Mike Monahan Scores Big Win at Marysville

Marysville, CA (June 11, 2016)…Being competitive while his age continues to rise is definitely not a problem for Sparks, NV wheelman Mike Monahan. The long-time veteran of sprint car racing scored a popular win Saturday night during the Wild West 410 sprint car open show at Marysville Raceway. Monahan, now 60 years old, was gracious and humble in victory lane thanking his crew and the fans that have supported him throughout his long racing career. Monahan held off drivers half his age and even younger in leading all 25-laps for the win. Justin Henry passed Robert Stice late in the race to secure a career best second place finish. Brad Bumgarner crossed the line third as he and Robert Stice raced across the line. Stice suffered a collapsed front end as a result of contact from Bumgarner.

James Castleberry won a thrilling Super Stock main event. Mike Walko led the race up until the end when Castleberry saw an opening on the inside of Walko and didn’t hesitate to try and make the pass. It was an electrifying move that the crowd loved to see. Walko came home in the second spot but should be proud of the race and his second place finish. Rod Oliver came home third. A crash between Courtney Dozier and Phillip Shelby ended their night prematurely.

Ryan McDaniel is as good as it gets in the Limited Late Model division. McDaniel led by over a half straightaway at one point during the race. If it wasn’t for a mechanical failure on Friday night, he probably would have swept the weekend again. Give credit to Willie McMillen, David Larabee and George Magenheimer for never giving up and racing hard for the second, third and fourth place spots.

Things didn’t go his way in the Limited Late Model main event but Courtney Dozier made up for is by winning the Economy Sprints main event. Dozier attended the race to help with car counts and to fill in for a sick Kevin Dozier. Jeff Macedo finished second and Wyatt Brown came home third.

Phillip Shelby was solid tonight. He won the very competitive IMCA Sport Mods main event. While Shelby deserves the accolades in victory lane, a lot of the focus during the race was on Willie Horn Jr. Horn sliced and diced his way from dead last to finish in the second spot. The crowd was electrified in watching one of the veterans like Horn work his way up. Third spot went to Brain Cooper and his brother Todd was fourth. Raymond Benkowski drove a steady race to finish fifth.

Full results can be found at http://www.marysvilleraceway.com/