ASA SPEED TRUCK CHALLENGE SERIES WOWS AN SRO CROWD IN BLYTHE.

Source: Dave Grayson
Date: 10/01/2007

The ASA-Go Fast-Speed Truck Challenge Series put on what was described as one of their best races of the season September 29th at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway in Blythe-California. The 100 lap feature was loaded with action all night long and featured a genuine final lap charge to the checkers that saw Shawn Steele win his first ever series race on the five sixteenths of a mile paved oval. The hard racing, and the events that brought out the yellow flag six times, was extremely intense and the SRO crowd spent much of the 100 laps on their feet.

This event was already loaded with drama long before the green flag fell. The series is enjoying one of its best championship points battles in its 11 year history. Two time champion Darren Young came into this race with a very slim nine point lead over season rival Victor Pfluger. The race at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway would turn out to have a huge impact on this championship run because it was the next to the last race of the series' 2007 season.

Lancaster-California's Austin Murphy set the fast time in qualifying but the roll of the dice set up a two truck inversion which actually placed Darren Young on the pole. With the initial green flag in the air, Young jumped into the lead but the pace only lasted two laps before the first yellow flag came out due to Jim Putman's turn three spin. Three laps later Andy Allen and Murphy fanned out, coming off of turn four, and ran three wide with Young down the front stretch. The bold move allowed Allen and Murphy to pass the leader. That bold move was also a sign of how intense this race was going to become.

Unfortunately Allen's new status as the race leader only lasted approximately ten laps. While racing hard with Murphy the two trucks made contact and went spinning wildly through turn four. Both drivers were sent to the tail end of the longest line. The spin put Young back into the lead for two laps before Steele gathered him in with a low line pass on the front stretch. It turned out to be the last lead change of the race.

But it was not the end of problems between Allen and Murphy. The pair of hard chargers managed to get together again on lap 21 and this time the damage was considerable. Contact was made between the two trucks going down the backstretch and the end result had Allens's Chevrolet slamming hard into the fourth turn wall.The front end damage was too massive for Allen to continue the race and a potential race winner found himself hooked up to a wrecker. The worst part of the damage was the fact that Allen, who won the last two ASA Speed Truck races in a row, came into the Blythe race tied for third in the standings and was only 68 markers behind the leader. Any chance of him becoming a major player for the championship ended with this crash. Murphy's Chevrolet sustained some minor sheet metal damage, as well as a flat tire, and was able to continue.

However Murphy's wild night in Blythe was far from over. The next round came when Murphy and Jason Black tangled on the front stretch. The right front side of the Murphy truck literally rolled over Black's left front fender. Despite the severity of the crash both trucks were able to return to the race. But Murphy still had one more wild ride to go and that one came on lap 56. Contact between him and Jeff Catlin sent the Catlin Chevrolet Truck backwards into the turn four wall and ruined was appeared to be a solid top five finish. It was at this point that I 10 Speedway officials decided that they had seen enough of "Murphy's Law" for one night. Officials displayed the black flag and informed the young driver that his race was over for the night.

But the intensity of the race was far from over. There was still the matter of who was going to be the winner and how the outcome was going to impact the championship picture. Coming off the final yellow flag of the night, due to Ray Hoffman's turn three spin, Shawn Steele put the pedal to the medal and reset his race rhythm. By now Victor Pfluger was in second and the chase was on. He came into this night second in points and only four markers from Young who was right behind him. Pfluger maintained his line while at the same time reminded the race leader of his presence. With two laps left, he made his move and the SRO crowd again jumped to their feet. Going into turn three of the final lap, Pfluger worked his way to the inside of Steele's truck. But Steele held his line and came under the checkers by a half a truck length to take his first series win.

After parking his #25 Steele Motor sports/K&N Filters Dodge Dakota into victory lane the 20 year old driver, from Homeland-California, began celebrating that all important first series win."It's a dream come true to get my first win here at Blythe," he said adding "I've been here for many years and I believe that this win became possible due to great people behind me such as my girlfriend, my family, RG Allen Motor sports and I'm just really proud to be out here right now." Commenting on the final lap duel with Pfluger the happy race winner said "man I was sweating, I was shaking, my legs were burning and I could feel every bump on the track. I was just staying on the wheel and run a defensive line. Victor ran me clean enough and didn't try to take me out and I really appreciated it" When asked about having to deal with all of the caution flag laps, Steele said "it was definitely distracting. You want the laps to get over as soon as possible. We were on lap 20 and it felt like it was lap 200. I was just glad that I could just hang on and bring home my first victory."

Victor Pfluger was all smiles after driving his #80 Parker Farms/Copperstate Tire/La Horgue Race Cars/Road Warriors Transport Dodge to a second place finish and a good points night. Commenting on the final lap run to the checkers the Morristown-Arizona driver said "that was definitely a lot of fun. Shawn Steele really drove a great race and congrats to him. Our Parker Farms Dodge was really amazing tonight. We were a little quicker than Steele tonight but I couldn't quite find the groove I needed to get around him. He slipped just a bit going into turn three and that's when I closed the gap. That's when we started laying on each other. I could have just turned him coming into four but it wasn't really worth it because they would have just sent me to the back because of it. It was a great race for the Parker Farms Dodge and we're looking forward to a great race at Havasu."

Darren Young brought his #18 United Nissan/Sudden Impact/Quaker State Chevrolet to a third place finish and said "our United Nissan Truck was not bad but it wasn't great by any means. We didn't have a winning truck. I tightened it up prior to the race but not enough. My goal was to stay as close to Pfluger the whole night. Obviously I wanted to finish ahead of but I've got to take my hat off to him because he did a really good job. Now we're going into Havasu for a great last race that should be exciting for everybody."

Bear Rzesnowiecky brought his #3 United Nissan/Sudden Impact/Quaker State Chevrolet to a fourth place finish and truly deserves the iron man award for this race. The 15 year old driver from Las Vegas-Nevada was suffering from a terrible case of the flu but, in the spirit of the show must go on, he loaded up on fluids before the race and toughed it out. Despite the impact of his illness "The Bear" was very optimistic after the race and said "I think if I would have had ten more laps then maybe the rest of the field would have vanished. Our United Nissan Team started the weekend struggling but today they got the truck going somewhat faster and we worked our way up to the front. It was all around a great weekend for United Nissan Racing. My team mate, (Darren Young), is still very much involved in the points chase and we'll see what happens when we get to Lake Havasu."

Despite being caught up in a wreck in the race Jason Black did a nice job of recovering and drove his #9 Black Motor Sports Chevrolet to a fifth place finish. During the post race inspection Black said "that was about the most exciting night of all of the races so far this season. I started fourth row outside, went to the back after one incident, spun out the truck three or four times tonight trying to avoid other incidents and wound up with the fiberglass on the front of the truck completely gone. But we got into the top five again tonight and that was our pre race goal. It was a very successful finish for our team."

Jay Rutherford, President/CEO of the ASA-Go Fast-Speed Truck Challenge Series, was very excited about the Blythe event and said "It was one hell of a race tonight. It ended up really good but it was also pretty rough out there at times with a lot of bumping and banging going on. But you can expect that on the five-sixteenths of a mile track here at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway. A lot of things has happened now with our points picture.Shawn Steele sneaking in their really puts a cog into the wheel of what's going to happen to our championship. We're going to have a shoot out going into Havasu."

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