The DCRR Racing Media Books
Stories of my time in auto racing from the beginning to 2003
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And
Don's California Racing Recollections: Best Of The Blog And Beyond
Racing History, Stories, Statistics And Pictures
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Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback
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Terrell Wins Johnny Soares Classic,
Slaney Top Dog At Petaluma Speedway
Slaney Top Dog At Petaluma Speedway
Petaluma, CA...August 22...Bradley Terrell won the 30 lap Johnny Soares Classic for the PitStopUSA.com
Wingless Spec Sprints and Hunt Wingless Sprints Saturday night at
Petaluma Speedway. This was the Ninth Annual Johnny Soares Classic,
paying tribute to the longtime Petaluma Speedway promoter. This was the
second win in this race for Terrell. Covid-19 guidelines meant fans
could not attend, but the race was broadcast online at Flo Racing.
Shayna
Ensign was forced to vacate her third row starting spot as she pitted
before the start with a flat tire, and fellow past Petaluma champion
Sparky Howard loaded up early. Looking for his third win in this event,
three-time Hunt Series champion Terry Schank Jr jumped into the early
lead ahead of Matt Streeter. Scott Clough hit the back wall for a Lap 5
yellow flag, and Nick Robfogel settled into second behind Schank on the
restart. However, Robfogel and Matt Stewart got together in Turn 2 to
for a Lap 9 yellow flag. Terrell found himself second on the restart and
made a strong move on the outside in Turn 2 to take the lead away from
Schank. The final 20 laps went without incident, and Terrell built a big
lead as he masterfully worked his way through traffic. Schank held on
to second ahead of Streeter, but championship hopeful Daniel Whitley got
past Streeter for third on Lap 14. Whitley soon closed in on Schank and
begin battling him as they worked slower traffic. Schank was doing a
good job until getting boxed in behind a slower car in Turn 2 on Lap 29.
Whitley went to the outside and got by Schank for second. However,
Terrell held a straightaway advantage over Whitley at the checkered
flag. Schank settled for third, followed by DJ Johnson, David Lindt II,
Dylan Bloomfield, Streeter, Boy Moniz, Josh Young and Ensign.
Stewart
was the quickest of 25 qualifiers with a lap of 14.864, beating the
14.986 of Ensign. They ran four 10 lap heat races with wins going to
Robfogel, Ensign, Lindt and Terrell. They made the decision to run all
of the drivers in the Main Event rather than run a B Main.
Anthony
Slaney won the 30 lap McLea's Tire Service IMCA Modified Main Event.
This was the Top Dog Nationals, and the win paid Slaney $1,000 aboard
his Xtreme Scaffolding sponsored Modified. This was the fourth win for
Slaney, who continues to lead the point standings. Trevor Brady had a
career best second place finish, earning him $500.
Despite
competition from another track running a big race, there were still 12
IMCA Modifieds for this show. Five-time reigning champion Oreste Gonella
jumped into the early lead over Brady and Slaney. Contact between Brady
and Slaney in Turn 4 on Lap 4 and allowed seven-time champion Michael
Paul Jr to move by both of them for second. Moments later, Brady stalled
in Turn 4 for a yellow flag. Paul moved past Gonella for the lead on
the restart at Slaney maintained third. By the 11th lap, Paul held a
straightaway advantage over Gonella, but that lead was wiped out when
Jerry Roy Jr stalled on the frontstretch for a yellow flag. Two restart
attempts failed, the first when David Spriggs spun and the second when
fourth place Steve Studebaker got out of shape, resulting in Spriggs and
Roy tangling behind him. Paul continued to lead the restart as Slaney
slipped past Gonella for second. An inside move on the frontstretch on
lap 13 put Studebaker into third, and Gonella saw his run come to an end
as he stalled in Turn 3 for a Lap 14 yellow flag. Paul continued to
lead Slaney and Studebaker on the ensuing restart, but another yellow
flag waved on Lap 17. On this restart, Slaney got a run on the inside on
Paul, and there was slight contact exiting Turn 4. Slaney emerged with
the lead as Studebaker maintained third. Studebaker stalled on the front
straightaway for a Lap 21 yellow flag. On this restart, Paul got a bit
out of shape exiting Turn 4 and made contact with Slaney's right rear.
Paul ended up with front end damage as his race came to an end for a Lap
24 yellow flag. Slaney led Brady and Roy on the restart, and they
finished in that order. Michelle Paul finished fourth, followed by Jim
Weiler, Justin Yeager, Gary Zwicker, Spriggs, Michael Paul Jr and
Studebaker. Eight lap heat race wins went to Spriggs and Slaney.
Jim
Beck won the 20 lap Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micro Main Event. The
multi-time champion had a pair of second place finishes, but this was
his first win of the year. Hoping to get his second-straight victory,
George Nielson set the early pace ahead of Kyle Grissom and Danny
Carroll. Carroll went low in Turn 4 on the third lap to take second from
Grissom, and Grissom stalled in Turn 2 for a Lap 4 yellow flag. Nielson
continued to lead Carroll and reigning champion Justin Adiego on the
restart. An outside pass on the backstretch of the seventh lap gained
Carroll the lead, and Beck went low in Turn 3 take second from Nielson.
An inside pass in Turn 3 on Lap 9 gained Beck the lead, and Carroll's
run came to an end on the backstretch for a Lap 11 yellow flag. Beck
continued to lead Nielson and Adiego on the restart. They finished in
that order as the rest of the race went without incident. Carroll
Mendenhall finished fourth, followed by Shiloh Borland, Sam Borland,
Savannah Brown, Rob Brown, Trevor Mendenhall and Amber Fields. Eight lap
heat race wins were earned by Grissom and Carroll.
To
accommodate the cameras for Flo Racing internet pay-per-view, racing
returns this Sunday with a Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series event,
being sponsored by Joe Carr Racing. Also competing will be the PitStopUSA.com
Winged 360 Sprint Cars, General Hydroponics Redwood Dwarf Cars and
Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros. For further information, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com or check out the Petaluma Speedway Facebook page.
Flowers, Hudson, Braaten, Steele, Smith Win
At Siskiyou Golden Speedway
At Siskiyou Golden Speedway
Yreka,
CA...August 22...Scott Flowers won the 30 lap Outlaw Pro Stock Main
Event Saturday night at Siskiyou Golden Speedway. This was the first win
of the season for the current point leader and reigning division
champion. Due to covid-19 guidelines, fans were not allowed in the
grandstands, but the track streamed all of the action for free on their
Facebook page.
While Flowers
lined up in the last row, Dennis Burtenhouse Jr had the outside front
row and charged into the lead at the start, followed by Colby Hammond.
An outside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 2 gained Matt Harlow second. A
Lap 6 yellow flag flew when Jeff Haudenshild spun in Turn 2.
Burtenhouse continued to lead Harlow and Hammond on the restart as James
Flowers settled into fourth. An outside pass on the backstretch of the
seventh lap gained Harlow the lead, but Burtenhouse went low in Turn 4 a
lap later to regain first. James Flowers made a Turn 4 pass on Hammond
to gain third, and James Flowers and Rick Lukens shuffled Harlow out of
the Top 3 on Lap 14. An inside pass on the backstretch of the 16th lap
put Lukens into second as Scott Flowers was up to fourth. As Burtenhouse
continued to do a good job leading the way, Scott Flowers made a low
pass in Turn 3 on Lap 18 to take third from his son James. Darek Alford
spun in Turn 2 for a Lap 21 yellow flag. Scott Flowers made a strong
move on the outside on the restart lap and emerged out of Turn 4 with
the lead as they came across the line to complete the lap. James Flowers
made a Turn 1 pass on Burtenhouse for second on Lap 23 with Lukens
following into third. Burtenhouse spun for the final yellow flag on Lap
23. Scott Flowers led James Flowers and Lukens on the restart, but
Lukens went low in Turn 4 on Lap 25 to take second. Lukens closed in on
Scott Flowers, but Flowers stayed smooth and scored the victory. James
Flowers settled for third, fallowed by Haudenshild, Harlow, Johnny Cobb,
Hammond, Alford and Burtenhouse. Eight lap heat race wins went to
Alford and Cobb.
Jeffrey Hudson
won the 15 lap IMCA Modified Main Event. Hudson was driving the Don
Romer car. He nearly had the big $1,500 victory on July 3rd before
having problems late. On this occasion, Hudson shared the front row with
past Yreka and Medford champion Albert Gill. Hudson charged into the
lead as point leader Travis Peery began pressuring Gill for second. The
race went without incident, and Hudson hit all of his marks to win
comfortably. Gill held off every challenge from Peery to have a season
best second as reigning champion Duane Orsburn finished fourth, followed
by James Welschonse and Jeremy Crebs. Hudson also won the eight lap
heat race.
Jorddon Braaten won
the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was the fourth win of
the season for the current leader, and he won in dominant fashion.
Rookie Ryan Peery led a pair of laps before spinning in Turn 2 for a
yellow flag. Championship contender Mike Medel had to take evasive
actions off of the track in Turn 2 to avoid contact. On the restart,
there was a brief tussle between Braaten and reigning champion Ethan
Killingsworth for the lead. However, Braaten had the lead by the time
the lap was completed. From there, he stretched his advantage to half a
lap as Killingsworth ran a solid second. Peery recovered nicely as he
settled into third. The fourth place battle was close, but Braaten
managed to lap all three of those cars before the checkered flag waved.
Braaten won ahead of Killingsworth and Peery. Randy Wright held off
Medel and 2018 champion Trevor Tiffee for the fourth place finish as
they finished in order. Colt Boswell and Jace Wright completed the
finishing order. Braaten and Peery won their respective eight lap heat
races.
David Steele won the 20
lap Mini Stock Main Event. This was the third win of the season for the
2015 Yreka and two-time reigning Medford champion. Steele shared the
front row with teammate Steve Goetz and settled into the early lead. A
high pass in Turn 4 of the fourth lap gained Kassidy Wilkinson third
from three-time reigning champion Mike Whitaker. Ashtin Hedges moved
past Whitaker for fourth on the backstretch on Lap 9, and a Lap 10
yellow flag flew when rookie Paige Boswell spun in Turn 4. Steele
continued to lead the restart as Wilkinson made a strong outside move
around Goetz for second. Unfortunately, Wilkinson spun on the
backstretch for a Lap 11 yellow flag. Steele led Goetz and Hedges on the
next restart, but three-time champion Marilyn Yawnick spun in Turn 2
for a Lap 12 yellow flag. The rest of the race ran without incident as
Steele led the way and pulled away to a half straightaway advantage in
victory. Hedges battled Goetz for the second position until making an
inside pass on the backstretch on the final lap to grab the spot. Goetz
settled for third, followed by Hunter Magnan, Whitaker, Yawnick, Terry
Alford Sr, Boswell and Wilkinson. Steele and Goetz won their respective
eight lap heat races.
JJ Smith
won the 10 lap Jefferson State Jalopies Main Event. Smith also won the
eight lap heat race over Ron Morris to complete the sweep. The four
Jalopies currently competing were all built by Smith and Karl Bernstein.
Smith charged into lead at the start of the race ahead of reigning
champion Marilyn Yawnick. By the halfway point, Smith held a
straightaway advantage over Yawnick with Morris running a solid third.
Bernstein was lapped late at Smith won ahead of Yawnick, Morris and
Bernstein.
The Southern Oregon
Dwarf Cars are scheduled to appear this Saturday night along with the
Mini Stocks and Jefferson State Jalopies. Any schedule adjustments or
other news can be found at the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page.
Lovel, Tour Win At Ukiah Speedway
Ukiah,
CA... August 22...Mike Lovell Sr won the 45 lap Limited modified Main
Event Saturday night at Ukiah Speedway. Lovell was making his first
appearance of the season, and the race was destined to go without a
yellow flag. Due to a covid-19 guidelines, fans are still not allowed in
attendance, but the race was broadcast for free on the track's Facebook
page.
Roy Ingalls Jr moved into
the early lead over Kylei Keown. A low pass in Turn 4 of the fourth lap
put Lovell into second, and he made an outside pass down the backstretch
on Lap 8 to take the lead from Ingalls. Point leader Jason Philpot was
fourth and made an outside pass down the frontstretch on Lap 9 to get
past Ingalls for second. As Lovell ran a smooth race just ahead of
Philpot, Mike Doss closed in on Ingalls in the race for third. A
high-pass in Turn 2 on Lap 20 gained Doss the third position. Lovell led
the non-stop race all the way to the checkered flag, followed by
Philpot, Doss, Jared Martin, Ingalls, Tyler Caturegli, Keown, Loren
Powers Jr, Dennis Anderson and Bo Robertson.
Doss
was the quickest of 10 qualifiers on the quarter-mile paved oval with a
lap of 13.743, beating the 13.753 of Philpot. Philpot and Martin won
their respective 10 lap heat races, and Keown won the four lap Trophy
Dash.
Charlie Tour won the 45 lap
Bombers Main Event. This was the second win of the year for the current
point leader. Josh Smith raced into the early lead. The yellow flag
waved after one lap for Brenton Smith, who saw his race come to an end
in Turn 4. Josh Smith continued to lead Raymond Taylor and Brandon
Powers on the restart. Powers made a backstretch pass on Taylor to grab
second on Lap 5 with Semi Tour following closely into third. Charley
Tour settled into fourth on Lap 10, and a low pass in Turn 3 on Lap 11
gained Brandon Powers the lead. Charley Tour made a big inside pass on
the frontstretch on Lap 12 to grab second and slipped past Powers on the
back stretch on Lap 13 to take the lead. Loren Powers Jr and Semi Tour
shuffled Brandon Powers out of the Top 3 on Lap 27. The Top 3 ran in
that order for the next several laps, and Brandon Powers spun for a Lap
36 yellow flag. Charley Tour continued to lead Loren Powers Jr and Semi
Tour on the restart. Following a spin on the backstretch that forced a
yellow flag on Lap 38, Loren Powers Jr ducked into the pits from second
just prior to the restart. Charley Tour led the rest of the way for the
win with Semi Tour finishing second, followed by Roy ingalls Jr, Josh
Smith, Brandon Powers, Taylor, B Bomber point leader Dave Land Jr, Loren
Powers Jr, Bradley Dale and Nate Hoben.
