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McClennon Wins Finale, Hopper Champion
At Sacramento Valley Speedway
Returning to his Wingless Sprint Car roots, Rowdy McClennon won the 20 lap season finale for the Wingless Sprint Cars Saturday night at Sacramento Valley Speedway in Orland. McClennon is a regular 410 Sprint Car competitor at Chico and a past Wingless Sprint Car champion there. Despite an ugly night, season long point leader Bill Hopper emerged with his second straight division championship. Another regular Chico competitor, Gary Newman, won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event, while Paul Stevens wrapped up the championship by starting the feature. New champion Keith Ross won the 20 lap Mini Truck Main Event, while Nick Vidovich ended his championship season with a 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event win.
The Wingless Sprint Car championship battle was greatly effected in the heat race as incoming point leader Tony Richards broke a driveline to end his night. Jeremy Wilson started a good night for his team by winning the heat race. Richards and Bill Hopper were tied for the point lead, and Hopper was hoping to get a feature win. It was a case of good news/bad news for Hopper. The bad news was he flipped on the opening lap of the Main Event to end his night. The good news was he earned enough points to successfully defend last season’s championship. With Hopper and Richards on the sidelines, it was Rowdy McClennon impressing with a feature win. Wilson was a solid second as David Dias was back for the first time since the opener and would finish third. Gerald Webber was fourth ahead of Ryan Owens and Hopper.
Gary Newman is a Street Stock regular at Chico, and he won his Hobby Stock heat race, while Scott Bigley was the other heat race winner. This was Newman’s first start of the year at Orland, and he did it in style with an impressive feature victory. James John rebounded from last week’s disappointing DNF with a strong second place finish ahead of past champion Steve Martin. Rich Hood was back in action after missing a few races, and he finished fourth ahead of Cody Bundy, Lester Elsey, new champion Paul Stevens, Bill Hampton, Bigley, Brad Ray and Jeremy Langenderfer.
All season long, Keith Ross has been setting the pace in the Mini Truck division. Ross started a championship clinching night off by winning his eighth heat race. He continued to dominate in winning his eighth Main Event of the season. Nathan Skaggs has run a limited schedule, and he earned his third second place finish of the season to go with the win he had earlier this year. Point runner up Dan Webster collected his fifth third place finish of the season. Josh Tucker finished fourth ahead of “Rollin” Olin Crane and William Fogle.
Nick Vidovich has led most of the season in the Mini Stocks, and he started his championship clinching night with his second heat race win of the season. Jeff Bennett was back and trying for his second straight feature win, but he had to settle for second behind the eighth win of the season for Vidovich. Hobby Stock champion Paul Stevens finished third in the Mini Stock Main Event ahead of Eric Hammond and point runnerup John Kirkpatrick.
Rayl, Point Leaders Crismon and Ross
Win At Orland
Greg Rayl became the latest new winner in the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event Saturday night at Sacramento Valley Speedway. in Orland. Point leader Jeromie Crismon won his fifth 20 lap 600 Mini Stock feature, while Jackie Whitson Jr. won his fourth 250 Mini Sprint Main Event. Mini Truck point leader Keith Ross continued to roll with his seventh Main Event win. Hobby Stock point leader Paul Stevens collected his second straight Mini Stock Main Event win.
Hobby Stock car count dipped slightly as previous feature winner Brad Ray won the lone heat race. Greg Rayl has history racing Late Models at Stockton and was a driving force in building Mini Truck count in the 1990‘s at Altamont. On Saturday, he got behind the wheel of one of the Cooper Racing Team Hobby Stocks and showed the rest of the pack how it’s done with a Main Event triumph. Mini Truck veteran Ray made his presence known in second as Earl Adams grabbed the final podium spot in third. Shannon Collins and point leader Paul Stevens completed the Top 5. Defending champion Steve Martin was a no show, handing Stevens a 90 point lead. Martin leads Collins by just 15 points in the race for second.
Jeromie Crismon has been a force in the 600 Mini Sprints this season, and he continued the trend by winning both the heat race and Trophy Dash. Crismon won his fifth Main Event in seven starts. One of the two other feature winners this season, Tony Alosi, settled for second ahead of current point runner up Skyler Richter, Marty Plumb and the season debut of Dean Slinkard. Crismon is well on his way to the track championship with a 190 point lead over Richter. Richter has a 55 point advantage over Plumb in the battle for second.
Jackie Whitson Jr. has been tough to beat in 250 Mini Sprints. If not for missing two races this season, he would likely be the point leader. Whitson won both the heat race and Trophy Dash before rolling to his fourth feature win in five starts. Dave McKinnon, point leader Jesse Garland and Rusty Hensley rounded out the finishing order. Garland leads Whitson by 115 points with Hensley a distant third.
Keith Ross is leaving little doubt that the Mini Truck championship is his if he wants it. Ross started the night off with a heat race victory. He followed that up with his seventh feature win in the last nine races. One of the nights he didn’t win saw him taking the night off. Josh Tucker returned to action for the first time this season and was second ahead of Nathan Skaggs. Dan Webster settled for fourth ahead of Mini Stock veteran Olin Crane and William Fogle. Ross currently leads Webster by 80 points, while Fogle is another 110 points behind Webster in third.
Last time out, Hobby Stock point leader Paul Stevens made his Mini Stock season debut with a feature win. On this night, he started things off with a heat race triumph. Come Main Event time, point leader and seven time winner Nick Vidovich was looking for another win, but Stevens was there to deny him for his second straight win. Vidovich settled for his second straight runnerup finish ahead of the fifth third place finish of the season for past champion John Kirkpatrick. Jeff Bennett and Donovan Chilton rounded out the Top 5. Vidovich holds a commanding 130 point lead over Kirkpatrick in the championship race with past champion Tom Davis a distant third after bowing out of the championship battle.
