First of all...
The DCRR Racing Media Books
Just A Kid From The Grandstands: My Time In Auto Racing
Stories of my time in auto racing from the beginning to 2003
Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover
And
Don's California Racing Recollections: Best Of The Blog And Beyond
Racing History, Stories, Statistics And Pictures
Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback
Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback
Disclaimer
For years
we've made a commitment to cover motorsports on the West Coast, and
we're very proud of our record. We always endeavor to give you the most
accurate information possible, but sometimes some details aren't
available to us when we go to press. Therefore, we want to remind you
that any finishes listed in the articles and stats posted on this page
are unofficial. As always, we refer you to each race track's webpage for
official results and point standings. Our goal is to cover racing to
the best of our ability, but we are an unofficial news source for the
tracks covered in each post. Thank you for reading and thank you for
your support.
If You Like Reading Our Articles
Support Us Via The Go Fund Me The Tip Jar HERE
Also...
DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting HERE
From the Grandstands By Ron Rodda HERE
Blakesley Sports Media HERE
Short Track Live HERE
DRC (Daren Ricks Campbell) Motorsports Media HERE
The DCRR Racing Radio Show
Backup Link HERE
Rutherford, Morris, Potter, Brown Score Ventura Raceway Wins
Ventura,
CA...July 10...Troy Rutherford won the 30 lap VRA Sprint Car Main Event
Saturday night Ventura Raceway. Brandon Wiley jumped into the lead at
the start ahead of Rutherford and Trent Williams. The lead trio began to
pull away in their close battle, and Rutherford made what proved to be
his winning pass on Lap 14. Rutherford pulled away to about a
half-straightaway advantage over Wiley by the time the checkered flag
waved. Williams settled for third ahead of Troy DeGaton, Rick Hendrix,
Camie Bell and James Herrera. Eight lap race wins went to Rutherford and
Williams.
Troy Morris III won the IMCA
Modified Main Event. Morris was coming off of the win at Merced Speedway
on Friday night, and he jumped into the lead at the start ahead of Dave
Phipps and Austin Rodarte. Rodarte moved by Phipps for second on Lap 4,
and a yellow flag waved on Lap 6. Morris continued to lead Rodarte on
the restart as point leader Trevor Fitzgibbon settled into third.
Fitzgibbon began pressuring Rodarte before making the pass for second on
Lap 11. Bakersfield racer Rob Sanders began challenging Rodarte as
Fitzgibbon set his sights on Morris. Sanders moved around Rodarte for
third on Lap 20 with Donald Houghton quickly moving into fourth. Morris
drove a great race and brought it home to victory ahead of Fitzgibbon,
Sanders, Donald Houghton, Rodarte, Phipps, Dalton Houghton, Scott Olsen,
Mike Stanford and reinging champion Jack Parker. Morris, Dalton
Houghton and Sanders won the eight lap heat races.
Dylan
Potter won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was the
first win for the Santa Maria racer. Aaron Farrell led a lap before a
yellow flag waved. Potter took the lead on the restart with Brian Baker
and Matthew Mayo followed into second and third. The battle was for
second until a yellow flag waved on Lap 6. Potter continued to lead
Baker on the restart as John Piker took third from Mayo, but a yellow
flag waved once again. Mayo and Piker shuffled Baker out of the Top 3 as
Potter led the restart. Farrell fell out at that point. Potter drove a
great race up front and went on to take the checkered flag in first.
Mayo surrendered second to Piker on the last lap and ended up third,
followed by Michael Black, Baker, Farrell, Paul Harris, Orion Messina
and Vaughn Vondera. Potter and Piker won the eight lap heat races.
Jason
Horton won the 20 lap VRA Dwarf Car Main Event. Horton is the current
point leader, but he was an early third behind Jeff Brink and Shane
Linenburger. Horton slipped past Linenburger for second on Lap 3 before a
yellow flag waved. Brink continued to lead Horton and Linenburger on
the restart, but Horton began applying the pressure. On the eighth lap,
Horton put the moves on Brink to grab the lead. That was the order
through one yellow flag on Lap 10, and Johnny Conley settled into third
on a Lap 11 restart. Conley began pressuring Brink before making the
pass for second on Lap 12. One more yellow flag slowed the pace on Lap
15, but Horton resumed command ahead of Conley and Brink on the last
restart. The lead trio finished in that order, followed by Mike Lewis,
Kobe Kerns, Jeff Hinz, Dominic Maldonado, John Alonso, Linenburger and
Brad McNair. Conley and Horton picked up the eight lap heat race wins.
Chris
Meredith won the 20 lap Senior Sprint Main Event. Tom Stephens Sr
jumped into the lead at the start ahead of Meredith and Mike Cook. A
yellow flag waved on Lap 7 as Stephens saw his run in the lead come to
an unfortunate end. Meredith led point leader Wally Pankratz and Cook on
the restart. The lead duo battled closely during the second half of the
race, but Meredith prevailed at the checkered flag ahead of Pankratz,
Cook, Greg Badgewell, Stephens and Tyler Hatzikian. Pankratz won the
eight lap heat race.
Dakota Brown won the 20
lap VRA Hobby Stock Main Event. Brown races regularly at Bakersfield
Speedway and is a four-time winner in the American Stock class there.
With a couple of visitors in the field, there were nine starters, and
co-point leader Ryan Changus led three laps before surrendering the
point to Jonathan Flippin. Brown quickly struck to second and took the
lead from Flippin on Lap 9. Flippin soon retired as Bakersfield racer
Johnny Wood moved into second. Changus was running in third, and Brown
would score the win ahead of Wood, Changus, Russell Wagner, Zach Chavez,
Cory Furr, Wayne Heurung, Tom Stephens Jr and Flippin. Brown and Chavez
were the eight lap heat race winners.
Racing
resumes on Saturday, July 24th with VRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprints, WMR
Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Compacts and Motorcycles. For
further information, go to www.venturaraceway.com.
King, Lukens, Wright, Hedges Share
Siskiyou Golden Speedway Spotlight
Yreka,
CA...July 10...Josh King won the 25 lap SODCA Dwarf Car Main event.
This was the second win in Yreka for the four-time reigning series
champion. It was also a clean sweep for King, who picked up eight lap
heat race and four lap A Dash wins.
King raced
into the lead at the start ahead of Cody Peters and Devin Lahorgue. A
yellow flag waved on Lap 6 with Colby Bergquist out of the race. King
continued to lead Cody Peters and Brock Peters on the restart, but
LaHorgue got past Brock Peters for third on Lap 7. Another yellow flag
waved on Lap 10 with Brock Peters and Kaycee Sheeler eliminated. King
led Cody Peters and Steve Walker on the restart. King drove a flawless
race and picked up the win ahead of Cody Peters, Walker, Chad Cardoza,
LaHorgue, Ryan Smith, Jason Robustelli, Fred Hay, Trevor Davis and Greg
Melicke. The six lap B Dash win went to Cardoza with Brock Peters the
other eight lap heat race winner.
Rick Lukens
won the 25 lap Outlaw Pro Stock Main Event. This was his first ever win
with the group, and he becomes the fourth different winner in the four
races held so far for the association in Yreka. With an outside front
row start, Lukens moved into the lead when the green flag waved,
followed by point leader Johnny Cobb and reigning champion Scott
Flowers. Flowers gained second on Lap 6 with Denny Burtenhouse Jr in
third as Cobb retired. Recent Medford winner Matt Harlow had settled
into fourth and slipped past Burtenhouse for third on Lap 7. Lukens
drove a great race and scored the satisfying win ahead of Scott Flowers,
Harlow, James Flowers, Ginny Flowers, Burtenhouse and Cobb.
Harlow
set the fast time of 16.207, beating the 16.260 of James Flowers and
the 16.334 of Scott Flowers. Eight lap heat race wins went to Harlow and
James Flowers with Scott Flowers claiming the four lap Trophy Dash.
Darek Alford was a Main Event scratch.
Jace
Wright won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was the first
career win for Wright. With the absence of incoming point leader Ryan
Peery going into the night, fourth-ranked Wright is back in contention
for the championship. Wright had picked up the eight lap heat race win
and started on the front row for the feature race. He took the lead at
the start ahead of Colt Boswell and four lap Trophy Dash winner Jesse
Morton. Ryder Boswell slipped past Morton for third on Lap 13, and
Wright scored the victory ahead of Colt Boswell, Ryder Boswell, Morton
and Gary Foster.
Ashtin Hedges won the 15 lap
Mini Stock Main Event. This was the sixth win of the season for Hedges,
and it moved him into second in the championship battle. Hedges raced
into the lead at the start, leaving point leader Michael Knuckles and
Connor Franklin to battle for second. Franklin would grab the position.
However, Hedges held a straightaway advantage over Franklin by the time
the race ended. Knuckles settled for third ahead of Marilyn Yawnick.
Franklin won his first four lap Trophy Dash with Knuckles picking up the
victory in the eight lap heat race.
Racing
will resume this Saturday night before taking a break during the County
Fair. The IMCA Sport Modifieds will be back in action along with the
Mini Stocks, the return of the Hornets/Roadrunners and Pro Stocks. For
further information, go to the www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com.
Tim Kaeding Wins NARC/KWS Salute To Baylands
At Petaluma Speedway
Petaluma,
CA...July 10...Tim Kaeding won the 30 lap NARC/King of the West Fujitsu
Winged 410 Sprint Car Series Main Event Saturday night at Petaluma
Speedway. This was the Salute to Baylands Raceway, which pays tribute to
the track in Fremont that closed at the conclusion of the 1988 season,
sending many of their racers in multiple divisions to Petaluma Speedway.
The win paid $3,000 and was the second win of the season for Tim
Kaeding aboard the Bates-Hamilton ABC Companies sponsored Maxim
Sprinter.
Bud Kaeding grabbed the pole for the
Main Event by virtue of his six lap Trophy Dash win. He charged into the
lead at the start of the race ahead of Placerville point leader Joel
Myers Jr and reigning champion DJ Netto. A yellow flag waved on Lap 11
for a tangle between Sean Becker and Michael Ing. Myers surprised on the
restart as he moved into the lead with Netto also getting by Bud
Kaeding for second. There was contact in the battle for the lead between
Netto and Myers, and the yellow flag waved for the duo on Lap 18. Tim
Kaeding moved into the lead on the restart ahead of brother Bud and Andy
Forsberg. They ran that way until Forsberg made a lap 29 pass on Bud
Kaeding to steal second. Tim Kaeding was a happy winner ahead of
Forsberg, Bud Kaeding, Dom Scelzi, Watsonville point leader Justin
Sanders, Jesse Attard, Billy Aton, Netto, Ing and Sean Watts.
19
Winged 410 Sprint Cars came to do battle on the 3/8 mile adobe oval
with Netto setting the quick time of 12.960, beating the 13.003 of Bud
Kaeding and the 13.054 of Sanders. The eight lap heat race wins went to
Scelzi, Becker and Tim Kaeding. Bud Kaeding holds an eight point lead
over Scelzi with Netto nine points out of the lead in third. The
NARC/King of the West Series will have the 11th Annual Howard Kaeding
Classic this Saturday night at Ocean Speedway, which will pay $5,000 to
win and a minimum of $800 to start. For further information, go to www.narc410.com.
Nick
Robfogal won the 20 lap Redhawk Glass Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event.
David Lindt II led the first two laps ahead of Hunt Series championship
contender Daniel Whitley and Robfogal. The only yellow flag of the race
flew on Lap 2 for Ethon Lanfri in Turn 3. Lindt continued to lead
Whitley and Robfogal on the restart, but Whitley made a low pass in Turn
4 on the fifth lap to grab the lead. Robfogal executed a similar
maneuver a lap later to gain second with Marcus Hardina grabbing third
on the eighth lap. Trevor Schmid took third from Hardina a lap later as
the lead two cars pulled away from the pack. By the 15th lap, Whitley
had caught slower traffic, and this allowed Robfogal to close in on him.
On the final lap, Robfogal thought he had Whitley boxed in on the
inside as they went through Turns 1 and 2. Robfogal briefly got by in
Turn 2, but Whitley motored ahead down the back straightaway. As they
entered Turn 3, however, Whitley clipped the rear end of a slower car
and did a complete 360, allowing Robfogal, Lindt and Schmid to get by.
Whitley recovered in fourth as Robfogal was the happy winner ahead of
Lindt, Schmid, Whitley, Hardina, Shannon Newton, Kevin Box, Bob Davis,
Tony Bernard and Zack Albers.
Whitley was the
quickest of 12 qualifiers with a lap of 15.527, beating the 15.626 of
Lindt and the 15.879 of Box. Hardina and Robfogal were the eight lap
heat race winners.
Dean DeVolder won the 20 lap
Jay's Mobile Welding Service Super Stock Main Event. The past division
champion started up front and bolted into the lead when the green flag
waved, followed by previous winner Matt Hagemann and Dave Spindell.
Following a Lap 3 yellow flag, DeVolder continued to lead as Brent
Lawrence and two-time Antioch champion Kimo Oreta slipped past Hagemann
for the second and third positions on the restart. Oreta and Spindell
moved into second and third a lap later. That was the order until
mechanical gremlins bit Oreta on the final lap as DeVolder won ahead of
Spindell, Randy Miramontez, Oreta, Shawn McCoy, Mike Learn, Lawrence and
Hagemann. There were 10 cars in action, and DeVolder won the eight lap
heat race. Steve Studebaker and Duane Croft were Main Event scratches.
Mark
Hanson won his second 20 lap Redwood Dwarf Car Main Event in three
starts. He started up front and bolted into the early lead ahead of past
champion John "Scooter" Gomes and Shiloh Borland. Carroll Mendenhall
slipped past Borland for third on Lap 2, and a yellow flag waved on Lap
4. Mendenhall took second from Gomes on the restart as Hanson continued
to lead the way. Reigning champion Chad Matthias moved into third on Lap
12 with Mendenhall pressuring Hanson for the lead. Mendenhall made a
move around Hanson on Lap 14, only to surrender first back on Lap 16.
Hanson went on to the score the victory ahead of Carroll Mendenhall.
Jimmy Damron took third from Chad Matthias on Lap 16 and would finish
there as Matthias settled for fourth, followed by Gomes, John Peters,
Sam Borland, Mike Dahle, Adam Freitas and Trevor Mendenhall. Ryan
Winter, Peters, Hanson and Carroll Mendenhall won the eight lap heat
races as 22 drivers came to compete.
Racing
resumes this Sunday night with a return of the Winged 360 Sprint Cars
along with the IMCA Modifieds, Super Stocks and 600 Micro Sprints. For
further information, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com.
Foulger Makes Late Move For Antioch Speedway Win,
Ryland, Dutra, Johnson Other Winners
Antioch,
CA...July 10...Troy Foulger made a late move from third to score the
thrilling victory in the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night
at Antioch Speedway. Foulger is the five-time reigning champion aboard
the Bowers Motorsports Modified, and he was coming off of a big win at
the Hetrick Memorial race.
State and Antioch
point leader Jim Pettit II charged into the lead at the start ahead of
Matthew Hagio and Bakersfield point leader Jerry Flippo. A yellow flag
waved on Lap 2, and Buddy Kniss moved into third behind Pettit and Hagio
on the restart. On the fifth lap, Foulger slipped past Kniss for the
third position. One yellow flag on Lap 6 slowed the pace before 10
consecutive green flag laps, led by Pettit with Hagio and Foulger in
close pursuit. It was a Lap 16 yellow flag that changed the complexion
of the race. Pettit led the pack to the green flag, but Foulger had
already passed Hagio by the time they exited Turn 2. Foulger passed
Pettit exiting Turn 4 and had the lead by the time the lap was
completed. Foulger led the remaining laps for the thrilling victory.
Hagio also made a late maneuver around Pettit for second. Pettit settled
for third, followed by Kellen Chadwick, Aaron Crowell, Flippo, Kniss,
John Pierce, Jeff Thomas and John Sutherland. Pettit and Crowell were
the eight lap heat race winners.
Fred Ryland
picked up the win in the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was
the fourth win of the season for Ryland, who now trails Guy Ahlwardt by
just three points in the championship chase. Bakersfield Speedway title
contender Jason Bannister set the early pace ahead of Todd Gomez. Chuck
Golden was running third, but he surrendered the position to Andrew
Pearce on Lap 4 before a yellow flag waved. Jason Bannister continued to
lead Gomez on the restart, and Ryland took third from Pearce. Ryland
slipped past Gomez for second on Lap 10 and quickly put the moves on
Jason Bannister to grab the lead on Lap 12. A yellow flag waved moments
later. Ryland led Jason Bannister and KC Keller on the restart, but it
was Chris Sieweke taking third from Keller on a Lap 17 restart. Through a
trio of yellow flags, Ryland continued to lead and would score the
victory. On a Lap 18 restart, Sieweke moved into second and would finish
there, followed by Jason Bannister, State point leader Trevor Clymens,
Ahlwardt, Jason Ryan Jr, Jonathan Hagio, Emali Van Hoff, Tyler Browne
and Golden. The eight lap heat races were won by Golden, Pearce and
Gomez.
Travis Dutra won the 20 lap IMCA Stock
Car Main Event. This was the second win of the season for the current
point leader. After three-time Watsonville Hobby Stock champion Rob
Gallaher led the opening lap, it was Dutra moving by for the lead on a
Lap 2 restart. State point leader Renn Bane was an early third, but
Jason Robles got by on Lap 5 to claim the position. Robles made a move
around Rob Gallaher on Lap 11, but Dutra held a straightaway advantage
by then. Dutra went on to the impressive win, follow by Robles, Rob
Gallaher, Terry DeCarlo Jr, Watsonville Hobby Stock point leader Joe
Gallaher, Austin Van Hoff, Bane, Jim Freethy, Nick Johnson and Dan
Gonderman. Dutra and Gonderman were the eight lap heat race winners.
Bakersfield
visitor Steven Johnson won the 25 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Point
leader Larry McKinzie Jr set the early pace ahead of Johnson. Charlie
Bryant slipped past Johnson for second on Lap 4, and a yellow flag waved
a lap later. Bryant and Johnson both got past McKinzie on the restart,
and a Lap 8 yellow flag waved. Bryant continued to lead Johnson and Jeff
Bentancourt on the restart, but Bryant fell back a few spots on Lap 10
with Johnson now leading Bentanocurt and McKinzie. Both McKinzie and
Bryant got past Bentancourt on Lap 15. Johnson had Mackenzie and Bryant
in close pursuit in the waning laps, but he brought it home to a
well-earned victory. Gene Haney finished fourth, followed by Gavin
Griffiths, Jake Bentancourt, Misty Welborn, Angela Brown, Michaela
Taylor and Jewel Crandall. The four eight lap heat race wins went to
Bryant, Kenneth Robles, Johnson and McKinzie.