Charley
Tour set the fast time of 14.656, beating the 14.676 of Loren Powers
Jr. Drew Smith and Brenton Smith were the 10 lap heat race winners with
Josh Smith claiming the four lap Trophy Dash win.
Charles
Sanchez won the 30 lap Junior Jammers Main Event. The point leader took
the lead from TJ Sorrels on a Lap 2 restart with Pro.Jammers competitor
Elizabeth ingalls following into second. Sanchez led Ingalls the rest
of the way for the victory. Sorrels battled Charles French for third
before French gained the position on Lap 8 and finished there. Sorrels
settled for fourth ahead of Kendra Land. Sanchez was the fastest Junior
Jammers qualifier at 17.091, and he also won the 10 lap heat race and
four lap Trophy Dash for the clean sweep.
Tia
Everett won the 20 lap Jalopy Main Event. This was her first win of the
year. The Jalopies run on the infield dirt track. John Parker raced
into the early lead ahead of point leader Jack Schlief. Schlief made a
an inside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 3 to take the lead from Parker
as Everett settled into third. Everett moved past Parker for second on
Lap 7. When Schlief got caught up in traffic on Lap 16, Everett moved by
for the lead. Schlief recovered in second, but Everett had a good lead
by then. Sorna Li made a late move around Parker for third, and Everett
won ahead of Schlief, Li, John Parker, Brooke Fallai, Devon Parker,
Martin Tucker, Amber Robertson and Josh Bolton. Parker and Bolton won
the 10 lap heat races.
Racing
returns on September 6th with an Upstate Bomber race. Also competing
will be the Limited Modifieds, Jammers and Jalopies. For further
information, go to the Ukiah Speedway Facebook page.
Zampa, Brown Win MavTV Taped Event At Madera Speedway
Madera,
CA...August 22...Dylan Zampa won the 80 lap Nut Up Pro Late Model Main
Event Saturday night at Madera Speedway. This was his first win in 18
months, and this comes on the heels of his season best third place
finish at the previous Pro Late Model race. This was a taped event for
MavTV, and thanks to nutupindustries.com, the track gave away the broadcast for free for all to see on their YouTube page.
There
were 15 competitors for this event. Point leader Buddy Shepherd was the
quickest qualifier on the 1/3 mile paved at 14.884, beating the 14.944
of Ryan Philpott. Championship contender Ross Strmiska had a 14.976,
just beating the 14.977 of Parker Malone and the 14.980 of Joey Iest.
The
Main Event turned out to be one of the smoothest run races of the
season so far. Zampa had a front row start and charged into the early
lead ahead of Blaine Rocha. Strmiska made a high pass in Turn 2 on Lap 2
to take the second position away, and Shepherd made an outside pass on
the frontstretch on Lap 6 to move into third. As Zampa had a decent
lead, Shepherd began a close battle for second that went on for about 20
laps. Shepherd finally went low in Turn 2 on Lap 28 to take the second
position away from Strmiska as Rocha and Iest battled for fourth. At the
lap 50 break, Zampa led Shepherd, Strmiska, Rocha and Iest.
The
battle figured to be close for the second segment as three-time winner
Shepherd was looking to add another trophy to his mantle place. As Zampa
led Shepherd, Strmiska and Rocha ran closely behind them at first.
Philpott settled into fifth. Rick Thompson spun for a Lap 69 yellow
flag. Joey Iest settled into fifth on the restart, and Zampa began
getting some serious pressure from Shepherd on the restart. Shepherd
kept taking looks to the inside of Zampa, but Zampa was always quick to
close the door. Zampa went on to score the impressive victory ahead of
Shepherd and Strmiska. Rocha was a solid fourth, and recent Madera Late
Model feature winner Sheldon Cooper made a late move to finish fifth.
Cole
Brown won the 70 Lap 51fifty Energy Drink Junior Late Model Main Event.
This was his first win, and he becomes the third different winner of
the season. Brown has been getting help from the Doss Racing Team, and
he's rapidly improved as a result. Brown gave an early indication of
things to come by setting the fast time of 14.999. He becomes the first
Junior Late Model driver to break into the 14 second bracket. Incoming
point leader Bradley Erickson was second quick at 15.076, beating the
15.125 of Jake Bollman, the 15.160 of Kercie Jung and the 15.257 of
Cassidy Hinds.
Looking for his
first win, Bollman set the early pace ahead of Brown and Jung. Erickson
had to work his way into the Top 5, making a low pass in Turn 4 on Lap 9
to take fifth from Kabe McClenny. Erickson made a similar move a lap
later to take fourth from Hinds. A low pass in Turn 4 on Lap 25 moved
Erickson past Jung. Meanwhile, Bollman was getting plenty of pressure
from Brown, who finally made an inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 28
to take the lead. A yellow flag flew when Hailey Liles spun in Turn 4
on Lap 29. Erickson moved past Bollman for second on the restart as
Brown led the way. At the 40 lap break, Brown led Erickson, Jung,
Bollman and McClenny.
Brown
looked very strong in the waning laps of the first segment, and two-time
winner Erickson knew he had his work cut out for him. When the green
flag waved, Brown motored ahead. Unfortunately for Erickson, he wasn't
able to keep pace with Brown, who built a straightaway advantage by the
time the checkered flag flew. Erickson drove a good race and finished
second with Jung grabbing another podium in third. Bollman and Brody
Armtrout completed the Top 5 at the checkered flag.
Jeffrey
Erickson won the 25 lap Bandalero Main Event. This was the
fifth-straight win for the current point leader as he found formidable
competition from Caden Cordova on this occasion. The Bandoleros and the
Mini Cups run their feature race together. Cordova was the fastest
Bandalero at 17.885, beating the 18.183 of Joey Kennealy. It was Harley
Kennealy topping the Mini Cup qualifiers at 18.135, beating the 18.424
of point leader Rebecca Dubie. Harley and Rebecca had a race long battle
for fourth and top Mini Cup finisher.
As
the Bandoleros have a slight speed advantage, they start in front of
the Mini Cups and are generally the ones racing for the overall win.
Cordova raced into the lead at the start ahead of Erickson. Cardova left
the door open a little too far as they went into Turn 3 on Lap 7, and
Erickson moved past to take the lead. At that point, Harley Kennealy was
leading Dubie for the Top Mini Cup finisher, but Dubie moved by for the
position on Lap 12. Bella Thompson brought out a Lap 15 yellow flag,
and Erikson led Cordova, Joey Kennealy, Dubie and Harley Kennealy on
that restart. Cordova was giving Erickson everything he could, and he
ended up spinning on Lap 24 for a yellow flag. Because they put the
Bandoleros in front of the Mini Cup cars on the restarts, Cordova was
able to make another challenge as he moved past Joey Kennealy for
second. However, it was Jeffrey Erickson getting the win ahead of
Cardova and Joey Kennealy. Harley Kennealy was able to take the fourth
position and top Mini Cup spot on the last restart, and Dubie spun in
the final turn trying to regain the position as they completed the Top 5
in the overall finish.
Nick
Halen won the 30 lap Legends of the Pacific Main Event. This was only
their second appearance of the season, and Halen won the previous race
as well. Halen led from the start ahead of Eddie Garone and Bandelero
racer Wyatt Sansom. Ethan Nascimento moved past Sansom for third on Lap
2. A yellow flag flew on Lap 6 for Carlee Austin and Raymond Casey in
Turn 2. Halen continued to lead Garone and Nascimento on the restart as
Kevin Travels settled into fourth. A red flag waved when Top 5 contender
Michael Stearns hit the Turn 4 wall and had his front end clipped by
another car. Fortunately, he was not injured. Halen continued to lead
Garone and Nascimento on the restart. However, Halen pulled away to a
wide margin of victory at the checkered flag. In the close battle for
second, Garone and Nascimento made contact. Garone ended up flipping
across the finish line in a tight three-car battle that saw Garone end
up second ahead of Nascimento, Travels and Sansom. Nascimento was the
quickest of 14 qualifiers with a lap of 16.440, beating the 16.531 of
Garone.
Racing resumes next
Saturday night with the Olga's California Dream 100 Pro Mini Stocks
race. The House of JuJu Central Valley Mini Stocks will be there along
with the Madera Late Models, Madera Hobby Stocks, MSTs and Toyota's.
Thanks to nutupindustries.com, the race will be broadcast for free on the track's YouTube page. For further information, go to www.racemadera.com or check out the Madera Speedway Facebook page.
Chadwick Wins Hetrick Memorial At Antioch Speedway
Antioch,
CA...August 22...Kellen Chadwick won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main
Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. This was the Fourth Annual
Hetrick Memorial race in honor of past Sportsman racer Jerry Hetrick and
his wife Mary Ann Hetrick. The win paid Chadwick $1,000 and was
particularly special to him. Chadwick viewed Hetrick as a mentor as he
was coming up from the Outlaw Karts into IMCA Modified and Late Model
racing. Due to the covid-19 guidelines, fans are still not allowed in
the grandstands, but this race was broadcast via antiochspeedway.tv.
Chadwick
worked his way into the lead and not surprisingly found challenges from
four-time champion and current point leader Troy Foulger and 2018 title
winner Nick DeCarlo. However, nothing was going to stop Chadwick from
claiming the victory. Eight lap heat race winner Foulger settled for
second, followed by DeCarlo, Brian Cass, Jim Pettit II, Aaron Crowell,
JC Elrod, Shawn DeForest, Jeff Browne and Kimo Oreta. Browne was the
other heat race winner.
Fred
Ryland won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. The win paid $600
to the two-time reigning Merced Speedway and 2015 Antioch Speedway
champion. Ryland has been running a more relaxed schedule that sees him
going after some of the bigger money races, and Andrew Peckham has been
doing the same. Peckham presented Ryland with his biggest challenge, but
Ryland forced Peckham to settle for second. Kenny Shrader was a solid
third, followed by 2017 champion KC Keller and championship contender
Trevor Clymens. Past Marysville champion Philip Shelby ended up sixth
ahead of reigning champion Tommy Fraser, point leader Mark Garner,
Andrew Pearce and Kevin Brown. Ryland and Ryan DeForest won the eight
lap heat races.
Les Friend won
the 20 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Service Hobby Stock Main Event. The win
paid $300 to the Placerville point leader. Friend has competed in both
IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds at Antioch in recent years, but he
was part of the biggest Hobby Stock field of the season on this
occasion. In the early going, Friend was challenged by three-time winner
Travis Dutra, but Dutra saw his run end early. Forced to run the B
Main, James Thomson made a charge from the back of the pack, and he
managed to work his way to second behind the flying Friend. Bakersfield
racer Cody Johnson finished third, followed by Jason Robles, Domossie
Scoggins, Gene Haney, Gavin Griffitts, Jeff Bentancourt, Lori Brown and
James Grasselle.
There were 32
Hobby Stocks for this show, giving them five eight lap heat races. The
wins were earned by Friend, DJ Keldsen, Johnson, Larry McKenzie and Jim
Brookshire. Thompson and Griffitts won their respective 10 lap B Mains.
The
IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks will return on
September 6th for the third and final round of the George Steitz Big
Kahuna Freedom Series. This Saturday night, the Tri State Pro Stock
Challenge Series will battle the local Super Stocks, joined by the
Wingless Spec Sprints, Delta Dwarf Cars and Valley Four Bangers. For
further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Dickinson, Greene, Elam Win At Douglas County Speedway
Roseburg,
Oregon...August 22...Ryan Dickinson won the 25 lap PRA Hornet Main
Event Saturday afternoon at Douglas County Speedway. Last time, it was
father Rich Dickinson scoring the victory, but this time it was son Ryan
Dickinson leading all the way for the triumph. Covid-19 guidelines have
been loosened up enough for the track to sell 250 tickets to
spectators, but the race was also broadcast live for free on
541radio.com.
Ryan Dickinson
raced into the lead at the start with Zach Asumendi moving into second
on Lap 2. The yellow flag flew when Mini Stock racer Gary Carnes blew a
motor on the front straightaway on Lap 4. Ryan Dickinson continued to
lead Asumendi on the restart as Ron Johnson settled into third. Haven
Smith and Brian Belt tangled in Turn 4 for a Lap 10 yellow flag, and
Ryan Dickinson continued to lead Johnson and Andy Nelson on the restart.
Rich Dickinson and Asumendi tangled in Turn 3 for a Lap 12 yellow flag.
Ryan Dickinson continued to lead Johnson and Nelson on the restart. The
Mini Stock of Dale Roth moved into fourth on Lap 16 with Rich Dickinson
charging back into fifth by then. Zach Asumendi blew a motor and spun
in Turn 4 for a Lap 22 yellow flag. Track cleanup crews went to work on
cleanup for the three lap shootout. Ryan Dickinson continued to lead the
restart as Nelson moved past Johnson for second. Roth made a good run
on the outside and settled into third, making an outside pass on the
frontstretch on Lap 24 to take second from Nelson. Roth pulled side by
side with Dickinson for a battle to the finish line, but it was Ryan
Dickinson beating Roth by a few inches. Nelson settled for third,
followed by Johnson, the Mini Stock of Chuck Jacobs, Rich Dickinson,
Dylan Grichar, Pete Lemon, Kenny Smith and Valerie West. Heat race wins
went to Asumendi, Ryan Dickinson and Roth. There were a total of 19 cars
for this race.
Kyran Greene
won the 25 lap PRA Hardtop Main Event. The reigning division champion
had a bit of luck on his side for this occasion. Troy Gasner, Greene and
previous winter Harlan Cox moved into the first three positions on the
second lap, and the trio pulled away from the pack. Greene and Cox both
got past Gasner in Turn 2 on Lap 5, and Cox made a Turn 3 pass on Lap 7
to take the lead. Gasner spun on the back straightaway on Lap 16 to
bring out a yellow flag. Cox continued to lead Greene on the restart as
Brian Smith moved past Donnie Fain for third. Brian Lenihan spun in Turn
2 for a Lap 19 yellow flag. During the caution period, Cox lost power
and stalled in Turn 1. His race was over as he joined Lenihan in the
pits. Greene had the lead on the restart and steadily pulled away from
second place finisher Brian Smith by the time the checkered flag waved.
Fain settled for third, followed by Chuck Jacobs, Lenihan, Steve Smith,
Cox and Gansner. Greene outran Cox to win the eight lap heat race, and
Mike Batman was a Main Event scratch.
