Koa Crane Picks up Second Win of Year
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Koa Crane Picks up Second Win of Year
MARYSVILLE, Calif., April 6, 2024…Koa Crane won his second Crate Sprint main event of the year at Marysville Raceway Saturday night. Crane led all 20 laps on his way to the dominate win. Misty Castleberry shadowed Crane for all 20 laps but was never able to find the right line to take the lead. David Sims charged from his 10th starting position into third on lap nine. Five laps later Jacob Johnson passed Sims for third. Johnson started ninth. Jason Ballantine was solid all night and moved around Sims on lap 18 to secure a fourth-place finish. Sims held onto fifth. Eight cautions plagued the first 13 laps of the race. Yet, the final seven clicked off without any incidents on the track. The most serious took place on lap one when rookie driver Caleb Ingle flipped in turn two. Ingle’s night ended but it was good to see him emerge from the crash uninjured.
With the winged 360 sprints not in attendance, the Crate Sprints were able to qualify. Koa Crane turned the quickest lap at 13.645. Heat race wins went to Mike Ballantine and Misty Castleberry.
A total of 28 Hobby Stocks led the way in the pit area. A nice turnout of 16 Crate Sprints and 16 IMCA Northen SportMods were also on hand. A total of four Vintage Hard Tops entertained the fans.
Kyle Cheney won the 20-lap Hobby Stock feature on Saturday night. Cheney passed Jason Clayton Sr. on lap 10. Jacob Bright moved into the second spot on lap 13 but just three laps later exited the track with a problem. This moved Clayton Sr. back into the second spot. Cheney did a fantastic job up front and was able to win the race. Clayton Sr. finished second. It was good to see Toby Merrifield run upfront all night. Merrifield was never drifted past the fourth spot and ultimately finished third. The drive of the night went to 19th place starting Kevin Thomas. His amazing run towards the front ended with a fourth-place finish. Thomas should be commended for staying out of trouble and passing 15 cars. Ken Reische had an up and down night. Reische was up to fourth before falling back to 14th at one point. Reische ended up fifth. The championship favorite driver Howard Laws night ended on lap 1. Coming off turn two he got tangled up with Matt Beardslee and the two came to stop in turn three. Beardslee continued while Law was done for the night. Heat race wins went to Cheney, Law, Trevor Abella, and Jacob Bright.
Kenny Shrader started 12th and methodically worked his way to the top spot by lap 17. It was a crowd-pleasing race that saw quite possible the best main event of the night. Jason Ryan Jr. had the lead on lap nine, then fell back to third on lap 13, only to see him move back into second on lap 17. A post-race infraction dropped Ryan Jr. two spots in the finish. Raymond Lindeman was awarded the second-place finish. Chuck Golden finished third. Fifth place went to Phillip Shelby, who finished third on track, but was also docked to finishing points after a post-race infraction. Buddy Olschowka led the first eight laps until problems arose on his machine. Danny Wagner led six laps tonight, but on lap 16 he entered the top of the racetrack going into turn one where Paul Stephens was coming to a stop. The two collided, ending both of their nights. Ryan Jr. and Wagner were heat race winners.
Roger McShain won both the heat race and 15-lap Vintage Hard Top feature. McShain was the dominant car all night long. Dylan Ruiz finished second in the main followed by Joe Shenfeld and Ken Clifford.
Full results are available here: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/events/2559306
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