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Chaos, Cautions, and Comebacks: Koen Shaw Wins at Tulare Thunderbowl

5/17/2025- The California Racesaver Sprints Presented by Quick Change Liquid Energy, infiltrate the bullring that is the Tulare Thunderbowl at the Tulare County Fairgrounds. This would be the CRS first appearance since being under the new name and promoters. Fifteen CRS drivers were seen at the track, with three new drivers making their series debut with those drivers being Maverick Myrick, the young and upcoming driver who has been known to navigate the local micro sprint tracks in the central valley with great skill and competition, George Tristao Jr., who is no stranger to the Racesaver scene and victory lane who also has a national Racesaver Championship under his belt along with many years of racing experience and James Hall, whose first race also happened to fall on his birthday and was very eager to hit the track for his first time ever. One thing that caught several drivers and teams off guard was the #38N Kyle Rassmussan would not be running with CRS, but was in a 360 for the night. The night was full of excitement as we saw many ups and downs and enough action to entertain all who were eager to see some great racing action.

The night kicked off with qualifying as we saw Tulare’s own George Tristao Jr., the pilot of the #23T, Jake Vermeer out of Bakersfield and driving the #87 machine and Jon Williams out of Fresno wheeling the #30 make up the first three cars to hit the track for group qualifying. Tristao would hold quick time with a time of 15.714 until the second group of cars hit the track for their qualifying session. This second group was made up of another Tulare native, Maverick Myrick behind the wheel of the #22 car, Fresno’s Tylor Henson behind the wheel of the #11T and Kerman native Davey Pombo. Tylor Henson would take the top spot with a time of 15.313 on his first lap which he would hold for not even a full straight away as Davey Pombo came around for a 15.310 on his second lap and beat out Henson by a mere three thousandths of a second to take the top spot during qualifying in which he would hold for the rest of qualifying.

Qualifying Rundown:

1. Davey Pombo - #2 (15.310), 2. Tylor Henson - #11T (15.313), 3. Phil Heynen - #31H (15.523), 4. George Tristao - #23T (15.714), 5. Kevin Barnes - #36B (15.795), 6. Maverick Myrick - #22 (15.892), 7. Joe Delisle - #88J (16.086), 8. Lance Jackson - #18 (16.236), 9. Jake Vermeer - #87 (16.238), 10. Koen Shaw - #64C (16.395), 11. Anthony Pombo - #3 (16.412), 12. Rino Felicioni - #15 (16.494), 13. Andy Smith - #7 (16.707), 14. Jon Williams - #30 (16.825), #15 James Hall - #72 (20.933)

CRS heat races would then pick up with Davey Pombo and Maverick Myrick grabbing the heat race wins in their respective heat races

Heat 1 kicked off the racing action for the night with Joe Delisle starting on the pole behind the wheel of the #88J machine, Kevin Barnes in the #36B machine starting in second, Phil Heynen in the #31H on the inside of row two with Davey Pombo to his outside with brother Anthony Pombo in the #3 starting in fifth followed by Andy Smith in the #7, the #30 of Jon Williams and the #87 of Jake Vermeer rounding out the lineup for the first heat of the night.

Racing action quickly got underway as we saw a battle for the lead between the #36B of Kevin Barnes and the #2 of Davey Pombo with Barnes leading the opening circuit but would later lose the lead to Davey Pombo in which a wave of yellow would soon come over the track as Andy Smith in the #7 would spin in turn four, bringing out the first caution of the night. Racing then resumed for two more laps until more yellow lights came out when Jake Vermeer in the #87 machine and Jon Williams behind the wheel of the #30 get together in turn two on lap five, resulting with Williams needing assistance from Tulare’s “Trusted Tow Trucks” to exit the track and Vermeer needing a little push to get back to the pits. Green lights would soon follow but on lap seven, yet another caution would come out after Joe Delisle in the #88J and Andy Smith would collect one another in turn four which required Joe Delisle to rely on Tulare’s “Trusted Tow Trucks” to be towed back into the pits and Smith needing additional assistance from a push truck to get fired back off. On the restart, we would witness a brief and short battle between Kevin Barnes and the #31H car of Phil Heynen for the second position with Heynen getting the better end of the battle but by the time the race had finished, Davey Pombo had a lead of over a second and a half to come out victorious of the first heat.

Heat 1 Rundown:

1. Davey Pombo - #2 (4th), 2. Phil Heynen - #31H (3rd), 3. Kevin Barnes - #36B (2nd), 4. Anthony Pombo - #3 (5th), 5. Andy Smith - #7 (6th), 6. Joe Delisle - #88J (1st, DNF), 7. Jake Vermeer - #87 (8th, DNF), 8. Jon Williams - #30 (7th, DNF)

The final heat race of the night started with the #18 of Lance Jackson on the pole with the #22 of Maverick Myrick to his outside, followed by the #23T of George Tristao starting in third and the #11T of Tylor Henson to his outside with the #64C of Koen Shaw, the #15 of Rino Felicioni and the #72 of James Hall wrapping up the field for the final heat race of the night.