Tom
Elam won the 35 lap Sport Modified Main Event. The race had just one
yellow flag. Riley Watson jumped into the early lead ahead of Nick
Hansen and Tom Elam. Contact sent Blake Harvey spinning in Turn 2 for a
Lap 2 yellow flag. Watson had just taken the lead from Hansen prior to
the slowdown. On the restart, Elam moved past Hansen into second as
Riley Watson continued to lead the way. The lead two drivers pulled away
as Hansen also began to pull away from John Harvey in the race for
third. On Lap 22, Elam pulled up to the back bumper of Watson to present
a challenge. and he pulled underneath him going though Turns 3 and 4 on
Lap 25. Elam just beat Riley Watson back to the line for the lead. From
there, Elam pulled away steadily from Riley Watson for the victory.
Hansen settled for third, followed by John Harvey, Brad Watson and Blake
Harvey. Elam won the eight lap heat race ahead of John Harvey.
For information on what's next at the speedway, go to www.douglascountyspeedway.com or check out the Douglas County Speedway Facebook page.
Montgomery Gains Point Lead With Win,
Lehman, Emry, Kellam Coos Bay Winners
Lehman, Emry, Kellam Coos Bay Winners
Coos
Bay, Oregon...August 22....Brody Montgomery won the 25 lap NASCAR
America's Mattress Super Late Model Main Event Saturday night at Coos
Bay Speedway. This was the first win of the season for the 2018
champion, and he gained the point lead after incoming point leader Jason
Johnson was a Main Event scratch. Recent Tidal Wave 50 winner Preston
Luckman was going for his fourth win of the season, and after finishing
second to Braden Fugate in the 10 lap heat race, he outran Montgomery to
win the five lap Trophy Dash. Montgomery started in the second row
outside with Luckman lined up behind him. Fugate raced into the early
lead, but Montgomery and Luckman soon got by him. Montgomery would go on
to win with Luckman settling for second ahead of Fugate, Wayne Butler,
Hannah Robison and Mike Taylor.
Blake
Lehman won the 25 lap Street Stock Main Event. He became the sixth
different winner of the season. Reigning champion Steve Dubisar was on a
roll going into the future race after winning the five lap Trophy Dash
and his eight lap heat race, both ahead of 2018 Sportsman Late Model
champion Dyllan Siewell. Dubisar and four-time winner Graig Osborne
lined up in the second row with Lehman starting on the pole. These three
drivers battled at the front of the pack with Lehman prevailing at the
checkered flag ahead of Osborne and Dubisar. Dubisar gained a little
ground on incoming point leader Ken Fox, who finished fifth behind
Siewell. The steady Charlie Withers started back in the seventh row and
finished sixth, followed by Michael Hollingsworth, Troy Chamberlain,
Dustin Hitner and Amanda Solum. Osborne and Lehman were the other eight
lap heat race winners.
Ryan Emry
won the 20 lap Sportsman Late Model Main Event. This was the second
ranked competitor's first win of the season, but he gained little ground
on incoming point leader Trace Fugate, who finished second. Fugate started
on the front row and battled with Emry before Emry took the lead. Eight
lap heat race winner Jared Simmons finished third, followed by Jim Van
Loon and Jim Crabtree. Emry claimed five lap Trophy Dash honors.
Jason
Kellam won the 20 lap Mini Outlaw Main Event. This was his first win of
the season as he becomes the fifth different winner in the class.
Kellam also won the eight lap heat race, putting him on the outside
front row next to the returning Dan Daniels. Seth Christian came from
the third row to present the biggest challenge to Kellam before settling
for second over Daniels. Scott Beaudoin finished fourth ahead of
previous winner and five lap Trophy Dash winner Tahlen Rogers and
incoming point leader Brad Hicks.
Seth
Christian won the 20 lap Hornet Main Event. This was his second win of
the season in that division, and he nearly pulled off a double win after
finishing second in the Mini Outlaw feature. Christian and John Henry
lined up in the second row and both got by the front row of Kevin
Rockwell and William Hitner. Incoming point leader Isaac Stere came from
the fourth row to battle for a Top 3 position. Christian took the
checkered flag ahead of Henry, Stere, Hitner, Dan Briesacher, Rockwell,
Dusty Singleton, Stephanie Nix, Mike Bales and Kris Parker. It was a
clean sweep performance for Christian after he won both his eight lap
heat race and the five lap Trophy Dash. Parker was the other heat
winner.
Griff Smith continued his
domination of the Junior Stingers division by winning the 15 Main
Event, five lap Trophy Dash and his eight lap heat race. Smith is the
two-time reigning champion and current point leader in the Hornet
division for 11 to 14 year olds. Smith started in the second row and
quickly moved into the lead. Third row starters Lily Metzgus and Teagan
Montgomery battled for a Top 3 position. Smith took the checkered flag
ahead of Lily Metzgus, Montgomery, sixth row starter Jordan Wheeler,
James Shingleton, Miles Kirns, Drake Vincent, Nicole Emry, Cameron
Metzgus and Heather Burton. Montgomery was the other heat race winner,
and second ranked Alex Butler was a Main Event scratch after problems in
the Trophy Dash
There were eight
competitors with the OTRO Hardtop group. Main Event results weren't
available, but local Street Stock star Justin Krossman held off Mark
Minter and Dean Cast to win the eight lap heat race, while Larry Mudge
outran Rick Hillmick for the five lap Trophy Dash win.
NASCAR
Whelen All American Series Racing action continues next Saturday night
with the Fourth Annual Street Stock Battle At The Beach. The America's
Mattress Super Late Models will be back along with the Sportsman Late
Models, Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Junior Stingers. For further
information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us or check out the Coos Bay Speedway Facebook page.
Winters, Collins, Doss Win At Lakeport Speedway
Lakeport,
CA...August 22...Scott Winters won the 30 lap NCRA Modified Main Event
Saturday night at Lakeport Speedway. This was the first regular
Lakeport visit of the year for Winters, who is a regular with the North
State Modified Series. Robert Schmidt led the opening lap before Richard
Knight moved by. Winters quickly moved into contention and passed
Knight for the lead on Lap 7. Point leader Mike Sullivan followed into
second. Dustin DeRosier and Ian Elliott moved into third and fourth.
Elliott grabbed the third position on Lap 15. Winters led the rest of
the way to win by nearly a straightaway. Sullivan held off Elliott to
finish second as DeRosier, Donovan Cox, Schmidt, Knight and Kevin Coburn
completed the finishing order. Winters set the fast time on the quarter
mile paved oval at 12.561, beating a 12.764 of Elliott. DeRosier won
the four lap Trophy Dash with Sullivan the 10 lap heat race winner.
Mikey
Collins won the 30 and lap NCRA Taco Bell Bombers Main Event. This was
his fourth win of the season. Jim Kollenborn led early with Collins
moving into second on Lap 5. Collins went by Kollenborn for the lead on
Lap 6. Eddie Klein moved past Kollenborn for the second position and
wasn't too far behind Collins as he would finish second. Kollenborn was
the final lead-lap finisher in third, followed by Klinton Waite, Trevor
Abella, Amber Portlock and Thomas Esberg. Klein won the four lap Trophy
Dash, and Collins held off Klein to win the 10 lap heat race.
Jeremy
Doss won the 30 lap NCRA Legend Car Main Event. Doss jumped into the
lead at the start and led the entire distance. A Lap 28 yellow flag
bunched the field and gave the Daniels siblings a shot at Doss, but he
motored ahead when the green flag waved and brought it home to victory.
Aiden Daniels held off sister and point leader Kylie Daniels to finish
second as David Lee finished fourth, followed by Tom Summers, Nick
Reading, Marc Burch, Trey Daniels and Ethan Imperatrice Aiden Daniels
set the fast time of 13.805 beating 13.869 of Doss. Ten lap heat race
wins were earned by Summers and Doss, and Kylie Daniels beat Doss in the
four lap Trophy Dash to prevent the clean sweep.
Dane
Nissen won the 30 lap Late Model Main Event ahead of Cody Winchell and
Noel McCormick Jr. There were four cars, but Mike Bourbon scratched
after hot laps. Nissen was the fastest qualifier at 12.500 and won both
eight lap heat race and four lap Trophy Dash for the clean sweep.
For further information on coming events, go to the NCRA Lakeport Speedway Facebook page
Henson, James, Fuller, Henson, Humphrey
Repeat Winners With The Yreka Outlaws
Repeat Winners With The Yreka Outlaws
Yreka,
CA...August 21...Merissa Henson won the 500 Open Kart Main Event Friday
night with the Yreka Outlaws at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds track.
Henson is the point leader, and this was her fourth win of the season.
Only a second to rookie Cadyn Smith in her first heat race marred an
otherwise perfect evening. Henson held off championship rival Dryver
Dothage to win the other eight lap heat race and then proceeded to beat
Dothage to win the 15 lap Main Event. Randy Simmons finished third ahead
of Smith and Taylor Fuller.
Jacob
James won his second-straight 250 Outlaw Kart Main Event. The
fourth-generation racer started on the pole and held off second row
starter and point leader Nicolas Perrin to score the victory. James was
one of four different eight lap heat race winners along with Emma
Rodgers, Logan McKnight and reigning champion Cale Cunial. It was Cole
Cunial holding out brother Cale to finish third in the Main Event.
McKnight came from 13th starting to finish fifth in the Main Event,
followed by Ryan Hirschbock, Dryver Dothage, Blake Peery, Drew Barry and
Rodgers.
Brionna Fuller won the
12 lap UAS Speedway Kart Main Event. This was the third win for the
championship contender, and only a second to grandfather Larry Fuller in
the first eight lap heat race marred a perfect evening. She held off
defending champion Steve Rambo to win the second heat and then beat
Rambo in the Main Event. 2016 champion Ed Grubb finished third, followed
by Lori Fuller. Larry Fuller was a Main Event scratch.
Carson
Henson won his second Box Stock Main Event of the season. Reigning
champion Henson and Bentleigh Chapman continue to battle fiercely for
the championship, and they exited the evening locked in a tie. Chapman
and Henson were the eight lap heat race winners. In the Main Event,
Henson got a bigger threat from Mallory Hirschbock, who finished second.
Chapman and Albert Gil Jr completed the finishing order.
Elijah
Humphrey won the 15 lap Beginners Box Stock Main Event. It was a sweep
of Main Event and both eight lap heat races for Humphrey, but he still
finds himself trailing Talia Cilley by 26 points in the championship
chase. Liam Tesdale finished second ahead of Colley. Urijah Boardman was
a Main Event scratch.
The
regular lineup of Outlaw Karts will be back for another show next Friday
night. For further information, go to the Yreka Outlaws Facebook page.
Championship Night At Marysville Raceway On Wednesday
Marysville,
CA...When it comes to getting the dirt tracks opened again in
California, Marysville Raceway has been a leader in the effort. This
Wednesday night will be the tenth and final point race for the Winged
360 Sprint Cars. It will also be broadcast live on floracing.com.
Joining the Sprint Cars will be the Pepsi IMCA Sport Modifieds for
their final point race, the NorCal Dwarf Cars and the California
Hardtops. The track will only allow the first 100 people who show up to
pay to spectate due to covid-19 guidelines.
Two-time
reigning Placerville Speedway champion Andy Forsberg has had an
up-and-down year. Though he does have a feature win, he had one night
when he was battling for victory and he flipped in Turn 1. Forsberg had a
flat tire nearly derail his effort last time out, but he got it changed
and managed to get a Top 10 finish. In doing so, he maintains a 39
point advantage over reigning champion Michael Ing. Ing has also had a
challenging season with four Top 5 finishes and no victories to his
credit.
The Carrick brothers have
been stars of the show this year. Third-ranked Blake Carrick has a win,
and sixth ranked Tanner Carrick has a pair of victories. Tanner won the
last time out, and Blake had second until being passed on the final lap
by multi-time champion Colby Wiesz. Blake Carrick is 34 points behind
Ing in the battle for second, and he also leads Brad Bumgarner by 38
points. Bumgarner has a little bit closer competition in the race for
fourth, three points ahead of Alec Justeson and 11 in front of Tanner
Carrick. It's been a wide-open battle all season long as only Tanner
Carrick has more than one win to his credit. Other winners this season
include reigning Chico champion Sean Becker, Shane Golobic, John Michael
Bunch, DJ Netto and Ryan Robinson.
The
IMCA Sport Modified battle is close and could go either way this
Wednesday. Following his first win of the season, State point leader
Timothy Allerdings moved three points ahead of Jimmy Ford in the
hotly-contested battle. Ford is a two-time Mini Stock champion at the
track, but he would love to get his first Sport Modified title. Only
eight points behind Allerdings is past champion Mike Merritt. Scott
Savell is 13 points out of the lead and Jason Ferguson is 14 points
back. It might come down to the Top 3 drivers, but everybody is hoping
to get a win before the season concludes. Other winners so far include
past champion Philip Shelby, Justin Funkhouser, Todd Cooper and two-time
winner Andrew Peckham.
The
NorCal Dwarf Cars haven't had too many opportunities to go racing this
year as the virus has seen the cancellation of many of their events. The
group is happy to be hosting the Western States Dwarf Car Nationals on
the final weekend of September, and this Wednesday's race will be a tune
up for them. Reigning champion Michael "Spanky" Grenert as well as past
champions Ryan Winter and Shawn Jones have been fast this year and have
won with other groups. Jones won the most recent race at Marysville.
They might lead the charge for victory this Wednesday, but NorCal is a
very competitive bunch. Among the others to keep an eye on are Ben
Wiesz, Tim Fitzpatrick, Wade Erlich, Dylan Shrum and Dan Geil.
The
California Hardtop Association isn't getting too many opportunities to
race these days due to the virus shut down, but they are on the schedule
on Wednesday night. The two Hardtop races that have been held so far
have been won by the Junkyard Dog owned by Doug Braudrick and driven by
Joel Hannagan. The car is a replica of the car owned by Dick Braudrick
and driven at Vallejo Speedway in the 1970s. The top driver in the group
last season, Ron Ruiz, has a new paint scheme and is coming off of a
podium finish at the Placerville race. Ron has been one of the faster
competitors whenever he's been at the track. Some of the drivers to
watch for at this event include Ken Clifford, Joe Shenefield and Dennis
Armstrong.
