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Photos by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Mike Henry finishes 11th at Chris & Brian Faria Memorial
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – May 11, 2008…Sacramento’s Mike Henry continued his inaugural Golden State Challenge Series campaign and brought home an 11th place finish on Saturday night at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway despite a late race collision that forced him to restart from the rear of the field.
This past Saturday’s event was billed as the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial and also marked the midway point of the Golden State Challenge Series season. Going into the night Henry was part of a dog fight for the runner-up spot in the points with 410 veterans Brent Kaeding, Tyler Walker and Bud Kaeding. The former two-time Civil War Series champ held onto second by just three points and looked for a strong night to maintain the spot.
The Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway is one of the tracks on the GSC schedule that Henry hasn’t spent much time at in his career and the previous two visits to the 1/3 mile clay oval brought him finishes of sixth and ninth. So far this season qualifying has went very well for Henry, but on this night he was a bit off that pace and timed in 13th quickest with a lap of 14.076 aboard the Royal Lagoon Pools, World Environmental No. 93.
Following qualifying Henry and the HMH Motorsports team got the car locked down for the heat race and he proceeded to put on a show for the fans in the closing seconds of the 10 lap contest. The Sac town racer sat in second when starter Willie Williams unveiled the white flag and Henry gave it one last shot up high in turns three and four.
As the top duo went into the final set of corners Henry blew to the high side and looked to have the pass made, but couldn’t get by and finished less than half a car length behind winner Garrett Ishii. The Thunderbowl Raceway crowd roared their approval as both drivers came by on the cool down lap following the exciting finish.
When the 30 lap Chris & Brian Faria Memorial main event pushed onto the track it saw Henry start from the inside of the seventh row. Early on he got up into the top 10 before struggling to find traction on the slick surface. He continued on racing right around the top 10 trying to find a line where the car would work when a spun car on lap 22 left him with nowhere to go.
Henry contacted the car and came to a stop, forcing him to restart at the rear of the field. He stayed composed however, and was able to drive the C & H Veteran Enterprises Maxim back to an 11th place finish during the final eight laps. It wasn’t the kind of night the team had hoped for, but getting more and more laps on the different track surfaces will only make Henry more confident as the season goes on.
Next up for the HMH Motorsports team will be a double header weekend of action at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. Friday night’s race will be a regular Feather Falls Casino weekly show before Saturday’s event will be the 18th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial. The prestigious event is the cornerstone of the Golden State Challenge season and is always the richest one night stand on the series schedule. Big money and other goodies are up for grabs during qualifying, heat races and the main event. Henry’s best career finish at the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial came in 2006 when he drove a Mike Stallings owned sprinter to a fifth place finish in the 40 lap main event.
He’ll go into the Bradway sitting fourth in the GSC standings, just three points behind Tyler Walker for third and six back of Brent Kaeding for second. Log onto http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com for more info on the 18th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial.
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Mike Henry was a winner of a Hoserville sponsored heat race in 2004 at the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
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www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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