Spokane, Washington - Rookie sprint car driver Tony Berry and the HEI
Motorsports team ventured to Ephrata Raceway P ark
(ERP) in Ephrata, WA this past Saturday night for race number three of the
ASA/NSRA season. The HEI team decided to take the limited motored sprinter
that is being run for points at Stateline Speedway to this big event in an
attempt to run
with some of the strongest sprint cars in the Northwest.
The evening got started on the tight, challenging ¼-mile oval with a
disappointing qualifying effort. "We brought our small motor and harder
tires compared to the sticky Hoosiers that others were running; I believe it
put us at a sizeable disadvantage in qualifying," remarked Berry.
Heat race action saw the #53 Cyberwize.com, River City River Runners, Sallee
Chevrolet, Joe's Racing Products, Don's Group Attire Gambler start on the
pole. Berry stuck to the team's game plan and stayed on the bottom of the
race track and led seven of eight laps when series points leader Andy
Alberding passed Berry on the outside to claim the heat race victory, Berry
finished second. "You feel like you're clawing at a brick wall when you're
just trying to hang on like that. I was hoping to pick up the heat race
victory, but finishing second to Andy is certainly alright in my book."
When it came time for the 50-lap main event the winds picked up greatly and
wreaked havoc on the big wings of the ASA/NSRA sprint cars. In just his
first ASA/NSRA start the 21-year-old Berry would lead the field to the green
flag with 16 drivers in tow. Again, as much as possible trying to keep the
left side tires of the car on the white line, Berry ran in the top-five most
of the night and finished the race in the seventh position. "My goal was to
finish in the top-five in this event, but when you get here and see the
caliber of equipment that the entire ASA/NSRA field has to offer, a top-ten
is gratifying."
In an unusual set of circumstances, the Witte family, track owners of
Ephrata Raceway Park and the ASA/NSRA Officials voted to give the Advanced
Sprint Car and Truck Parts Hard Charger Award to Berry. "Tony ran extremely
hard with the equipment that he had and did the most with the least this
evening. Therefore the ASA/NSRA staff and I decided to give an award usually
reserved for advancing the most positions, to a driver that started on the
pole, but drove a hard, intelligent race in route to a top-ten finish," said
Bob Witte, co-owner of ERP.
"I am very honored that the Witte family and the officials of this very
professional series would give me an award of this nature. I was surprised
obviously because we lost positions, but I am truly grateful for the award
and appreciative of what it means that they decided to give it to me," said
Berry.
The past several weeks have been very busy for the Gonzaga University
student as Berry got his first Washington Midget Racing Association start on
Memorial Day weekend. "This past month has been a time of opportunity in my
career and I am very grateful for all those involved to help make that
happen. It is a great feeling when you are offered to drive someone else's
equipment because it shows you a great deal of respect. I need to thank Tony
Villelli and the Villelli Racing team as well as the Speed Sport Report,
Budweiser and Pepsi for putting their vote of confidence in my abilities."
The next race for the HEI Motorsports team will be this weekend, June 18th
at Race City USA in Hermiston, OR. Come out and support the team on this
slippery and very fast oval.
For more information on Tony Berry and the entire HEI Motorsports team
contact Dixon Helgeson @ 509.991.9627
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