This will be the last
regular point event at Marysville Raceway, although the Crate Sprints
and Limited Late Models will have their point finale events during the
Dwarf Car Nationals on the final weekend of September. To find out all
of that information, go to www.marysvilleraceway.com or the Marysville Raceway Facebook page. To watch this show streaming live on internet pay-per-view, go to www.floracing.com.
Ukiah Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
B Bombers
Dave Land
Nate Hoben
Jr Jammers
Christian Sanchez
Charles French
TJ Sorrels
Kendra Land
Limited Modifeds
Mike Lovell
Jason Philpot
Mike Doss
Jared Martin
Roy Ingalls Jr
Tyler Caturegli
Kylei Keown
Loren Powers Jr
Dennis Anderson
Bo Robertson
Bombers
Charley Tour
Simi Tour
Roy Ingalls Jr
Josh Smith
Brandon Powers
Raymond Taylor
Loren Powers Jr
Bradley Dale
Drew Smith
Dave Land
Brenton Smith
Pro Jammers
Elizabeth Ingalls
Jalopies
Tia Everett
Jack Schleif
Sorna Li
John Parker
Brooke Fallai
Devon Parker
Martin Tucker
Amber Robertson
Josh Bolton
Richard Swing DNS
Justin Johnson DNS
Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
America's Mattress Super Late Models
Brody Montgomery
Preston Luckman
Braden Fugate
Wayne Butler
Hannah Robinson
Mike Taylor
Sportsman Late Models
Ryan Emry
Trace Fugate
Jared Simmons
Jim Van Loon
jim CRABTREE
Street Stocks
Blake Lehman
Graig Osborne
Steve Dubisar
dylan siewell
Ken Fox
Charlie Withers
Michael Hollingsworth
Troy Chamberlain
Dustin Hitner
AMANDA SOLUM
Sam Talon
Peyton Reigard
Leroy Rockwell
Mini Outlaws
Jason Kellam
Seth Christian
Dan Daniels
Scott Beaudoin
Tahlen Rogers
Brad Hicks
Hornets
Seth Christian
John Henry
Isaac Stere
William Hitner
Dan Briesacher
Kevin Rockwell
Dusty Shingleton
Stephanie Nix
Mike Bales
Kris Parker
Jamie Daniels
JR Stingers
Griff Smith
Lily Metzgus
Teagan Montgomery
Jordan Wheeler
James Shingleton
miles kirns
Drake Vincent
Nicole Emry
Cameron Metzgus
Heather Burton
Alexus Baker
OTRO Hardtops
Dash 1
larry mudge
rick hillmick
CHRIS MEHRER
Matt Butler
Heat 1
Justin Krossman
MARK MINTER
DEAN CAST
CHRIS MEHRER
larry mudge
rick hillmick
Matt Butler
Siskiyou Golden Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
IMCA Modifieds
Jeffrey Hudson
Albert Gill
Travis Peery
Duane Orsburn
James Welshonse
Jeremy Crebs
Jefferson State Jalopies
JJ Smith
Marilyn Yawnick
Ron Morris
Karl Bernstein
Mini Stocks
David Steele
Ashtin Hedges
Steve Goetz
Hunter Magnan
Mike Whitaker
Marilyn Yawnick
Terry Alford Sr
Paige Boswell
Kassidy Wilkinson
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Jorddon Braaten
Ethan Killingsworth
Ryan Peery
Randy Wight
Michael Medel
Trevor Tiffee
Colt Boswell
Jace Wright
Outlaw Pro Stocks Stocks
Scott Flowers
Rick Lukens
James Flowers
Jeff Haudenshild
Matt Harlow
Johnny Cobb
Colby Hammond
Darek Alford
Dennis Burtenhouse Jr
NCRA Lakeport Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
NCRA Modifieds
Results are not official
1 #24 Scott Winters
2 #5 Mike Sulivan
3 #27 Ian Elliott
4 #12 Dustin DeRosier
5 #13 Donovan Cox
6 #37 Robert Schmidt
7 #15 Richard Knight
8 #89 Kevin Coburn
NCRA Tace Bell Bombers
Results are not official
1 #79 Mike Collins
2 #13 Eddie Klein
3 #17 Jim Kollenborn
4 #18 Klinton Waite
5 #51 Trevor Abella
6 #75x Amber Portlock
7 #00 Thomas Esberg
NCRA Legends Cars
Results are not official
1 #24c Jeremy Doss
2 #8 Aiden Daniels
3 #7 Kylie Daniels
4 #44 David Lee
5 #64 Tom Summers
6 #20 Nick Reading
7 #3m Marc Burch
8 #3 Trey Daniels
9 #83 Ethen Imperatrice
LATE MODELS
Results are not official
1 #98 Dane Nissen
2 #12c Cody Winchel
3 #99 Noel McCormack Jr
Petaluma Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
Ninth Annual Johnny Soares Classic
PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints/Hunt Wingless Sprints
Bradley Terrell
Daniel Whitley
Terry Schank Jr
DJ Johnson
DayDay Lindt
Dylan Bloomfield
Matt Streeter
Boy Moniz
Josh Young
Shayna Ensign
Matt Stewart
Ryon Siverling
Bob Davis
Kevin Box
Angelique Bell
Tony Bernard
Tim Sherman Jr
Eden McCormick
Kaimi Moniz-Costa
Paul Vandenberg
Keith Calvino
Jessica Walker
Nick Robfogel
Scott Clough
McLeas's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds
Top Dog Nationals
Anthony Slaney
Trevor Brady
Jerry Roy Jr
Michelle Paul
Jim Weiler
Justin Yaeger
Gary Zwicker
David Spriggs
Michael Paul Jr
Steve Studebaker
Oreste Gonnella
Jake Dewsbury
Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros
Jim Beck
George Nielson
Justin Adiego
Carroll Mendenhall
Shiloh Borland
Sam Borland
Savannah Brown
Rob Brown
Trevor Mendenhall
Amber Fields
Kyle Grisson
Danny Carroll
Charlie Emery
Irwindale Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekley
Pick Your Part Late Models
Main Event #1
Dean Thompson
Dylan Garner
Tanner Reif
Nick Joanides
Lucas McNeil
Lawless Alan
Dustin Vandermooren
Kevin Furden
Rodney Peacher
Takuma Okada
David Sear
Glenn Schwenger
Main Event #2
Dean Thompson
Lucas McNeil
Dylan Garner
Lawless Alan
Dustin Vandermooren
Tanner Reif
Rodney Peacher
Takuma Okada
Glenn Schwenger
Nick Joanides
David Sear
Kevin Furden
Spec Trucks/Late Models
Andy Partridge
Andrew Porter
Jake Drew
Kenny Smith
Will Brown
Troy Andersen
L.J. Billings
Bory Molina
Jacob McNeil
Steve Lozano
Mark Perry Jr
Dennis Arena
Enduro
Main Event #1
Results are not official
1 #71sp Bory Molina
2 #9sp Rodney Argo
3 #4sp Ian Rotundo
4 #7 Robert Rice
5 #37sp James Bolinas
6 #22 Tony Price
7 #27sp Joseph Bereiter
8 #35 John Beard
9 #18sp Bobby Ozman
10 #62 Brad Stellman
11 #3 Cheryl Hyland
12 #19 Jason Woolcott
13 #16 Robbie Salcido
14 #39sp Joe Furlow
15 #73 Sonya Klaus
16 #6sp Mike McIntyre
17 #57 Trish Rojas
18 #88sp Rick Conti
19 #49 Daniel Azzolina
Main Event #2
Results are not official
1 #9sp Rodney Argo
2 #71sp Bory Molina
3 #27sp Joseph Bereiter
4 #18sp Bobby Ozman
5 #4sp Ian Rotundo
6 #16 Robbie Salcido
7 #6sp Mike McIntyre
8 #7 Robert Rice
9 #88sp Rick Conti
10 #62 Brad Stellman
11 #22 Tony Price
12 #35 John Beard
13 #39sp Joe Furlow
14 #3 Cheryl Hyland
15 #73 Sonya Klaus
16 #57 Trish Rojas
17 #37sp James Bolinas
Super Stock
Bryan Harrell
Robert Harryman
Jason DeLong
Jim Vermillion
Harry Michaelian
Kevin James
Jerry Toporek
Jay Verduzco
Rich DeLong III
Legends
Tyler Reif
Lawless Alan
Tyler Hicks
Mike Vanderlip
Christen Bazen
Skyler Meisenbach
Cottage Grove Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
IMCA Modifieds
John Campos
Jake Mayden
Steven Sturdevant
Aaron Scheelar
Paul Rea
Wayne Sturdevant
Brody Sim
Tom Lawson
Roy Kirk Jr
Dick Wright
Jason Begley
Eric Ashley
Chad Groves
Ray Bloom
Eston Whisler DQ
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Doug Coffman
Hunter Bloom
Jordan Henry
Steven Sanders
KC Scott
David Schmidt
Travis Pruitt
Shawn Hand
Aaron Bloom
Gavin Ropchan
Chuck Carson
Matt Brown
Jeff Cluff
Jayson Nelson
Dustin Comer
Daniel Ray
Matt Sanders
Mike DeSilva
Joby Shields
B Main
Daniel Ray
KC Scott
Shawn Hand
Joby Shields
Jim Smith
Dalton Bloom
Roger Bell
Senior Sprints
Brian Crockett
David Marble
Chris Rolfe
Kevin Journey
Gene Ashley
Dave Button
Late Models
Jimmy Whistler
Chuck Christian
Chad Groves
Willie Sutton
Bruce Rayburn Jr
Street Stocks
Colby Clay
Garrett Barth
Eric Freeman
Jake Mayden
Anthony Prather
Braeden Casto
Mark Farrar
IMCA Sport Compacts
Ricky Ashley
Brad Moffett
Mark Milligan
Barry Cannon
Jeremy DeGrout
Cole Trissell
Jason Loucks
Tim Meltibarger
Bradley Martin
Tyler Fagen
Kerry Cooper
Nick Egbert
Dusten Henderson
Kimberly Cannon
Scarlett Drake
Yreka Outlaw Karts Unoficial Race Results August 21, 2020
Beginner Box Stock
Elijah Humphrey
Liam Tesdal
Talia Colley
Urijah Boardman DNS
Box Stock
Carson Henson
Mallory Hirschbock
Bentleigh Chapman
Albert Gill Jr
UAS Speedways
Brionna Fuller
Steve Rambo
Ed Grubb
Lori Fuller
Larry Fuller DNS
250 Outlaw
Jacob James
Nicholas Perrin
Cole Cunial
Cale Cunial
Logan McKnight
RYAN HIRSCHBOCK
Dryver Dothage
Blake Peery
Drew Berry
Emma Rodgers
Faith McCollough
Dallin Dagata
Morgan Berry
500 Outlaw
Merissa Henson
Dryver Dothage
Randy Simmons
Cadyn Smith
Taylor Fuller
Ukiah Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
B Bombers
Dave Land
Nate Hoben
Jr Jammers
Christian Sanchez
Charles French
TJ Sorrels
Kendra Land
Limited Modifeds
Mike Lovell
Jason Philpot
Mike Doss
Jared Martin
Roy Ingalls Jr
Tyler Caturegli
Kylei Keown
Loren Powers Jr
Dennis Anderson
Bo Robertson
Bombers
Charley Tour
Simi Tour
Roy Ingalls Jr
Josh Smith
Brandon Powers
Raymond Taylor
Loren Powers Jr
Bradley Dale
Drew Smith
Dave Land
Brenton Smith
Pro Jammers
Elizabeth Ingalls
Jalopies
Tia Everett
Jack Schleif
Sorna Li
John Parker
Brooke Fallai
Devon Parker
Martin Tucker
Amber Robertson
Josh Bolton
Richard Swing DNS
Justin Johnson DNS
Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
America's Mattress Super Late Models
Brody Montgomery
Preston Luckman
Braden Fugate
Wayne Butler
Hannah Robinson
Mike Taylor
Sportsman Late Models
Ryan Emry
Trace Fugate
Jared Simmons
Jim Van Loon
jim CRABTREE
Street Stocks
Blake Lehman
Graig Osborne
Steve Dubisar
dylan siewell
Ken Fox
Charlie Withers
Michael Hollingsworth
Troy Chamberlain
Dustin Hitner
AMANDA SOLUM
Sam Talon
Peyton Reigard
Leroy Rockwell
Mini Outlaws
Jason Kellam
Seth Christian
Dan Daniels
Scott Beaudoin
Tahlen Rogers
Brad Hicks
Hornets
Seth Christian
John Henry
Isaac Stere
William Hitner
Dan Briesacher
Kevin Rockwell
Dusty Shingleton
Stephanie Nix
Mike Bales
Kris Parker
Jamie Daniels
JR Stingers
Griff Smith
Lily Metzgus
Teagan Montgomery
Jordan Wheeler
James Shingleton
miles kirns
Drake Vincent
Nicole Emry
Cameron Metzgus
Heather Burton
Alexus Baker
OTRO Hardtops
Dash 1
larry mudge
rick hillmick
CHRIS MEHRER
Matt Butler
Heat 1
Justin Krossman
MARK MINTER
DEAN CAST
CHRIS MEHRER
larry mudge
rick hillmick
Matt Butler
Siskiyou Golden Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
IMCA Modifieds
Jeffrey Hudson
Albert Gill
Travis Peery
Duane Orsburn
James Welshonse
Jeremy Crebs
Jefferson State Jalopies
JJ Smith
Marilyn Yawnick
Ron Morris
Karl Bernstein
Mini Stocks
David Steele
Ashtin Hedges
Steve Goetz
Hunter Magnan
Mike Whitaker
Marilyn Yawnick
Terry Alford Sr
Paige Boswell
Kassidy Wilkinson
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Jorddon Braaten
Ethan Killingsworth
Ryan Peery
Randy Wight
Michael Medel
Trevor Tiffee
Colt Boswell
Jace Wright
Outlaw Pro Stocks Stocks
Scott Flowers
Rick Lukens
James Flowers
Jeff Haudenshild
Matt Harlow
Johnny Cobb
Colby Hammond
Darek Alford
Dennis Burtenhouse Jr
NCRA Lakeport Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
NCRA Modifieds
Results are not official
1 #24 Scott Winters
2 #5 Mike Sulivan
3 #27 Ian Elliott
4 #12 Dustin DeRosier
5 #13 Donovan Cox
6 #37 Robert Schmidt
7 #15 Richard Knight
8 #89 Kevin Coburn
NCRA Tace Bell Bombers
Results are not official
1 #79 Mike Collins
2 #13 Eddie Klein
3 #17 Jim Kollenborn
4 #18 Klinton Waite
5 #51 Trevor Abella
6 #75x Amber Portlock
7 #00 Thomas Esberg
NCRA Legends Cars
Results are not official
1 #24c Jeremy Doss
2 #8 Aiden Daniels
3 #7 Kylie Daniels
4 #44 David Lee
5 #64 Tom Summers
6 #20 Nick Reading
7 #3m Marc Burch
8 #3 Trey Daniels
9 #83 Ethen Imperatrice
LATE MODELS
Results are not official
1 #98 Dane Nissen
2 #12c Cody Winchel
3 #99 Noel McCormack Jr
Petaluma Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
Ninth Annual Johnny Soares Classic
PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints/Hunt Wingless Sprints
Bradley Terrell
Daniel Whitley
Terry Schank Jr
DJ Johnson
DayDay Lindt
Dylan Bloomfield
Matt Streeter
Boy Moniz
Josh Young
Shayna Ensign
Matt Stewart
Ryon Siverling
Bob Davis
Kevin Box
Angelique Bell
Tony Bernard
Tim Sherman Jr
Eden McCormick
Kaimi Moniz-Costa
Paul Vandenberg
Keith Calvino
Jessica Walker
Nick Robfogel
Scott Clough
McLeas's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds
Top Dog Nationals
Anthony Slaney
Trevor Brady
Jerry Roy Jr
Michelle Paul
Jim Weiler
Justin Yaeger
Gary Zwicker
David Spriggs
Michael Paul Jr
Steve Studebaker
Oreste Gonnella
Jake Dewsbury
Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros
Jim Beck
George Nielson
Justin Adiego
Carroll Mendenhall
Shiloh Borland
Sam Borland
Savannah Brown
Rob Brown
Trevor Mendenhall
Amber Fields
Kyle Grisson
Danny Carroll
Charlie Emery
Irwindale Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekley
Pick Your Part Late Models
Main Event #1
Dean Thompson
Dylan Garner
Tanner Reif
Nick Joanides
Lucas McNeil
Lawless Alan
Dustin Vandermooren
Kevin Furden
Rodney Peacher
Takuma Okada
David Sear
Glenn Schwenger
Main Event #2
Dean Thompson
Lucas McNeil
Dylan Garner
Lawless Alan
Dustin Vandermooren
Tanner Reif
Rodney Peacher
Takuma Okada
Glenn Schwenger
Nick Joanides
David Sear
Kevin Furden
Spec Trucks/Late Models
Andy Partridge
Andrew Porter
Jake Drew
Kenny Smith
Will Brown
Troy Andersen