This
Friday and Saturday night will be the Western States Dwarf Car
Nationals, hosted by the Delta Dwarf Car Association. For further
information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Holmes Steals Show At Southern Oregon Speedway,
Wauge Back On Top In IMCA Modifieds
White
City, Oregon...July 10...Carly Holmes won the 25 lap World Famous Autos
Limited Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway.
Holmes is a multi time champion at the Outlaw Kart track, but she's only
run a handful of Limited Sprint races this year. The 14-year-old
finished fourth in the Freedom Cup Series at Cottage Grove Speedway on
4th of July weekend, and her first ever win in the class paid $1,250
thanks to additional sponsorship from Dave's Home Supply of Medford.
Holmes
started on the pole next to David Marble. Holmes led the opening lap
before a yellow flag slowed the pace. Freedom Cup Series champion Johnny
Burke was out at that point, and Holmes led Marble and 2018 champion
Dave Hibbard on the restart. 2016 champion Jake Wheeler got by Hibbard
on the third lap. Marble was running a good race, but unfortunately he
retired on Lap 14, moving Wheeler into second ahead of Bailey Hibbard.
However, Holmes held nearly a straightaway advantage at that point, and
she would bring it home to the exciting victory. Wheeler settled for
second ahead of Bailey Hibbard, Enrique Jaime, Dave Hibbard, Charlie
Thompson, Marble and RJ Baker and Burke.
Camden
Robustelli set the fast time aboard the TJ Winningham car at 12.722,
beating the 12.885 of Holmes and the 12.889 of Dave Hibbard. Robustelli
and Bailey Hibbard picked up the eight lap heat race wins with
Robustelli also claiming four lap Trophy Dash honors. Unfortunately,
Robustelli suffered mechanical issues in the process to end his night
prematurely.
Mark Wauge won the 25 lap Sweet
Tea Express IMCA Modified Main Event. Wauge is a seven-time division
champion and now the only driver in the division's history at the track
to reach 50 Main Event wins. Wauge shared the front row with Ray Kniffen
Jr, and the duo sprinted into the 1-2 positions at the start. Kniffen
took the lead from Wauge on Lap 4, but Wauge was back in front on Lap 7.
Albert Gill was running along in the third position and took second
from Kniffin on Lap 9 before a yellow flag waved. Wauge led Gill and
Kniffen on the restart, and Gil briefly took the lead from Wauge on Lap
11. Wauge came roaring back to reclaim the lead for good on Lap 12 as
reigning champion Zack Fettinger had settled into third. Point leader
Jesse Bailey was able to get by Fettinger for third on Lap 21. Wauge had
built about a straightaway advantage over Gill by the time the
checkered flag waved. Bailey settled for third, followed by James
Welshonse, Jeremy Ohlde, Kniffen, James Anderson, Duane Orsburn,
Fettinger and Jimmy Lipke.
Fettinger was the
quickest in qualifying with a lap of 15.773, beating the 15.840 of
Welshonse. The eight lap heat race wins went to Bailey and Gill with
Fettinger claiming four lap Trophy Dash honors.
Jorddon
Braaten won the Dusty's Transmissions IMCA Sport Modified Main Event.
This was the third win of the season for the three-time reigning
champion. Braaten won the Freedom Cup Series at Cottage Grove Speedway a
week earlier.
Two-time champion Mike Medel
jumped into the early lead ahead of Mike Jones and Branden Wilson.
Wilson gained second on a Lap 3 restart with Braaten moving into third a
lap later. Braaten slipped past Wilson for second on Lap 6 before a
yellow flag slowed the pace. On the restart, Braaten put the moves on
Medel to grab the lead. Point leader Matt Sanders settled into third and
took second from Medel on the ninth lap. As Braaten began to pull away
from Sanders, Yreka point leader Ryan Peery took third from Medel.
Braaten went on to the impressive win, followed by Matt Sanders, Peery,
Medel, Wyatt Westfall, Wilson, Dwayne Melvin, Billy Richey, Jones and
Byron Anderson.
Peery set the fast time of
16.101, beating the 16.151 of Braaten and the 16.189 of Sanders. With
his four lap Trophy Dash and eight lap heat race wins, Braaten made it a
clean sweep for the evening. The other heat win went to Wilson.
Southern
Oregon Speedway will host the PSM IMCA Sport Modified Showdown on July
23rd and 24th. The show will feature a $2,500 to win Main Event for the
Dusty's Transmissions IMCA Sport Modifieds on July 24th. The World
Famous Autos Limited Sprints and Mini Stocks will be on the card on the
23rd with the SODCA Dwarf Cars and Late Model Lites competing on the
24th. For further information, go to www.southernoregonmotorsports.com.
Miller Wins Firecracker 100,
Mucci Upstate Bomber Winner At Redwood Acres
Eureka,
CA...July 10...David Miller won the Firecracker 100 for the Late Models
Saturday night at Redwood Acres Raceway. Eight drivers showed up for
the extra distance affair, and point leader Miller jumped into the lead
at the start ahead of David Henderson and Eugene Palmer. Sierra Furia
took third from Palmer on Lap 5 before a yellow flag waved. Miller led
Henderson and Furia on the restart with Luke Hall moving into third on
the ninth lap. The lead trio began to pull away from the pack. Miller
and Henderson started to pull away from pull away from Hall on Lap 30,
and Miller started to put a bit of distance between himself and
Henderson as they hit the Lap 40 mark. However, the final yellow flag of
the race flew on Lap 41.
Miller resumed his
rapid pace on the restart with Hall taking second. Scott Baker also got
by Henderson for third. Henderson slipped past Baker for third on Lap
62. By the 70th lap, Miller held a straightaway advantage over Hall, who
had a comfortable margin between himself and Henderson. Miller
continued to pull away as Henderson was able to take second from Hall on Lap 85.
Miller beat Henderson by about half a lap with Hall the final lead lap
finisher in third. Baker took the checkered flag in fourth, followed by
Nick Ford, Furia, Palmer and Brian Crawford. All eight starters finished
the race.
Miller set the fast time of 16.595,
beating the 16.607 of Hall and the 16.623 of Henderson. Miller also won
the 10 lap heat race ahead of Henderson.
Trystan
Mucci won the 40 lap Upstate Bombers Main Event. Steve Kimberling led
the opening lap ahead of Roy Ingalls and Raquel Krupa. Ingalls took the
lead from Kimberling on the second lap with Jordan Krupa moving into
third. A yellow flag waved moments later. On the restart, Mikey Collins
made a big move into the lead with Mucci following into second. Ingalls
was still holding down third, but he surrendered the position to Dustin
Walters on Lap 5. Loren Powers Jr had moved into fourth as the lead four
drivers ran closely. Powers took third from Walters on Lap 25, and
Mucci grabbed the lead from Collins on Lap 29. Walters and Tyler Krupa
shuffled Collins back to fourth on Lap 32. Mucci set a rapid pace over
the final 10 laps and beat Walters by nearly a straightaway to the
checkered flag. Tyler Krupa settled for third, followed by Collins, Ed
Rasmussen, Ingalls, Jordan Krupa, Powers, Kimberling and Raquel Krupa.
Walters
was the quickest in qualifying with a lap of 18.252, beating the 18.325
of Powers and the 18.328 of Mucci. The 10 lap heat race wins went to
Ingalls and Mucci.
Brandon White won the 35 lap
Legend Car Main Event. This was the third win of the season for White
as he tries to stay in contention for the championship. Cameron Austin
took the early lead with White taking second from Tyler Krupa on Lap 2.
On the sixth lap, White put the moves on Austin to grab the lead. Jordan
Paiment had taken third from Krupa, but he surrendered the position to
Brett Murrell on Lap 6. A yellow flag waved moments later. White led
Cameron Austin and point leader Chris Lawrence on the restart. White and
Austin began to pull away from Lawrence in their battle for the lead.
However, White would prevail by a slim margin over Austin. Lawrence was
about a half-lap behind the lead duo in third, followed by Murrell,
Paiment, Krupa, Justin Johnson, Scott Taylor, Austin Cook and Brad
Henderson. White set the fast time of 17.796, beating the 18.031 of
Steve Davis and the 18.077 of Cameron Austin. Krupa and Cameron Austin
won the 10 lap heat races.
Gannon Cyphers won
the 30 lap Mini Stock Main Event. Cyphers jumped into the lead early on
ahead of Colton Kinsey and Lexi Coleman. Jarrett Mayo took third from
Coleman on Lap 3. However, point leader Eric O'Ferrall and Mayo shuffled
Kinsey back to fourth on Lap 6. Mayo gained second two laps later
before a yellow flag waved. On the restart, Cyphers led Mayo and Kinsey.
Brian Murrell Jr was running a close fourth and slipped past Kinsey for
third on Lap 10. Two laps later, Murrell was in second before a yellow
flag waved. Cypers led Murrell and Mayo on the restart. Despite serious
pressure from Murrell down the stretch, Cyphers kept his cool and scored
the impressive win. Mayo was a solid third, followed by Cole Peterson,
Sam Brown, Kinsey, Coleman, Shannon Palmer, Allison McCarty and CJ
Dalton.
Murrell was the quickest in qualifying
with a lap of 19.108, beating the 19.231 of Cyphers and the 19.372 of
Brown. Kinsey and Murrell picked up the 10 lap heat race wins.
Jeremiah
Martin won the 20 lap Roadrunners Main Event. This was the third win of
the season for Martin, who is the current point leader. Martin jumped
into the lead at the start ahead of Bob Ratzlaff and Dylan Ford. This
race was destined to go without a yellow flag. The battle was close at
the front of the pack during the first half of the race, but Martin and
Bob Ratzlaff began to break away from Ford during the second half.
Martin managed to hold off Bob Ratzlaff for the win. Ford was a solid
third, almost half a lap ahead of Brian Hopkins and final lead lap
finisher Tanisha Ratzlaff. Nick Ford ended up sixth, followed by Sean
Wildman, Jeff French, Logan Morias and Wayne Marsh. Martin set the fast
time of 20.200, beating the 20.959 of Dylan Ford. French and Bob
Ratzlaff picked up the 10 lap heat race wins.
Racing
resumes on July 31st with fan appreciation night, featuring the
Bombers, Legend Cars, Mini Stocks and Roadrunners. For further
information, go to www.raceintheacres.com.
Fireworks, Fast Cars And Fun At Mountain Valley Raceway
Hayfork,
CA...July 10...The gates opened on Saturday night at Mountain Valley
Raceway for an evening of racing and a fireworks display in honor of our
nation's independence. A good group of racers from Hayfork and as far
away as Susanville and Orland came to conquer the mountain. Lakeport
Speedway flagman Johnny Miskill handled the starter duties for the
occasion.
In the Hobby Stocks, Keith Ross came
to town and bested the field for the Main Event victory. This marks the
third different track that Ross has won at this year. Ross is currently
leading the point standings at Orland Raceway, where he has multiple
victories this year. He's also won at Marysville. He is the third
different winner at Hayfork this year.
Jeremy
Langenderfer is a past Orland Raceway champion himself, and he provided
Ross his toughest competition before settling for a second place finish.
Sport Modified racer Tressen Smith was hoping to get his second Hobby
Stock win of the year, but the best he could manage this time was third
ahead of Bennett Gooch III. Gooch made a noteworthy debut back in April
when he won the $500 prize for his victory in the Enduro race.
Orland
racers have been known to come to Hayfork and put on a show, and Ross
wasn't the only driver from there who left town with the hardware. In
Mini Stock competition, multi-time Orland Raceway champion Tom Davis
scored the victory. This is the third different race track that Davis
has won at this year as he's also claimed victories at Orland and
Susanville.
One of the drivers Davis has been
racing with in Susanville is Bob Kelly. Kelly currently hails from
Susanville, but he's originally from Weaverville. The third ranked
Susanville Mini Stock competitor drove a respectable race on this
occasion and finished second to Davis. Third went to Orland rookie
Clayton Croman, who was happy to be able to make some laps as he gets
more comfortable behind the wheel. 2015 Hayfork champion Jack Turner and
Justin James completed the Top 5 at the finish.
Jack
Turner had better luck in the wild and entertaining Enduro race, where
he captured the victory. Rich "Cubby" Stewart was third in the standings
coming into the night, and he managed a second place finish on this
occasion, followed by Steve-O Nissen and Joey Hildebrand. An
unidentified driver who was piloting a Jeep made his first start in that
vehicle and ended up fifth.
Next on the
schedule is July 24th, which will feature the Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks,
Enduros and Sport Modifieds. The big race is coming up on August 14th.
It will be the 10th running of the Clyde Cordell Memorial, which runs in
conjunction with the Trinity County Fair. More details will be
forthcoming. As always, keep your eyes on the Mountain Valley Raceway
Facebook page for future announcements, and share the news with your
friends.
Corey Day Wins WST Speedweek Series Opener
At Coos Bay Speedway
Coos
Bay, Oregon...July 12...Corey Day won the 30 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car
Main Event Monday night at Coos Bay Speedway. This was the opening round
of the five-race Western Sprint Tour Speedweek Series. The win came
aboard the Four C's Construction/Myers Contractors Incorporated
sponsored Sprinter.
2017 Speedweek champion
Justyn Cox held off Tanner Holmes and Placerville Speedway point leader
Joel Myers Jr to win the four lap Trophy Dash and grab the pole for the feature race. Cox moved into the
lead at the start ahead of Holmes and Myers. Day settled into third on
Lap 5 and slipped past Holmes for second a lap later. On the seventh
lap, Day put the moves on Cox to grab the lead. A yellow flag waved on
Lap 8 as Myers saw his fourth place run come to an end. Day continued to
lead Cox and Holmes on the restart. Jodie Robinson was running fourth
until Colby Copeland got by on Lap 22. Copeland began challenging Holmes
for third and took the position on lap 27. Day went on to score the
well-earned victory ahead of Cox, Copeland, Holmes, Tyler Thompson,
Jodie Robinson, John Clark, Matt Hein, Stephen Snawder and James
Setters.
There were 18 Sprinters on hand, and
Myers was the only driver in the 11 second bracket in qualifying with a
lap of 11.667. Justyn Cox was second quick at 12.016, beating the 12.018
of Day. The eight lap heat race wins went to Thompson, Robinson and
Drake Standley.
Tristen Davidson won the 20 lap
Mini Outlaw Main Event. This was his first win of the season. Point
leader Scott Beaudoin started on the outside front row and jumped into
the early lead ahead of Davidson and Jason Kellam. The battle was close
between the three competitors, and Davidson maneuvered his way into the
lead on Lap 12. Kellam took second from Beaudoin a lap later. Kellam
kept pace with Davidson, who would prevail at the checkered flag.
Beaudoin was a solid third. Jeff Thurman was the final lead lap finisher in
fourth as Lori Fuller, Stephanie Nix and Isaac Stere completed the
finishing order. Jamie Daniels was a Main Event scratch. Davidson and
Thurman were the 10 lap heat race winners.
Madelyn
Hardy-Ashley won the 20 lap Junior Stinger Main Event. This was a
non-point race for the class, and it was the second win of the season
for Ashley. Tallon Dubisar started on the pole and raced into the early
lead ahead of Alex Butler and Ashley. On the sixth lap, Ashley took
second from Butler, and she slipped past Dubisar two laps later to grab
the lead. Ashley pulled away to about a straightaway advantage over
Tallon Dubisar by the end of the race. Butler was a close third, and
Heather Burton was a race-long fourth, followed by Cameron Metzgus,
Taylor Fuller and Tanner Dubisar. Tucker Dubisar was a Main Event
scratch. Ashley and Butler picked up the 10 lap heat race wins.
Steve
Dubisar won the 20 lap Street Stock Main Event. This was the third win
of the season for the 2019 champion. Just three drivers showed up for
the Monday race, and Dubisar beat Justin Krossman and Dyllan Siewell to
win both the Main Event and the 10 lap heat race.
The
next oval track race will be a Thursday Night Throwdown event on July
21st, featuring the NASCAR America's Mattress Super Late Models, Street
Stocks, Jr Stingers and Sport Modifieds. July 24th is Ken Ware Chevrolet
night at the speedway, featuring The Outlaw Pro Stock/Sportsman Late
Model Shootout. The NASCAR America's Mattress Super Late Models, Street
Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets, OTRO Hardtops and Junior Stingers will
all be in action that night. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.
Fendley, Liggett, Ferolito Are Feature Winners As USAC
Takes Center Stage At Placerville Speedway
Placerville,
CA...July 10... Cody Fendley scored the unlikely 30 lap USAC West Coast
360 Sprint Car Main Event win Saturday night at Placerville Speedway.
Fendley was running third when the lead duo tangled, putting him into
the lead for the final restart. Fendley happily collected his first ever
win with the series. He became the fifth different winner in six races.
Brody
Fuson led the first two laps ahead of Merced winner Ryan Bernal before
Bernal got by. Unfortunately, Bernal got a flat tire for a Lap 4 yellow
flag. Fuson led just one lap before a four-car tangle that involved
Jimmy Trulli, Heath Holdsclaw, Ryan Timmons and Nathan Schank. Kaleb
Montgomery led Fuson on the restart with Fuson slipping past Montgomery
to lead Laps 7 and 8. Montgomery motored by to regain command on lap 9
as Jake Morgan settled into third. A yellow flag waved on Lap 17 for
Kyle Edwards, and Fuson saw his run in second end at that point.
Montgomery led Morgan and Fendley on the restart. However, Morgan
slipped past Montgomery to take the lead on Lap 19. Montgomery briefly
regained first on Lap 21, only to surrender the position back to Morgan a
lap later. The battle was still close at the front of the pack when
Montgomery attempted an inside pass in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 29,
resulting in contact that sent Morgan rolling for a red flag. Montgomery
was sent to the pits on a rough driving call at that point, and Fendley
found himself in the lead. The race went into a one lap overtime at
that point. Fendley led the pack to the green flag. Austin Liggett attempted an
outside pass in Turn 2, but he got too high and spun for a yellow flag.
Montgomery led Ryan Bernal and Kalib Henry on the next restart, and they
finished in that order, followed by Jarrett Soares, Logan Calderwood,
Shane Hopkins, Tuesday Calderwood, Jake Hodges, Cody Smith and Liggett.