Results for the most recent race were not available at press time, but the season comes to a close this week with Wingless Sprint Cars, Hobby Stocks, Mini Trucks and Mini Stocks all in action. For further information, check out the official Sacramento Valley Speedway website.
This just in from last week...
Compton, Webster And Bennett New Winners
At Sacramento Valley Speedway
There were new drivers in the winner’s circle at Sacramento Valley Speedway in Orland Saturday night. Making his first appearance of the season, Brian Compton won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Mini Truck veteran Dan Webster scored the victory in that division's 20 lap Main Event. Jeff Bennett made his fourth start of the season a winning effort in the 20 lap Mini Stock feature. Tony Alosi scored his second 600 Mini Stock Main Event win, while point leader Jesse Garland wrapped up his championship season with a win in the 250 Mini Sprint feature.
Brian Compton at one time was one of the top Hobby Stock competitors at Orland, and he just wrapped up another championship season at Chico Silver Dollar Speedway. Compton gave indication of things to come with a heat race victory, while defending champion Steve Martin was the other heat winner. Coming off of his second pace finish a week earlier, past Mini Truck champion Brad Ray was hoping to take it up a notch for another victory, but Ray again settled for second behind the impressive Compton. Jeremy Langenderfer grabbed his third third place feature finish of the season. The rest of the Top 6 was filled by drivers who were making their first starts of the season as Lester Elsey finished fourth ahead of Michael Adams and Scotty Bigley. Point leader Paul Stevens finished seventh ahead of Martin, Shannon Collins, James John and 250 Mini Sprint point leader Jesse Garland. Despite his disappointing effort, Stevens holds an 85 point lead over Martin and can clinch the championship by merely starting this week’s season finale. Martin leads Collins by just 20 points in a closer battle for second.
Mini Stock ace “Rollin” Olin Crane was back in a Mini Truck and started the night off with a heat race win. Dan Webster has been consistent this season with two seconds and four thirds in the Main Event. On this occasion, he took it up a notch for his first win of the season. It didn’t come easy as point leader Keith Ross gave chase for the second place finish. Josh Tucker backed up last week's second place finish by placing third this time ahead of Nathan Skaggs, Crane, Leroy Beck and William Fogle. Ross leads Webster by 75 points and can clinch the championship by just starting the final feature of the season. Webster has a sold hold on second and Fogle will rank third this season.
Hobby Stock point leader Paul Stevens fielded a Mini Stock once again and began the night with a heat race victory. Donovan Chilton was hot on the trail of his second win of the season, but it was not to be. Jeff Bennett was back for the fourth time this season and improved on his previous season best third place finish with a feature victory. Chilton ran strong and finished second ahead of point leader Nick Vidovich. John Kirkpatrick settled for fourth ahead of Stevens, Dustin Hill and Eric Hammond. Vidovich leads Kirkpatrick by 135 points and has therefore clinched the division championship. Kirkpatrick and Tom Davis will rank second and third, respectively, regardless of where they finish in the finale.
The 600 Mini Sprint division has been the Jeromie Crismon show for much of the season, and Crismon and Tony Alosi were both preliminary winners. Alosi had a feature win earlier this season, and he added another trophy to his mantle with a Main Event victory ahead of Skyler Richter. That was the fifth runnerup finish of the season for Richter, who finished ahead of Crismon and Kyra Michelet at the checkered flag. Crismon won the championship by 195 points ahead of Richter as Alosi finished third.
Turnout was a little light in the 250 Mini Sprints, but Jerrid Carter happily collected his first Trophy Dash win. With Jackie Whitson Jr. a no show, Carter was hoping to add a feature win on the night, but it was point leader Jesse Garland winning his first Main Event since July and third of the season. Carter settled for second ahead of Andrew Love. Garland won the championship by 215 points over Whitson as Carter will rank third.
The season finale this week will feature the final showdown between the tied Bill Hopper and Tony Richards in a good Wingless Sprint Car championship battle. Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Mini Trucks will also be in action For further information, check out the official Sacramento Valley Speedway website.
New Champions Noland, Atchison
Score Rocky Hill Speedway Wins
Point racing for Rocky Hill Speedway in Porterville is done for the year, but the track has several races left to run through the end of November. On Saturday night, newly crowned Hobby Stock champion Raymond Noland collected his fourth 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event win. Roy Atchison has been the dominant force in the Super Mini Stock division, and he won his ninth 20 lap Main Event. Jason Cook returned to action and won his first 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event.
Michael Scruggs was back out to challenge for his second straight Hobby Stock feature win, but it was Raymond Noland running just a little stronger for the win. Scruggs settled for second ahead of a respectable third place finish for Alvin Ince. Joe Robinson has only competed in a handful of races in this his rookie season, and he matched his season best effort in forth as Bakersfield racer Brian Childress rounded out the Top 5. Gene Clover finished sixth ahead of Mini Stock racer Shawn Schwartzenberger, Bakersfield champion Kevin Collier, Karl Noland and Cody Heinschn.
Only a second place finish in the previous race prevented Atchison from making it eight feature wins in a row as he collected another victory. William Hughes enjoyed his fifth season best second place finish with Kit Murphy scoring his second season best third place finish. 2014 champion Adell Shelton settled for fourth ahead of Larry Ramirez and Gary Meeks.
Jason Cook won his first Mini Stock Main Event of the season. Justin Moore was a season best second ahead of third ranked Clinton Massey, Brandon Trice and Shawn Schwartzenberger.
The Dearl Noland Memorial Race is next on the schedule for October 24th, and Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Super 4 Mini Stocks, American Stocks and Okie Bowl Hardtops are all on the card. For further information, check out the official Rocky Hill Speedway Website.