L.J. Billings
Bory Molina
Jacob McNeil
Steve Lozano
Mark Perry Jr
Dennis Arena
Enduro
Main Event #1
Results are not official
1 #71sp Bory Molina
2 #9sp Rodney Argo
3 #4sp Ian Rotundo
4 #7 Robert Rice
5 #37sp James Bolinas
6 #22 Tony Price
7 #27sp Joseph Bereiter
8 #35 John Beard
9 #18sp Bobby Ozman
10 #62 Brad Stellman
11 #3 Cheryl Hyland
12 #19 Jason Woolcott
13 #16 Robbie Salcido
14 #39sp Joe Furlow
15 #73 Sonya Klaus
16 #6sp Mike McIntyre
17 #57 Trish Rojas
18 #88sp Rick Conti
19 #49 Daniel Azzolina
Main Event #2
Results are not official
1 #9sp Rodney Argo
2 #71sp Bory Molina
3 #27sp Joseph Bereiter
4 #18sp Bobby Ozman
5 #4sp Ian Rotundo
6 #16 Robbie Salcido
7 #6sp Mike McIntyre
8 #7 Robert Rice
9 #88sp Rick Conti
10 #62 Brad Stellman
11 #22 Tony Price
12 #35 John Beard
13 #39sp Joe Furlow
14 #3 Cheryl Hyland
15 #73 Sonya Klaus
16 #57 Trish Rojas
17 #37sp James Bolinas
Super Stock
Bryan Harrell
Robert Harryman
Jason DeLong
Jim Vermillion
Harry Michaelian
Kevin James
Jerry Toporek
Jay Verduzco
Rich DeLong III
Legends
Tyler Reif
Lawless Alan
Tyler Hicks
Mike Vanderlip
Christen Bazen
Skyler Meisenbach
Cottage Grove Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 22, 2020
IMCA Modifieds
John Campos
Jake Mayden
Steven Sturdevant
Aaron Scheelar
Paul Rea
Wayne Sturdevant
Brody Sim
Tom Lawson
Roy Kirk Jr
Dick Wright
Jason Begley
Eric Ashley
Chad Groves
Ray Bloom
Eston Whisler DQ
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Doug Coffman
Hunter Bloom
Jordan Henry
Steven Sanders
KC Scott
David Schmidt
Travis Pruitt
Shawn Hand
Aaron Bloom
Gavin Ropchan
Chuck Carson
Matt Brown
Jeff Cluff
Jayson Nelson
Dustin Comer
Daniel Ray
Matt Sanders
Mike DeSilva
Joby Shields
B Main
Daniel Ray
KC Scott
Shawn Hand
Joby Shields
Jim Smith
Dalton Bloom
Roger Bell
Senior Sprints
Brian Crockett
David Marble
Chris Rolfe
Kevin Journey
Gene Ashley
Dave Button
Late Models
Jimmy Whistler
Chuck Christian
Chad Groves
Willie Sutton
Bruce Rayburn Jr
Street Stocks
Colby Clay
Garrett Barth
Eric Freeman
Jake Mayden
Anthony Prather
Braeden Casto
Mark Farrar
IMCA Sport Compacts
Ricky Ashley
Brad Moffett
Mark Milligan
Barry Cannon
Jeremy DeGrout
Cole Trissell
Jason Loucks
Tim Meltibarger
Bradley Martin
Tyler Fagen
Kerry Cooper
Nick Egbert
Dusten Henderson
Kimberly Cannon
Scarlett Drake
Yreka Outlaw Karts Unoficial Race Results August 21, 2020
Beginner Box Stock
Elijah Humphrey
Liam Tesdal
Talia Colley
Urijah Boardman DNS
Box Stock
Carson Henson
Mallory Hirschbock
Bentleigh Chapman
Albert Gill Jr
UAS Speedways
Brionna Fuller
Steve Rambo
Ed Grubb
Lori Fuller
Larry Fuller DNS
250 Outlaw
Jacob James
Nicholas Perrin
Cole Cunial
Cale Cunial
Logan McKnight
RYAN HIRSCHBOCK
Dryver Dothage
Blake Peery
Drew Berry
Emma Rodgers
Faith McCollough
Dallin Dagata
Morgan Berry
500 Outlaw
Merissa Henson
Dryver Dothage
Randy Simmons
Cadyn Smith
Taylor Fuller
The Editor's Viewpoint
I
had hoped to put this post up sooner, but I had a technical issue.
While working on the results articles, somehow I managed to delete most
of them. Since I use my phone to help me with all of this, there was no
easy way to get that back. It required starting over again. I use my
phone in the writing process because it enables me to stand up and be
mobile, rather than sitting at the desk all the time. It's not a quicker
process, but it does help. It certainly doesn't help when you lose so
much and basically lose a day in the process. I was almost going to give
this one up, but I decided not to.
We
continue to try to make the best of it during this difficult situation.
We have strong opinions on both sides of the issue when it comes to the
virus, and we're still hearing bad news mixed in with the good. We're
coming towards the end of August, and that remains the case. As if to
make matters worse, the extreme heat and the lightning strikes have
ignited several fires throughout California, and that's led to poor air
quality. I guess that's good news for people who have no problem wearing
the mask. It sort of comes in more handy when you're dealing with the
smoke. I know there's quite a few people wishing we could hit the
fast-forward button and get out of this year, but I'm looking for
rewind. Send me about 40 years back please.
As
the tracks were making their plans for this weekend's activities, they
knew there were fires in the area in Watsonville. Air quality was not so
great in Petaluma. This prompted the Wingless Spec Sprint competitors
to request their 50 lap Main Event be reduced to 30 laps to make it
easier on the racers. At Watsonville, families were relocated with their
animals to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, but management was hoping
they would still be able to run the 60th Annual Johnny Key Classic.
They maintained that stance until hearing from displaced families.
The
track's gesture was going to be one of giving these displaced families
some entertainment. Ironically, that meant fans would actually be up in
the grandstands, although these wouldn't be paying customers. However,
many of the families declined the offer on the grounds that it might
agitate their animals. I'm really not surprised by that as probably more
often than not, animal people are going to choose to shut down cars
when they can. I'm sorry if that sounds a little bit grumpy, but that's
been my experience.
I'm not
pointing a finger at anybody here, because I honestly would have
canceled the races the minute they started evacuating people to the
fairgrounds. It's not like management wouldn't have an excuse to do so.
You can't sell customers tickets, so you're running your big Sprint Car
show without fans. You can say you tried, but circumstances ended
things. Watsonville is certainly not the first track that's tried to do
something for displaced families in a similar situation. I recall Merced
Speedway a few years back wanting to entertain the fire crews with a
private race, but the crews declined because some of them were trying to
get some sleep. Perfectly understandable.
As
I am trying to wrap up this particular post, the news came out already
that Watsonville would not be having a race this weekend either. We
already knew that the NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint
Car race was not happening, but I think they could have put the Taco
Bravo Sprint Cars in there and ran everything else as originally
scheduled. Since people are still relocated at the fairgrounds, it's not
happening. They will look ahead to the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial
Shootout that happens on the final weekend of September.
We're
dealing with a virus that people are still questioning the legitimacy
of, and now we've got fires. Some people might be asking if the locusts
are next. People are speculating that come November, this whole thing
will end. Once the people make their vote, the people who don't like the
guy in the office will just have to try something else if he gets
reelected.
I'm shaking my head
here, because this is bigger than a person in the oval office, and the
light switch probably won't suddenly be shut off, regardless of the
outcome. I would encourage people to go vote for whatever it is they
believe in, but don't think that suddenly on November 4th things are
going to be ok. My opinion is that we are witnessing something that the
powers-that-be are attempting to use to change life as we know it. You
may see it differently.
We keep
looking for signs in our sport that things are going to get back to
normal again, and there is more discouraging news than good news in that
area. While I noticed that there's a race coming up at Barona Speedway
that allows some fans, I'm not hearing much other news on that front. As
I'm writing this, I haven't seen the particular details on what will be
allowed at Barona. I believe that race track is on Native American
land, so they may be subject to whatever the tribal law is. Generally,
the tribes are trying to be in line with what the government is doing,
but I don't want to speculate on what's going to be allowed there once
the cars hit the track and they race in front of fans.
It
looks as if much of the USAC schedule has been dropped through
September. There are a few USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car or USAC
Western Midget events set to take place at Petaluma Speedway, but other
bigger races have been canceled. We knew that was going to be the case
when the Louie Vermeil Memorial race was canceled a couple of months ago
at Calistoga. The other tracks followed suit, but we were looking at
the Petaluma Speedway race date on September 7th and wondering if Rick
Faeth was going to fight for that date. I think he was at first, but
it's just too big of a purse. Furthermore, how many racers would come up
from Southern California just for the one visit to Petaluma? Canceled.
We
were speculating on what Ocean Speedway might do on August 28th. This
was a NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Car Series race,
and they hadn't said anything about canceling it. Since they fought for
the Howard Kaeding Classic, we were wondering. Then again, nobody from
NARC was saying a word, which was not a good sign. This was also the
time of year where they were trying to reform the old Speedweek Series.
They're getting closer, and though there were several dates during a
week's time, they weren't referring to it as Speedweek yet. Sadly, the
whole week was lost, including the Watsonville date. I think there were
over a half-dozen races lost.
The
sixty-year-old Winged 410 Sprint Car organization has had one race this
year, and we don't know if October will yield an event for them,
perhaps in Hanford. We do know that the Gary Patterson Tribute race is
still on the schedule at the Stockton Dirt Track, and we also know that
Tony Noceti was fighting to give them a race on Labor Day weekend before
the county health officials made that impossible to do. I'm not
suggesting that the November race will be lost or won. I am simply
saying that Tony might be trying to make it happen. The way things are
going, the news can go either way. There are other divisions involved in
visits there in November, including the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge
Series.
Also ahead on the
calendar, we know that the Chowchilla Barn Burner Outlaw Kart Series
will not get started in 2020. The fairgrounds facility will not be
available to them at that time. This doesn't mean that they won't try to
put something together early next year if they can, but don't hold your
breath. The signs aren't encouraging, but news can change. We know that
there are no plans to run the Barn Burner through the end of 2020. The
news further up north regarding the Outlaw Karts is a little bit more
hopeful.
The biggest Outlaw Kart
events during the winter months happen in Red Bluff. The Red Bluff
Outlaws will get their season started as scheduled, according to their
Facebook page. However, they cannot allow fans to come spectate at this
time. With an Outlaw Kart program, things are just a little bit
different. How many people actually go to the races just to spectate one
of these shows? Since this event is bigger than your average show,
there probably are some. However, many of the people that come to these
events are associated with one kart or another. Therefore, it's almost
going to be business as usual. They will be able to do some racing.
The
absurdity of this whole deal is that Red Bluff officials announced that
they will allow the crews to sit up in the empty grandstands, wearing
masks and observing social distance guidelines. These regulations make
absolutely no sense to me. My opinion is that they are designed more to
see what people will agree to obey. What's the difference between crew
members wearing masks and sitting in the grandstands at a social
distance and selling a certain amount of tickets to fans to allow them
to do the same? If your answer is absolutely nothing, you are correct.
It's no more unsafe to allow a crew member to do this than a paying
spectator, but this isn't about safety.
This
is about control and compliance. We can't let the average person think
that they can enjoy any entertainment. If you let people buy so many
tickets so that you can maintain social distance in the grandstands,
it's still not exactly normal. However, you allow the people willing to
take that risk an opportunity to buy a ticket and enjoy a night at the
races. What they're saying by allowing racing to continue without fans
is very inconsistent. Are you saying that this "deadly disease" might
kill the racers, but you could give a damn if they die, or are you
saying something else? What exactly are you saying?