24
drivers took their turns on the quarter-mile clay oval for Woodland
Auto Display qualifying. Montgomery set the fast time with a new track
record of 11.658, beating the 11.772 of DJ Johnson and the 11.832 of
Fendley. Henry won the Extreme Mufflers first 10 lap heat race ahead of
Soares, while the SWAY-A-WAY Torsion Bars second heat race win went to
Johnson ahead of Edwards. Morgan outran Hopkins to win the 10 lap
Competition Suspension Incorporated/Ultra Shield Race Products third
heat. Johnson ended the evening with a 47 point lead over Liggett in the
championship battle. Timmons has fallen 81 points behind the leader in
third. Next up for the series will be another double bill with the USAC
Western States Midgets on July 31st at Petaluma Speedway. For further
information, go to www.usacracing.com.
Austin
Liggett won the 30 lap USAC Western States Midgets Main Event. This was
the second win of the season for the series point leader. Liggett started on
the pole and led every lap for the win. A red flag flew before a lap was
even completed for a Dylan Bloomfield crash. Liggett led Chase Johnson
and Maria Cofer on the restart, and a yellow flag waved for Ben Worth
on Lap 3. Liggett resumed command over Johnson on the restart with Cofer
surrendering third to Shane Golobic on Lap 3. By the 12th lap, the
flying Liggett was working slower traffic. Golobic began pressuring
Johnson for second before making his move on Lap 22 to claim the
position. Liggett took the checkered flag a straightaway ahead of
Golobic with Johnson a solid third, followed by Cofer, Mitchell
Faccinto, Fuson, Blake Bower, CJ Sarna, Ben Wiesz and Kyle Mentch.
Michael
Faccinto was the quickest of 14 drivers in Woodland Auto Display
qualifying with a lap of 12.603, beating the 12.651 of Cofer and the
12.707 of Golobic. Worth outran Bower to win the 10 lap
Extreme Mufflers first heat. Cofer won the Competition Suspension
Incorporated/Rod and Supply second heat ahead of Fuson. Liggett ended
the night with a 40 point lead over Bower with Fuson 61 points back in
third.
Joseph Ferolito won the 20 lap BCRA
Lightning Sprint Main Event. This was his first win, and he becomes the
seventh different winner in eight races. The drivers ran Wingless on
this occasion, and polesitter Craig Holsted was going for his third win
as he bolted into the early lead ahead of Scott Kinney and Jeff Griffin.
Point leader Dakota Albright took third from Griffin on Lap 2, only to
surrender the position to Hunter Kinney on Lap 5. A red flag waved on
Lap 8 as the Kinney battle for second saw the two drivers flip.
Ferolito was second on the restart behind Holsted, but Holsted had
problems on Lap 10 to end his race. Ferolito led Terry Bergstrom and
Griffin on the restart. Danika Jo Parker briefly gained third on Lap 12.
Griffin briefly regained the position on Lap 14, only to lose it for
good to Parker on Lap 15 as he slipped back to fifth behind Cody Meyer.
Ferolito had a straightaway advantage over Bergstrom at the finish.
Parker was third ahead of Meyer, Griffin, Albright, Holsted, Tony
Fedota, Hunter Kinney and Scott Kinney.
Albright
and Bergstrom tied for fast time at 13.363 as Brandon Leedy was next at
13.368. Eight lap heat winners were Scott Kinney and Bergstrom. The
BCRA Lightning Sprints head to Stockton Delta Speedway on July 24th. For
further information, go to www.bcraracing.com.
Racing
continues this Saturday night with the Hunt Wingless Sprint Series
making another appearance along with the Thompson's Auto Group Winged
360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks and Mini Trucks. For further information,
go to www.placervillespeedway.com.
Williamson, Luckman, Henry Score Wins
At Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage
Grove, Oregon...July 10...Jesse Williamson won the 25 lap IMCA Modified
Main Event Saturday night at Cottage Grove Speedway. Williamson was
coming off of his Freedom Cup Series title the previous weekend, and
this was his second win of the season. The track ran all six of their
regular divisions.
Steven Sturdevant started on
the pole and raced into the early lead ahead of Jeffrey Hudson and
Matthew Drager. Chance Hyser grabbed third on the second lap and
surrendered the position to Curtis Towns on Lap 5. Eston Whistler gained
third on Lap 10, and Hudson saw his second place run end on lap 12 for a
yellow flag. Towns moved into second behind Sturdevant on the
restart with Whistler grabbing the position on Lap 15. However, fifth
row starter Williamson had worked his way into third at that point and
took second from Whistler on the 16th lap. A Lap 18 pass gained
Williamson the lead with Whistler taking second for good on Lap 20.
Williamson beat Whistler to the checkered flag by nearly a straightaway.
Sturdevant and Matthew Drager had a back and forth battle for third in
the final few laps with Sturdevant finally claiming the position as
Drager settled for fourth ahead of Jake Mayden, Towns, Paul Culp, Aaron
Sheelar, Hudson and Paul Rea.
Whistler was the
quickest in qualifying with a Lap of 14.243, beating the 14.382 of
Williamson and the 14.396 of Culp. The eight lap heat race wins went to
Hudson and Williamson.
Preston Luckman won the
25 lap Late Model Main Event. The 2018 champion becomes the seventh
different winner in seven races. Rob Campos had the pole and led the
opening lap before Luckman charged into the lead. Campos held second
ahead of Jim Whistler until Whistler made the pass for second on Lap 6.
Championship contender Randy Barley moved into third on the 16th lap.
Luckman set a blistering pace and beat Whistler by 2/3 of a lap. Barley
ended up third ahead of Campos, Chuck Christian, point leader Mike
Peters, Larry Ramates, Willie Sutton, Travis Pruitt and Rob Williams.
Whistler set the fast time of 13.437, beating the 13.755 of Luckman.
Whistler and Luckman were the eight lap heat race winners.
Shane
Forte won the 25 lap Todd's Auto Body Limited Sprint Main Event. This
was the first win of the season for the reigning division champion.
Tyler Thompson raced into the lead, but his run at the front was
short-lived as it came to an end on Lap 3. Pat Desbiens was second and
gained the lead for the restart ahead of Forte and Justin McConnville.
However, Forte put the moves on Desbiens to grab the lead on Lap 6, just
as the race came to an end for McConnville. Forte set a rapid pace from
there with only Desbiens able to stay on the lead lap in second.
McMaster ended up third, followed by Tim Minter, McConnville and
Thompson. Thompson set the fast time of 11.738, beating the 11.829 of
Forte. Forte won the eight left heat race.
Jordan
Henry won the 20 lap Royalty Core IMCA Sport Modified Main
Event. This was his first win of the season. KC Scott bolted into the
early lead ahead of Greg Schellhorn and Henry. Henry moved into second
on Lap 2 and gained the lead when Scott had problems on Lap 4. Timothy
Allerdings settled into second on the restart, but Schellhorn briefly
regained the position on Lap 8. Allerdings moved back by on Lap 9 with
point leader Dustin Comer moving into third on Lap 10. Comer took second
from Allerdings with Ray Bloom gaining third on Lap 16. Comer gave
Henry some pressure late, but Henry would hold him off for the victory.
Ray Bloom settled for third, followed by Allerdings, Daniel Ray, Mike
DeSilva, Dalton Bloom, reigning champion Doug Coffman, Garrett Craig and
Scott.
Garrett Barth was the quickest
qualifier at 15.472, beating the 15.600 of Dustin Comer. The eight lap
heat race wins went to Trevor Points and Ray Bloom.
Graig
Osborne won the 20 lap Street Stock Main Event. This was the fifth win
of the season for the current point leader. Taunton Swaim raced into
the lead at the start with Osborne taking second from Anthony Prather
on Lap 2. Michael Hollingsworth settled into third, and Osborne put the
moves on Swaim to grab the lead on Lap 8. Holingsworth saw his run in
third end on Lap 10 with Mike Swaim gaining the position. However, Troy
Chamberlain slipped past Mike Swaim for third on Lap 14. Osbourne beat
Taunton Swaim back to the checkered flag by about a straightaway with
Chamberlain a solid third ahead of Prather, Mike Swaim, Karah Points and
Hollingsworth. Taunton Swaim set the fast time of 17.356, beating the
17.669 of Osborne. Mike Swaim won the eight lap heat race.
Ryan
Dickinson won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Compact Main Event. This was his
first win of the season. Kerry Cooper had the pole and raced into the
lead at the start ahead of Jim Simmons and Andrew Langan. Langan moved
into second on Lap 4 and slipped past Cooper a lap later to grab the
lead. Point leader Brad Martin moved into third and took second from
Cooper on Lap 9. Unfortunately, Martin saw his race come to an end on
Lap 12. Dickinson moved into second at that point and took the lead from Langan on Lap 14. James Donaldson moved into second on Lap 15 ahead of
Cooper. Donaldson kept it close, but Dickinson prevailed at the
checkered flag. Cooper ended up third ahead of Rex Eckley, Tiffany
Towns, Simmons, Michael Kennerly, Darren Barth, Langan and Madelyn
Ashley. Burnie Bryant set the fast time of 18.002, beating the 18.790 of
Donaldson. The eight lap heat races were won by Bryant and Cooper.
It's
a double header weekend this Friday and Saturday night as the Western
Sprint Tour Speedweek Series headlines both nights. The IMCA Modifieds
and IMCA Sport Compacts will also compete on Friday night with the IMCA
Modifieds and Street Stocks on the card a night later. For further
information, go to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Montgomery, Hitner, Christian, Kellam, Smith Win
At Coos Bay Speedway
Coos
Bay, Oregon...July 10...Brody Montgomery won the 25 lap NASCAR
America's Mattress Super Late Model Main Event Saturday night at Coos
Bay Speedway. This was the sixth win of the season for Montgomery as he
sets his sights on a third championship in the division. The night also
featured a visit from Mr Dizzy's thrill show and a fireworks display.
Montgomery
started in the third row for the Main Event, and polesitter Hannah
Robison was the early leader. Montgomery immediately moved into second
and took the lead from Robison on the third lap. Wayne Butler took
second from Robison a lap later, and Mike Taylor settled into third on
Lap 6. Montgomery beat Butler by about a half-straightaway with Taylor a
solid third ahead of eight lap heat race winner Braden Fugate, Garrett
Smith and Robison.
Dustin Hitner won the 20 lap
Sportsman Late Model Main Event. This was his first win of the season.
Point leader Ryan Emry had the pole and raced into the early lead ahead
of Tahlan Rogers and Hitner. Hitner raced past Rogers for second on Lap
13 and put the moves on Emry for the lead on Lap 18. Hitner held off
Ryan Emry the rest of the way to win with Rogers settling for third
ahead of Jacob Emry, Josh Kraliceck, Jim Crabtree, Roger Bell and Jason
Smith. Ryan Emry won the eight lap heat race.
Seth
Christian won the 25 lap Street Stock Main Event. This was the sixth
win of the season for the current point leader. 2018 champion Steve
Dubisar jumped into the early lead ahead of reigning champion Ken Fox
and Leroy Rockwell. Christian took fourth from Loren McIntire
on Lap 4 and grabbed third on the 11th lap. On Lap 14, Christian
slipped past Fox for second, and he then overtook Dubisar for the lead
on Lap 18. Christian pulled away just a little bit from Dubisar for the
win with Fox settling for third ahead of Rockwell, Justin Krossman,
Dyllan Siewell, Toby McIntyre, Lauren McIntyre, Austin Morrow and Joseph
Wilson. Dubisar and Christian scored the eight lap heat race wins.
Jason
Kellam won the 20 lap Mini Outlaw Main Event. This was the second win
for him in as many starts. Kellam started on the outside front row and
was second for a lap behind Jeff Thurman before moving into the lead.
Tristen Davidson ran an early third before point leader Scott Beaudoin
got by on Lap 3. Unfortunately, Beaudoin saw his race end on Lap 8.
Meanwhile, Kellam ran a good race and kept Thurman behind him the rest
of the way for the victory. Davidson was a straightaway behind the lead
duo in third, followed by George Wheeler, Matthew Emry, Cody Skeslien,
Nicole Emry, Scott Beaudoin, Jamie Daniels and Thomas Greer. Kellam and
Davidson picked up the eight lap heat race wins.
Seth
Christian won the 20 lap Hornets Main Event. This was the sixth win for
the current point leader as he continues to maintain an impressive
double division effort. Kris Parker led three laps before being
overtaken by Christian. While the lead duo ran closely, Dan Briesacher
settled into third at the start ahead of reigning champion Isaac Stere.
Stere was dropped to sixth behind Alexis Baker and Steven Parker on the
16th lap, and Christian won ahead of Kris Parker, Briesacher, Baker,
Steven Parker, Stere, Lily Metzgus, Jayden Miller, William Hitner and
Jamie Daniels. Christian and Kenneth Fill picked up eight lap heat race
wins.
Griff Smith won the 15 lap Junior Stinger
Main Event. This was the 10th win of the season for the point leader.
Smith had the pole and led from the outset. Tallon Dubisar ran second
for most of the race ahead of Heather Burton. Both Burton and Cameron
Metzgus dropped Dubisar back to fourth on Lap 13. Smith beat Burton by a
straigaway with Metzgus finishing third ahead of Tallon Dubisar, Drake
Vincent, Dylan Wheeler, Alex Butler, Haileigh Crosier, Tanner Dubisar
and Anthony Hoggatt. Tallon Dubisar and Smith won the eight lap heat
races.
Racing returns to the oval track with a
special Thursday night Throwdown race on the 21st, featuring the NASCAR
America's Mattress Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Junior Stingers and
Sport Modifieds. The following Saturday will have a special Outlaw Pro
Stock versus Sportsman Late Model Event with the America's Mattress
Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaw, Hornets and Junior
Stingers also on the card. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.
Winebarger Scores Historic $5,000 IMCA Stock Car Win
At Sunset Speedway
Banks,
Oregon...July 4...Collen Winebarger won the Firecracker 100 IMCA Stock
Car Main Event Sunday night at Sunset Speedway. The race had to be
shortened to 75 laps due to time, and the IMCA Modified star Winebarger
led the final 15 laps to collect the $5,000 payday. This race was
notable as It produced the biggest IMCA Stock Car turnout in West Coast
history. It's the first time an IMCA Stock Car race on the West Coast
had more than 20 cars as 24 competitors showed up from Oregon and
surrounding states. Winebarger had led most of the way in the Saturday
night Main Event before misfortune struck late, handing point leader
Jerry Schram his third win of the season. Schram finished second to
Winebarger on Sunday.
Don Schott started on the
pole and raced into the early lead ahead of Sean Gentry and Chase
Berkeley. Berkeley's race came to an end for a lap 10 yellow flag.
Schott continued to lead the restart with Zack Simpson taking second
from Gentry. Gentry briefly regained the position on Lap 12, but Simpson
reclaimed the spot a lap later. Rob Gallaher took third on Lap 14 and
slipped past Simpson for second on Lap 17. The battle for second
continued with Simpson reclaiming the position on Lap 25. Gallaher came
back strong to grab second on Lap 29 and briefly took the lead from
Schott a lap later. However, Simpson motored past Gallaher to grab the
lead on Lap 31. Schott was running third at that point and they
maintained that order through Lap 47. Gallaher came roaring past Simpson
for the lead on Lap 48, but Simpson again reclaimed the position on Lap
50. However, a yellow flag waved on Lap 51 for a tangle between Simpson
and Schott. Gallaher had the lead on the restart, but he surrendered
the spot to Gentry on Lap 54. Collen Winebarger settled into third in a
close battle at the front, but a tangle between Gentry and Gallaher
forced a Lap 59 yellow flag. Track officials elected to cut the race
from its original 100 laps to 75 as the cars had already been on the
track for about an hour by then. Winebarger led the restart ahead of
point leader Jerry Schram and BJ Wild. Unfortunately, Wild's race came
to an end on Lap 62. Winebarger continued to lead the tenacious Schram
on the restart. Winebarger would lead the rest of the way with Schram in
close pursuit in second. Chris West earned the final podium position
with Schott a resurgent fourth, followed by Sean Cronk, Gentry, Tim
Jenner, Rob Gallaher, Kevin Roberts and Arnie Case.
The
big money produced a 24 car turnout, and the four eight lap heat race
wins went to Jeremy Brookshire, Winebarger, Berkeley and West.
Winebarger won the four lap Trophy Dash to make it a clean sweep. Wild
won the 10 lap B Main, leading every lap from the pole. Kevin Roberts
jumped into the early second ahead of Kersey Ferrando, but Brian Cronk
slipped into third on Lap 2. Schram was up to fourth on Lap 3 and
slipped past Cronk for third on Lap 6. On the ninth lap, Schram put the
moves on Roberts to grab second. Wild won with Schram and Roberts in
close pursuit, followed by Case and Brian Cronk.
The
Saturday race saw Don Schott lead four laps before his race ended.
Jerry Brookshire ran seconnd until being passed by Collen Winebarger on
Lap 3. Winebarger assumed the lead with the retirement of Schott,
followed by Jerry Schram and Chase Berkeley. That was the order until
Winebarger's race came to an end on Lap 27. Schram assumed the lead at
that point and led the rest of the way, followed by Brookshire and
Berkeley. Zack Simpson finished fourth, followed by California's Joe
Gallaher and Rob Gallaher, BJ Wild, Mark Farrar, Kevin Roberts and
Dakota Godard.
There were 22 cars for the
Saturday show, and the eight lap heat race wins went to Roberts,
Brookshire and Doug Lockwood. Winebarger won the four lap Trophy Dash.
Wild won the 10 lap B Main. Brody Humphrey led the first three laps
before tangling with Farrar for a Lap 3 yellow flag. Wild grabbed the
lead on the restart ahead of Godard, but Kersey Ferrando gained the
second position on Lap 5. Fernando's race ended on Lap 7. This put
Humphrey into second for a lap before Sean Cronk gained the position on
Lap 8. Wild scored the win ahead of Cronk, Farrar, Godard and Humphrey.
Grey
Fernando won the 40 lap IMCA Modified Main Event on Sunday night.
Fernando started back in the fourth row, and David Day led early ahead
of Kristi Somers and Jeff Lovell. Lovell slipped past Somers for second
on Lap 3 and took the lead from Day on the sixth lap. At that point,
Fernando was making the pass around Somers for third, and he took second
from Day on Lap 8. Fernando wasted little time grabbing the lead from
Lovell, making his winning move on Lap 11. Lovell was dropped out of the
Top 3 by Craig Cassell and Collen Winebarger on Lap 13. Ferrando led
the final 30 laps of the race to win ahead of Cassell, Winebarger,
Lovell, John Gaynor, Day, Doug Davenport, Tyson Blood, Mark Gaylord and
Somers. Day and Cassell won the eight lap heat races as 14 drivers were
on hand.
