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MYRICK BREAKS THROUGH IN WILD NIGHT AT SANTA MARIA

July 26th saw the California Regional Sprints Presented by Quick Change Liquid Energy return to the widely known Santa Maria Speedway for their third race of the season at the track. We saw yet another high number of fifteen cars hit the track and the cool weather conditions made for some great racing conditions and a very eventful night of racing.

Group qualifying kicked off the night as the #18 of Lance Jackson, the #15 of Rino Felicioni and the #36B of Kevin Barnes were the first three cars to hit the track for qualifying, with Barnes timing in the fastest of the three with a time of 12.759 on his first lap. With the very next group came the #22 of Maverick Myrick, the #38N of Kyle Rasmussen and the #31H of Phil Heynen, as Heynen would be the quickest of the group timing in with a time of 12.466, and quick enough for quick time, although it was short-lived. As the third group of cars hit the track for qualifying, the Pombo brothers and the #11T of Tylor Henson followed. And with the third group of cars came a new quick time, as Henson timed in at a fast 12.457 and no one was able to go faster than Henson, giving Henson the coveted “King of Qualifying”.

Qualifying Rundown:

1. Tylor Henson - #11T (12.457), 2. Phil Heynen - #31H (12.466), 3. George Tristao - #23T (12.515), 4. Connor Danell - #5D (12.523), 5. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N (12.559), 6. Davey Pombo - #2 (12.589), 7. Maverick Myrick - #22 (12.671), 8. Kevin Barnes - #36B (12.759), 9. Rino Felicioni - #15 (12.818), 10. Anthony Pombo - #3 (12.826), 11. Joe Delisle - #88J (12.847), 12. Lance Jackson - #18 (12.851), 13. Jeremy Alves - #81A (12.925), 14. Koen Shaw - #64C (12.974), 15. Andy Smith - #7 (14.179)

CRS heat race action would soon follow as Kyle Rasmussen and Davey Pombo would pick up the heat race wins in their respective heat races

Racing action kicked off the night as the #22 of Maverick Myrick started on the pole with the #38N of Kyle Rasmussen to his outside followed by the #23T of George Tristao, the #11T of Tylor Henson, the #15 of Rino Felicioni, the #88J of Joe Delisle with the #81A of Jeremy Alves and the #7 of Andy Smith

The first heat race of the night went on without severe incident with Rasmussen grabbing the lead on the opening lap in which he hold for the duration of the race with Myrick falling back to second also where he too would stay for the whole race with Tristao following close behind. And following in fourth was the #88J of Delisle, climbing a pair of spots to finish fourth with the #11T of Henson falling back a spot to finish fifth but on the last corner, the #15 of Rino Felicioni (who was in 6th at the time) would spin, allowing Alves to inherit the sixth position but ultimately, Rasmussen would grab the first heat race win of the night.

Heat 1 Rundown:

1. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N (2nd), 2. Maverick Myrick - #22 (1st), 3. George Tristao - #23T (3rd), 4. Joe Delisle - #88J (6th), 5. Tylor Henson - #11T (4th), 6. Jeremy Alves - #81A (7th), 7. Rino Felicioni - #15 (5th), 8. Andy Smith - #7 (8th)

The final heat race of the night kicked off with the #36B of Kevin Barnes starting on the pole with the #2 of Davey Pombo to his outside with the #5D of Connor Danell and the #31H of Phil Heynen starting in third and fourth followed by the #3 of Anthony Pombo in fifth with the #18 of Lance Jackson to his outside with the #64C of Koen Shaw rounding out the heat race field

On the initial green flag, the #2 of D. Pombo would jump out to the early lead with Barnes trailing for the first three laps with the #5D of Danell grabbing second on lap four in which he hold onto for the duration of the race with Barnes following in third, Heynen in fourth and A. Pombo in fifth. As the race went on, the gap between first and second positions would slowly grow more and more, with the final gap being close to five seconds as D. Pombo would grab the final heat race win of the night.