If
you're saying that this is the way for hobbyists to enjoy their bit of
recreation, that's fine. However, since when has a night at the races
been just about the hobbyist on the race track and not about the fans
too? The answer is it was always about the fans as well as the racers.
I've had that conversation with Mike, who thinks that we could go down
the road in the future where it's pay to play at the track and we don't
get fans. This could be the vehicle by which it happens, but that's only
speculation. What I am saying is if it's safe for racers and their crew
members to be at the track and observe social distancing in how they
are allowed to sit in the grandstands, it's safe for fans to do it as
well. You'll never convince me otherwise, so don't bother with a
rebuttal.
It comes back to that
number of 250 that they have used at Hermiston Raceway and Douglas
County Speedway. They are saying that we can do social distancing and
allow 250 people in the stands. I think most grandstands could probably
fit a few more than that, but that's the number they use. Nobody's
getting too close to each other, they're all wearing masks and those
fans enjoy a night at the races. Why can't every track at least do that?
By the way, Hermiston Raceway hopes to be back to Phase 2 again by
September 11th, and that means that they could be racing on September
19th with a twilight program and an evening program with 250 spectators
at each.
As we were going to
press with our post on Friday mornings, we received word that Coos Bay
Speedway had lost their liquor license. This is something that should
cause concern to the fans who have been enjoying activity at the oval
track and the drag strip. The way Drake Nelson has been able to get
spectators at his venue has been by referring to his place as a bar and
grill. The bar part is now closed until he can have a hearing. The OLCC
revoked his liquor license for the rest of the year. It should be noted
that this had nothing to do with serving alcohol to minors. It had
everything to do with the governor's mask regulations and concern that
the track wasn't following them or the social distance guidelines
properly.
The concern will come
if something happens with their food license next. I'd be just a little
bit worried. The liquor license news came later in the week, and maybe
if somebody were trying to do something else, they didn't get the
paperwork in order before the week ended. This is pure speculation on my
part, and I'm only looking at this from the worst case scenario. If
something should happen or they lose their food serving license, they
can no longer call themselves a bar and grill. How can you call yourself
that if you aren't serving either food or drink? Therefore, you might
not be able to get fans at that point.
I
know there are people in the racing community who are a little bit
upset about this, but can you say you're surprised? Anybody who believes
that what Drake has been doing in Coos Bay has been within the letter
of the regulations is simply in denial. We can question whether these
are legal rules or not, and I agree that they aren't. I believe
governors are over-reaching, but they still have the authorities on
their side. They can still send you cease and desist letters and send
the law to deal with you personally, so you have to be prepared for that
when you take the fight to them.
Up
until now, Coos Bay Speedway has been the shining light of race tracks
opening as close to normal as possible on the West Coast. I don't think
the average they've been getting in the grandstands is much different
than one of their average shows during normal times, and their pits have
been inflated as other Oregon tracks were sitting dark. With Willamette
Speedway now opening along with Cottage Grove Speedway, the numbers in
the pits have begun to dip, so the money coming in won't be quite what
it was. I don't blame Drake for taking the risk, because he saw dollar
signs. On the other hand, he knew something bad could be around the
corner.
Within the racing
community, you've got people quietly policing each other. Don't say this
or don't say that. Suddenly, pictures of how the grandstands looked at
Coos Bay stopped circulating around the internet for people to see. The
racing community knew what was going on, but people who aren't for
racing are another matter. They didn't want them paying attention. My
guess is that when they brought in the Monster Truck Tour, people who
aren't really racing fans might have come in there, maybe even some sort
of state representative. At that point, they might have been taking
notes and reported the track. It's just a guess. Whatever happened, the
hammer fell down on the liquor license at that point.
I
think some of the promoters who have had several races and are working
on closing down for the year might be the smart ones. They had some
success and now it's time to regroup and hope for a better year next
year. Diamond Mountain Speedway ran their last race a week ago. Up until
the week before that, they were at least able to have socially
distanced fans. However, Lassen County Health officials didn't give them
permission after that. I think Jeff Olschowka might have been smart
enough to look at the numbers in the pits and what he wasn't getting and
called it good at that point. You don't have to be a hero. Besides, the
track was paying better for their regular IMCA Modified and Sport
Modified shows than anywhere else in the state.
Marysville
Raceway will be running their final point event on Wednesday, and I
agree this is the time to shut it down. There are other dates on the
schedule. I know the Dwarf Car Nationals will happen at the end of
September, but I don't know about the October specials. Dennis Gage was a
leader in reopening the tracks, showing other promoters a path to doing
it. This is the only other track that I've seen in California that was
able to get fans. It was only 100 fans, but it was something at least.
They'll have championship night for the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and IMCA
Sport Modifieds on Wednesday, and that will be it for the regular shows.
It's the perfect time to walk away and call it a season.
Some
tracks are just going to double down and run later, figuring there are
more cars for them. Two of the more active tracks will be Antioch
Speedway and Petaluma Speedway. Hey, if it pencils in for them, more
power to them. I don't know how many people will be traveling down the
road to be there when their local tracks are closed at that point. A lot
of people have been doing that, and some are going to call it good. I
like the strategy at Bakersfield Speedway of running bigger races once
or so a month. They have the Mike Mosier race this Saturday night for
the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and whatever
other classes, and I think they'll do good numbers despite having no
fans. It'll be a bakersfieldspeedway.tv affair. Of course, it's also best to check out the Bakersfield Speedway Facebook page for any updates concerning scheduling.
The
other bit of bad news we are hearing is that several World of Outlaw
racers have tested positive for covid-19. The World of Outlaws group was
the one that drafted the plan that most of the tracks across the
country have used to get open. When it comes to their own racers, they
are testing them to make sure they are safe. This is where the panic
sets in and the media uses inflated numbers to scare the crap out of
everybody. Keep in mind that most of these people are being tested for
something they don't even have any symptoms of. They are not feeling
sick, but they are taking tests to see if they have it.
It's
part of the scare tactic used by the media. Once they test positive, it
becomes another number as part of their statistics saying that the
virus is getting worse and is spreading. It's pretty much a lie. That's
my opinion, but I'm happy to say there are more people agreeing with me
these days. I'm not going to tell you for an instant that people aren't
getting sick, because they are. However, many of the people getting sick
are coming down with something else. The numbers of deaths they are
selling us as being caused by the virus are also inflated. If we don't
start waking up to the truth, things aren't going to change for the
better. They're going to get worse. We're going to wonder where our
lives went, because normalcy won't be anything near what it used to be.
What
I would warn everybody is that It doesn't have anything to do with
who's in The White House. Obviously, politicians are going to use
whatever is going on in the world to their advantage if they can. It's
the bad guy in The White House causing it. Whatever Go to the polls in
November and vote however you see fit. Just don't expect that this is
going to change based on politicians alone. The people have to stand up
and say enough is enough, or things aren't going to get any better. All
you have to do is listen to certain people who are giving interviews,
people who aren't even doctors, to know they have bigger plans ahead.
I
don't blame promoters for fighting to keep racing going in any way they
can. We all want normalcy, and this situation is anything but normal. I
worry about the damage this whole thing is causing to the sport,
because it's also damaging businesses. We haven't even begun to see how
bad this situation can get. 2021 cannot be a repeat of this year.
Businesses in general won't take it. People are going to be put out of
work and eventually put out of their homes. That's where we're going if
we continue down this path. Race tracks opening under these
circumstances won't be able to keep doing so indefinitely.
This
is why I like the strategy being employed by Madera Speedway and a few
others. When Kenny Shepherd is giving away the free stream, he's doing
so because he wants his fans engaged. He wants Madera Speedway to
continue to be on the minds of the fans, so that when they can go back
to the grandstands, they will. The way you do that is you let them know
what's going on out there on the track. You can't be here with us, but
you can share the experience online at the very least. That's the smart
strategy, and any track that doesn't have an internet pay-per-view
should be looking at this is an option.
Promoters
have to keep in mind that business is definitely going to be down right
now, so you're also looking ahead to when you can have fans again. What
moves can you make now during this difficult time that will translate
into more fans supporting the track when they can return? That's the
question you should be asking. A few promoters have blown it in
different ways, in my opinion, but others, such as Shepherd at Madera,
David Furia at Ukiah and a few others have done it in a smart way.
I'm
not sure how Ukiah Speedway avoided my radar going into this past last
weekend other than the fact that when I checked their schedule earlier
nothing was listed. I wasn't expecting them to come back until next
month, but they got clearance for another race. I guess you take those
race dates where you can get them. The other interesting thing about
this add-on was it went head-to-head with Lakeport Speedway, who was
also running a Saturday night program. On this occasion, Ukiah Speedway
was broadcasting live for free on Facebook, and Lakeport was doing the
same at the NCRA Lakeport Speedway Facebook page.
With
so many different options on what I'm going to cover on any given week,
I sort of have to pick races that will fit at specific times. Ukiah
Speedway has been an enjoyable show for me, so I threw them in. They
had 10 Limited Modifieds, and these drivers ran the quarter-mile paved
oval flawlessly for a non-stop 45 lap Main Event. They did that a couple
of races go when Sierra Furia scored the win. This time, it was Mike
Lovell Sr doing the honors with the hard-charging Jason Philpot not far
behind him. These guys definitely get around the track pretty well, and
it's some close racing there.
You
get some wild action at times with the Bomber division, but Charley
Tour got the win on this occasion. He ran strong, and not even Loren
Powers Jr was going to stop him. Powers had problems on a late restart,
so Semi Tour ended up second. As they didn't quite have enough cars to
run a B Bomber race by themselves, the three drivers in that
classification joined the 11 Bombers. This is what they do at Ukiah.
Another example of that is the Jammers, which run the Junior class
together with the Pros. It's logical to do that in order to fill out a
field a little bit more, rather than having three or four cars in one
group and 10 in another.
You end
up looking at two decent divisions. They also run the old-school style
of program, which is something I appreciate. You get time trials on the
clock, heat races that go 10 laps and a Trophy Dash. Sometimes, they
change it up with the Trophy Dashes. The fastest drivers don't always
get to run those races. Sometimes they run it as a Slow Dash with the
slowest qualifiers. They did that on this occasion. I like that idea as
it gives some drivers a shot at glory that might not otherwise get it. I
enjoy watching the Ukiah Speedway program enough these days that I'm
always going to try to make time for it if I know they are running. From
the racing to the announcer, I just enjoy the broadcast and appreciate
that David Furia is giving it away to the fans for free.
David
was on the tractor in the infield getting that track ready for the
Jalopy race. In looking at that little track, it would certainly fit
inside of a Rodeo Arena. When I talk about my Hornet race cars doing an
oval track in a Rodeo Arena, this is sort of what I am getting at. In
this case, they build in bumps on the straightaways and it's not
necessarily a smooth racing surface. It's not just about cars going fast
around that track. It's about negotiating your way around the track. If
somebody spins, they're left there. Unless it's an emergency, you don't
get a red flag. You go 20 laps for the Main Events and in this case
they also had 10 lap heat races.
I
like it on a couple of levels. The first thing is that it proves my
point that there's something there in this Arena Racing concept. I'd
love to see something developed in this area, not just as a special
event during a County Fair. I will certainly get more into this subject
in the future.
The second thing I
like about this is it gives Ukiah Speedway another division for people
to enjoy. When they're able to have fans in the grandstands, they get
them involved here. They count down to when the flag man throws the
green flag. There's so much crazy action going on that it is
entertaining to watch. You'll also see some of these drivers get their
feet wet with this division on the dirt track before going to one of the
other classes on the pavement. The very fast Loren Powers Jr won the
championship in this class last year.
Lakeport
Speedway did their thing. I think when Furia Motorsports was at the
helm of this track, they did their best to keep the two tracks off of
each other's nights. That just makes sense because you do have some
drivers who go back and forth. You've got a base of drivers that stay at
either track, but you can always make the programs better when you
don't book on top of each other. It used to be a touchy subject. I can
remember back in the 1990's when I made the occasional visit to Ukiah. I
fell in love with Ukiah pretty quickly at that point, and I think I
might have voiced the opinion of the two tracks working together.
I
might have even mentioned that to Nadine Strauss at the time, who
happened to be up in the stands watching a Ukiah Fair race with Gary
Jacob and I. She was cordial about it, but Gary later indicated that it
was a touchy subject with Nadine. Go figure. If you go back far enough
in history, these were sister tracks that actually worked together.
During this pandemic, they've been booked on top of each other twice. I
understand that right now scheduling on top of each other is going to
happen. Schedules are being booked on the fly, and in this case, I don't
think it was Lakeport that booked on top of Ukiah, but vice versa. In
any event, you run the show you have and do the best you can.
I
found it interesting that Lakeport booked the Legend Cars, and the
Legends of the Pacific were also in Madera. You don't see that many
Legend Cars these days, so having the group in two different locations
affected the count. It didn't affect it as badly as I thought it would.
Lakeport ended up with 10 cars. I found it interesting that Jeremy Doss
ended up running a Legend Car. You might usually see him running Stock
Cars, but he was holding off two of the young guns, Aiden Daniels and
sister Kylie Daniels, to win the race. The Daniels siblings have been
making Junior Late Model starts at Roseville this year. Madera has
created a monster with the Junior Late Model class that other tracks are
trying to copy. There seems to be no end to the talented young drivers
going in that direction.
They
had Late Models on the schedule, but unfortunately only four competitors
showed up. I think they were hoping to get some cars from Redwood Acres
Raceway in Eureka, but they haven't been getting many cars themselves.
Dane Nissen has been racing in the Legend Car class this year. He took
the night off in that division and ended up winning the Late Model race
ahead of another Legend Car racer, Cody Winchell.
The
two prime divisions in Lakeport are the Modifieds and the Taco Bell
Bombers. On any given week, this is your main attraction at Lakeport.
Mike Sullivan has proven to be tough competition in the Modifieds, but
longtime Modified competitor Scott Winters was the one winning on this
occasion. I remember covering Scott racing at Altamont Raceway over 20
years ago, so it's great to see him still out there doing his thing.