Craig Cassell won the 40 lap Main
Event on Saturday night. David Day had the pole and set the early pace
ahead of Todd Newton and Collen Winebarger. Newton had problems on Lap 3
as Winebarger gained second behind Day. Winebarger slipped past Day to
grab the lead on Lap 5 with Cassell settling into second. Day
surrendered third to John Gaynor on Lap 10. Tyler Blood moved into
fourth on Lap 15 and took third from Gaynor on Lap 20. The battle heated
up at the front of the pack with Cassell putting the moves on
Winebarger to take the lead on Lap 30. Cassell pulled away a little bit
for the win with Winebarger second ahead of Blood, Grey Ferrando, Doug
Davenport, Gaynor, Day, Trevor LaBarge, Cody Jones and Mark Gaylord.
Cassell made it a clean sweep with wins in the four lap Trophy Dash and
his eight lap heat race with Ferrando the other heat winner.
Sunset
Speedway is also the first track on the West Coast with four IMCA
sanctioned divisions. They also feature the IMCA Sport Modifieds and
IMCA Sport Compact, who were both off for the weekend. The Northwest
Dwarf Cars and Super 600 Micro Sprints ran in support of the two IMCA
classes for the weekend. See the articles provided by the individual
groups, if available, for more information. For further information on
the happenings at the track, go to www.sunsetspeedwaypark.com.
Mackey, Lemley, Peterson, Miller, Morgan
Win At Deming Speedway
Bellingham,
Washington...July 9...Colin Mackey won the 25 lap Speed Mart Super 600
Main Event Friday night at Deming Speedway. Jesse Schlotfeldt set the
early pace ahead of Parker Hadlock, but Tanner Holm slipped past Hadlock
for second on Lap 2. The battle appeared to be for second as
Schlotfeldt held a decent lead, but Schlotfeldt's race came to a
disappointing end for a Lap 10 yellow flag. Holm had the lead over
Hadlock and Mackey on the restart, and they ran that way until another
yellow flag flew on Lap 13 for Hadlock. Holm led Mackey and Jared
Peterson on the restart. Mackey took the lead from Holm on Lap 23, and a
yellow flag waved with Holm retiring from the race at that point.
Mackey led Peterson and Ryley Mayer on the final restart, and they
finished in that order. Blaine Granberg settled for fourth, followed by
Jeremy Holz, Derek Torkelson, Kaitlyn Hammer, Jayden Whitney, point
leader Dylan Resch and Dakota Drake.
There were
24 save Mart Super 600s, and Mackey set the fast time of 10.701 on the
1/6 mile clay oval with Holm second quick at 10.749. The four eight lap
heat races transferred the Top 4 finishers directly into the Main Event,
and wins were recorded by Cejay Adkins, Torkelson, Hadlock and Tyler
Conley. Haley Constance won the 10 lap B Main ahead of Rachel
Westmoreland, Marcie Logsdon, Xan Miller and JJ Loss.
Tyson
Lemley won the 25 lap Shots 2 Go 1200 Mini Sprints Main Event. He led
all the way for the win. When the green flag flew, it was Tyson Lemley
leading Brock Lemley and Terry Lewis. Alex Lewis moved into third on the
fifth lap and a Lap 9 yellow flag waved. One last yellow flag waved on
Lap 11, and Tyson Lemley continued to lead Brock Lemley and Alex Lewis
on the restart. The Lemley's ran close all the way to the end with Tyson
holding off Brock for the victory. Jared Gundersen made a last lap pass
on Alex Lewis to finish third as Lewis settled for fourth ahead of Seth
Hespe, Dakota Drake, point leader Derek Holmwood, Terry Lewis, Tanner
Holm and Tanner Shoonover. Alex Lewis was the quickest of 13 qualifiers
at 10.733, beating the 10.805 of Tyson Lemley. Hespe and Terry Lewis
were the eight lap heat race winners.
Jared
Peterson won the 25 lap Focus Midget Main Event. The red flag flew
before one lap was in the books for a Kyle Hanson crash. Peterson didn't
waste time getting the lead with Jake Munn quickly settling into second
ahead of Jesse Munn. Point leader Nick Evans grabbed third from
Jesse Munn on Lap 10. By Lap 12, Peterson held a straightaway advantage,
and the second place battle found Jesse Munn and Levi Harless both
getting past Evans and Jake Munn for second and third. Harless slipped
past Jake Munn for second on Lap 14 with Evans grabbing third on Lap 16.
Peterson set a rapid pace and beat Harless by more than a straightaway
by the time the race was over. Evans settled for third ahead of Jesse
Munn, Jake Munn, Chris Foster, Brian Holmkivist, Ray Stebbins and
Hansen. Peterson set the fast time of 11.593, beating the 11.816 of
Evans. The eight lap heat race win went to Evans.
Destry Miller won the 25 lap mytrafficman.net
Restricted 600 Main Event. Miller started up front and charged into the
lead at the start ahead of Elijah Gile and Peyton Drake. Gile and Drake
were having a good battle for second when the yellow flag flew on Lap
12. Miller continued to lead Drake on the restart as Axel Oudman settled
into third. Following a Lap 14 yellow flag, the lead three remained the
same. Miller pulled away just a little bit as the battle was for second
between Drake and Oudman. Miller was a happy winner with Drake holding
off Oudman for the runner-up finish. Corbin Ramsey settled for fourth,
followed by Cejay Adkins, point leader Levi Hillier, Mallory Fisher,
Kane Van Sickle, Keira Zylstra and Riley Kentch.
Zlystra
was the quickest of 23 qualifiers with a lap of 11.286, beating the
11.400 of Hillier. The four eight lap heat races transferred the Top 4
drivers directly into the feature with wins going to Adkins, Hillier,
Mallory Fisher and Karma Fagerlie. Van Sicle took the lead
on a Lap 6 restart and went on to win the 10 lap B Main ahead of Diane
Knutzen, Riley Kentch, Grace Matier and Fairah Lee.
McKenna
Morgan won the 20 lap Clean Crawls Junior Sprint Main Event. Morgan
raced into the lead at the start ahead of Chase Whitney and Jayce
Medcalf. Avery Askvig settled into third on a Lap 2 restart. Medcalf
regained third on a Lap 4 restart with point leader Brooklyn Constance
settling into fourth. Constance took third from Medcalf on Lap 5 and
gained second on Lap 9. With Constance running in second, Morgan had
plenty of pressure for the Lap 14 and 15 restarts. However, Morgan was
up to the task and held off Constance the rest of the way for the
victory. Whitney settled for third, followed by Colton Knapp, Medcalf,
Askvig, Ryan Bright, Dustin Ramsey, Sawyer Baxter and Brody Cooley.
Constance set the fast time of 13.363, beating the 13.410 of Askvig. The
two eight lap heat race wins went to Clayton Jalakas and Whitney.
This Thursday through Saturday is the IBEW/NECA Clay Cup Nationals. For further information, go to www.demingspeedway.com.
Scelzi Steals Win From Sanders At Ocean Speedway,
Ryland, Velasquez, Mitchell Other Winners
Watsonville,
CA...July 9...Dom Scelzi made a surprise visit to Ocean Speedway on
Friday night and won the 30 lap Taco Bravo Sprint Car Main Event. His
win came at the expense of dominant point leader Justin Sanders, who had
led much of the race.
Nick Ringo beat Sanders
and Bud Kaeding in the six lap Trophy Dash to grab the pole for the
feature. However, Sanders bolted into the lead at the start ahead of
Kaeding and Ringo. Joey Ancona moved into third on Lap 2, but he
surrendered the position to Corey Day on Lap 8. The first yellow flag of
the race didn't fall until Lap 13 as the race ended for Kurt Nelson.
Fourth row starter Scelzi had settled into fourth at that point as
Sanders continued to lead Kaeding and Day on the restart. Scelzi
moved by Day for third on Lap 16 before a yellow flag waved with Tucker
Worth out of the race. Scelzi motored past Kaeding for second on a Lap
18 restart. Following a Lap 21 yellow flag, Sanders continued to lead
Scelzi and Kaeding. However, the determined Scelzi began pressuring
Sanders and took the lead on Lap 29 before a yellow flag waved for a
crash that eliminated Connor Danell, Josh Chisum, Ryan DeLisle and Jimmy
Christian. Scelzi led the restart and brought it home to victory ahead
of Sanders, Kaeding, Corey Day, Ancona, Ryan Timms, Travis Labat, Nick
Ringo, Keith Day Jr and Grant Champlin.
There were 23
Sprint Cars, and Ancona set the fast time on the Tom Sagmiller prepared
quarter-mile clay oval at 11.280, beating the 11.301 of Sanders and the
11.363 of Corey Day. The three eight lap heat race wins went to
Champlin, Nick Ringo and Kaeding.
Fred Ryland
won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was the fifth win of
the season for Ryland as he trails Randy Miller by just eight points in
the championship battle. Max Baggett led at the start ahead of Adriane
Frost, but Frost surrendered second to Ryland on a Lap 2 restart. A lap
later, Ryland slipped past Baggett for the lead. Frost moved into second
on Lap 4 before a yellow flag waved. Ryland led Frost and 2019
champion Jarrod Mounce on the restart, but just one lap could get
completed before a yellow flag waved. Justin Parr was out of the race at
that point, and Mounce moved into second behind Ryland on the
restart. Unfortunately, another yellow flag waved a lap later as both
Baggett and Cody Bryan were out of the race. Ryland led the Lap 7 and
Lap 8 restarts ahead of Mounce and Frost. Ryland began to pull away from
Mounce as the final 13 laps went without incident. Ryland won by a
straightaway with Mounce settling for second. Randy Miller made a last
lap pass on Frost to grab third. Dennis Simunovich ended up fifth,
followed by State point leader Trevor Clymens, Jim DiGiovanni, Jonathan
Hagio, John Ferro and Charlie Hunter. Eight lap heat wins went to Ryland
and Frost.
Camarillo's Tommy Velasquez III won
his fourth South Bay Dwarf Car Main Event. The association has not made
their point standings available to the public, but Velasquez seems to
be chasing points with the group this season. Velasquez bolted into the
lead at the start ahead of reigning Delta Dwarf Car champion Travis
Day and Nick Velasquez. A Lap 3 yellow flag waved, and Nick Velasquez
moved into second on the restart behind Tommy Velasquez III. Day settled
into third. Trafton Chandler pitted on Lap 9, and Tommy Velasquez III steadily pulled away from Nick Velasquez. Tommy Velasquez III beat Nick
Velasquez by nearly a straightaway with Day a solid third ahead of
Eric Weisler, Eddy Claessen, Barry Waddell and Chandler. Day won the
eight lap heat race, and reigning champion Mark Biscardi and Keith
Costas were Main Event scratches.
Richard
Mitchell won the 15 lap Four Banger Main Event. This was his
second-straight win and third of the season. Mitchell shared the front
row with two-time champion Kate Beardsley and motored ahead when the
green flag waved. Joseph Marsh was an early third, but point leader Tony
Gullo grabbed the position on Lap 4. By then, Mitchell and Beardsley
had pulled away just a little bit, but a yellow flag waved for Marsh.
Mitchell continued to lead Beardsley on the restart, but Gullo slipped
past Beardsley for the second position a lap later. A lap 10 yellow flag
waved, signalling the end of the race for Kenny Stragalinos as he
joined TJ Santos on the sidelines. That didn't stop Mitchell as he
resumed command on the restart ahead of Gullo and Kate Beardsley.
Mitchell pulled away to a well-earned victory as Gullo settled for
second ahead of Kate Beardsley, Nicole Beardsley, Bill Beardsley, Travis
Van Gilder, Marsh, Stragalinos and Santos.
This
weekend is the 11th Annual Howard Kaeding Classic. On Friday night, the
Taco Bravo Sprint Cars return along with the IMCA Sport Modifieds, WMR
Midgets and Hobby Stocks. A night later, the money is on the line as the
NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars return for a
$5,000 to win event. IMCA Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Police N Pursuit
cars will also be in action. For further information, go to www.racepmg.com.
Bernal, Johnson Win Merced USAC Races
Morris, Wilson, Tucker Other Winners
Merced,
CA...July 9...Ryan Bernal won the 30 lap USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car
Main Event Friday night at Merced Speedway. The win for Burnell came
aboard the Matt Wood Racing owned Elk Grove Ford sponsored Sprinter.
Despite the 110° temperatures, the track elected to go ahead with this
race and started things off late in the hopes that it would cool off at
least a little bit.
Placerville Winged 360
Sprint Car driver Kalib Henry removed his wing for the occasion and
jumped into the lead at the start ahead of championship contender Ryan
Timmons and Bernal. Bernal took the lead from Henry on Lap 3 as
championship contender Austin Liggett settled into third. Liggett and
Timmons were battling fiercely for the third position when they tangled
for a Lap 24 yellow flag. Bernal led Henry and Shane Hopkins on the
restart. Bernal ran smooth down stretch and brought it home to the
satisfying win ahead of Henry, Hopkins, point leader DJ Johnson, Kaleb
Montgomery, Jarrett Soares, Timmons, Tanner Boul, Logan Calderwood and
Jacob Tuttle.
Montgomery was the quickest in
Woodland Auto Display qualifying on the quarter-mile clay oval with a
lap of 12.401. That was also a new track record. Bernal was second quick
at 12.501, beating the 12.730 of Liggett. Soares won the Extreme
Mufflers 10 lap first heat race ahead of Montgomery. It was Bernal
claiming the win in the Sway-A-Way Torsion Bars second heat with rookie
Dylan Bloomfield finishing second. Johnson continued to lead the
standings after the race by 40 points over Liggett and 52 ahead of
Timmons. For further information on the group, go to www.usacracing.com.
Chase
Johnson won the 25 lap USAC Western States Midgets Main Event. This was his second win
with the group. Ben Worth started on the pole and jumped into the early
lead ahead of Tony Gualda and Brody Fuson. Gualda slipped past Fuson
for second on Lap 2 and grabbed the lead from Worth two laps later.
Johnson took second from Worth on Lap 7, and a yellow flag waved on
Lap 8 with point leader Austin Liggett out at that point. Gualda
continued to lead Johnson and Worth on the restart. Johnson put the
moves on Gualda to grab the lead on Lap 13 with a yellow flag waving
moments later. Johnson led Gualda and Mitchel Moles on Lap 14 and 16
restarts. A Lap 21 yellow flag saw the race end for Worth. Johnson led
Gualda and Moles on the restart, but Gualda's run up front ended for a
Lap 23 yellow flag. Johnson led Moles and Fuson on the restart. A Lap
28 yellow flag waved for Moles. Johnson led Fuson and Blake Bower on the
restart. That was the order at the checkered flag with CJ Sarna ending
up fourth ahead of rookie Kyle Mentch, Jarrett Soares, Ashlyn Rodriguez,
Moles, Gualda and Worth.
Liggett was the
quickest in Woodland Auto Display qualifying with a lap of 13.607,
beating the 13.681 of Johnson and the 13.720 of Bower. Moles won the
Extreme Mufflers first 10 lap heat race with Maria Cofer claiming the Competition Suspension Incorporated/Rod and Supply second heat race.
Liggett holds a 26 point lead over Bower after this race with Fuson 49
points back in third. For further information on the group, go to www.usacracing.com.
Troy
Morris III won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event. He becomes the
sixth different winner in as many races. Mike Shepherd started on the
outside front row and raced into the early lead ahead of Morris and
Bakersfield point leader Jerry Flippo. Both Morris and Flippo raced past
Shepherd on Lap 7 before a yellow flag waved. Morris led Flippo and
Robby Sawyer on the restart with Sawyer taking second from Flippo on a
Lap 10 restart. As Morris led the way, Sawyer searched high and low to
find a line around him with Flippo closing in on Sawyer. However, Morris
stayed smooth and consistent to hold off Sawyer for the win. Flippo
settled for third and Rick Diaz ended up fourth, followed by Shepherd,
point leader Trevor Fitzgibbon, State point leader Jim Pettit II, Cody
Burke, Ricky Thatcher and Shaun DeForest. There were 14 cars for the
occasion with the eight lap heat race wins going to Sawyer and
Thatcher.
Bakersfield star Dylan Wilson won the
20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. This was his second win of the season.
Wilson started on the outside front row next to Porterville's Karl
Noland, and they raced into the 1-2 positions when the green flag waved.
Chad Ragsdale was an early third, but he surrendered that position to
Syd Finn on a Lap 6 restart. Timmy Crews raced past Finn for third on
Lap 11. Wilson set a rapid pace and beat Noland to the checkered flag by
about a straightaway. Crews settled for third ahead of Steven Johnson,
Derek Ogden, Finn, Ragsdale, incoming point leader Domossie Scoggins,
Xavier Baez and Breck Smith. There were 18 Hobby Stocks, and Noland and
Wilson were the eight lap heat race winners.
Tyler
Tucker won the 15 lap California Sharp Mini Late Model Main Event. The
fourth-generation racer becomes the third different winner in three
races. Point leader Carson Guthrie set the early pace ahead of Mason
Morton and DJ Saenz. Brayden Morton moved into third on Lap 4, and a
yellow flag waved on Lap 7 when Guthrie spun from the lead. Mason
Morton took the lead on the restart ahead of Tucker, and Ryder Jeppesen
moved into third on Lap 10. Guthrie passed Jeppesen for third on Lap 11.
On the final lap, Tucker made his winning maneuver to steal the victory
from Mason Morton. Guthrie ended up third ahead of Liam Richardson,
Brayden Morton, Jeppesen and DJ Saenz. Tucker also won the six lap heat
race.
Racing returns on Saturday night, July
24th with the Hunt Wingless Sprint Series, Hobby
Stocks, Mini Stocks, IMCA Stock Cars and Valley Sportsman. For further
information, go to www.mercedspeedway.net.
Greene Wins Hardtop Challenge At Douglas County Speedway
Roseburg,
Oregon...July 9...Kyran Greene won the PRA Johnny's Drive-In Hardtop
Main Event Friday night at Douglas County Speedway. This was the annual
Graffiti Weekend Hardtop Challenge event, which has been on the track's
schedule for several years. Greene is the reigning division champion. He
picked up the win ahead of Brian Smith, Troy Gasner, 2018 champion
Harlon Cox and Mike Batman.
Riley Watson
collected the win in the Winchester Pub PRA Sport Modified Main Event.
Reigning Outlaw champion Dale Roth brought it home in second, followed
by 2018 champion John Harvey, Kaleb Watson and Blake Harvey.
Zachary
Asumendi prevailed in the PRA Pro Motors Hornets division. Ryan
Dickinson ended up second, followed by Brandon Belt, Skyler Lemon and
Joe House. The track also ran the Cow Creek Tribe Mini Figure 8 on a
special track on the front straightaway, and the win went to 2018
Hornets champion Pete Lemon.
This Saturday
night will be the annual Super Stock Showdown. The lineup of PRA
divisions will also include the Johnny's Drive-In Hardtops, Winchester Pub Sport Modifieds and the Pro Motors Hornets. For further
information, go to www.douglasscountyspeedway.com.
