The 2008-2009 Winter Blast Racing Series Was Another Banner Year For The Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway
BY DAVE GRAYSON
On the evening of April 18th Greg Scheidecker began the process of shutting off the lights at the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway to conclude the 2008-2009 Winter Blast Racing Series. His grandstands were packed again that night and winter season racing had once again turned out to be another banner year at the quarter mile paved oval located at the Colorado River Fairgrounds in Blythe.
From September of last year until this past April Scheidecker and Lucas Oil presented the fans with 12 very full Saturday nights of racing. The program was centered around five, fan favorite, racing groups that featured the late model, modified, street stock, legend and bandolero divisions.
Certainly one of the major highlights of stock car racing in Blythe was the late model division and their Colorado River Racing Series. This 12 race series was split between the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway and the Havasu 95 Speedway, a similar quarter mile oval, located in Lake Havasu City-Arizona. It turned out to be a most entertaining championship run.
When it was all over Austin Murphy was crowned the series' champion. The Lancaster-California high school student was a model of consistency all winter long. His championship season was based on scoring two wins along with 12 top five finishes.
But this was not an easy title to win. Murphy had his hands full all season long with the presence of late model veteran Mark Schriner himself a Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway track champion. Schriner scored four feature wins and ten top five in the series. The championship standings was skin tight until the final race. Unfortunately unforeseen circumstances forced Schriner to miss that final race and that proved to be the difference maker.
There were plenty of nights, during the Colorado River Late Model Series, that Murphy and Schriner also had their hands full with the other competitors. That included Ron Daniel. The 2006-2007 series' champion picked up two feature wins this winter while running a part time schedule. Another double main event winner was Miles Copenhaver who used the winter racing series as a shakedown run for his 2009 stint in the super late model program at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Veteran Danny Gay also visited victory lane at Blythe during the series.Newcomer Broc Murphy won the last race of the season and also wrapped up the series' rookie title.
Also presenting the fans with intense championship drama was the speedway's street stock division. That was largely due to the age diversity between the two principals involved in the title run. 69 year old Ralph Adams made it clear from the beginning that he really wanted this championship. The racing elder statesman set a blistering pace during the winter season that included four feature wins and seven top five finishes. Three of those wins came in consecutive order during the months of October and November. It was beginning to appear that his points lead was becoming insurmountable.
However, a much younger Bryant Sutterfield had other ideas. Sutterfield also scored four feature wins during the winter season. However his season in Blythe really caught fire during the final three months where he also won three consecutive features.
Slowly but surely Sutterfield began chipping away at Adams' points lead. The difference maker came on the evening of April 4th. A flat tire forced Adams to make a green flag pit stop. The best he could do that night was 30 points. Sutterfield went on the victory lane that night and collected the full 50 points that is awarded to the race winner.
On the final night of the season Adams knew he was going to need a racing miracle to salvage the championship. He drove his heart out and won the race that night. But Sutterfield scored another top five run and took home the grand prize by a ten point margin.
The final standings for the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway's modified division turned up a rather unique fact: it was completely dominated by four members of the same family. In fact, by the end of the winter season, the fans were practically calling it the Gerchman family modified racing series.
Chris Gerchman, with three feature wins and six top fives, practically had a flawless season and won the championship by 20 points over family patriarch Larry Gerchman who was also a feature winner. Keeping it all in the family were David Gerchman and David Gerchman Jr who finished third and fourth in the final rankings.
The EZ Up Legend Car Series appeared like it was going to be dominated by the Snow family. Brecken and Brandon Snow were running one-two in the points standings all during the season. However, a schedule conflict forced the brothers to miss the final race of the year. Despite that Brecken Snow, with a feature win and four top fives, had accumulated enough points to hang on to the championship. Meanwhile Zak Price, with a second place finish on the final night, jumped over Brandon Snow to take second and finished the season 12 points out of first.
Just like the late model division, the speedway's Bandolero program was also involved in a special River Series championship with the Havasu 95 Speedway. These youngsters were also heavily supported by Havasu Legends and Bandos, Bando Stuff and JJ&B Racing who provided them with trophies and a much lauded savings bond program.
When the 15 race series concluded it was Tommy Kelly, with four feature wins, who was on top of the final standings. Kelly finished the season with a mere eight point lead over three time winner Alex Morgan. Klyle Niquette, with two wins, was third in the final standings.
All three of them came close to getting beat by a girl. Shelby Orosco scored three features and nine top fives. However schedule conflicts forced her to miss some of the races and that's the only reason she finished fifth in the final standings behind Breanna Nelson.
The absolute fan favorite, at the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway all season long were the factory stocks. This affordable entry level into racing once again had the fans on their feet with their fender banging, paint scraping, main events. An extremely consistent Justin White dominated the points standings all season long based on a feature win and 10 top fives during the division's 11 race schedule. Kenny Foster, a two time feature winner, was second in the rankings.
The Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway will now be dark for the next three months simply because they choose not to race in the searing heat that envelopes Blythe during the summer months. That doesn't mean speedway promoter Greg Scheidecker will be enjoying a lengthy vacation. Far from it. He'll be plenty busy participating in the many promotional and marketing facets that makes up Lucas Oil's extensive racing program all over the country.
Somewhere around the end of July Scheidecker will start turning his attention to all of the multi level details that it takes to create a winter racing season. By September he'll be ready to unlock the speedway gates, turn on the lights and present the 2009-2010 Winter Blast.