Stephens beats Rigby at his own game

February 9th, 2007

Thirty-Six hopeful drivers took to the track on Friday night for practice under a setting Calfornia sun. Each driver was trying to find that balance of comfort and speed; speed that will serve them well as they try and claw their way into a starting berth for the second annual Race For Victory.

It was a perfect night for racing under the lights at the California Speedway and as the air grew cool, the action heated up on the track. Rob Meloche sat on top of the charts for the practice session and Jeff Lyden continued to turn heads as he set second fast time in the hour long practice session. When the trucks headed to the track for qualifying however it would be Bradenton Florida's Scott Johnston who would set on the pole. Johnston ran a blistering lap and was a full tenth of a second faster then second place starter Brett Stephenson.

Stephenson was unconcerned however as it's not where you start but where you finish that matters. Stephenson jumped to the lead on lap one and uncharateristically led every lap to the finish. Was it as easy as it sounds? Certainly not. The hottest guy on the circuit, none other then Hod Rigby, gave Stephenson all he could ask for. Hod jumped to second on lap one and he too stayed there for the remainder of the race. It wasn't like there wasn't an opportunity for Rigby as a handful of cautions during the 63 lap race brought everyone back together on several occasions. Still, no matter how hard he tried, Rigby just couldn't find the muster to move around and had to settle for second at the finish.

Behind the lead duo, a torrid battle took place throughout the field. It wasn't uncommon to see two, three, and even four wide racing at several points on the track at the same time! The drivers did an outstanding job and long green flag runs were the rule of the evening.

One of the more impressive runs on the night was the move through the field by Ryan Tracey. Tracey weaved and wiggled his way to an outstanding third place finish from his 19th place starting spot. While this was impressive, it was topped by the amazing feat by another Florida driver - Pete Rinkevich. Rinkevich somehow managed to move his bright green and yellow Sundrop Chevrolet to a fourth place finish after starting 33rd. Considering most drivers fought tooth and nail to advance just a few positions, it is amazing to think that Rinkevich came from that deep in the field.

Where were the NASS drivers you ask? Well they were solidly in the mix. NASS's Barrett Canning come across the line in sixth and last years stand out Thunder rookie driver John Doucette impressed many with his solid 8th place finish. All one has to do on Saturday night is get to the top ten and Doucette is looking to do it again tomorrow.

As the evening waned and the fans shuffled out, one more event took place to cap off the night. Several drivers took to the speedway for a thirteen lap slugfest. No cautions, just crashing. The goal, wreck the other guy before they wreck you. You know, Brad Rosenbaum has a knack for this. Brad won the survivial race by one lap over Jack Martel. His truck was crashed, his truck was bashed, but it was still rolling at the end and rumors are that this Indiana driver is being courted for a position with the New York Taxi Authority.

On that note, its time to shut the lights off and close the gates for the evening. The racing - spectacular. Make no mistake, this is a great group of drivers and they're having fun. We have a lot to look forward to the next couple of days.

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