Kennemore, Nieman, Italiano, Robertson, Frock
Win At Diamond Mountain Speedway
Susanville,
CA...July 10...Wade Kennemore won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event
Saturday night at Diamond Mountain Speedway. This was his first win of
the season. Kennemore stays within 15 points of Chris Nieman for second
in the standings, but Riley Simmons is 100 points ahead of Nieman.
Kennemore came from the fourth row and won ahead of Galen Hainline.
Fifth row starter Nieman and sixth row starter Simmons finished third
and fourth, respectively as Scott foreman finished fifth. Hainline and
Nieman were the eight lap heat race winners.
Craig
Nieman won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was his
third win of the season, which moved him into third, 37 points behind
Colton Chew. Chew trails Richard Longacre by four points in the
championship chase. Neiman started back in the fourth row and
worked his way past Jimmy Ray Huffmon and Colton Chew to grab the
victory. Chew held on for a second place finish, followed by Huffmon, Longacre and Cole Olexiewicz.
Longacre and Neiman picked up the eight lap heat race wins.
Richard
Italiano won the 25 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. This was his first win
of the season. Italiano came from the fourth row to get the lead and
held off sixth row starter Royce Goetz and Terry Kennemore to get the
win. Point leader Randy Boyd finished fourth ahead of Jacob Dias.
Kennemore and Goetz were the eight lap heat race winners. Boyd maintains
a 19 point lead over Dias in the championship battle with Don Dieter
43 points back in third.
Kate Robertson won the
20 lap Mini Stock Main Event. The sixth win of the season for the
reigning division champion put her back into the point lead by 25 markers ahead
of Suzie Schmitt. Robertson had to work her way to the front of the pack
with fellow fifth row starter Nick Boucher. Robertson would hold off
Boucher for the win as Andy Hast, an unidentified driver in the #83
car and Wastin Lawson completed the Top 5. Robertson and Boucher picked
up the eight lap heat race wins.
Joe Frock won
the 20 lap Dwarf Car Main Event. This was his third win of the season.
Frock and heat race winner Chris Cristiano started back in the third row
and drove to the 1-2 finish ahead of Dylan Kintz, Glenn Sciarani and
William Christiano.
Racing returns on Sunday
July 25th with the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks
and Mini Stocks all in action. For further information, go to www.dmspeedway.com.
Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 9
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo
Dominic Scelzi
Justin Sanders
Bud Kaeding
Corey Day
Joey Ancona
Ryan Timms
Travis Labat
Nick Ringo
Keith Day Jr
Grant Champlin
Jason Chisum
Jeremy Chisum
Connor Danell
Josh Chisum
Ryan Delisle
Jimmy Christian
Chris Nelson
J.J. Ringo
Tucker Worth
Kurt Nelson
Richard Fajardo
Adam Kaeding DNS
Ryan Rocha DNS
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Fred Ryland
Jarrod Mounce
Randy Miller
Adriane Frost
Dennis Simunovich
Trevor Clymens
Jim DiGiovanni
Jonathan Hagio
John Ferro
Charlie Hunter
Duane Bieser
Max Baggett
Cody Bryan
Justin Parr
Four Bangers
Richard Mitchell
Tony Gullo
Kate Beardsley
Nicole Beardsley
Bill Beardsley
Travis VanGilder
Joseph Marsh
Kenny Stragalinos
TJ Santos
South Bay Dwarf Cars
Tommy Velasquez III
Nick Velasquez
Travis Day
Eric Weisler
Eddy Claessen
Barry Waddell
Trafton Chandler
Mark Biscardi DNS
Keith Costas DNS
Merced Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 9
IMCA Modifieds
Troy Morris III
Robby Sawyer
Jerry Flippo
Rick Diaz
Mike Shepherd
Trevor Fitz
Jim Pettit II
Cody Burke
Ricky Thatcher
Shawn DeForest
Bob Williamson
Raymond Keldsen Jr
Bill Vieselmeyer
Robby Jeppesen DNS
Hobby Stocks
Dylan Wilson
Karl Noland
Timmy Crews
Steven Johnson
Derek Ogden
Syd Finn
Chad Ragsdale
Domossie Scoggins
Xavier Baez
Breck Smith
Donald Hiser
Dustin Donathan
Race Shelton
Joshua Diaz
Allen Neal
Craig Tatum
Donnie Shearer
USAC Western States Midgets
Chase Johnson
Brody Fuson
Blake Bower
C.J. Sarna
Kyle Mentch
Jarrett Soares
Ashlyn Rodriguez
Mitchel Moles
Tony Gualda
Ben Worth
Maria Cofer
Austin Liggett
Matt Mitchell
Mini Late Models
Tyler Tucker
Mason Morton
Carson Guthrie
Liam Richardson
Brayden Morton
Ryder Jeppesen
DJ Saenz
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints
Ryan Bernal
Kalib Henry
Shane Hopkins
D.J. Johnson
Kaleb Montgomery
Jarrett Soares
Ryan Timmons
Tanner Boul
Logan Calderwood
Jacob Tuttle
Austin Liggett
Tuesday Calderwood
Kyle Edwards
Jake Hodges
Heath Holdsclaw
Brody Fuson
Dylan Bloomfield
Deming Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 9
Super 600s
A Main
1 #11c Colin Mackey
2 #91 Jared Peterson
3 #22R Ryley Mayer
4 #28B Blaine Granberg
5 #21H Jeremy Holz
6 #11J Derek Torkelson
7 #39K Kaitlyn Hammer
8 #88w Jayden Whitney
9 #23R Dylan Resch
10 #22D Dakota Drake
11 #78 Haley Constance
12 #8R Rachel Westmoreland
13 #78p Spencer Constance
14 #70 Macie Logsdon
15 #67v Tim Vaught
16 #48T Tanner Holm
17 #11h Parker Hadlock
18 #23x Xan Miller
19 #22 Jesse Schlotfeldt
20 #13c Tyler Conley
B Main
Results are not official
1 #78 Haley Constance
2 #8R Rachel Westmoreland
3 #70 Macie Logsdon
4 #23x Xan Miller
5 #67 JJ Loss
6 #2 Ryan Holz
7 #29 Levi Kuntz
1200 Mini Sprints
Results are not official
1 #10J Tyson Lemley
2 #10L Brock Lemley
3 #6 Jared Gundersen
4 #5 Alex Lewis
5 #92 Seth Hespe
6 #10D Dakota Drake
7 #17 Derek Holmwood
8 #30 Terry Lewis
9 #10S Tanner Holm
10 #12 Tanner Schoonover
11 #6H Haylee Bloodgood
12 #11s Sidney McMeekin
13 #11m Bill McMeekin
Focus Midgets
Results are not official
1 #32 Jared Peterson
2 #09 Levi Harless
3 #24 Nick Evans
4 #95 Jesse Munn
5 #32m Jake Munn
6 #5C Chris Foster
7 #90H Brian Holmkvist
8 #11T Ray Stebbins
9 #17 Kyle Hanson
Restricted 600s
A Main
Results are not official
1 #3D Destry Miller
2 #22 Peyton Drake
3 #7o Axel Oudman
4 #21c Corbin Ramsey
5 #5A Cejay Adkins
6 #24L Levi Hillier
7 #59M Mallory Fisher
8 #71 Kane VanSickle
9 #21z Keira Zylstra
10 #40J Rylee Kentch
11 #14c Carson Guffie
12 #13 Elijah Gile
13 #115 Karma Fagerlie
14 #4D Diane Knutzen
15 #91 Grace Matier
16 #29 Levi Kuntz
B Main
Results are not official
1 #71 Kane VanSickle
2 #4D Diane Knutzen
3 #40J Rylee Kentch
4 #91 Grace Matier
5 #66 Fairah Lee
6 #38B Dale Orcutt
7 #29x Jaydon Barnes
8 #52w Jeff Woolsey
9 #40 Cruz Kentch
JR SPRINTS
Results are not official
1 #68 McKenna Morgan
2 #78 Brooklyn Constance
3 #5W Chase Whitney
4 #5c Colton Knapp
5 #23 Jayce Medcalf
6 #3 Avery Askvig
7 #54 Ryan Bright
8 #20d Dustin Ramsey
9 #88 Sawyer Baxter
10 #77 Brody Cooley
11 #17 Hunter Cook
12 #21c Clayton Jalakas
Antioch Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
IMCA Modified
Troy Foulger
Matthew Hagio
Jim Pettit II
Kellen Chadwick
Aaron Crowell
Jerry Flippo
Buddy Kniss
John Pierce
Jeff Thomas
John Sutherland
Eric Berendsen II
Frank Furtado
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Fred Ryland
Chris Sieweke
Jason Bannister
Trevor Clymens
Guy Ahlwardt
Jason Ryan Jr
Jonathan Hagio
Emali VanHoff
Tyler Browne
Chuck Golden
Haley Gomez
Jacob Mallet Jr
KC Keller
Todd Gomez
Tyler Bannister
Andrew Pearce
Nick Caughman Jr
Joseph Pato DQ
Hobby Stocks
Stephen Johnson
Larry McKinzie Jr
Charlie Bryant
Gene Haney
Gavin Griffiths
Jake Bentancourt
Misty Welborn
Angela Brown
Michaela Taylor
Jewell Crandall
Kevin Lesch
James Graessle
Jeff Bentancourt
Mitchell Dana
Vigna Anthony
Judy Arth
George Silva
Kenneth Robles
Colton Haney
Tom Leopold
Steve Perry
Grayson Baca DNS
Jess Paladino DNS
IMCA Stock Car
Travis Dutra
Jason Robles
Rob Gallaher
Terry Decarlo Jr
Joe Gallaher
Austin VanHoff
Renn Bane
Jim Freethy
Nicholas Johnson
Dan Gonderman
Southern Oregon Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
World Famous Autos Limited Sprints
Carly Holmes
Jake Wheeler
Bailey Hibbard
Enrique Jaime
David Hibbard
Charlie Thompson
David Marble
R.J. Baker
Johnny Burke
Camden Robustelli DNS
Sweet Tea IMCA Modifieds
Mark Wauge
Albert Gill
Jesse Bailey
James Welshonse
Jeremy Ohlde
Ray Kniffen Jr
James Anderson
Duane Orsburn
Zach Fettinger
James Lipke
Dusty's Transmission IMCA Sport Modifieds
Jordan Braaten
Matt Sanders
Ryan Peery
Mike Medel
Wyatt Westfall
Branden Wilson
Dwayne Melivin
Billy Richey
Mike Jones
Byron Anderson
Curt Ballard
John Wilson
Jacob Hoppes
Andrew Gifford
Placerville Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
USAC Western State Midgets
Austin Liggett
Shane Golobic
Chase Johnson
Maria Cofer
Michael Faccinto
Brody Fuson
Blake Bower
C.J. Sarna
Ben Wiesz
Kyle Mentch
Jarret Soares
Ben Worth
Randi Pankratz
Dylan Bloomfield
Tony Gualda DNS
Beau Lemire-Rescue DNS
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints
Cody Fendley
Ryan Bernal
Kalib Henry
Jarret Soares
Logan Calderwood
Shane Hopkins
Tuesday Calderwood
Jake Hodges
Cody Smith
Austin Liggett
D.J. Johnson
Jake Morgan
Kaleb Montgomery
Nathan Schank
Kyle Edwards
Tanner Boul
Heath Holdsclaw
Braidon Moniz
Jimmy Trulli
Brody Fuson
Ryan Timmons
Matt Streeter DNS
Michael Faccinto DNS
Jacob Tuttle DNS
BCRA Lightning Sprints
Josef Ferolite
Terry Bergstrom
Danika Jo Parker
Cody Meyer
Jeff Griffin
Dakota Albright
Craig Holsted
Tony Fedota
Hunter Kinney
Scott Kinney
Brandon Leedy
Jayden Meyer
Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
America's Mattress Super Late Models
Brody Montgomery
Wayne Butler
Mike Taylor
Braden Fugate
Garret Smith
Hannah Robinson
Sportsman Late Models
Dustin Hitner
Ryan Emry
Tahlan Rogers
Jacob Emery
Josh Kralicek
jim CRABTREE
Roger Bell
Street Stocks
Seth Christian
Steve Dubisar
Ken Fox
Leroy Rockwell
Justin Krossman
Dyllan Siewell
Toby McIntyre
Loren McIntyre
Austin Morrow
Joseph Wilson
Mini Outlaws
Jason Kellam
Jeff Thurman
Tristen Davidson
George Wheeler
Matthew Emry
Codie Skeslien
Nicole Emry
Scott Beaudoin
Jamie Daniels
Hornets
Seth Christian
Kris Parker
Dan Briesacher
alexis baker
Steven Parker
Isaac Stere
Lily Metzgus
Jayden Miller
William Hitner
Jamie Daniels
JR Stingers
Griff Smith
Heather Burton
Cameron Metzgus
Tallon Dubisar
Drake Vincent
Dylan Wheeler
Alex Butler
Haileigh Crosier
Ethan Dill
Jordan Wheeler
Tanner dubisar
Anthony Hoggatt
Tucker dubisar
Siskiyou Golden Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Jace Wright
Colt Boswell
Ryder Boswell
Jesse Morton
Gary Foster
SODCA Dwarf Cars
Josh King
Cody Peters
Steve Walker
Chad Cardoza
Devin Lahorgue
Ryan Smith
Jason Robustelli
Fred Hay
Trevor Davis
Greg Meilicke
Brock Peters
Kaycee Sheeler
Colby Bergquist
Reggie Ayres
Andrew Hall
Mini Stocks
Ashtin Hedges
Connor Franklin
Michael Knuckles
Marilyn Yawnick
Outlaw Pro Stock
Rick Lukens
Scott Flowers
Matt Harlow
James Flower
Ginny Flowers
Denny Burtenhouse
Johnny Cobb
Darek Alford DNS
Cottage Grove Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
Late Models
Preston Luckman
Jim Whisler
Randy Barley
Rob Campos
Chuck Christian
Mike Peters
Larry Ramates
Willie Sutton
Travis Pruitt
Rob Williams
IMCA Modifieds
Jesse Williamson
Eston Whisler
Steven Sturdevant
Matthew Drager
Jake Mayden
Curtis Towns
Paul Culp
Aaron Sheelar
Jeffrey Hudson
Paul Rea
Chance Hyser
Royalty Core IMCA Sportmods
Jordan Henry
Dustin Comer
Ray Bloom
Timothy Allerdings
Daniel Ray
Mike DeSilva
Dalton Bloom
Doug Coffman
Garrett Craig
KC Scott
Mitchell Jamieson
Garrett Barth
Trevor Points
Greg Schellhorn
Todd's Auto Body Sprints
Shane Forte
Pat Desbiens
Brenden McMaster
Tim Minter
Justen McConnville
Tyler Thompson
Street Stocks
Graig Osborne
Taunton Swaim
Troy Chamberlain
Anthony Prather
Mike Swaim
Karah Points
Michael Hollingsworth
IMCA Sport Compacts
Ryan Dickenson
James Donaldson
Kerry Cooper
Rex Eckley
Tiffany Towns
Jim Simmons
Michael Kennerly
Darren Barth
Andrew Langan
Madilyn Ashley
Burnie Bryant
Brad Martin
Diane Dove
Bruce Miller
Petaluma Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
Salute To Baylands
NARC/King Of The West Series
Tim Kaeding
Andy Forsberg
Bud Kaeding
Dominic Scelzi
Justin Sanders
Jessie Attard
Billy Aton
DJ Netto
Michael Ing
Sean Watts
Jake Haulot
Kenny Allen
Michael Sellers
Joel Myers Jr
Geoffrey Strole
Sean Becker
Bill Cornwell
Stephen Ingraham
Spec Sprints
Nick Robfogel
David Lindt II
Trevor Schmid
Daniel Whitley
Marcus Hardina
Shannon Newton
Kevin Box
Bob Davis
Tony Bernard
Zack Albers
Jack McDonald
Eathon Lanfri
Super Stocks
Dean Devolder
Dave Spindell
Randy Miramontez
Cole Oreta
Shawn McCoy
Mike Learn
Brent Lawrence
Matt Hagemann
Duane Croft DNS
Steve Studebaker DNS
Redwood Dwarf Cars
Mark Hanson
Carroll Mendenhall
Jimmy Damron
Chad Matthias
Scooter Gomes
John Peters
Sam Borland
Mike Dahle
Adam Freitas
Trevor Mendenhall
Shiloh Borland
Kylee Johnson
Michael Williams
Austin Quilty
Shawn McCoy
Robert Johnson
Zachary Whitacre
Tim Steger
Giorgio DiLeonardo
Ryan Winter
Carly Holmes
Jake Wheeler
Bailey Hibbard
Enrique Jaime
David Hibbard
Charlie Thompson
David Marble
R.J. Baker
Johnny Burke
Camden Robustelli DNS
Sweet Tea IMCA Modifieds
Mark Wauge
Albert Gill
Jesse Bailey
James Welshonse
Jeremy Ohlde
Ray Kniffen Jr
James Anderson
Duane Orsburn
Zach Fettinger
James Lipke
Dusty's Transmission IMCA Sport Modifieds
Jordan Braaten
Matt Sanders
Ryan Peery
Mike Medel
Wyatt Westfall
Branden Wilson
Dwayne Melivin
Billy Richey
Mike Jones
Byron Anderson
Curt Ballard
John Wilson
Jacob Hoppes
Andrew Gifford
Placerville Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
USAC Western State Midgets
Austin Liggett
Shane Golobic
Chase Johnson
Maria Cofer
Michael Faccinto
Brody Fuson
Blake Bower
C.J. Sarna
Ben Wiesz
Kyle Mentch
Jarret Soares
Ben Worth
Randi Pankratz
Dylan Bloomfield
Tony Gualda DNS
Beau Lemire-Rescue DNS
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints
Cody Fendley
Ryan Bernal
Kalib Henry
Jarret Soares
Logan Calderwood
Shane Hopkins
Tuesday Calderwood
Jake Hodges