Heat 2 Rundown:

1. Davey Pombo - #2 (2nd), 2. Connor Danell - #5D (3rd), 3. Kevin Barnes - #36B (2nd), 4. Phil Heynen - #31H (4th), 5. Anthony Pombo - #3 (5th), 6. Koen Shaw - #64C (7th), 7. Lance Jackson - #18 (6th, DNS)

Feature Lineup:

1. Maverick Myrick - #22, 2. Connor Danell - #5D, 3. Davey Pombo - #2 4. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N, 5. George Tristao - #23T, 6. Kevin Barnes - #36B, 7. Joe Delisle - #88J, 8. Phil Heynen - #31H, 9. Tylor Henson - #11T, 10. Anthony Pombo - #3, 11. Jeremy Alves - #81A, 12. Koen Shaw - #64C, 13. Rino Felicioni - #15, 14. Andy Smith - #7, 15. Lance Jackson - #18

Feature action soon kicked off with Myrick at the helm but action would soon follow as the #2, #31H, #36B and #38N machines would come together on the backstretch to create a four car pileup on the opening lap, bringing out the first red flag of the night to get the chaos cleaned up. This accident would knock the #31H and #38N out of the race and into the infield for the rest of the night and the #36B into the hot pit to make the necessary repairs. After the backstretch was cleaned up, green flag action soon followed with Myrick continuing to lead with Tristao closely following behind with Danell in third. Just a few short laps later, the color yellow would come out as the #5D of Connor Danell would spin in turn four, giving the third spot to Delisle temporarily. On the restart, Myrick and Tristao held first and second strongly but on lap 7, another caution would come out as turn four claimed the #88J, as he would also spin in turn four, giving the third spot to Henson. On the restart, Myrick, Tristao and Henson were established as the front runners of the race but the cars following were engaged in a positional grudge match for fourth on back. As the laps winded down, Myrick would continue to lead with Tristao following closely behind with Henson rounding out the top three, but the #2 of Davey Pombo was up to the fourth position with a run to contend for third and with just a few laps left, he would succeed over Henson and take the third position in which he would finish. As we neared the end, on lap 20, another red flag would come out as the #7 and #15 cars of Andy Smith and Rino Felicioni would flip in turn two. On the restart, Myrick, Tristao and D. Pombo would continue to lead the field with Henson and Alves following but coming to lap 21, yet another red flag would come out which would ultimately end the race as turn four claimed yet another victim as Alves flipped coming into four and gave the fifth finishing position to Danell.

Feature Rundown:

1. Maverick Myrick - #22 (1st), 2. George Tristao - #23T (5th), 3. Davey Pombo - #2 (3rd), 4. Tylor Henson - #11T (9th), 5. Connor Danell - #5D (2nd), 6. Koen Shaw - #64C (12th), 7. Kevin Barnes - #36B (6th), 8. Joe Delisle - #88J (7th), 9. Lance Jackson - #18 (15th), 10. Jeremy Alves - #81A (11th, DNF), 11. Rino Felicioni - #15 (13th, DNF), 12. Andy Smith - #7 (14th, DNF), 13. Anthony Pombo - #3 (10th, DNF), 14. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N (4th, DNF), 15. Phil Heynen - #31H (8th, DNF)

Koen Shaw and Lance Jackson both had a +6 run during the main but due to Shaw finishing at a higher position than Jackson, he is awarded the “Blue Collar Hardcharger Award” and an additional $50.

We will also like to congratulate Maverick Myrick on his first win EVER in a RaceSaver Series. He rules the micro tracks on a weekly basis, but he finally got his first RaceSaver win so congrats to him!!

The race on the 26th was also supposed to feature a bounty to anyone who could beat Kyle Rasmussen but due to some unforeseen circumstances, this bounty is hopefully going to be put into effect in a couple of weeks back at Santa Maria on August 9th as the California Regional Sprints are back yet again for another great night of racing!

Shout-out to our amazing sponsors BR Motorsports American Racer Tire Southwest Sidewaze Designs My Race Pass Rugged Radios for all their support and unwavering dedication to the sprint car world.

Catch you at the track!!

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