Merced Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway, Antioch Speedway, Ventura Raceway, Kern Raceway, Ukiah Speedway, More

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Johnson A Double Winner At Kern Raceway,

Gasper, Forster Other Winners 

Bakersfield, CA...September 19...Chase Johnson won the 30 lap USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Main Event Sunday night at the Kern County Raceway Dirt Track. Johnson was piloting the May Motorsports Fastenal/Cooper's Propane Maxim Sprinter and earned $1,500 for the effort. Earlier in the evening, he also drove his family's Six8 Motorsports Midget to victory in the BCRA Midgets 25 lap Main Event. That win was worth $2,000.

In the USAC Sprint Car feature race, Brody Fuson set the early pace ahead of Jarrett Soares and Johnson. Soares led Johnson past Fuson on Lap 3, but a yellow flag waved for Soares moments later. Johnson led Fuson and AJ Bender on the restart. Johnson started to pull away from Fuson and Bender when the race resumed. A yellow flag waved on Lap 13. When the green flag waved, Johnson continued to set the pace ahead of Fuson and Bender. Jacob Tuttle settled into fourth. The battle for second heated up with Bender finally making the pass on Lap 19. However, Johnson stretched his advantage to a straightaway over Bender in victory. Fuson settled for third, and Soares made a last lap pass on Tuttle to claim fourth. Travis Buckley ended up sixth, followed by James Herrera, Chris Muraoka and Jeff Dyer.

Nine competitors showed up for the second night of a weekend double header, and Johnson set the fastest time in Woodland Auto Display qualifying with a lap of 14.604. That was a new track record with Fuson second quick at 14.630 and Bender third at 14.677. Buckley picked up the win in the Extreme Mufflers 10 lap heat race. DJ Johnson was a no-show, but he continues to lead the standings by over 100 points ahead of Ryan Timmons. The series will be at Placerville Speedway on October 9th. For further information, go to www.usacracing.com.

In the BCRA Midgets Main Event, Chase Johnson started back in the third row as Brody Fuson took an early lead ahead of point leader Colby Johnson and Carson Macedo. A high pass in Turn 2 of the fifth lap gained Colby Johnson the lead, and Chase Johnson made an outside pass on Fuson in Turn 4 of the sixth lap to take second. On Lap 10, Chase Johnson dove low entering Turn 1 and emerged with the lead in Turn 2. Colby Johnson nearly lost control as Macedo and Fuson both got past him. A yellow flag waved on Lap 15 for Caden Sarale. Chase Johnson continued to lead Macedo and Fuson on the restart. Chase Johnson would lead the rest of the way for the impressive win. Macedo settled for second with Hayden Williams grabbing third on Lap 23 to finish there. Fuson ended up fourth, followed by Jade Avedisian, Ryan Padgett, Colby Johnson, Travis Buckley, Dylan Ito and Jarrett Soares.

Macedo was the quickest of 14 qualifiers with a lap of 14.843, beating the 15.023 of Tony Gomes. The eight lap heat race wins went to Colby Johnson and Avedisian. Point standings weren't released as of press time, but Colby Johnson is expected to be leading with Fuson moving into second. The BCRA Midgets will be at Antioch Speedway this Saturday night along with the BCRA Lightning Sprints. For further information, go to www.bcraracing.com.

David Gasper won the 20 lap California Lightning Sprint Main Event. Gasper started on the pole and charged into the lead when the green flag waved, followed by Cade Lewis and Eric Greco. Aiden Lange took third from Greco on the second lap, and a yellow flag waved on the sixth lap as Lewis saw his race come to an end. Gasper led Lange and Greco on the restart. The final 14 laps went without incident, and Gasper won by nearly a straightaway ahead of Lange, followed by Greco, Don Hart, point leader James Turnbull, Jon Robertson, Jeff Dyer, Pat Kelley, Dale Gamer and Lewis.

