryant  
4 74 Tom Renner  
5 17t Brian Terry  
6 31 Charlie Scovell  
7 44 John Hansen  
8 6 Matt Marchiado  
9 00 Jonathan LaRosa  
10 1 Pete Lethcoe  
11 3 Taelor Janes  
12 81 Dale Sylvester  
13 87 Matt McEwan  
   
Toste Mini-Stocks Main Event Results:    
1 33 Rob Gilbertson  
2 7p John Penaflor  
3 17k Kurt Larsen  
4 19 Pat Fausel  
5 35 Frank Clyburn  
6 17L Chris Larsen  
7 57N Darric Newman  
8 14c Dustin Ensign  
9 18 Robbie Cervantes  
10 44 Ben Caswell  
11 88R Austin Ruskauff  
12 40 Hardy Ensign  
13 O4 Bill Jewel  
DNS 22 Paul Miller  
   
MMI Hobby Stock Top 10 Point Leaders:    
Car Name Points Wins
1 15 Michael Frazier 1687 3
2 31 Charlie Scovell 1626 3
3 64 Tim Correia 1620 2
4 26 Dan Bryant 1531 1
5 87 Matt McEwan 1515
6 3 Taelor Janes 1497
7 1 Pete Lethcoe 1418
8 73 Glenn Sparks 1211
9 81 Dale Sylvester 1154
10 K9 Bill Spratlin 1122
   
Toste Mini Stock Top 10 Point Leaders:    
Car Name Points Wins
1 33 Rob Gilbertson 1554 4
2 17K Kurt Larsen 1488 2
3 14c Dustin Ensign 1437
4 40 Hardy Ensign 1352
5 57N Darric Newman 1342
6 17L Chris Larsen 1338
7 7P John Peneflor 1282
8 18 Robbie Cervantes 1259 1
9 88R Austin Ruskauff 1251
10 19 Pat Fausel 1192 1