Manzanita Speedway
Moyer cracks 20-win mark with Manzy victory
By Kevin Kovac
DIRTcar Racing
Billy Moyer steered his No. 21 Victory Circle Chassis to victory in the Nov. 14 tuneup feature at Manzanita (dennisbrownfieldphotography.com)
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Nov. 14) — The famed No. 21 has his eye on victory No. 21 for 2008. Hall of Fame driver Billy Moyer, concluding his I'm-not-over-the-hill yet tour with a trip to Arizona, grabbed a $1,500 victory in Friday's tuneup feature at the Barnett Harley-Davidson Nationals at Manzanita Speedway. | Slideshow
Making his third career start at the famed half-mile oval in Phoenix, the 51-year-old Moyer steered his Banner Valley Hauling-sponsored Victory Circle Chassis forward from the fourth starting spot to capture the 25-lap main event. He slid underneath Randle Chupp of Troutman, N.C., in turn two to grab the lead on lap 14 and never looked back.
Moyer’s first career victory at Manzanita marked the 20th of his resurgent 2008 season, the first time he’s reached the 20-victory plateau since 2001.
“It’s been a while since I had this many wins,” said Moyer, who is closing in on 700 overall victories in his 32-year career. “This day and age it’s tough to get 20 wins, so we’re proud of our season. We just need to get one more tomorrow night to match the number on the car.”
With the checkered flag, Moyer is now locked into Saturday night’s 40-lap feature, which offers a $6,000 top prize to close the Barnett Harley-Davidson Nationals. Also earning automatic berths in the weekend finale were runner-up Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colo., third-place Chupp and fourth-place Jesse Stovall of Galena, Mo., who hauled Moyer’s car to Manzanita in his trailer. Canadian Mike Balcaen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who made a 36-hour tow to compete in Manzanita’s Late Model season-ender for the second straight year, just missed a guaranteed spot Saturday, finishing fifth. He started second and led laps 1-2.
Moyer was the fourth leader of the extremely competitive event, following Balcaen, the polesitting Stovall (laps 3-9) and Chupp (10-13). “I got off to a little slow start,” Moyer said. “On the first lap Jesse kinda got into (Balcaen), and going into (turn) one he kicked it out wide to go around him on the outside. When he did that I was up there on the outside of him and I thought I was gonna hit the fence before I ever started.
“Luckily I gathered it back up, and then I let those guys race a little bit so I could figure my car out and where it wanted to run on the track. After a few laps I could run some laps that they couldn’t, so I knew I was probably in pretty good shape.”
Moyer roared away from the pack after the race’s second and final caution flag, on lap 18. He crossed the finish line a full straightaway ahead of Boen, who charged through the field from the 13th starting spot in his Rocket No. 07.
“We didn’t have anything for Billy,” said Boen, last year's big winner at Manzy. “If I had five or 10 more laps, I think Billy would’ve been a half-lap ahead instead of a straightaway.”
Boen reached second place on lap 19 by sliding underneath Chupp, who drove Boen’s backup car after making a last-minute deal with the Colorado standout. Chupp, fresh off a victory in Sunday's O'Reilly Southern All Star-sanctioned Blue-Gray 100 at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., while driving his Starrette Trucking-sponsored No. 22, started third.
The race's finish was no mystery, Chupp said. “This was one of those nights where the fastest car finished first, the second-fastest car finished and the third-fastest car finished third,” said Chupp, a former crew chief for drivers such as Freddy Smith. “I got up to the lead, but you can’t hide from these guys if you’re not faster than them.”
Notes: The action served as a non-points event for the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series and Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series. ... Three wild accidents marred the eventful night of competition, but fortunately all of the drivers involved escaped serious injury. .. In the first heat, Jim Beaman of Littleton, Colo., slammed an inside barrier entering turn three, causing his car to violently swap ends in the air. ... Later, following the checkered flag of the consolation race, John Kuchar of Henderson, Colo., ducked low on the homestretch to avoid another car and bounced over the inner third-mile oval’s banked first turn, sending his car into a serious of barrel-rolls. ... In the sixth lap of the modified feature, Max Sadler of Springerville, Ariz., flipped entering turn three, landing upside down. Johnny Scott, 18, of Las Cruces, N.M., won the modified feature. ... Late Model drivers failing to crack the feature lineup: Tommy Hussak III, Jim Beaman, Mark Carrell, Kevin Nichols, Mark Fowler, Matt Michelli and Wes Hall. ... The weekend concludes Saturday with a $6,000-to-win Late Model feature and $5,000-to-win finale for the modifieds.
Barnett Harley-Davidson Nationals: (1) Billy Moyer, (2) Kelly Boen, (3) Randle Chupp, (4) Jesse Stovall, (5) Mike Balcaen, (6) Mike Kirby, (7) Bobby Hogge IV, (8) Chris Shannon, (9) Dean Moore, (10) Nick Bartels, (11) Lonnie Parker Jr., (12) Dino Napier, (13) Mike Stadel, (14) Brad Williams, (15) Chet Buckley, (16) Rob Mayea, (17) Ron Bartels, (18) Joey Moriarty, (19) Rob Sanders, (20) John Lowery, (21) Jason Noll, (22) Anthony Madrid. Scratched: John Kuchar. Fast qualifier (among 30 cars): Stovall, 19.210 seconds. Heat race winners: Balcaen, Chupp, Moyer. Dash winner: Stovall. Consolation winner: Boen.