It definitely didn’t take long for race fans to witness the on-track warfare with Myrick in the #22 car leading the opening lap but would get caught up in a battle with George Tristao who was behind the wheel of the #23T machine and later on lap four, we would see two separate incidents at two different ends of the track with Rino Felicioni in the #15 tipping over in turn four and bringing out the first red of the night and James Hall in the #72 smacking the turn two wall and almost losing it but thankfully, both drivers were able to stay on track and rejoin the action. On the restart, the field would almost get another lap in until Henson lost control in turn four, which would later don the name “the ice rink” by the end of the night. After Henson rejoined the tail end of the field, the drivers were able to go green to checkered for the next four laps with Maverick Myrick picking up the last heat race of the night.

Heat 2 Rundown:

1. Maverick Myrick - #22 (2nd), 2. George Tristao - #23T (3rd), 3. Lance Jackson - #18 (1st), 4. Koen Shaw - #64C (5th), 5. Tylor Henson - #11T (4th), 6. Rino Felicioni - #15 (6th), 7. James Hall - #72 (7th)

Feature Lineup:

1. Koen Shaw - #64C, 2. Anthony Pombo - #3, 3. Lance Jackson #18, 4. Kevin Barnes - #36B, 5. George Tristao - #23T, 6. Phil Heynen - #31H, 7. Maverick Myrick - #22, 8. Davey Pombo - #2, 9. Andy Smith - #7, 10. Tylor Henson - #11T, 11. Rino Felicioni - #15, 12. Joe Delisle - #88J, 13. James Hall - #72, 14. Jon Williams - #30, 15. Jake Vermeer - #87

The third CRS feature of the season delivered a spectacular show, possibly even a race of the year contender. The action began with Anthony Pombo in the #3 leading the opening lap, but things quickly turned chaotic when Rino Felicioni in the #15 flipped in turn three, damaging his top wing and ending his night early. After a red flag pause, the green flag returned, only to be followed by a spin from Andy Smith in the #7 on the slick turn four, dubbed “the ice rink.” On the restart, Anthony Pombo briefly regained the lead until lap four when Koen Shaw in the #64C surged ahead and built a gap. Meanwhile, Davey Pombo (#2) and Phil Heynen (#31H) battled for second. Another yellow flew on lap eight as Smith spun again, forcing him to the pits after causing two cautions. The trouble continued on lap ten with Tylor Henson in the #11T losing control in turn four. After another restart, Shaw maintained the lead as George Tristao and Heynen fought for second, with Tristao claiming it on lap thirteen. A lap later, Davey Pombo and Heynen tangled in turn four, sending Heynen to the pits with tow truck help while Pombo continued. Shaw and Tristao held their positions up front on the restart, but on lap sixteen, Maverick Myrick in the #22 moved into third and held it to the end. The final showdown saw Shaw and Tristao battle intensely from lap eighteen to twenty, with Koen Shaw claiming his first win of the season, followed by Tristao in second and Myrick in third.

The night was action-packed and it definitely did not go with incident, with cautions and reds throughout the whole night but thankfully, no one was injured. During the feature, George Tristao Jr. was actually without brakes from lap four to lap 20, we saw the highest amount of position battles to date this season and with the fantastic commentating by Brad Kennedy and his amazing one liners, he made sure to throw in a comedic element to the already amazing night. Congrats to all those who raced. All drivers and teams put on one hell of a race, and I am sure the fans would agree.

Feature Rundown (20 Laps):

1. Koen Shaw - #64C (1st), 2. George Tristao - #23T (5th), 3. Maverick Myrick - #22 (7th), 4. Kevin Barnes - #36B (4th), 5. Davey Pombo - #2 (8th), 6. Tylor Henson - #11T (10thj), 7. Lance Jackson - #18 (3rd), 8. Joe Delisle - #88J (12th), 9. James Hall - #72 (13th), 10. Phil Heynen - #31H (6th, DNF), 11. Anthony Pombo (2nd, DNF), 12. Andy Smith - #7 (9th, DNF), 13. Rino Felicioni - #15 (11th, DNF), 14. Jon Williams - #30 (DNS), 15. Jake Vermeer - #87 (DNS)

Again, this all would not be possible without our top notch sponsors; Quick Change Liquid Energy, BR Motorsports, MyRacePass, Rugged Radios, and Sidewaze Designs.

Catch the California Racesaver Sprints again for their fourth race of the season at the wonderful Antioch Speedway on May 31st and June 7th at the new Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick's Raceway Park.

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