Cooper, Johnson and Bumgarner Win Big at Marysville
MARYSVILLE RACEWAY
(May 15, 2021)
By: Gus Fedora Gibson
Brian Cooper and Brad Bumgarner Spectacular in Return to MR
It was a great night of racing at Marysville Raceway on Saturday night, May 15th. Nearly 70 cars once again lined the Dennis Gage managed raceway. A spectacular crowd was also on hand to witness some great driving in the IMCA Sport Mods, Sprint Cars and Hobby Stocks.
Brian Cooper jumped out to the early lead during the 20-lap IMCA Sport Mod main event. Fifteen cars started the main event but before the cars had passed turn two, four cars were involved in turn one. Yellow was needed and unfortunately Justin Funkhouser was unable to continue. Racing resumed with Cooper back up front, holding off his brother Todd Cooper. Both Brian and Todd each won their eight-lap heat race. A few more yellows slowed the event. On lap seven, debris was lodged into turn two and the yellow came back on. Phillip Shelby moved into the fourth spot on lap eight. Andrew Peckham made a rare Marysville start and crept his way up to seventh by the half way point after starting deep in the field. Shelby began to reel in the top drivers. On lap 12 he was second and only a car length behind Brian Cooper. One lap later a caution was needed. Shelby continued to shadow Cooper for the remaining final laps. In the end, it was Cooper’s night. Cooper leads all 20-laps to get the popular win. Shelby was second. Todd Cooper finished third. Scott Savell had a solid night in fourth. Jimmy Ford rounded out the top. Great job tonight by this talented group of drivers.
Mike Monahan led the 19-car field to Jimmy Stewards green flag. Chasing Monahan was Brad Bumgarner and Bobby Butler. Carson Hall, making his first career sprint car start at Marysville, spun in turn two, on lap two, to bring out the first caution. Butler had a rough going of it early on and at one point spun, but regrouped, and did not cause a yellow. While he did lose some spots, it was a great move by Butler to keep going. Monahan did all he could do to hold off Bumgarner; however, on lap 13, Bumgarner made the winning move. Bumgarner drove around the outside of Monahan for the lead. The only thing slowing Bumgarner down at this point was a lap 19 yellow for Hall. On the restart, Butler moved around Monahan for second. Now it was up to Bumgarner to hit his marks and keep his cool. To his credit, he did exactly that. Bumgarner navigated some slower traffic and held a four-car length advantage over Butler at the checkered flag. Kevin Lovell finished eighth and won an extra $100 from Paul Olmsted Plastering. Butler was also a $100 richer because of Paul giving the fast time award winner the extra bonus.
The 20-car Hobby Stock main event went green but before the first lap, a caution was waived. This would bunch the field back up. The second start saw Mario Davis led the opening lap until another yellow was waived. On the ensuing restart, the race went yellow again for two more accidents and debris. Before they raced back to lap two, Howard Law passed Davis for the lead. Another yellow on lap two for debris in turn two. Next restart, Trevor Deadmond came to a slow roll in turn three. The restart produced another yellow, the fifth in two laps, this time for James Wooddell. The field made it to lap three until Jesse Van Roekel spun in turn three. Five laps were completed until the next caution for debris on lap eight. Another caution on lap 10 was needed and unfortunately for the top two cars, they would exit the track. Robert Warf and Zach Lindgren went to the pit area. This moved up Jacob Johnson into second and Chris Van Roekel into third. Lap 13 saw Chris McGinnis spin in turn four. Shannon Collins also stopped in turn one. On the 14th lap William Merritt spun in turn one to bring out another yellow. Howard Law led 18 of the 20 completed laps for the Hobby Stock feature. Following the race, Law was DQ’d for a rule infraction. Jacob Johnson finished second and was awarded the win. Kyle Cheney, who crossed the line in third, was also DQ’d following the race. Finishing second was Chris Van Roekel. It was an absolute blast watching Jerry Bartlett race his way through the field and into a third-place finish. Jesse Van Roekel finished fourth. James West rounded out the top five.
Full results can be found here https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1859282
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