CARSON CITY, Nev. -- An ever-inspired and especially determined Bryan Bullard raced his way to victory at Carson City’s Champion Speedway in what may have been the most impressive win of his career. While Bullard has a great many victories to his credit, this win was difficult on both a professional and personal level. Professionally, Bullard had to contend with the always potent Nick Rescino, Jr. and Nevada’s own Amy Barnes who has always proven tough to beat when defending her home turf. Personally, Bullard pilots Mike McCreary’s Oval Chassis Research Special.

McCreary, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, was honored at tonight’s race in tribute to his 40 years of excellence as a championship driver, car builder, engine builder and innovator. Mike was in attendance tonight, despite his poor health, and a veritable parade of friends, fellow racers and fans came by his trailer to visit and share old memories. While Mike was both weak and tired, he enjoyed all visitors, shared some laughs, and especially enjoyed watching Bullard masterfully guide his black #71 to victory in the Mike Coy Concrete Construction Trophy Dash-for-Cash and the 100-lap California Asphalt Sprintcar Association feature.

Following an afternoon barbeque in McCreary’s honor hosted by Danny Barnes and Model Dairy, Rescino began the 41st running of the “Silver State Classic” by turning fast time in qualifications with a 12.41 second tour around the high-banks of the historic quarter-mile. The Trophy Dash-for-Cash featured a draw of cards to determine the start, and 2003 CASA Champion, Tony Iacobitti aboard McCreary’s second entry drew the ace to start from the pole, however, teammate Bullard grabbed the early lead. As the field completed the fourth lap, local star Mike Ogden climbed the right-rear wheel of Iacobitti, clobbered the end of the turn one wall while airborne and executed a frightening series of cartwheels, which carried his car over the wall and all the way to the bottom of the banking. The car settled at the base of the outside signboards but to the relief of all, Ogden was uninjured. Track officials called the event complete, allowing track personnel time to clean up and inspect the crashwall’s integrity. Well shaken and with a sore foot, Ogden walked away to the pits. However his beautiful blue #7 was a complete loss — nearly every component suffered major damage, including the engine.

As feature time rolled around, Earle Stanton in his Nobel Construction #8 and Ryan Baumgartner aboard Joe Hauck’s #85 lead the field to green. Stanton thundered into turn one and seized the advantage from the pole as the front row sped down the back straight with a field of 15 all dicing for early positions. Stanton was challenged early by Pennsylvania transplant Tom Haxall aboard the silver Grote #72, but Stanton was able to repel Haxall’s attempts to pass. Meanwhile Rescino’s Bayshore Engines #11, Barnes’ Model Dairy #12, and Bullard’s OCR #71 were engaged in battles to find their way towards the front.

The caution flag flew on lap 14 as Iacobitti made contact with another car and spun to a stop at the top of turn four. Iacobitti suffered just enough suspension damage that he was unable to rejoin the field. After the restart, Stanton’s mount began to suffer some handling problems and he was unable to hold the lead much longer. Rescino gained the point by lap 40 and was beginning to enter lapped traffic when he made contact with Scott Clough between turns three and four. Clough spun to the infield and the caution waved a second time, whereby Rescino pitted to inspect his damaged front end. His crew quickly made repairs and he and Clough rejoined the field. The green fluttered over Amy Barnes as she assumed the lead and set about putting some distance on the field. Barnes lead for several laps, but while extremely fast, she could not gain any advantage over Bullard. Bullard stalked Barnes for several more laps and was finally able to slip past for the lead.

By the three-quarter mark, Bullard, in heavy lapped traffic led Barnes, “Cowboy” Craig Smith, fresh from last weeks CASA victory at Altamont and making his first appearance at Champion Speedway, 2002 Champion Speedway rookie of the year, Mark Beck in fourth, and a pugnacious Haxall who held fifth.

As the laps wound down, Bullard skillfully used lapped traffic to keep least one lapped car between himself and Barnes who was less than 100 feet behind. The lapped cars were all battling for positions themselves and the racing was tight and fierce, making the leaders jobs much more difficult. Every time Barnes would clear traffic, Bullard would pass another car to maintain some space and build a buffer between he and Barnes.

When the double-checkered flags dropped at the completion of lap 100, they fell before Bryan Bullard, streaking home with another win for Mike McCreary’s shinny black Oval Chassis Research number 71. Amy Barnes took a hard fought second, Smith posted a solid third, and Mark Beck ran an impressive fourth over Tom Haxall in fifth, and 2002 track champion Glenn Hopper in sixth. Clough rebounded from his early misfortune to take seventh over Rescino, Bob Beck in ninth and Marvin Mitchell rounded out the top ten with his best finish at Champion. Alan Kaiser finished eleventh ahead of Stanton and Baumgartner. Iacobitti was credited with fourteenth place.

The “California Sprint Cars” make their inaugural visit, Saturday September 25th, to Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson, California at the super fast 3/8ths mile. This next CASA race will be a combination show with the Bay Cities Racing Association at the scenic Shasta County Fairgrounds.

RESULTS

FAST TIME
Nick Rescino, Jr. 12.41

COY CONCRETE TROPHY DASH
1. Bryan Bullard
2. Nick Rescino, Jr
3. Tony Iacobitti
4. Craig Smith
5. Amy Barnes
6. Mike Ogden

100 LAP MAIN EVENT
1. Bryan Bullard
2. Amy Barnes
3. Craig Smith
4. Mark Beck
5. Tom Haxall
6. Glenn Hopper
7. Scott Clough
8. Nick Rescino, Jr.
9. Bob Beck
10. Marvin Mitchell
11. Alan Kaiser
12. Earle Stanton
13. Ryan Baumgartner
14. Tony Iacobitti
15. Mike Ogden (DNS)