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Photo courtesy Bill Sullivan of Sullivan Images
Mason Moore comes up just four spots shy of completing full "alphabet soup run" at 18th annual Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals on Saturday
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – October 5, 2009…Following a preliminary night filled with problems on Friday at the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals Princeton, CA's Mason Moore put it behind him and came all the way from the e-main on Saturday night to ultimately miss out on making the feature by just four positions at the Silver Dollar Speedway's final event of the season this past weekend.
The strong effort during the Fall Nationals finale was surprisingly similar to his rookie year in 2007 when he also had an "alphabet soup charge" at the event coming from sixth starting to win the c-main, before charging from 17th to fourth in the b-main and then carving his way forward to finish 11th in the 40-lap A-main after starting from 24th on the grid.
This seasons Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals marked the 18th edition of the prestigious race and Moore was part of Friday's preliminary night, but things went awry right from the start when he was unable to get the car fired for qualifying and couldn't get a lap in. It was a tough break as he had shown speed in hot laps and was also the fastest car in one of the sessions, before the engine issues arose. Not quite getting the motor up to full song the rest of the night Moore pulled off in the b-main to put an end to a frustrating evening for him and the Friends & Family Racing team.
Of the 63-cars out of the 74 total for the weekend that came back for Saturday Moore was the lowest of them in the overall points and it put him in the fourth row of the e-main, which kicked-off the night's festivities. The track surface was drier than usual early in the event, which gave drivers the ability to move forward with more ease than what is usually seen when the track is often sloppy to start the final night of either the Fall Nationals or the Gold Cup Race of Champions.
Starting seventh in the e-main Moore was able to get up to second and transfer into the next race, where he started from the 14th position. With multiple grooves to work with "Primetime" charged through the field, making some nice moves along the way and crossed under the checkered flag in third to transfer into the c-main.
Starting from way back in 17th Moore once again shot through the field as the F&F Racing, Wiley-X Eyewear, CRV Carbon Solutions No. x1 machine was locked down to the bottom of the speedway. The Princeton competitor sliced through the pack to bring home another third place finish and continue his impressive charge for the night. Moore then started from the eighth row in the b-main and diced it up with multiple drivers as the action was hot and heavy with everyone fighting it out to get into the top-four.
As Moore was making his forward he was involved in a spin between the first and second corners, but was able to restart and get back up to eighth by the end of the 20-lap contest, to miss out on the transfer by just four positions. Despite not making the A-main the night as a whole certainly has to be considered a success with Moore looking as strong as he has since returning to action in late August. "It was a lot of fun passing so many cars and was a nice way to rebound after Friday," he said. "I have to thank Alan Bradway, Steve Tuccelli and this whole team because the car was awesome tonight."
The next scheduled event for Moore and the F&F Racing, A.R.T. Enterprise No. x1 sprinter will be this Saturday's Sherm Toller Gold Fever Open at the Marysville Raceway Park. The winged 360 sprint car event will pay $2,500 to win and will feature the passing points/two heat race format to set line-ups, rather than utilizing qualifying. "After Fall Nationals I'm really looking forward to Marysville now this weekend," Moore said. "We got upside down there earlier in the year so we're definitely hoping to have a good run on Saturday and I'm confident because we have been pretty fast the last month."
For more news and information on Mason Moore and the Friends & Family Racing team please visit http://www.fnfracing.com
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After a tough prelim at the Fall Nationals on Friday Princeton's "Primetime" Mason Moore regrouped on Saturday and missed out on the feature by just four positions after beginning the evening in the e-main. With the solid effort under his belt the 18-year-old will now head to the Marysville Raceway Park this Saturday for the Sherm Toller Gold Fever Open. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
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