By Windy McDonald

PHOENIX, AZ - Bob Ream, Jr. waited for the track to come to him and then roared to a 0.92 second win over Eric Wilkins in the May 1 Arizona Sprint Car Association feature race on Manzanita Speedway’s half mile track.

Ream started alongside Wilkins in the fourth row and Wilkins made his move early as he was fourth on lap 2, third two laps later and then took over second behind Paul Norbury on the sixth lap. At that time Ream was in fourth.

When the first of two red flags was displayed on the eighth lap it was Norbury, Wilkins and Ream. It was a short stoppage and no injuries. However on the restart Nathan High who had moved from 17th to eighth and Jeff McDonald made contact heading for turn three and both cars started flipping with reports having High’s car at least 20 feet in the air. He was immediately transported to a local hospital but was not believed to have and serious injuries. McDonald was also later transported with undisclosed injuries.

When the race resumed Ream put his car on the low side of the track and took second from Wilkins on the 13th lap and then wrested the lead from Norbury a lap later. Wilkins got by Norbury three laps later and set sail after Ream. He managed to cut a 1.61 second lead down to less than a second, but that was it.

Norbury’s third place finish marked his first top ten effort of the year. Mike Leslie was fourth and Jay Ervine finished fifth. Rounding out the top ten were R.J. Johnson, J.T. Imperial, Chris Bonneau, Ricky Johnson and Jeff Henry.

Attrition was high as four cars had dropped out of the running in the first five laps. Then the High/McDonald crash eliminated two more. When Chuck Buckman coasted to a stop with seven laps remaining only 12 cars were left out of the 20 starters.

The 29 car field was divided into four heat races with Paul Norbury and his brother Bugs each taking wins along with Ben Gregg and Ream. Paul Norbury beat Seainn Hendricson, Brian Hacker and McDonald as they qualified for the feature. Main event positions went to Wilkins, Leslie and Andy Reinbold as they finished the second heat behind Ream. In addition to Bugs Norbury, Jay Ervine, R.J. Johnson and Buckman transferred from the third heat. In the fourth heat Tim Beal, Willy Grombach and Ricky Johnson finished behind Gregg.

High won the semi and Bonneau, Henry and Imperial took the remaining berths in the feature.

Imperial, the hard charger of the race with a run from 20th to seventh, entered his first Arizona Race Mart trophy dash and took the win over Ream, Buckman and Gregg.

The point standing underwent some shuffling but Ream extended his lead over Wilkins by 13 points and now has a 284-point margin.

The Arizona Sprint Cars do not return to Manzy until May 22 when they will race on the one-third mile track.

RESULTS
ARIZONA SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION
Main Event:
1. Bob Ream, Jr. 2. Eric Wilkins 3. Paul Norbury 4. Mike Leslie 5. Jay Ervine 6. R.J. Johnson 7. J.T. Imperial 8. Chris Bonneay 9. Ricky Johnson 10. Jeff Henry 11. Tim Beal 12. Andy Reinbold 13. Chuck Buckman 14. Seainn Hindricson 15. Jeff McDonald 16. Nathan High 17. Ben Gregg 18. Willy Grombach 19. Brian Hacker 20. Bugs Norbury

UNOFFICIAL ASCA POINTS
1. Bob Ream, Jr. 1438
2. Eric Wilkins 1154
3. Chuck Buckman 1035
4. R.J. Johnson 999
5. Ricky Johnson 915
6. Nathan High 904
7. Joey Moriarity 864
8. Josh Pelkey 811
9. Jeff Henry 767
10. Charles Davis, Jr. 741