Meanwhile, Mikey Collins grabbed his fourth win of the season in the
Bombers class. I wasn't expecting spectacular numbers at Lakeport, but
all in all they delivered an enjoyable show from what I could tell. The
broadcast seemed to go well on the NCRA Lakeport Speedway Facebook page
as they do their best to keep their fans included.
I
know some of the numbers were down at the tracks, and like I said
before, we'll probably be seeing more of that. We're in the dog days of
summer now, and numbers take a hit as it is during normal circumstances.
As we're going through this pandemic, there could be other factors that
affect it. Madera Speedway had their MavTV taping, and they didn't
deliver huge car counts in the Nut Up Pro Late Models or the 51fifty
Energy Drink Junior Late Models. Be that as it may, both divisions
delivered entertaining races. There was enough excitement going on for
them to put something together for a future broadcast on MavTV.
The free broadcast, which is sponsored by nutupindustries.com,
was certainly worth watching. I was switching back and forth, but I
rewound it to watch the two Late Model shows. The Pro Late Models have
been dominated by Buddy Shepherd this year, but Buddy met his match. He
certainly gave it a great effort, but Dylan Zampa was just a little bit
quicker. With the pressure that Shepard was dishing out in the waning
laps, Zampa definitely earned his victory. They've now had three
different winners in five races with Shepherd the only repeat winner so
far.
Junior Late Model point
leader Bradley Erickson was looking for his third win, but Cole Brown
was just a little too quick for him on this occasion. Erickson made some
good moves to get into second, but he couldn't quite get up there to
make the challenge for the win. Young Brown has been getting some help
from the Doss Racing Team, and it certainly seemed to help. That car was
head and shoulders above the competition on this occasion. I remain
impressed by Kercie Jung. She piloted her car to a third place finish.
From the Mini Dwarf Cars to the Bandoleros and now Junior Late Models,
this young lady has done a good job.
The
Bandoleros versus the Mini Cups and the Legends of the Pacific
certainly added another element of excitement to the program. In this
case, Top 3 Legend Car finisher Eddie Garone rolled across the finish
line in a moment reminiscent of something out of Days of Thunder. He
wasn't going to catch Nick Halen, but he was in a heck of a battle at
the end trying to hold onto his podium finish. His car might have been
destroyed, but Garone was able to get out and walk away under his own
power.
When the parents are
trying to get their kids up to the next level from Outlaw Karts, some of
them look at the Mini Cups and the Bandoleros. The Mini Cup sanctioning
body that was growing this class folded years ago, but you still see
these cars along with the Bandoleros. The difference between the two is
the Mini Cups seem to corner better than the Bandoleros, but the
Bandoleros have a little bit more horsepower. You're not going to see a
Mini Cup win a head-to-head race unless the Bandolero cars have real
problems.
Jeffrey Erickson hasn't
had any real problems so far with the Bandoleros as he remains perfect
with five wins to his credit. Caden Cordova seems to be getting just a
little bit closer, but Jeffrey still had the winning combination. The
Mini Cup race saw Harley Kennealy snap a four-race win streak for
Rebecca Dubie. I noticed that Harley was actually making more practice
laps, and I was thinking at the time that this could translate to her
doing well in the Main Event. The best thing for the kids out there is
to get laps and learn to be more consistent.
I'm
not quite on the bandwagon of seeing kids as young as 10 years old
behind the wheel of Late Models. Maybe I'll come around to it. I'm just
nervous about something happening to a kid. I'm still kind of old school
in my beliefs of people earning their way into Late Models, but this is
2020. Whether I'm hip to it or not, it's happening. The farm system
that Madera has going for it is solid. You put some of the younger kids
in these Mini Cups and Bandoleros and have them work their way into
Junior Late Models. The one thing I know about Kenny Shepherd and the
program he runs is that they don't just idly put a kid in race car. The
newer kids are paying their dues and learning from the adults.
In
any event, I consider Madera Speedway the leader in opening race tracks
here on the West Coast during the covid-19 situation. There really is
something to be said about giving away the stream for free. I know it's a
business decision, and I'm not knocking the places that do internet pay
per view. If you can't pay the bills, you can't open the gates. Quite
honestly, I'm not so sure I'd be running a race track every week during
this situation as it's not profitable. Madera has some good people
sponsoring them for sure, and that is one of the reasons that they're
not only able to open the gates, but they can include their fans for
free on the internet. As I understand it, there were some 700 people
watching the stream with Steven Blakesley and Outback Andy. That's
pretty damn cool.
Siskiyou
Golden Speedway opened the gates again after being closed for a few
weeks. I was a little bit annoyed when they made the announcement that
they weren't allowing anybody from the pits to stream it online. To me,
your giving a middle finger to the fans. The other thing is, you're
going to be crossing a line when you start cracking down on people doing
that and it can ultimately hurt the track more than help the track.
I've
noticed other tracks saying the same thing, but some places aren't
being Draconian about it. They would rather you didn't stream it, and
some of these tracks are actually running an internet pay-per-view. I
know they think they're losing money when somebody streams it for free,
but 95% of the time, the people watching it for free will not pay for it
if free isn't an option. That's just the way the internet works. Those
of us who try to generate revenue from the internet have had to deal
with that ugly reality for a few years now.
It
turns out that Misty Buchanan was up in the grandstands broadcasting
the heat races and the Main Events for the Yreka track. I think she made
a better decision doing it from there, rather than from a pit view or
an infield view. You get to see more of the action. Where the broadcast
lacks is no commentary. I don't expect that out of Misty, who I know
isn't familiar with some of the names. When you're trying to watch these
cars, it can be difficult to keep track of things when you don't know
who's in what car. It's one of the reasons why I haven't watched any of
the footage broadcast from River City Speedway. They give you a decent
vantage point.from the grandstands, but you can't hear the announcer and
don't really know who you're looking at.
At
least for this occasion, I think Misty was broadcasting from her camera
phone. I understand there are people who might be helping the track at
some point with equipment, but I'm only hearing rumors right now that I
probably shouldn't comment on. What I can say is you'd have a hard time
announcing into a camera phone. What could be done to give the fans a
little bit more would be announcing the lineups of the races before they
start so people know who's on the track. During yellow flags, you can
let them know who the Top 5 are. At the end of the race, you can give
people at least the Top 3 if not Top 5. I understand Misty may not know
some of the names, but this is a way to enhance the broadcast if it's
done with a smartphone.
I read
comments from people in Yreka, and it's the same with any other track.
Fans living near the place hear the roar of the engines. If you're a fan
of racing, it's agonizing to hear that. You want to be up in the stands
watching the action. When a track that doesn't have the internet
pay-per-view gives away the show for free like this, they're
sympathizing with the fans. They're letting their fans know that they
want them out there and here is what you have been missing. Kenny
Shepherd has been very eloquent about the whole thing at Madera
Speedway. They're giving away a quality broadcast there because they
miss their fans. Misty was echoing that sentiment during the night. I
don't want to repeat how grumpy I am about this no fans situation, so
I'll just comment on the show itself.
The
numbers were not spectacular. I think I counted 35 total cars among
five divisions. I figured some racers might have headed to Cottage
Grove, which might have been the case with the IMCA Sport Modifieds.
However, that track took a hit in car count as well. When the novelty
wears off for the track opening during the covid-19 shutdown, other
things factor in. Finances, the realization that it's still not normal,
whatever else. Take your pick. I thought they could draw a few more cars
from Medford, which isn't likely to have a race this year. However,
that really wasn't the case. I think the numbers should have been a
little bit bigger than they were, but the show went on nonetheless.
They
ran the Outlaw Pro Stocks in the final spot. It turns out that was
probably the smart move as that race had some excitement with Dennis
Burtenhouse Jr leading a good portion of the race. I've watched this
division get dominated by a couple of drivers who clearly had superior
equipment to everybody else over the past few years, and those drivers
weren't in the field. I'm not knocking those drivers for bringing out
what they had, just pointing out that they did dominate the show.
In
their absence, it's anybody's guess who might win. Scott Flowers brings
the experience advantage, but the cars are pretty equal. Flowers did
make a move late to get the lead, but it was interesting watching Rick
Lukens close in on him with a couple of laps to go. I don't think it's a
stretch to say that most of the cars on the track have a legitimate
shot to win right now.
The IMCA
Modifieds only delivered six cars. That's the bad news. The good news is
that they've have four races in the books and IMCA will acknowledge the
championship. Travis Peery might have hoped he could get his third win,
but he was stuck battling Albert Gill for second while Jeffrey Hudson
got the win. Hudson nearly won the $1,500 prize back in July, but he
encountered problems later in the race that ended his hopes. He is a
talented young driver for sure, and it was nice to see the 2015 Pro
Stock champion get the win.
In
the Mini Stocks and the IMCA Sport Modifieds, you had talent and
experience rising to the top again. Jorddon Braaten will probably end up
with the IMCA Sport Modified championship. The IMCA point average put
him back in the fourth row, but that didn't stop him from making a mad
dash from the back and winning by half a lap over reigning champion
Ethan Killingsworth. He lapped everybody up to the Top 3. David Steele
didn't lap everybody in the Mini Stocks, but once he took the lead, the
only thing that was going to stop him was mechanical failure. This was
his third win of the year.
I
finally got a chance to watch the Jefferson State Jalopies. I think
they're going for a vintage look with these cars, but they really don't
look vintage in that sense to me. I think of them more as a bigger
version of a Dwarf Car. Some would say the Dwarf Cars are like a mini
version of a Hardtop, but I don't see it that way. In any event, these
cars are unique looking with their skinny, sleek appearance. The problem
is, there's nobody in Yreka building these cars that I know of. They
were all built by JJ Smith and Karl Bernstein. Four of them have
completed, and a fifth car is in production. Smith and Bernstein haven't
gotten much of the glory on the track, but it was Smith picking up his
second feature win on this occasion. If they had a dozen of these cars,
they could be quite interesting to watch.
Petaluma
Speedway ran the 9th Annual Johnny Soares Classic. I really enjoyed
listening to Ron Lingron announce this show and pay tribute to John
Soares. A lot of times you'll have a memorial race where nobody talks
about the person being memorialized. It's just about the race, the extra
laps and the money being paid. As I've gotten older, it's meant more to
me to talk about the person we're remembering. Yes, I like that the
race pays more and people want to come out there and win that prize, but
let's not forget who we're remembering. John promoted Petaluma Speedway
for over half his life. His life from his 20s on was devoted to the
sport of racing, and there were many accomplishments he had through the
years.
The Hunt Series went head-to-head with the PitStopUSA.com
Wingless Spec Sprints. Local leadfoot Bradley Terrell grabbed the lead
from two-time race winner Terry Schank Jr. After that, he pulled away
and worked traffic masterfully for his second victory in this race.
Daniel Whitley made a late move around Schank, which should help him
move into the track point lead.
There
were 25 Wingless Spec Sprints for this event, which is great to see.
I'm kind of sad as I know the Wingless Spec Sprints are evolving into
Wingless Sprints. The ideology that we had when we put the class
together at Antioch Speedway two decades ago is slowly fading away, but
it is what it is. It's still been quite a run for this class, and
Petaluma still refers to them as Spec Sprints.
The
Top Dog race was one of the biggest IMCA Modified races in California
in the 1990s when John was promoting the speedway. It's been brought
back, though not as big as it once was. When you're paying $1,000 to win
the Main Event, it's still better than your average IMCA Modified race.
Even second place was getting $500, which is a winner's prize. Because
Antioch Speedway had their money race on the same night, you weren't
going to see any visitors from there, but Petaluma had a dozen racers
for this one.
As you might expect
when the money is on the line, seven-time champion Michael Paul Jr and
five-time champion Oreste Gonella were both in the hunt. However, this
has been a good year for Anthony Slaney. He hung with both of these
drivers and managed to surprise Paul by getting the lead on a restart.
There was a little bit of contact in that pass, and later Paul got out
of shape exiting Turn 4 and hit the rear end of Slaney's car. Paul
suffered front-end damage.
Slaney
went on to win the race, but he expressed disappointment in himself for
making contact with Paul on the restart that saw him get the lead. I
see that as a classy move on Slaney's part to acknowledge that. I know
the team has put a lot of effort into getting where they are today, and
they really want this championship. However, they also want the respect
of their fellow racers, and they know how good of a racer Paul has been
at Petaluma over the last decade.
The
Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micro Sprint division seems to be pretty
insane. These guys get around the track pretty well, and their battle at
the front of the pack seems pretty intense from the moment the race
starts all the way to the checkered flag. There were three or four
drivers who seemed to be one good move away from the lead for most of
that race. Multi-time champion Jim Beck was missing last year, but he's
back and very fast this year. He had a sure win get away from him at the
previous race, but this time he battled his way past George Nielson to
grab the victory. These guys set the tempo as the first Main Event of
the night, and it got more exciting as things went on.
This
was certainly one of the more entertaining races that I've witnessed
from Petaluma's Flo Racing broadcasts so far this year, and I'm glad it
happened on the night that remembered the longtime promoter. Because of
the virus situation preventing us from having fans at most of these
tracks, racing schedules have been affected. Next Sunday was to be a
NARC/King of the West Series Sprint Car race, but that's obviously not
going to happen. They will be racing, however. The new schedule finds
the PitStopUSA.com Winged 360
Sprints back in action again along with the General Hydroponics Redwood
Dwarf Cars and the Santa Rosa Auto Body 600s.
It's
also going to be the inaugural visit of the Tri State Pro Stock
Challenge Series. The Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks have struggled
a little bit, and Promoter Rick Faeth reached out to Pro Stock Series
Director Roy Bain about a visit. In short order, they were able to bring
in Joe Carr Racing to sponsor this event. Bain was also able to secure a
date at Antioch Speedway the night before so that drivers traveling a
long distance would have two Bay Area events to participate in. That
race will be sponsored by Jay's Mobile Welding, and a weekend series
championship will pay $300, thanks to Rick Workman Communications.
Therefore, next Sunday's race might not have the excitement of Winged
410 Sprint Cars, but it's looking like it will still be a special
occasion to enjoy.
On Sunday
afternoon, full results were posted without the names for Antioch
Speedway. This was the Hetrick Memorial race. I see my concerns about
decreasing car counts were partially founded. The IMCA Modifieds
delivered 11 cars for $1,000 to win in honor of Jerry and Mary Ann
Hetrick. That proved to be an emotional occasion for Kellen Chadwick,
who claimed the victory. As Chadwick was making his move up from Karts
into the IMCA Modifieds and Late Models, Jerry served as a mentor,
encouraging him when he did well and critiquing him when there were
things that he felt Kellen needed to learn.
