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MARTY HAWKINS SCORES FIRST CAREER USAC/CRA WIN AT OCEAN
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (August 10, 2013) - Santa Rosa's Marty Hawkins capitalized on a wild event filled with attrition to claim his first career USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature on Friday night at John Prentice's Ocean Speedway Watsonville. Hawkins moved past two-time track champion Ryan Bernal of Hollister with two laps to go to take the victory on the quarter-mile oval at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
"I can't believe it! I know I got a little help on the fuel run and we were hurting too. It's awesome that we put a run like this together," Hawkins said. "We were able to run up top in three and four. I was just praying for a miracle and I got it."
The marathon event had nearly a dozen stoppages for the field of 21 sprints, in a race co-sanctioned by the USAC Western Classic Sprints. "Cadillac" Cody Williams of Yorba Linda started the event from the pole but it took several tries to get a lap in.
The most spectacular moment of the night was a wild flip for points leader Damion Gardner, the June USAC/CRA event winner, after he made contact with Matt Mitchell into turn three. Gardner's team attempted to make repairs but he was unable to continue and finished 21st.
Williams anchored the top spot for the first half of the race with fifth starting Bernal moving up to second. Five-time defending series champion Mike Spencer of Temecula started ninth and used the top to charge to fifth by lap six.
Riverdale's Landon Hurst and Mitchell tangled and spun in turn one to bring out a caution on lap nine, which put Spencer into the battle for the lead. Spencer ran strong on the top shelf to slide in front of Williams and briefly take the lead into turn three. The duo made contact, cutting down Spencer's left rear tire and sending an infield tire onto the track.
Bernal stormed past them to take the lead for lap 15 with the caution coming out the following lap for the infield tire on the speedway. Spencer scurried to the pits but a pit infraction cost him an opportunity to return to the field.
The lead was held by Bernal with a comfortable advantage while Hawkins broke through from 13th to second. A lap 27 caution set the stage for a three lap shootout between Bernal and Hawkins, but Bernal took off to a three car length advantage on the restart.
Coming down the backstretch with two to go, Bernal sputtered with low fuel after the numerous caution periods in the event, and Hawkins seized the moment to the take the lead.
Hawkins went on to a 1.3 second win while the Vanderweerd twins of Richard and Jace rounded out the podium. Canberra, Australia's Jay Waugh was fourth with Bernal fighting home to fifth.
Heat race wins went to Hawkins, Gardner, and Mitchell, with Austin Williams setting quick-time with a 12.975 second lap.
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo return to action this Friday night with the fourth and final Johnny Key Classic qualifying race. For more information on the Ocean Sprints log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Ocean Speedway would like to thank Taco Bravo, Digital Delivery Networks, Nobel Construction, Get Som Sports, Ray Scheidt's Electric, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance for their support.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA & WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT RACE RESULTS: August 9, 2013 – Watsonville, California – Ocean Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-12.975; 2. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-13.015; 3. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-13.028; 4. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-13.036; 5. Damion Gardner, 4A, Alexander-13.040; 6. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-13.057; 7. Brody Roa, 91R, Roa-13.266; 8. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-13.302; 9. Aiden Corish, 21K, Kruseman-13.406; 10. Nathan Washam, 33X, Hood-13.483; 11. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-13.490; 12. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-13.497; 13. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-13.581; 14. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-13.682; 15. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-13.703; 16. Jay Waugh, 89K, Kruseman-13.728; 17. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson- 13.750; 18. Nick Larson, 24N, Larson-13.767; 19. Austin Smith, 36, Springstead-13.855; 20. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-13.960; 21. Geoff Ensign, 5V, VanLare-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hawkins, 2. Washam, 3. Roa, 4. A.Williams, 5. Smith, 6. Waugh, 7. Spencer. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Bernal, 3. Johnson, 4. C.Williams, 5. Hurst, 6. Hunt, 7. Hogg. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. R.Williams, 3. Larson, 4. Corish, 5. R.Vander Weerd, 6. J.Vander Weerd, 7. Ensign. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Marty Hawkins, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 4. Jay Waugh, 5. Ryan Bernal, 6. Tony Hunt, 7. Cody Williams, 8. Nathan Washam, 9. Shauna Hogg, 10. Nick Larson, 11. Brody Roa, 12. Landon Hurst, 13. Geoff Ensign, 14. Aiden Corish, 15. Mike Spencer, 16. Austin Smith, 17. D.J. Johnson, 18. Matt Mitchell, 19. Austin Williams, 20. Rip Williams, 21. Damion Gardner. NT
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**Gardner flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 C.Williams, Laps 15-28 Bernal, Laps 29-30 Hawkins.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: August 10 – Santa Maria (CA) Speedway
NEXT USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT RACE: August 31 – Calistoga (CA) Speedway - "Louie Vermeil Classic"
www.stevenblakesley.com
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