Cody Smith
Austin Liggett
D.J. Johnson
Jake Morgan
Kaleb Montgomery
Nathan Schank
Kyle Edwards
Tanner Boul
Heath Holdsclaw
Braidon Moniz
Jimmy Trulli
Brody Fuson
Ryan Timmons
Matt Streeter DNS
Michael Faccinto DNS
Jacob Tuttle DNS
BCRA Lightning Sprints
Josef Ferolite
Terry Bergstrom
Danika Jo Parker
Cody Meyer
Jeff Griffin
Dakota Albright
Craig Holsted
Tony Fedota
Hunter Kinney
Scott Kinney
Brandon Leedy
Jayden Meyer
Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
America's Mattress Super Late Models
Brody Montgomery
Wayne Butler
Mike Taylor
Braden Fugate
Garret Smith
Hannah Robinson
Sportsman Late Models
Dustin Hitner
Ryan Emry
Tahlan Rogers
Jacob Emery
Josh Kralicek
jim CRABTREE
Roger Bell
Street Stocks
Seth Christian
Steve Dubisar
Ken Fox
Leroy Rockwell
Justin Krossman
Dyllan Siewell
Toby McIntyre
Loren McIntyre
Austin Morrow
Joseph Wilson
Mini Outlaws
Jason Kellam
Jeff Thurman
Tristen Davidson
George Wheeler
Matthew Emry
Codie Skeslien
Nicole Emry
Scott Beaudoin
Jamie Daniels
Hornets
Seth Christian
Kris Parker
Dan Briesacher
alexis baker
Steven Parker
Isaac Stere
Lily Metzgus
Jayden Miller
William Hitner
Jamie Daniels
JR Stingers
Griff Smith
Heather Burton
Cameron Metzgus
Tallon Dubisar
Drake Vincent
Dylan Wheeler
Alex Butler
Haileigh Crosier
Ethan Dill
Jordan Wheeler
Tanner dubisar
Anthony Hoggatt
Tucker dubisar
Siskiyou Golden Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Jace Wright
Colt Boswell
Ryder Boswell
Jesse Morton
Gary Foster
SODCA Dwarf Cars
Josh King
Cody Peters
Steve Walker
Chad Cardoza
Devin Lahorgue
Ryan Smith
Jason Robustelli
Fred Hay
Trevor Davis
Greg Meilicke
Brock Peters
Kaycee Sheeler
Colby Bergquist
Reggie Ayres
Andrew Hall
Mini Stocks
Ashtin Hedges
Connor Franklin
Michael Knuckles
Marilyn Yawnick
Outlaw Pro Stock
Rick Lukens
Scott Flowers
Matt Harlow
James Flower
Ginny Flowers
Denny Burtenhouse
Johnny Cobb
Darek Alford DNS
Cottage Grove Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
Late Models
Preston Luckman
Jim Whisler
Randy Barley
Rob Campos
Chuck Christian
Mike Peters
Larry Ramates
Willie Sutton
Travis Pruitt
Rob Williams
IMCA Modifieds
Jesse Williamson
Eston Whisler
Steven Sturdevant
Matthew Drager
Jake Mayden
Curtis Towns
Paul Culp
Aaron Sheelar
Jeffrey Hudson
Paul Rea
Chance Hyser
Royalty Core IMCA Sportmods
Jordan Henry
Dustin Comer
Ray Bloom
Timothy Allerdings
Daniel Ray
Mike DeSilva
Dalton Bloom
Doug Coffman
Garrett Craig
KC Scott
Mitchell Jamieson
Garrett Barth
Trevor Points
Greg Schellhorn
Todd's Auto Body Sprints
Shane Forte
Pat Desbiens
Brenden McMaster
Tim Minter
Justen McConnville
Tyler Thompson
Street Stocks
Graig Osborne
Taunton Swaim
Troy Chamberlain
Anthony Prather
Mike Swaim
Karah Points
Michael Hollingsworth
IMCA Sport Compacts
Ryan Dickenson
James Donaldson
Kerry Cooper
Rex Eckley
Tiffany Towns
Jim Simmons
Michael Kennerly
Darren Barth
Andrew Langan
Madilyn Ashley
Burnie Bryant
Brad Martin
Diane Dove
Bruce Miller
Petaluma Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
Salute To Baylands
NARC/King Of The West Series
Tim Kaeding
Andy Forsberg
Bud Kaeding
Dominic Scelzi
Justin Sanders
Jessie Attard
Billy Aton
DJ Netto
Michael Ing
Sean Watts
Jake Haulot
Kenny Allen
Michael Sellers
Joel Myers Jr
Geoffrey Strole
Sean Becker
Bill Cornwell
Stephen Ingraham
Spec Sprints
Nick Robfogel
David Lindt II
Trevor Schmid
Daniel Whitley
Marcus Hardina
Shannon Newton
Kevin Box
Bob Davis
Tony Bernard
Zack Albers
Jack McDonald
Eathon Lanfri
Super Stocks
Dean Devolder
Dave Spindell
Randy Miramontez
Cole Oreta
Shawn McCoy
Mike Learn
Brent Lawrence
Matt Hagemann
Duane Croft DNS
Steve Studebaker DNS
Redwood Dwarf Cars
Mark Hanson
Carroll Mendenhall
Jimmy Damron
Chad Matthias
Scooter Gomes
John Peters
Sam Borland
Mike Dahle
Adam Freitas
Trevor Mendenhall
Shiloh Borland
Kylee Johnson
Michael Williams
Austin Quilty
Shawn McCoy
Robert Johnson
Zachary Whitacre
Tim Steger
Giorgio DiLeonardo
Ryan Winter
Sunset Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
IMCA Modifieds
Trevor LaBarge
Craig Cassell
Jeff Lovell
John Gaynor
Cody Jones
Kristi Somers
Ted Rees
Adventist Health Street Stocks
Joey Tardio
Frank Elwess
Robert Summerhalder
Ron Prevost
Benny Sauter
Tanner Bridges
Rob Evans
Kendall Lee
Ken Kaiser
IMCA Stock Cars
Jerry Schram
Jeremy Brookshire
IMCA Sport Compacts
Brayden Brookshire
Barry Cannon
Kimberly Cannon
Victoria Chandler
Irwindale Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
NASCAR Racing
Pick Your Part Late Models
Main Event 1
Trevor Huddleston
Jake Drew
Ryan Schartau
Nick Joanides
Cassidy Hinds
Lucas McNeil
Dean Thompson
Rodney Peacher
Ryan Pannone
Scott Youngren
Cody Kiemele
Main Event 2
Trevor Huddleston
Cody Kiemele
Jake Drew
Cassidy Hinds
Dean Thompson
Nick Joanides
Lucas McNeil
Scott Youngren
Ryan Pannone
Rodney Peacher
Ryan Schartau
You Race LA Spec Racers
Ryan Partridge
Andy Partridge
Jacob McNeil
Andrew Porter
Dennis Arena
Troy Andersen
Ed Cutler
Nash Youngren
Will Browne
L.J. Billings
Robin Steel
Niko Mongenel
Tucker Tire Enduro
Main Event 1
John Beard
Bobby Ozman
Robert Rice
Robbie Salcido
Rick Conti
Jason Woolcott
Ian Rotundo
Chris Voight
Rodney Argo
Brad Stellman
Ronnie Aycock
Cheryl Hyland
Devyn Azzolina
Trish Rojas
Daniel Azzolina
Mike McIntyre
Main Event 2
Robert Rice
Jason Woolcott
Bobby Ozman
John Beard
Chris Voight
Ian Rotundo
Brad Stellman
Robbie Salcido
Mike McIntyre
Rodney Argo
Rick Conti
Ronnie Aycock
Cheryl Hyland
Devyn Azzolina
Trish Rojas
Daniel Azzolina
Street Stock
Craig Rayburn
Tyler Gallup
Jim Vermillion
Robbie Harryman
Jay Verduzco
Kevin James
Inex Legend Cars
Christian Bazen
Tyler Hicks
Chad Schug
Jovan Fox
Mike Vanderlip
Jimmy Smith
Gavin Ray
Chad Hadlick
Ray Casey
Skyler Meisenbach
Justin Hadlick
Lorenzo Malave
Ashley Weber
Evan Garvy
Lawless Alan
Nathan Quella
Mini Stocks
Jim Mardis
Joe Perez
David Heusterberg
Jim Snow
Matthew Gilbert
Greg Didoha
Stevie Rogers
Mike Hindman
Brandon Snow
Kyle Cline
Bandoleros
Matthew Davey
Joe Kenley
Konner Karsten
Steven Bazen
Chase Burgeson
Daniel O'Donnell
Logan Chambers
Ryan Schank
Barona Speedway Park Unofficial Race Results July 10
IMCA Modified
Eric Evans
P.J. Dyke
Cole Dick
William Miller
Marvin Mueller
Steven Daffern
Kyle Morris
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Brian Brown
David Kilpela
David Ross
Ryan Amidon
Greg Mann
Gary Rodriguez
Jake Triska
Bill Hackett
Jeremey Willey
IMCA Sport Compact
Ken McWilliams
Chris Niemi
Zackery Conyers
Enzo Deckers
Benjamin Pendleton
Mike Duran Sr
David Hunt
Wynona Ragland
Andrew Schmitz DQ
Street Stocks
Kyle Bethel
Paul Dyke
Denis Taylor
Chris Laff
dale erwin
Scott Duffy
Steve Porter
Nick Braddy
Jayson Aldridge
Kaden McKown
Sunny Trent
Pure Stock
Rusty Staley
Rick Schnereger
Rick Chavez
Jayson Aldridge
Dave Evangelou
Joe Malone
David Hunt
Mike Wolfe
Michael Rumbaugh
Tiffany Crow
Loren Pratt
Greg Perry
Nicole carleton
Dwarf Cars
John Isabella
Robert Peters
Mike Tobiason
Ron Dunlap
Mikey Hall
Britney Sandoval
Greg Goodwin
CJ Marin
Chris Wilder
John Bridger
Junior Sprints
Caleb Scholl
Landon Dalton
Gage Baldwin
Caleb Perkin
Noah Dalton San
Taylin Baldwin
Logan Perkins
Cody Benker
Masters Mini Dwarfs
Jacob Novak
Danielle Friel
Kelly Weitzel
Jacob Manalo
Jaxon Willey
Harmony Painter
Nathan Manalo
Declan Sypolt
Oliver Schenk
Jason Painter
Kellen O'Connor
Tyler Warner
Kali Bailey
Sportsman Mini Dwarfs
Melanie Ross
Cam Baldwin
Kaiden Johnson
Cody Isabella
Brysen Byford
Shelton Scott
Shelby Deckers
Zach Dalton
Jackson Reiter
Brody Stewart
Lawn Mower Supermodified
Adrian Papps
Luke Papps
Gary Papps
Brad Barnett
Anthony Corona
Wessley Crabtree
Lawn Mower Open
Tyler Barnett
Matt Doomer
Redwood Acres Raceway Unofficial Race Results July 10
Firecracker 100
Results are not official
1 #22m David Miller
2 #2 David Henderson
3 #36 Luke Hall
4 #5 Scott Baker
5 #26 Nick Ford
6 #37 Sierra Furia
7 #18 Eugene Palmer
8 #33 Brian Crawford
Upstate Bombers
Results are not official
1 #87 Trystan Mucci
2 #10 Dustin Walters
3 #44 Tyler Krupa
4 #79 Mikey Collins
5 #50 Ed Rasmussen
6 #62 Roy Ingalls
7 #00 Jordan Krupa
8 #27 Louren Powers
9 #48 Steve Kimberling
10 #24 Raquel Krupa
11 #50r Bridget Steeves
12 #74 Doug Way
Legends
Results are not official
1 #19 Brandon White
2 #7c Cameron Austin
3 #49 Chris Lawrence
4 #11 Brett Murrell
5 #5 Jordan Paiment
6 #21 Tyler Krupa
7 #55 Justin Johnson
8 #8 Scott Taylor
9 #14 Austin Cook
10 #62 Brad Henderson
11 #1 Emily Vest
12 #3 Andy Thorton
13 #10c Carlee Austin
14 #57 Steve Davis
Mini Stock
Results are not official
1 #3 Gannon Cyphers
2 #13 Brian Murrell Jr
3 #14 Jarrett Mayo
4 #07 Cole Peterson
5 #11 Sam Brown
6 #33 Colton Kinsey
7 #24 Lexi Coleman
8 #18 Shannon Palmer
9 #7 Allison McCarty
10 #85 CJ Dalton
11 #16o Eric O'Ferrall
Road Runner
Results are not official
1 #29 Jeremiah Martin
2 #61 Bob Ratzlaff
3 #20 Dylan Ford
4 #3 Brian Hopkins
5 #16 Tanisha Ratzlaff
6 #31 Nick Ford
7 #17 Shawn Wildman
8 #5 Jeff French
9 #69 Logan Morias
10 #2 Wayne Marsh
11 #55 Ty Rose
Sunset Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 13
WST Sprints
Justyn Cox
Tanner Holmes
Corey Day
Colby Copeland
Drake Standley
Tyler Thompson
Jodie Robinson
Kinzer Cox
John Clark
Mitchell Hoffses
Rob Lindsey
James Setters
Brad Bumgarner
Don Trent
Joel Myers Jr
Pat Desbiens
Adventist Health American Classics
Joey Tardio
Mike Mikelson
Joey Tanner
Logan Jones
Rob Evans DNS
Kendall Lee DNS
Mini Stocks
Ryan Conroy
Jeremy Hughes
Steven Swaja
Zach Dalrymple
Madilynn Ashley
Travis Koch
Captain Turnabout
John Henry
Jason Scheibel
Max Sanford
Cameron Couch
Dekota Vorseth
Derek Vorseth
Devin Keifer DNS
Ventura Raceway Unofficial Race Results July 10
VRA Sprint Cars
Troy Rutherford
Brandon Wiley
Trent Williams
Troy Degaton
Rick Hendrix
Camie Bell
VRA Senior Sprints
Chris Meredith
Wally Pankratz
Mike Cook
Greg Badgewell
Tom Stephens Sr
Tyler Hatzikian
VRA Pro Dwarf Cars
Jason Horton
Johnny Conley
Jeff Brink
Mike Lewis
Kobe Kerns
Jeff Hinz
Dominic Maldonado
John Alonso
Shane Linenburger
Brad Mcnair
Tony Pellegrino
Tim Morse,
Nick Diani
Mike Long
Kenny Smith
IMCA Modifieds
Troy Morris III
Trevor Fitzgibbon
Rob Sanders
Donald Houghton
Austin Rodarte
Dave Phipps
Dalton Houghton
Scott Olsen
Mike Stanford
Jack Parker
Larry Wise
Jared Domingos
Dennis Eckert
Dylan Buxton
Sam Garvin
VRA Hobby Stocks
Dakota Brown
Johnny Wood
Ryan Changus
Russel Wagner
Zack Chavez
Cory Furr
Wayne Heurung
Tom Stephens Jr
Jonathan Flippin
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Dylan Potter
John Piker
Matthew Mayo
Michael Black
Brian Baker
Aaron Farrell
Orion Messina
Vaughan Vandera
Diamond Mountain Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
IMCA Modifieds
Wade Kennemore
galen hainline
Chris Nieman
Riley Simmons
Scott Foreman
Rob Robles
Colby Russell
Tyler Patzke
Larry McCracken
Casey Nickerson
Vincent Evenson
Jeff White
Matt Murphy
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Craig Nieman
Colton Chew
Jimmy Ray Huffmon
Richard Longacre
Cole Olexiewicz
Shayna Nieman
Joe Pearson
Cody Kennemore
Ryan Belli
DUSTIN LANGSTON DNS
Stock Cars
Richard Italiano
Royce Goetz
Terry Kennemore
Randy Boyd
Jacob Dias
DAVID WOODS
Madison Hood
Chris christiano
Eddie Creedin
14
DOUGLAS WEEKS
Don Deiter
Ronnie Goetz DQ
Dwarf Car
Joe Frock
Chris christiano
Dillon Kintz
Glenn Sciarani
William Christiano
Zeron Foster
Mini Stocks
Katelynn Robertson
Nick Boucher
Andi Hast
83
WESTIN LAWSON
FRED KRESGE
56
Ainsleigh Evenson
Robert Feller
105
Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 12
Street Stocks
Steve Dubisar
Justin Krossman
Dyllan Siewell
Mini Outlaws
Tristen Davidson
Jason Kellam
Scott Beaudoin
Jeff Thurman
Lori Fuller
Stephanie Nix
Isaac Stere
JR Stingers
Madilynn Hardy'Ashley
Tallon Dubisar
Alex Butler
Heather Burton
Cameron Metzgus
Taylor Fuller
Tanner dubisar
Winged 360 Sprints
Corey Day
Justyn Cox
Colby Copeland
Tanner Holmes
tyler thompson
Jodi Robinson
John Clark
Matt Hein
Steven Snawder
James Setters
Brian Boswell
Patrick Desbiens
Brad Bumgarner
Austin Sause
Joel Myers Jr
T.J. Richman
Willamette Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 10
SUPER LATE MODELS
JOEY TANNER
PRESTON LUCKMAN
JODY TANNER
BJ DONIFRIO
KENT EMRY
MCLAIN BEAUDOIN
KEVIN HICKS
IMCA MODIFIED
DUSTIN CADY
CRAIG HANSON
DAN PHILPOTT
BRIAN THOMPSON
TOBY FERANDO
STREET STOCKS
JUSTIN EVANS
SAM POTTER
ROD MCCOMBS
ANDY BRESHEARS
EDDIE FARNESS
KEVIN SCOFFIELD
DOUG SCOTT
JORDAN TILLERY
ERIC JOHNSTON
SPORTSMAN
BRAD GENTRY
ROD MCCOMBS
ANDY BRESHEARS
RYAN EMRY
SANDY SANDERS
SAM POTTER
KENT EMRY
CHAD SLOVER
DAVID BENNETT
SUPER SPORTS
TERRY SANDERS
GREG HENRICH
TIM ARCHER
IMCA SPORT COMPACTS
MARISSA GENTRY
ANDREW WRIGHT
CHRIS WELLS
TREVOR BURTON
ROWDY SHINKLE
The Editor's Viewpoint
It's
always a relief to get a blog post done these days, because it's just
not coming as easy for me lately. I'm still plugging along. Even though I
said this would just be a week to week endeavor this year and I could
pull the plug at any time, I guess I didn't believe it. We move ahead
into the heat of July, and that means more heat advisories for some of
the tracks in California. What's interesting is that we didn't get the
blanket cancellations this time that we got a few weeks ago.
Scott
Schweitzer deals with heat in Bakersfield as it is, so you have to
realize that his decision to cancel the Bakersfield Speedway race last
week was not an easy one. 100° temperatures aren't unusual there, and
the fans come out. However, when he looked at the forecast and saw 110°
temperatures were coming, Scott didn't hesitate to pull the plug earlier
in the week. Madera Speedway didn't have anything booked, but
Marysville Raceway had a rather interesting show planned. They saw the
heat coming and decided that this time they weren't going to do it. All
American Speedway in Roseville followed suit with a cancellation of
their own.