The
track isn't keeping any point standings that I'm aware of, but IMCA is.
With two races left on the schedule, Troy Foulger seems to be heading
for the championship unless he stumbles badly in the Bowers Motorsports
entry. Chadwick and Jim Pettit II will battle down to the final
checkered flag for second. Foulger and Pettit are also fighting for the
State point lead, which is currently being led by Foulger.
Fred
Ryland isn't running for points, but that didn't stop him from coming
out and grabbing the $600 first prize for the IMCA Sport Modifieds. That
kind of money brought Andrew Peckham, who has picked up a few victories
this year as well. Ryland was just a bit quicker than Peckham. The
battle right now for the championship is still close between Mark Garner
and Trevor Clymens and could go either way with two races remaining.
Even KC Keller is in the hunt, despite missing a race.
I'm
not exactly sure where all of the Jay's Mobile Welding Hobby Stocks
came from, but they had 30 of them for a $300 first prize. Since the
rules are opened up a little bit in this class, you're getting drivers
that would not have been welcomed at Antioch just a year ago. In this
case, it was Les Friend coming in from Placerville with his Hobby Stock.
Les has competed in both Modified classes at Antioch in the past and is
a winner in Sport Modifieds there, but now he can claim he is a Hobby
Stock winner. James Thomson continues to knock on the door to victory.
Despite having to win the B Main to get into the show, he came from the
back of the pack for another second place finish.
As
we've watched the Modified car counts level off, the Hobby Stocks
remain strong at Antioch. I thought that the Wednesday night Speedweek
Hobby Stock car count was an anomaly, and it certainly was. Given this
support, I'm anxious to see how Antioch will do when they run the $1,000
to win race on October 24th. I'm thinking that could turn out to be
quite a show. Allowing the drivers who had a bit of an advantage in
recent years to come compete has certainly not hurt the show, and it's
nice to see people like Thomson stepping up their game to meet the
challenge.
Unfortunately for the
Four Banger division, it looks like nobody answered the call to come
race for a purse. The track announced that there would be a purse if
five cars came out to race, but there weren't enough cars to race, if
anybody showed up at all. The division definitely needs a jump start,
and I do hope the purse offer remains in effect. It's not necessarily
going to be easy to get this division started as it has been dead for
the past five years. The option of giving Dan Myrick of the Central
Valley Mini Stocks a call and seeing if something could be arranged is
still there if management wanted to put a show on the track to highlight
how exciting Four Banger racing can actually be.
One
thing that Antioch is interested in doing is keeping the gates open for
the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series. Since they've opened up the
Super Stock rules to allow these cars to come out and race, it's been a
little bit of a shot in the arm for the local effort. This Saturday
night will see the drivers competing for at least $1,000 to win as Jay's
Mobile Welding has come on board to sponsor the event. Drivers will be
coming from down south in the Bakersfield area, Northern California and
even Nevada. The fact that there will also be a Pro Stock race at
Petaluma on Sunday makes it more enticing for drivers to make the trip.
Antioch
Speedway just moves ahead, week by week. I don't see any empty dates
from now through October 31st, meaning there will always be something
going on there on a Saturday night unless something comes up to change
that. There is some optimism, however unfounded, that rules might loosen
up a little bit going forward to allow fans in the grandstands. I don't
know whether that's going to happen or not, but you never know. I do
know that there are still some big races left on the schedule at Antioch
Speedway.
The state of Oregon
had its most active weekend of racing yet with five tracks holding
events, one with socially distanced fans and one with a 250 fan limit,
while three didn't allow fans. A sixth track, Hermiston Raceway, hopes
to get back in action by September 19th with 250 fans in the stands for
twilight and evening races. River City Speedway seems to be going with a
strict rule of just 250 people in the pits, which is the guideline as
laid down by the governor under the Phase 2 plan. They announced on
Friday night that they had sold out. They had been broadcasting the
events on their Facebook page, but there was nothing available for
Saturday.
However, they are going
ahead with plans to run on Labor Day weekend with the Iron Giant Street
Stocks and Northwest Dwarf Cars as the two featured classes. Depending
on how sign ups go, a third division could be added. The iron Giant
Series has acknowledged this event and are trying to bring in a sponsor
or two to help the purse. Normally, Labor Day weekend would have been
the big Iron Giant race at Willamette Speedway, which has recently
reopened. However, the series will be getting behind the River City
Speedway race as it was announced first. We've heard no comments yet
from the series in regards to the Coos Bay Speedway Battle At The Beach
Street Stock show that's coming up on Saturday.
Given
the fact that Coos Bay is still doing good numbers in their Street
Stocks and despite the fact that Cottage Grove and Willamette have
reopened, we know that they will go full speed ahead with the big race.
We also anticipate that some drivers who count themselves among The Iron
Giant Series will participate at Coos Bay, and the show should work
well, provided that goes on as scheduled. We are just a little bit
concerned after hearing that the OLCC revoked their liquor license on
Thursday night and are wondering if there's anything else around the
corner this week. If Drake Nelson is still able to open with a socially
distanced crowd and sell them food, don't expect him to change anything
in regards to his schedule unless he adds something more.
Because
Willamette Speedway is open, there was a noticeable decline in the Late
Model and Sportsman Late Model classes at Coos Bay. We aren't really
surprised to see that. What's interesting is the battle they've got
going in the Super Late Model division. Willamette area racer Jason
Johnson had been leading the standings up until this past weekend when
he had mechanical issues and didn't start the Main Event. 2018 champion
Brody Montgomery collected his first win of the season and assumed the
point lead with rookie Braden Fugate following him into second. The
battle is still close between these two racers.
The
strength of the Saturday program was the Street Stocks, Hornets and
Junior Stingers in terms of car count, and the track also added the OTRO
Hardtops. The OTRO and the PRA group at Roseburg don't necessarily see
eye-to-eye, so you had Hardtops competing at both venues. There were
eight of them at Coos Bay. The Junior Stingers division is an
interesting thing to note. This is Coos Bay's attempt at bring in the
young drivers as 11 to 14 year old kids get to compete in Hornet race
cars.
I have yet to see any video
footage of a race, but every time I've seen the MyLaps information
posted, it looks like Griff Smith is pretty much dominating. Some kids
just have that natural ability and aren't afraid to put their foot to
the floor, and that seems to be the case with him. It's almost like
shooting ducks in a barrel for him at this point, and he's got to be
close to graduating from this class. Last season, they let him run with
the Hornets one night and he finished third. I have to believe he could
actually win one of those Hornet races in relatively short fashion once
he moves up. The competition behind him seems to be close with different
drivers taking their turns in second.
At
a place like Coos Bay Speedway, you take your cars where you can get
them. Half of their base is in the ocean if you go by a 50 mile radius
around the track, so having a Hornet division that can recruit young
drivers isn't a bad thing. Some of these kids will naturally progress to
the Hornet division or some of the other classes. While the track has
benefited from drivers coming from out of town, they know they can't
expect that to be a regular occurrence once tracks are able to open
under normal conditions. The Junior Stinger division certainly helps the
cause a little bit. Even before the shutdown, we were hearing reports
of more parents getting their kids into this class.
While
Coos Bay Speedway has had everybody talking about what they've been
able to do, Douglas County Speedway had a different approach to getting
fans. Hermiston Raceway definitely showed them the way. If not for the
fact that Umatilla County has been put back to Phase 1, Hermiston
Raceway would have had another race by now. The plan for Hermiston is to
run two Main Event and hot lap only programs, one in the late afternoon
and one in the early evening. With 250 people allowed in the stands,
they could sell 250 tickets twice, and at $20 a piece they were pulling
in $10,000 total for the sellouts they've had so far.
As
we mentioned, Hermiston could return to action on September 19th. The
Roseburg track was able to get the same deal at 250 people in the
stands. Unlike Hermiston, they didn't inflate their ticket price and
made it a general price. They were still selling $15 tickets for general
admission and $8 tickets for juniors. From what I could see from the
footage, they may have been close to selling out all 250 tickets if they
didn't sell out. They never made that announcement. In fact, they never
made the announcement that there was a place you could watch the race
streaming live for free. I should have been paying better attention
going into the weekend as I missed that fact as well as the Ukiah
Speedway race that was scheduled.
They
had Race Monitor showing the live scoring, and the idea hit me to check
541radio.com just to see if anything was going on. It turns out the
sports radio station had cameras and their two DJs from the last show
announcing this race. While the camera was a bit spotty at times as it
seemed to be suffering from lag, the announcing was coming through
crystal clear. I love the idea that these guys were running an afternoon
show, because I could easily fit them in as I tried to cover as much
racing as possible.
As I
mentioned above, some tracks aren't bringing that many cars to the show,
and other than the 19 Hornets, the count wasn't spectacular. Three of
the drivers running with the Hornets were Mini Stocks as they elected to
run them together rather than letting the Mini Stocks have their own
show. Longtime racer Dale Roth slowly and steadily drove his Mini Stock
through the pack in the Hornet race, but he didn't quite make the pass.
Race long leader Ryan Dickinson beat him by inches to the checkered flag
in what was an entertaining race for the group.
I've
been happy to check out the PRA Hardtop races on the two broadcasts.
I'm a Hardtop fan, and one can trace the modern California Hardtop
movement to Roseburg in the 1980s. At that time, OTRO was sanctioning
it, but PRA has taken over the Roseburg class in recent years. Harlan
Cox and Troy Gassner were running strong, but mechanical issues struck
to eliminate both of them during a Lap 19 yellow flag. Reigning champion
Kyran Greene, who was making this a close three-car battle during the
first half of the race, took it from there and was the happy winner.
They
have a Sport Modified division, which I think is a retooled Modified
division. I do wonder as I see some of the tracks that run Limited
Modifieds on the pavement. You have places like Lakeport and Ukiah in
California and Roseburg in Oregon. Everybody is so in love with IMCA, I
am curious if anybody at these pavement tracks even thought about going
to them for sanctioning? In any event, longtime racer Tom Elam scored
the win after a good battle with Riley Watson. The Watson family and the
Harvey family seem to be the ones keeping this division going.
I
don't know what might change with regards to fans in the stands in
Oregon or California, but I'm not sure we'll see more than six Oregon
tracks running for the remainder of the year. Anything is possible, but I
think the reopening of Willamette Speedway may have been the last for
the year. Cottage Grove Speedway had been doing very good numbers up
until the point when Willamette Speedway reopened. The numbers took a
noticeable dip in all classes except for the IMCA Sport Modifieds and
Sport Compacts. It was a season-high for the Sport Compacts, and the
Sport Modifieds needed a B Main. The Late Models and Street Stocks had
less than 10 cars each.
The
curiosity for me was the Senior Sprint division that Brian Crockett
introduced. People will know Brian as one of the biggest stars at
Placerville Speedway in Sprint Car competition before moving up to
Oregon and becoming the proud father of Sprint Car star Roger Crockett.
I've made the observation that Brian is pretty much the godfather of
Sprint Car racing in Oregon, such as it is. I'm not really so sure that
this is a good thing, but it is what it is. I can't imagine he's
thrilled by the fact that they aren't able to have any Winged 360 Sprint
Car races, but he still wanted to exert his influence.
I
think one of the biggest reasons that Brian approved the ISCS
sanctioning for the Coos Bay Speedway race last week was just so he had
his hands on something this year. There could also be an ISCS race in
Coos Bay at the end of September, which was originally scheduled. I'm
not sure if Brian might work out a deal with Kevin down in Yreka, but he
was looking to do something closer to home in Cottage Grove. He came up
with the idea of the Senior Sprint Car division. It's not necessarily
an original idea as Ventura Raceway and Perris Auto Speedway do the same
thing with their Wingless Sprints.
What
you see these days in Sprint Car racing is these drivers in their teens
and early 20s getting involved. It's becoming a young man's game, which
doesn't necessarily delight me either. I am happy for the future, but
these kids will be pushed out of the way when they get into their 30s in
some cases. Regardless, the idea of a senior class does have merit. The
older drivers in some cases know each other better or trust people who
have been on this planet a little bit longer. I think that's one of the
reasons why the Veterans class at the Dwarf Car Nationals does so well.
Some of those drivers are talented enough to run with the Pros, but they
choose to run in the Veterans division and put on a race as
entertaining as the Pros.
Crockett
proposed the Senior race, and I really wanted to know if anybody would
show up for this. Would there be more than two or three cars? The other
thought was that maybe he was putting this together so he could go out
there and kick some butt. He ran a Limited Sprint race prior to that and
was kind of mired in the pack. On Saturday, there were six Sprint Cars,
and Crockett did what I thought he might do. He won the Main Event
ahead of Southern Oregon Speedway racer David Marble. I don't think they
expected big numbers for this first race, and I'm thinking that Brian
was happy to start off with six cars.
He'll
go back to Heather Boyce and talk about this and what can be done in
the future. Is there room for a Senior Sprint class in addition to
Limited Sprints? I think so. I don't know how much money there is for
some racing teams. The father might have the son in a race car, so
sharing the car may not be something they want to do. On the other hand,
there is not a shortage of Sprint Car chassis that can be had at a
reasonable price. Having a Senior Sprint class might be just the thing
to get a few of the old-timers back out there for one last hurrah,
knowing they're racing with their peers and not young drivers they may
not be so sure about
We head into
the final weekend of August, and the virus has definitely torn the
heart right out of the season. There are still some special shows coming
up, and the big winners right now are Flo Racing. Not only are they
streaming so many tracks, but they managed to buy out Speedshift TV and
take over their market. I can't imagine it's been a bad year for
business for Flo Racing. They're doing this with a cheaper subscription
than Speedshift TV had, but they also run commercials and have
sponsors.
We are going down the
stretch run for the IMCA championship seasons. By the end of September,
those are done. Some tracks won't be having their own championship
races, so that makes the fact that they are sanctioned by IMCA that more
much more special. IMCA will at least do the things they usually do to
honor the champions at the end of the season. We will continue to cover
all of that through September and then figure out what we're going to do
as we begin to close the regular media effort here on the blog.
On that note, I'm going to end this column. Until next time...