Steele Wins Close One at DeSoto

(February 16, 2008) Attrition from racing 4 events in 8 nights reduced the field to only 22 cars but many fans said it was the best sprint car race they had ever seen at the high banked 1/3 mile paved oval. 1st heat race winner Sonny Hartley driving the Dick Fieler # 27 Hurricane took the early lead with Jim Alvis in his own 21 right behind.

On a lap 6 restart, Hartley spun the tires and Alvis quickly pounced on the mistake and wrestled the lead from Hartley going into turn 1. Meanwhile, Dave Steele, driving the familiar black 91 Hurricane owned by Gary Green, was methodically moving to the front from his 9th starting spot picking off competitors one by one.

With 2 laps to go, Steele moved by the Mark Gimmler 51 for second. With the crowd on its feet, Steele pulled alongside Alvis in the final turn of the final lap and made it to the finish line first by about 2-1/2 feet. At the same time, Troy DeCaire was passing Gimmler for 3rd. That was enough to give DeCaire and car owner George Rudolph the SPEEDWEEKS CHALLENGE top spot.

2nd through 6th in the “Challenge” were Dave Steele, Blaze Martin, Mark Gimmler, Larry Jay Brazil and Dude Teate. Heat race winners were Sonny Hartley, Brian Maddox, and Dave Steele. The next race for the TBARA Pavement Pounders will be back at DeSoto Super Speedway March 22.

Results Feature 1. 91 Dave Steele; 2. 21 Jim Alvis; 3. 68 Troy DeCaire; 4. 51 Mark Gimmler; 5. 5 Blaze Martin; 6. 21B LarryJay Brazil, Jr. 7. 27 Sonny Hartley; 8. 0 Dude Teate; 9. 0z Joe Liguori; 10. 1B Brian Maddox; 11. 39 Charlie Ladner; 12. 16 Ben Fritz; 13. 3X Bo Hartley; 14. 47 Richard Waddell; 15. 41 Steve Heisler; 16. 44 Bill Pettijohn; 17. 21R Richard Pessinger; 18. 88 Frank Neill; 19. 55 Tommy Nichols; 20. 21T Johnny Gilbertson;

11 Billy Riddle and 56D Jeff Van Duesen did not start.

Heat races 1st. 1. S. Hartley; 2. Brazil 3. B. Hartley 4. 0 Dude Teate 5. Waddell 6. Pessinger 7. Pettijohn 8. Riddle.

2nd 1. Maddox 2. Liguori 3. Gimmler 4. Martin 5. Ladner 6. Neill 7. Nichols

3rd 1. Steele 2. Alvis 3. DeCaire 4. Fritz 5. Van Duesen 6. Riddle 7. Gilbertson

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