The last track in the valley dealing
with a heat advisory was Merced Speedway. A few weeks ago, they pulled
the plug on the two-day Ed Parker Memorial race, although it has been
rescheduled. The reasoning was they didn't want to put the racers and
fans through two nights of racing in the extreme heat. I guess one night
is okay? I know the decision to keep Friday's race on the schedule was a
personal one. Promoter Doug Lockwood has taken the helm of the USAC
West Coast 360 Sprint Car program, and his goal is to turn it around.
It's definitely been declining in numbers for the last couple of
seasons.
They had the big 23 car field at
Ventura Raceway a couple of weeks ago, but does that surprise anyone?
Ventura is one of the favorite places for the Wingless Sprint Car crowd
to go, and they have their own program there. Obviously, they were going
to have better numbers than what they get when they head up to Northern
California. However, the only way you grow the car count is by booking
the races and keeping them scheduled. Placerville Speedway was on board
with the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car/USAC Western States Midgets
double header on Saturday, so Merced was all in on Friday.
In
my mind, I don't necessarily think there's a wrong answer to this
question. These days, you're more apt to see a track cancel because of
heat, but I don't necessarily think you need to do that. Some tracks are
doing things like starting a little bit later or allowing fans to bring
in water. Some tracks have even installed misters for the comfort of
the fans. That's one way to do it, and you're definitely going to get
your hardcore fans and racers to show up. The casual fans I'm not so
sure of. I don't blame a track for trying, because they already know
they're going to get hot weather in the summer anyway. On the other
hand, if a track doesn't believe they're going to get enough fan or
driver support, it's a smart business decision to cancel and try again
next time
I didn't really get into the fact
that what Sunset Speedway did in Banks, Oregon a week ago was
significant. In California, they've been working towards building an
IMCA Stock Car division. It started in Hanford and then moved over to
Bakersfield as well. Antioch and Merced have joined in the fun this
year, and the roster is growing. It's been at least a decade for this
class in California, and yet they haven't had a field of 20 or more cars
yet. I believe that day is drawing nearer, although I am a bit
surprised it hasn't happened yet this season.
Sunset
Speedway is all in with IMCA. They are the first West Coast track to
offer IMCA sanctioned Stock Cars, Modifieds, Sport Modifieds and Sport
Compacts. The trend is to double down on the sanctioning body, and I can
see more tracks following suit. Track owner Jerry Schram made the
decision a few years ago to start an IMCA Stock Car class, and part of
that was because he got a bit annoyed at some Street Stock drivers who
were questioning his promoting. They formed the Iron Giant Street Stock
Series, which was doing okay until the pandemic shut them down. Jerry is
a businessman. Not only did he add the IMCA Stock Cars to the schedule
at Sunset Speedway and Willamette Speedway, he started selling cars to
other people.
I suppose I shouldn't be too
surprised that he would offer a $5,000 to win race. I do question
whether it's too soon to do this for this particular division, and
whether $5,000 to win ought to be something they do with the class at
all, but tracks are going to do what they want. Given the fact that
we're pulling through this whole pandemic mess and money is a bit
tighter, I think the racing world would understand if tracks ran regular
purse shows most of the time and tried to rebuild their base for a year
or two. It seems like tracks are actually offering bigger paying races
more often, and I'm not necessarily sure that's a smart business move.
However, if it works for whatever promoter, more power to them.
There's
no getting around the fact that Sunset Speedway hit a home run on July
3rd and 4th. The IMCA Stock Cars took center stage with a regular
program on Saturday night and the big 100 lap race on Sunday. There were
22 cars on Saturday and 24 on Sunday, and that is the West Coast record
at the moment. The only blemish on the show was the drivers had been on
the track for about an hour when it was decided to cut the originally
scheduled 100 lap race to 75 laps. There was a bit of controversy about
how the lead changed hands on Lap 60, but as I didn't witness it
personally, I'm going to reserve judgment on that one. In any case, it's
nice to see Sunset Speedway have a winner for the weekend.
There's
a secret up in Northern California. Diamond Mountain Speedway in
Susanville is getting the attention of racers from throughout
California, Oregon and Nevada. Even Arizona racers are taking notice. If
you go to prior to when Jeff Olschowka took the reigns of this race
track, there was a lot of negativity floating around. Car count numbers
were down. The IMCA Sport Modified division had been added, but it was
progressing very slowly. It just didn't look good. When Jeff entered the
picture, he brought credibility with him. Jeff was already a respected
IMCA Modified racer at Susanville and Quincy.
He
implemented changes that made the racing better, and he affirmed the
commitment to the core four divisions of IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport
Modifieds, Mini Stocks and Hobby Stocks. Once he got some stability
there, Jeff started taking a look at other things for the fans,
including Battleborn Sprint Cars and Tri State Pro Stocks. He's wanting
to give the fans more than just the regular flavor, and this is making
things even better. Jeff is also doing more two-race weekend shows,
which makes it more attractive for the drivers who are heading to town
from longer distances.
As I said, you don't
hear a lot of talk from Susanville, and you hear next to nothing from
its neighbor in Quincy. I don't remember the last time Quincy even put
so much as a race result online anywhere, and I can't help but think
that's one of the factors in why that track is hurting as much as it is
these days. For the July 4th weekend, Susanville ran on both Saturday
and Sunday, and they attracted about 130 cars for the Saturday show.
This very well could have been a record car count for the track, and it
remained at over 100 cars on Sunday. The cool thing about Susanville is
if you look up Diamond Mountain Speedway on YouTube, you'll see some
really good videos of the races posted during the week.
Susanville
has a pretty nice little history, but people don't talk a lot about it.
They've had their good times and their bad times, but they've got a
good group of racers who want to support the track and keep it going.
Jeff is the guy who got the job done. Part of me wonders if he might be
interested in taking on the track in Quincy, but part of me hesitates to
even put that idea out there. I do believe it might be time for a
management change in Quincy, but I'd rather see Jeff focusing on doing
the things he's doing that are making Susanville work as well as it is.
Sometimes
you can spread yourself too thin when you're a promoter enjoying
success at your track. You start looking at another track and thinking
you can do two at a time. I recall just a few years into the new
millennium when Merced Speedway Promoter Chuck Griffin started
entertaining taking over Chowchilla Speedway. There were things people
wanted to see at Chowchilla that Chuck was preventing from happening,
including IMCA sanctioning. When he back-doored Tom Sagmiller and got
him removed in 2007, he just assumed that everybody would get on board
with him. However, he was wrong. He ended up having to pull the plug on
the first season before it was even done, and the track was really never
the same after that.
I know it's easy to
criticize Sagmiller, who has become a pretty darn good track prep man at
various venues. His ways of running Chowchilla Speedway were unorthodox
from the moment he opened the gates in 2000. However, it took those
types of decisions to make that track fly. I believe if you flung open
the gates to that place in 2000 with the regular ticket prices that most
tracks had and tried to pay the same purses as the more established
places, you probably would have failed even quicker. Tom gave it a good
run, and I believe Chowchilla Speedway would still be here today if
Chuck Griffin hadn't back-doored him.
Things
were golden at Merced Speedway when Chuck made that move. Instead of
enjoying the success that he'd been wanting to have for years, he
thought about expansion. What's funny is the bottom fell out at Merced
Speedway not long after his failure at Chowchilla, and the Griffin era
that lasted over 20 years ended with a whimper. Chuck honored every race
he had scheduled during the point season in 2009, but the car count was
absolutely dismal after the race remembering his grandson, Timmy Post. I
wonder if things would have been different if Chuck had left Chowchilla
alone, but the other factor was the economy was tanking and he lost
some very big sponsors.
Empire building can be a
challenge. In the 1990s, you had the Big Time Racing Series between
Bakersfield Speedway and Rocky Hill Speedway. Doug and Sandy Bainton had
a nice little tour going between the two tracks, and I know people
criticized those two. However, when you look at Rocky Hill Speedway, it
was never the same after the Bainton's left. They only ran for a couple
of years after that, and they had a surprising reopening almost two
decades after the closure. Unfortunately, that didn't work out either
after a few years, but isn't it about time we hear a rumor about that
track opening again?
You won't find me slamming
any promoter who's trying to run multiple tracks, especially if the
alternative is the closure of a track. Sometimes it's only because that
guy came in there and took on the challenge that the races even happened
at all. I question the guys that are out there trying to promote more
than one race track given the fact that it's a challenge to just keep
one of them going these days.
The reason
Stockton has two big tracks is because of Tony Noceti. Tony was already
working on reviving the program at the Stockton 99 Speedway when he
turned his attention to the horse racing track at the fairgrounds.
People have been talking for years about putting cars on that track, and
Tony is the one who came in there and did something about it. I know
it's been an adventure. He opened the track to big Sprint Car races at
first, but people have been voicing concerns about track conditions
since the place opened.
The one thing you don't
want is for your track to build up a reputation as a car killer, so
this is a battle Tony has engaged in. This includes altering the
configuration of the track and working on a smoother racing surface.
He's had different people come in there to try to work their magic, and
more recently it's been Sagmiller. With the success he's had on the
Sprint Car front, Tony has had his eyes on doing something big with
Stock Cars. He used the New Year's date that Antioch Speedway had
cultivated to launch this a couple of years ago. I'll go on record as
saying I not only endorse this, I believe Tony can build up his own base
of cars if he remains committed to it.
The
problem is you have to spend time building up the ranks. Everybody else
is established with dirt track racing before you. You need to pay very
close attention to the schedule of the closest dirt track, Antioch
Speedway, but you also have to keep an eye on what they might be doing
at Placerville Speedway and Merced Speedway. I do believe a schedule of
6-8 Stock Car oriented shows is possible from New Year's through
November, and every one of them can work. When Tony canceled the rest of
his Stock Car shows for this year due to low support, that had a few
people voicing concerns.
I don't believe it
has to be the end for this effort. I think it was Todd Gomez from
Antioch who suggested Tony try to put on one big Stock Car program later
in the year when everybody's done. I'd love to see him do that,
although he's got to take a real good look at the schedule and see what
he's up against. I think it could work with the core Dirt Modifieds,
Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks.
I
am told Tony has gone back to the drawing board, and there could be
some announcements forthcoming. I'm led to believe that this will
include some Stock Car stuff, and that's good to know. If he's going to
run at least four Modified and Sport Modified races, however, I hope he
makes a pitch to IMCA to bring in sanctioning. At four races minimum,
that's a point race in the eyes of IMCA, and you'll get drivers chasing
State, Regional and National points as well, which means better driver
support.
I also feel like Tony needs to step up
his game when it comes to promoting and putting the word out for the
dirt track and the pavement track. It looks like they do have newspaper
people coming out and at least covering the pavement track, but other
than the big Sprint Car shows on the dirt, it's ignored. This is
unacceptable if you're trying to build up a program. You need a
dedicated media person representing both tracks. You need somebody who
writes the press releases, does social media and whatever it takes to
get people to want to come out to your race track. This should be
standard for any race track that wants to be successful, but so many
places are lacking in this department.
As I
mentioned above, I thought it was a bit of a risk going ahead with the
planned Friday night show at Merced Speedway. The temperatures were very
hot at 110°, but I think I understand the position Promoter Doug
Lockwood was in. The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars and Western States
Midgets were kind of doing a piggyback weekend. For the Southern
California drivers, they could travel to Merced on Friday and then hit
Placerville Speedway on Saturday. Placerville Speedway had already dug
their heels in and were going through with their race, and I don't think
Lockwood wanted to leave fellow Promoter Scott Russell alone in this
deal.
I can't blame Doug for doing that. What
he tried to do was push the program back a little bit to get the
temperatures lowered a little bit by the time racing started. I wasn't
following the weather when they dropped the green flag on racing, but
I'm sure it was still pretty warm. The other thing it does is narrows
your window between start time and the state curfew of 11:00 pm. They
got done around 11:30 or so, and I saw Doug beating himself up on
Facebook. He second guessed whether he should have even gone ahead with
it. You can tell sometimes that Doug gets frustrated, because he brings a
lot of passion into what he's doing.
On the
topic of running a race in extreme heat or not, you're damned if you do
and you're damned if you don't. There's a certain segment of fans and
racers that are coming. If they need to drink more water, so be it. On
the other hand, there are those casual fans that will go where they are
comfortable, plus we are dealing with some people who aren't going
anywhere as we come through the pandemic. I don't blame any track for
running on a really hot day, nor do I blame the tracks that don't. I
will just say that back in the day we ran on the hot days, although some
people are saying these are the hottest days ever. I doubt that.
I
have to address the issue of track conditions. If you're going to run
in the extreme heat, you have to be mindful of the fact that it's going
to be more of a challenge to keep moisture in the track. They did work
the track at various times during the night, which is the norm at
Merced. I give them credit for that. However, the dust got pretty bad
during the Midget and especially the Sprint Car races. As a fan, it's
tough to see through the dust, and I can only imagine what it was like
for the racers.
All too often these days, we
are getting tracks like this. I don't want to be the big critic here,
but if you're going to run in this kind of weather, you certainly need
to be prepared for this situation. Breaking curfew is one thing, but if
you have people in the neighborhood complaining about dust as well, this
could lead to problems down the line. I know there are some tracks
dealing with dust complaints as it is. I know Doug is aware of that, and
this is probably one of the biggest reasons he was beating himself up
so much after the races.
Overall, they did okay
in terms of car count. I didn't know what to expect from the West Coast
360s, so the fact that they delivered 16 cars was actually a good deal.
It's also nice to see some Northern California guys taking off the
wings and challenging themselves. I still say there could be a nice
little Northern California circuit between a few tracks, which you could
put under the USAC banner or not. Injected 360 Sprint Car racing is
doing pretty well right now in California as it is. USAC was flying solo
with the Midgets as it was not a co-sanctioned event, though I'm not
really sure how many BCRA Midgets would have been there anyway. 13 cars
was about what they were going to get.
From
what I could see, there was a nice race when it came to the Sprint Cars,
although the Midgets were a bit rough at times. Throw in the track's 18
Hobby Stocks, 14 IMCA Modifieds and seven California Sharp Mini Late
Models, and you had a good show. I think there are people down in Merced
chomping at the bit to get out to the track, because it doesn't seem
like they've done enough racing there this year as it is. Not every
night is going to be perfect, but the night was still worthwhile. They
can learn a few things about keeping the program moving when they have
to start later and move on to the next show.
Having
scanned through the broadcast on Flo Racing, I'll make a couple of
observations here. First of all, the announcing needs a little bit of
work. The guy who was doing the on track interviews and announced some
of the races has potential. The other guy that they let announce some of
the races sounded like he was falling asleep half of the time. I'm
guessing he is a new guy, so we'll see where that leads. Announcing is
certainly an important part of the presentation. With some of the other
things happening, I know the track had other things to worry about for
the evening.
The other thing is the California
Sharp Mini Late Models. Obviously, this class was brought in as a
gateway for the area's Kart racers to get onto the big track. It's
mostly younger drivers, so I understand the thinking here. I believe it
was Michael Shearer who got in there as the car dealer. I haven't heard a
lot from Michael lately, and the group's Facebook page has been dead.
Is he still involved in this?
Obviously, new
cars are being bought. They only had seven this time, but there were
nine a week earlier. The racing isn't too bad, but it almost feels like
the track is a bit big for these cars. I'd love to see them make visits
to places like Dixon Speedway and Lemoore Raceway as I think they'd be
even more entertaining there. I don't know. I haven't been impressed
with this class at Merced, although I am pleased that some of these
drivers have already moved up to other divisions. You always need to
bring new drivers into the fold to keep the other rosters growing.
Ocean
Speedway was going to have the IMCA Modifieds, and John Prentice was
the nice guy who took them off so Merced could have the cars. Bear in
mind that Watsonville is the Friday night track that has long since been
established, and they didn't owe the favor to Merced. This is the
second time I've noticed John has done a courtesy for them this year. I
think it might have been insinuated that he booked on top of the Ed
Parker Memorial race in Merced in August, but let's remember that this
race was originally booked for June. Merced canceled because of extreme
heat and not wanting people to have to deal with that for two days. John
is under no obligation to remove his IMCA classes on that weekend,
although that means some of those guys will end up skipping out on him
for the bigger money.
When it comes down to it,
you've got Jim Pettit II chasing the State points and racing
everywhere. He's in the championship battle at Watsonville and Merced,
and it could be that Prentice was just giving Pettit a break this
weekend so he didn't have to choose. Pettit, Raymond Keldsen Jr and Cody
Burke were there, but you could make a case that Watsonville could have
and should have kept the class on their schedule for a five division
show this week. Their absence was noticed due to the low turnout in some
of the classes. It's tough to be a promoter when you worry about
scheduling and working with other people.
There
were 23 Taco Bravo Winged 360 Sprint Cars, which is nice to see. As I
was looking at the Trophy Dash, I started thinking. They really should
give the other divisions a Trophy Dash, at least once in awhile. You
still hear a lot of people say that if you're not an open wheel class,
Prentice doesn't really care about you. I don't know that that's true,
but people will cite this and that for their opinions. You had the
thrilling late race pass for the win in the Sprint Cars, which was the
highlight of the night. The Dwarf Cars and the Mini Stocks didn't quite
reach 10 cars, although nine Mini Stocks was the biggest number they've
had in a while. The 14 IMCA Sport Modifieds continue to be the workhorse
division on the roster.
I made mention of the
fact that one of the biggest reason Merced Speedway kept the race on the
schedule even with the heat advisory was for the USAC West Coast 360
Sprint Cars and the fact that Placerville was all in on making their
race on Saturday happen. I don't think Merced wanted to abandon them in
this. The one other takeaway from Merced that I didn't mention above is
that they had pretty good fan attendance, even though it was so hot. As I
also mentioned, they had 16 West Coast 360 Sprint Cars.
Here's
the deal. Lockwood has done so well in his short time at Merced with
some big key moments that he took on the challenge of promoting the USAC
West Coast 360 Sprint Cars. This tour has been in decline a little bit,
but they were coming off of a 23 car show at Ventura. I think Doug was
hoping for the momentum to continue, and he had 16 cars at Merced.
Despite the dusty track conditions, the surface seemed to be smooth and
the drivers did an exceptional job in racing hard. If you could see
through the dust, you saw a good race.
Lockwood
made the handoff to Scott Russell at Placerville. It was an open wheel
special, but without the Thompson's Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint cars.
I'm pretty sure Dennis Gage at Marysville Raceway was disappointed. I
don't blame him for canceling when 110° temperature was in the forecast,
but he surely would have had a bigger than usual Winged 360 Sprint Car
show. He had NorCal Dwarf Cars on the schedule as well. They weren't
going to get too many Placerville guys to take their wings off and
challenge the USAC regulars, but they knew they'd get a few. As I've
been saying, there's potential in Northern California to do something
more with Wingless injected 360 Sprints.
They
had 24 West Coast 360 Sprint Cars and 16 USAC Western States Midgets.
