Bradley Terrell wins, sets record in 360 Sprints

With the 2009 All-Pro Racing Series championship points season headed towards the finish line, it’s time for drivers with championship hopes to put their best foot forward.

That is just what four optimistic drivers, one a points leader, the others sitting in second place hoping for a break, did Saturday night at Petaluma Speedway.

Bradley Terrell, in the 360 Sprint Cars, Steve Studebaker, in Super Stocks, and Nick Perivolaris, in Late Models, all made successful strides towards the top rung, while Dirt Modified points leader Michael Paul Jr. of Petaluma stretched his winning streak to three in a row to extend his points margin.

Terrell, who’s bidding to unseat defending champ and current All-Pro points leader Alissa Geving, opened the night by setting fast time in qualifying. In the 25-lap feature the 18-year-old Sebastopol driver left the rest of the 13-car field in his wake as he rose from eighth starting to the lead after 11 laps then buried himself in lapped traffic with a terrific run that established a new 25-lap track record of 6:11.451 which earned him his third victory of the season.

Terrell’s eighth career win, coupled with a second place in the heats, knocked five points off of Geving’s approximate 19-point advantage held at the start of the night.

Norm Johns finished second and Geving third in the first sprint car race. Rounding out the finish were heat winners Brandon Davis in fourth, Devon Ostheimer in fifth, followed by Ricky Wright Jr., Jake Haulot, Nick Ringo Jr. and Jon Kirby.

Perivolaris, who started the Late Model feature in the third row and climbed into second place after eight laps, looked like a solid second place finisher behind Paul Guglielmoni until Lap 19 when Guglielmoni’s car brokedown plummeting the defending track champion to a fifth place finish and lifting Perivolaris into the lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Perivolaris’ first victory of the season elevated the Petaluma driver into second place in the point standings behind John Silva, who finished fourth.

Rod Arnold and Richard Papenhausen took turns holding onto second place it until Lap 24 when Papenhausen wrested the spot from Arnold for the final time. Arnold finished third over Silva, Guglielmoni, Rick Shafer, Chevy McGinnis and Shawn DeForest.

Riding a three-race winning streak in the Dirt Modifieds has allowed Paul Jr. to steadily increase his All-Pro points lead over runner-up Brian Azevedo.

It’s no surprise that Azevedo is second to Paul, a position he’s finished in four times this season, including three of Paul’s four victories. The only time Azevedo has finished in front of Paul was when Azevedo won the season opener and Paul finished second.

Saturday’s race looked like a two-car event, with Paul and Azevedo being the only cars in the 16-car field to stay on the lead lap. And, despite Paul’s penchant for winning, the race remained close to the finish, as Azevedo constantly challenged the leader. The pair ran one-two over the final 18 laps after Paul took the lead from heat and trophy dash winner Micahel Paul Sr., on Lap 8, and Azevedo, up from seventh starting position, grabbed second place from Don Camilli. Finishing third was Mark Haas, followed by Nick DeCarlo, Camilli, Bobby Motts, heat winner Mike Learn, Oreste Gonella, Ron Palombino and Chris Sieweke.

In the second Super Stock heat race Steve Studebaker battled hard to get past veteran driver and former track champ Tim Haskins before finally succeeding and nailing down second place behind winner Dean DeVolder.

In the 25-lap feature, the two drivers lined up in the front row for a Lap 2 restart, and Studebaker, not wanting to repeat his earlier difficulty, got a great jump and took the lead over Haskins. The successful move paid off, as Studebaker led the final 24 laps with the rest of the 15-car field well behind him to win for the second time this season and chip away at DeVolder’s sizable points lead.

Admittedly the chip was small as DeVolder finished second, Haskins claimed third, and Steve Dempsey, who notched his third straight top-five finish, was fourth. “The car was hooked up and flying tonight, we hit the right set-up,” said Studebaker.

Defending champ Danny Potts was fifth, followed by Shawn McCoy, Gary Adams, Kenny Drew, George Dennis and Michelle Byron.