Great Night of Racing at Marysville

Marysville Raceway Recap by: Troy Hennig
5/25/19
Great Night of Racing at Marysville Raceway
Eighteen All Star Mods competed for the first time in 2019 as a traveling group at Marysville Raceway. Livermore’s Brian Cass led all eight-laps to win the first heat race. Quincy driver Jeff Olschowka led all eight laps to win the second heat race. Yuba City’s Duane Cleveland dominated the third heat race. Ryan McDaniel and Randy McDaniel finished second and third.
The 25-lap All Star Mod main event lined up with Chris Olexiewicz and Freddie Plourde on the front row. Olexiewicz was able to take the early lead. Six laps into the race it was Cleveland’s turn to lead. He passed Olexiewicz with ease and then started to dominate the event. Plourde brought out a caution on lap 11 when he slowed in turn one. Anthony Slaney slid into Plourde. Also involved was Ryan McDaniel and Tim Yaeger, who both suffered cosmetic damage. In fact, that damage probably led to McDaniel pulling to the infield late in the race. Charging towards the front was Brian Cass and Randy McDaniel. Both drivers passed Olexiewicz on lap 12. Joe Wood came to a stop on lap 14. A few laps later, a three-car pileup including Raymond Keldsen and Tim Balding brought out another caution. This set up a dash to the end. Cleveland continued to lead and even though he felt the pressure from Cass, he never waivered on his way to victory lane. Cass finished a respectable second. Randy McDaniel finished third. Tim Yaeger was fourth. Early leader Olexiewicz finished fifth.
Twenty-one IMCA Pepsi Sport Mods entertained the Saturday night fans who packed the Marysville Raceway stands. Grass Valley masher Andrew Peckham won the competitive first heat race of the night. Words can not describe the craziness of heat race number two. In the end it was Todd Cooper, who spun early in the race, came back to get the win. Nick Caughman also spun early in the event, and he came back to finish second. Shayna Nieman finished third. Third heat went to Jim Waller, who passed Thomas Reynolds with two laps to go. Alan Furuta was third.
Peckham and Shayna Nieman lined up on the front row of the 20-lap feature event. Peckham shot out to the lead, but a big-time wreck quickly brought out the yellow. Jason Ferguson, Greg Barnes and Richard Vander Ploeg were all involved in the high-speed wreck. A complete restart was in order. Peckham once again grabbed the top spot and led until lap two when Jeremy Phillips stopped in turn four. Lap eight was incredible. Three cars battling for second. Jimmy Ford, Scott Savell and Todd Cooper all put on an amazing show. Lap 10 Phillip Shelby moved into the fourth spot. At this point Peckham had a huge lead. Yet, on the ensuing lap Alan Furuta spun to bring out the yellow and bunch everyone up for the impending restart.
Peckham restarted as the leader followed by Ford and then Cooper. On the 13th lap, Nieman stopped in turn four and the yellow came out. During the yellow, Shelby pulled off the track and gave up his fourth-place position. Scott Savell spun on the restart and gave up his fourth-place position. Restart again on lap 13. Cooper was penalized for the previous restart, this allowed Thomas Reynolds and Chuck Golden to move into the third and fourth spots. Jake Van Tol was on the move. He charged from 15th to 5th by lap 17. The leaders took the white flag with one to go, however, Sean Hulsey, Savell and Nieman all crashed together in turn three bringing out another yellow. This set up a two-lap sprint to the finish. Peckham was unphased by all the yellows and continued to lead the final two laps. Give Ford credit, he pressured Peckham the final half of the race and finished second. Golden drove a great race to finish third.
A total of nine drivers competed in tonight’s point race. Kiely Ricardo leads all eight laps to win the lone heat race. Ricardo would go on to start on the pole position of the 20-lap main event. Joining her was Brett Youngman. Ricardo jumped out to the early lead. Yet, the first five laps were hampered by three caution flags. On the fourth restart, Ricardo drifted high going into turn one and allowed second place driver Nick Larsen the opportunity he needed to take the lead. Once Larsen grabbed the lead it was ball game. The final 15-laps went non-stop and Larsen cruised to the popular win. Ricardo did a great job all night and finished second. Third went to Youngman. Darren Johnson had an off night and finished fourth. Fifth went to Mike Sayre.
All in all, it was a great night of racing. Hats off to the competitors who did a great job all night. In fact, the final checkered flag waived at 9:20 pm.
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