They also had 12 cars for the BCRA Lightning Sprints, but no IMCA
Western RaceSaver 305 Sprints. I'm thinking the guys down south don't
want to travel further north than Merced, and I'm okay with that. We're
doing okay in Northern California with the Sprint Car classes we have
and don't really need anything else to further divide the car count. And
anyway, USAC Midgets and Sprint Cars were the show for Placerville.
Scott
Russell is looking forward to the Hangtown 100 for the Midgets in
November, so this was a bit of a teaser. Austin Liggett pretty much
dominated the race on Saturday, and he was trying for a double after
Kaleb Montgomery got called on a rough driving move that saw Jake Morgan
end up on his lid. Austin drove it in a little bit too hard and spun
out, so Cody Fendley got his first USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car win.
It was quite an entertaining show. Good racing, a good car count and a
decent crowd in 104° weather. It was another Placerville Speedway
success, but I would think Russell is getting used to those by now. I
doubt he's taking anything for granted.
Ventura
Raceway ran the VRA 360 Sprints. On one hand, you might wonder why they
didn't stay dark to work with USAC, but that's really never been the
case. I think the half-dozen to a dozen guys that would go to Ventura
don't generally want to travel up north. They had seven for this
occasion, and a pretty good race. You don't need too many cars on the
1/5th mile clay oval for things to really get interesting there. The
IMCA Modifieds provided 15 cars with about the same for the VRA Dwarf
Cars. However, Promoter Jim Naylor again made a move for a last minute
addition to the lineup, and I think that was just the ticket.
The
regularly scheduled VRA Hobby Stocks delivered nine cars, which was
good for them. It should be pointed out that while the track was making
the announcement for last year that the IMCA Sport Compacts would be
part of the roster, they flirted with IMCA Stock Cars. Jim did something
that I think good promoters do. He took a poll of his regulars to find
out if they would support IMCA, but it came back negative at this time.
I'm sure the track would like to have IMCA Stock Cars as they've had a
good relationship with the sanctioning body for years. You never know
what can happen in the future as IMCA gets more of a foothold in
California with the Stock Cars.
I hadn't been
hearing much about IMCA Sport Modifieds in Ventura. I don't think the
track was against the idea, but they've been holding steady at about 10
to a dozen IMCA Modifieds and maybe figured things were okay. However,
the heat outs a few weeks ago prompted Naylor to take a shot at a race,
and he got a double-digit turnout that night. On Monday last week, he
made the decision to add the class again and had nine cars. Maybe they
weren't talking about adding the IMCA Sport Modifieds to the roster
before, but it seems like this is the direction they are headed.
They
kind of mix and match the divisions and get a little of each, so it
makes good sense. All in all, it was a good show at Ventura from what I
could see, and the weather was certainly nice. I have voiced my
disapproval of track prep guys who get out on the track during
intermission to do things when it's not always needed. If the track has a
problem, I totally get it. Naylor, who also handles the announcing
duties, will get out on the track to fix things, and they had about a 45
minute intermission after the second of six Main Events on Saturday. As
I didn't have a visual for what things looked like, I don't want to get
too critical here, but was this really needed? It's my understanding
that the racing surface is pretty darn good at that track, but some
might say it's because Naylor gives it the TLC it needs.
You
can be flashy and make a big deal out of what you are doing. At the end
of the day, the numbers speak for themselves. There was a lot of talk
in Medford leading into this year's season opener, but I feel like the
less is more approach would have been better. Go ahead and make the
improvements you feel need to be made, but mainly worry about opening
the gates after the one year lay off.
What you
don't do is bash everything about what the previous management did and
talk about how much better it's going to be under your watch. Remember,
the racing community will see what's going on, and the results will
speak for themselves. I think they are now getting an understanding that
a lot of work is involved in the racing program at that track, and it
goes beyond just making the facility look pretty.
Car
count numbers are leveling off. They made a big splash and had a good
crowd or two in the beginning, but now we are in the dog days of summer.
It's getting hot, interest is waning and this is the point where you
sing for your supper. I know that when I was involved with the track
when Mike McCann ran it, it was a weekly effort putting out the
information and making a big deal out of what we were doing. You've got
to attract people's attention. Even then you're working hard to get 500
or 600 people in the stands, the effort you make might account for
50-100 more people then you might normally have gotten. It's not a
guarantee that any track will have a good crowd or car count.
In
any case, after the disappointing turnout for the big purse a week ago,
they brought back the IMCA classes to a slightly lower than anticipated
car count. There were 14 Dusty's Transmissions IMCA Sport Modifieds and
10 IMCA Modifieds. The Limited Sprints accounted for 10 cars with the
purse money that Dave Hibbard is sponsoring. This is about where the
class was when we left it. We were fighting for 10-14 cars, because the
division is a work in progress. There were no Hornets that I know of, or
at least ways they didn't have a race. It still boggles my mind that
they have given them so much attention considering they crashed and
burned in 2019, while the Mini Stocks are still waiting to have their
first race at the track this year.
What they
may have lacked in car count, they made up for with a few interesting
moments. Carly Holmes surprised the field with her first win. By the
way, Jake Wheeler and Dave Hibbard were in that field. They also had
Mark Wauge showing that the old veteran can still get it done in the
IMCA Modifieds. He's the only driver in the track's history with 50 IMCA
Modified wins and to my knowledge is third overall in all-time wins at
the track behind Frank Word III and Brian Poppa. Jorddon Braaten is who
he is, so he got the job done in the Sport Modifieds. Anyway, I don't
want to get into results here, but I wanted to point out that there were
a few interesting things happening on the track.
They
may struggle for car count in the weeks ahead, so they might be well
served to make division additions to the schedule where they can.
Whether this is adding a Mini Stock race here or there to give them more
track time or whatever they might choose. Heck, I bet the OTRO Hardtops
would love to make a visit.
The Tri State Pro
Stock Challenge Series will have an opportunity to shine and make a big
statement at the Rocky Nash Memorial race on July 31st. The week before
that, I don't see how they can fumble the PSM Sport Modified race,
which has 39 commitments so far for the $2,500 to win race. After that,
I'm not sure what to expect, but they certainly hurt the R Charles
Snyder Salute in September by removing the Sport Modifieds from one of
the nights, especially given the fact that the Modifieds aren't even
guaranteed to deliver 30 cars for the increased purse.
Statistically
looking at Antioch Speedway as it happened, the numbers weren't so bad.
The four division program had at least 10 cars in each class. The IMCA
Stock Cars are developing nicely. The Hobby Stocks delivered over 20
cars, the IMCA Modifieds were adequate and the Sport Modifieds are still
delivering the cars. Some might say the Modified numbers are a little
bit lower than hoped. I'm wondering about the division right now, but
the race was certainly good. Once again, the electronic scoring let me
down as they were people missing again. However, there are usually
people live streaming on Facebook, so I got to look at the Modified Main
Event.
What I saw was an exciting finish that
found a Troy Foulger making two passes late to get the win. Jim Pettit
II led most of the way before being passed. They just put new clay on
the track a couple of weeks ago and had been working on it during the
break. It seemed to have held up pretty well. I think they are trying to
deal with the dusty conditions as my sources are telling me people in
the neighborhood are not pleased by that. They generally try to get done
by 10 pm as the curfew agreement with the fairgrounds, though the state
curfew is 11 pm. They were done closer to 10. They get ready for the
big Dwarf Car Nationals this weekend, and I'll be interested to see
where the numbers end up on that.
I'm hoping to
find some time to go back and look at the Flo Racing broadcast at
Petaluma Speedway while my subscription is still good. Saturday was
Salute to Baylands night, and I think they had a pretty good showing at
the track. They had David Vodden there as well as George Hague, so that
meant a couple of entertaining announcers recalling the good old days.
Dennis Mattish even had his book on Baylands for sale. The NARC/King of
the West Fujitsu Sprint Cars were the headliners, and lived up to the
billing with some really good laps being turned by young Joel Myers Jr
before misfortune struck the Placerville point leader. The Kaeding
brothers were battling at the front for the win with Tim ultimately
getting the nod.
It was nice to see the Super
Stocks reach 10 cars once again as it looked pretty bad there last year.
I don't want to see this division go away as their lineage goes all the
way back to 1975. With about two dozen Redwood Dwarf Cars and a dozen
Wingless Spec Sprints, you got a show at Petaluma Speedway. I'm glad to
see Rick Faeth have a little something to crow about as he keeps the
gates open there. I'm still hoping for the best for the future of that
facility. Speaking of the future, they're coming back with a Sunday
night race this week, which gives them an opportunity to run Winged 360
Sprint Cars.
Eureka's Redwood Acres Raceway
was running the Firecracker 100, and I believe they also had a
firework's display to close the show. The 100 lap race was given to the
Late Models, who haven't had a lot of support north of Roseville in
recent years. They delivered eight cars, which was the best they've had
this year. It might have been a bit too many laps for the class, but
they went the distance. I was hoping to see more Upstate Bombers than
the dozen cars they got. It looks like the Eureka regulars were there,
but not as many from out of town as I would have hoped. For the money
that they put together for the series that David Furia created, I hope
this thing can grow.
They have a solid Legend
Car class that is usually in double digits. There were 14 on Saturday.
They even hit double digits for the Mini Stocks at 11, which doesn't
happen much lately. They were also 11 Roadrunners, which are basically a
Hornet class. I'd have to classify this as a good night for them. The
numbers were up a little bit, and I'm happy to see that. We want to keep
the gates open at this track, and it has been in jeopardy in recent
years.
By the way, you can search Redwood
Acres Raceway on YouTube and find the broadcast they give away for free.
If my internet was working better while I was monitoring the scoring, I
would have been watching this one. However, I have to make a choice
lately, and I feel viewing the scoring apps in real-time is the better
way to go. I'm hoping to stabilize the internet here somehow so that I
can do both on race day.
What I find
interesting is that six of the seven Roadrunners that came to Yreka not
long ago were not in Eureka. They were all drivers who ran there in the
last couple of years. Is there trouble in Eureka? That I couldn't
answer. I'm sure these guys would say that as some of them live in
Redding, it's just as easy for them to go to Yreka. I know that Promoter
Kevin Barba was already beating the drums on Sunday to try to get more
cars. He's calling on the Hornet racers in the area to bring their cars
out or for people looking to get into the class to find one of those
parked cars and buy it. I'm glad he's doing this now, but really the
track should have been on this bandwagon a long time ago.
I
have a lot of thoughts in my mind about Yreka after what happened on
Saturday, but I don't want to drag this column out too long. I'm
thinking another Jefferson State Racing News blog article may be in
order. I was baffled that Ryan Peery took his Sport Modified to Medford
when he is the Yreka point leader. This came after the track made the
statement that at 10 cars it would be $500 to win. I don't want to read
too much into it, but as Travis Peery is the one doing the track prep in
Yreka, it does make me wonder. Five IMCA Sport Modifieds is not a good
number, and the four Mini Stocks wasn't much better.
As
I've been saying, the track relies on the traveling groups to give them
the numbers. Hence, they're trying to get the Roadrunners to come to
town again this Saturday. They had the SODCA Dwarf Cars and Outlaw Pro
Stocks, which accounted for 15 and eight cars, respectively. Those two
divisions did their best to give the fans something in to watch. I know
that the Dwarf Car guys may not have booked Yreka as much this year had
they known Medford was open. I can only tell you that if it's Kevin or
somebody else promoting this track in 2022, they need to get on the
phone with the Dwarf Car guys as soon as possible and make sure they get
their share of dates. We already know they'll be talking with the Pro
Stock guys, who enjoy going to Yreka.
I've been
writing down notes for things to say about the Yreka situation on the
audio show. I think we're getting close to an emergency time for them
now. I'm sure the car count will go back up again, but they need
stability. In my mind, they need to be delivering the fans at least 40
cars on any given race night. They need to get in touch with people who
might be interested in bringing their classes.
Two
classes that jump out at me are the Crate Sprints and the Hobby Stocks,
the latter of which might have Orland racers willing to come. Can you
get me six of anything? I'll take it. I know they're not doing IMCA
Modifieds, but I'd be inclined to add them on any night Medford isn't
running them if I knew I could get six cars. I also know that you're
going to have to pay these guys $500 to win. The track has a race again
this Saturday, but they are off during the fair.
It's
interesting that Patrick Weger is trying to put together an Outlaw Kart
program with 500 Open and Box Stocks at the Grass Valley Fairgrounds
during the County Fair. He also mentioned Mini Trucks, although I'm not
sure who is interested. I told him when he first launched the Vintage
Duels thing a couple of years ago that he should put together a basic
Hornet class and run some Figure 8 races. If he could do what he did
with Dwarf Cars in that little rodeo arena, he could do a little Figure
8. By all accounts, that first race was a success for what it was, but I
don't know what they'll get this time.
A lot I
could say, but I'm trying not to be too wordy in any of the thoughts
I'm expressing here. The Vintage Duels Dwarf Car event will happen in
October this year. I was looking at the overhead shot of the track he
constructed in the rodeo arena in front of the main grandstands two
years ago. I thought I heard him say after the race that he would try to
make the track bigger. My thought is you use as much space as they are
willing to give you. There was room for more than what was used last
time. I don't know how much bigger you're going to make that track, but
every bit of space you can give the drivers is a good thing.
Patrick
has been mum on trying to ultimately put a big track in there, but I
think that needs to be the goal. I consider it very impressive that he
was able to go in there and not only get approval for what he's done,
but a unanimous vote in his favor. It just goes to show that these
people who were trying to save Grass Valley Racing with the Facebook
page they created however many years ago blew the opportunity that they
had. The time is right to try to get racing back in Grass Valley on a
bigger scale, while also figuring out how to work cooperatively with the
horse people in the area. That's not always so easy to do, but who
knows what can be accomplished.
However, I
think Weger should use every bit of space that he can get. While making
sure you have your safety stuff covered, use every inch of the arena,
and ask for more space. Even if you hear no, at least ask. Can you move
the bleachers off the back straightaway, even temporarily? If he's going
to do Dwarf Car stuff of any sort, the drivers need more space. People
would rather see four or six cars on the track than two at a time. Plus,
doors are opening for other things, and it's been proven that a rodeo
arena is big enough to do Hornet Figure 8 eight races. I do wish him
luck.
I want to mention that I'm not planning
to cover the entire Western Sprint Speedweek Series in Oregon this week.
It's nothing against them, even if I'm not a big Brian Crockett fan. I
know they've been fighting to keep this thing alive, and Brian probably
made some phone calls to get a few California guys to come up and help
save this deal. I've just been struggling enough to get these posts done
as it is, so adding to the workload isn't going to happen. You'll
probably read something about the Coos Bay race and Cottage Grove since
we've been covering them this year as it is.
I
will say I'm a bit surprised that Medford wasn't added this year in
light of the management change. Were any conversations held with the new
management about the possibility? I know Yreka dropped out, citing that
they really couldn't afford it. I do believe that Yreka would get back
in if Medford were involved, but that's purely speculation. As it is,
it's sort of a half-hearted attempt to keep the series alive, and it's a
shadow of its former self. Between the struggle to get dates for it and
the fact that car count is lacking, it's amazing there is a Winged 360
Sprint Car Speedweek in Oregon at all.
I've been working on an article for the Jefferson State Racing
News blog for Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork. I ended up making a
comment on their Facebook page when they mentioned there was an
association meeting a few weeks back. Basically, I offered them
suggestions on how they could do things given the small budget they
have. I have a soft spot in my heart for what they are doing there and
really do want to see the track succeed. It's been around for 10 years
now.
I'm not doing media for any race track,
and aside from the stress it adds when it comes to deadlines, the
decision was boosted in part by the fact that no track was supporting me
as well as last year being a covid-19 situation. I didn't like the idea
of reporting results in local media outlets when people couldn't get into
the stands. In any case, my media effort when I revived it in 2015
centered around Antioch, Merced and Chowchilla. Other than that, I
concentrated additional efforts on tracks that really didn't have a
budget and could use the help. This included Hayfork, Orland and Rocky
Hill Speedway.
I was contacted by the the
people at Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork prior to the most recent
race, and I decided to pitch in with an article. They told me they could
get me the results in time, which they did. I also asked for additional
information on the winners of the previous Clyde Cordell Memorial Hobby
Stock races. They have a perpetual trophy with the names on it, and I
now have that information. Therefore, I might do a pre-race article for
the August 14th race, which will happen during the Trinity County Fair.
They could get a car count as they are not running head-to-head against
Orland this time.
They didn't have a big car
count on Saturday, though part of the attraction was the fireworks
display they did for the fans. As I told them, at least they were able
to put three Main Events out on the track, even if the car count wasn't
spectacular. At least they were able to open the gates and keep it
going. That matters. Obviously, a lot needs to be done to get this
program going, and you're also dealing with a tight budget. I don't want
to go too far in my comments here as there will be an article on the
other blog as soon as I have time to edit it. However, I wish them the
best, which is why I was willing to pitch in with an article when they
asked.
I think I've proven that I can help a
track just by sending articles to local media outlets. In some cases,
the tracks had multiple media outlets willing to use what I sent them,
and I know it helped a little bit. Even if only 10 more tickets were
sold at the gates based on what I did, that's more money than they would
have gotten. It was disappointing to me that I didn't get very much
support at all from the tracks, and one track even went so far as the
hire somebody to ghost write articles that they posted on their Facebook page,
despite the fact that I was getting them very good newspaper coverage
at the time.
The bottom line is I know my
value, and I have spent most of my career in motorsports journalism not
standing up for what I'm worth. Part of it was my worry that they
wouldn't want me if they had to pay me, but part of it in the early days
was just me trying to prove myself. Even though I have proven myself, I
find it difficult to negotiate for money. I know the value of the work I
do, and I'm not even asking for that type of money from any track.
Anybody who looks at my site knows that I have The Tip Jar here or could
reach out to me and help me out through other platforms. I'd certainly
be willing to help any of the tracks that don't have a media person.
Ghost writing isn't the most ideal situation, but if you've got nothing,
what I do can still help.
Alternatively, I
bring my knowledge with me wherever I go. I know how to do the media
stuff, and I think I'm a decent announcer as well. There are many things
that I can do to help any race track I am involved with, and I think
the results I've gotten through the years speak for themselves. If a
track wanted me to be a part of what they do, I know I could help them.
It's a case of help me help you. Do I expect any offers? Nope. As I
said, I'm near the end of my involvement in the current media effort,
but I still have a lot to say about the sport and it's past that will
come out in books.
In any case, I
knew I was going to have to add some Sunday thoughts, but I hope I can
leave it at that and get this column ready for editing. Another week is
in the record books, and we'll tentatively move forward to the next
week. Until next time...