There were 12 competitors on hand, and Lange set the fast time of 14.814, beating the 15.112 of Gasper. The eight lap heat race wins went to Hart and Greco with Lewis claiming six lap Trophy Dash honors. No point update was offered after this past weekend. Turnbull is likely to remain the leader as Greco and Gasper have a close battle going for second. The group will be at Ventura Raceway on October 2nd. To keep up to date with the California Lightning Sprints, go to www.racecls.com.

Zach Forster won the 20 lap Mod Lites Main Event. Forster is a driving force behind the success of this class in the area. Ventura point leader JD Brown started on the pole and took the early lead ahead of Forster and Phil Barrow. The race ran with no yellow flag interruptions. The fourth place battle saw State point leader Tim Varney take the position from Cade Lewis on Lap 15. Brown had caught slower traffic as Forster ran right behind him. Brown maneuvered to the outside line, but the slower traffic went high as well. This enabled Forster to dive low and Turns 1 and 2 on the 18th lap and grab the lead. Forster led the remaining laps to win ahead of Brown, Barrow, Varney, Lewis, Parker Cherry, Zander Keeland and Matt Phillips. Barrow and Forster won the eight lap heat races.

The dirt track will host motorcycle events this Saturday night and for much of October. On October 30th, the NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars will make an appearance along with a $1,000 to win race for the West Coast Sport Compacts. For further information, go to www.kernraceway.com.

Johnson Scores USAC Sprint Car Win At Bakersfield, 

Childress, Michnowicz, Crawford, Forster Other Winners 

Bakersfield, CA...September 18...Chase Johnson won the 30 lap USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Main Event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. The $1,500 win for Johnson came aboard the May Motorsports owned Fastenal/Cooper's Propane Maxim chassis.

Steve Hix started on the pole and raced into the early lead ahead of Troy Rutherford and Jarrett Soares. Unfortunately, Hix saw his race come to an end on Lap 6. Rutherford took the lead on the restart ahead of Soares and Jacob Tuttle. Brody Fuson took third from Tuttle on Lap 9 and slipped slipped past Soares for second on Lap 13. A lap later, Fuson put the moves on Rutherford for the lead. Unfortunately, the two drivers tangled a lap later for a race ending yellow flag. Soares was also eliminated in the incident. After starting back in the seventh row, Chase Johnson took the lead when the race resumed, followed by Trent Carter and Kyle Edwards. That was the order until Edwards saw his race end on Lap 25. Johnson continued to lead Carter and point leader DJ Johnson on the restart. As Chase Johnson pulled away from Carter in victory, AJ Bender made a Lap 28 pass on DJ Johnson to steal third. DJ Johnson settled for fourth, followed by Travis Buckley, Hannah Mayhew, Edwards, Matt Day, Fuson and Rutherford.

There were 14 USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars for this occasion, and Fuson set the fast time in Woodland Auto Display qualifying with a new track record of 12.354, beating the 12.532 of Edwards. Hix won the Extreme Mufflers 10 lap first heat with Buckley claiming the honors in the Sway-A-Way Torsion Bars second heat. Keep up to date with the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars at www.usacracing.com.

Ricky Childress Jr won the 25 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. This was his ninth win of the season as he easily wrapped up the division championship. Kevin Irwin had the pole and led a lap before Teena Johnson went motoring by. Nick Johnson followed her into second and took the lead on the fifth lap. Stephen Johnson had worked his way from the fifth row into third by Lap 5 and took second from Teena Johnson on the eighth lap. Fifth row starter Childress was third on Lap 13 and took second from Stephen Johnson a lap later. Nick Johnson saw his run up front end on Lap 16. At that point, Childress took over ahead of Stephen Johnson and Kevin irwin. Stephen Johnson kept it close, but Childress was just a little too quick as he prevailed at the checkered flag. Kevin Irwin settled for third, followed by Marcus Wankum, Karl Noland, Justin Tuey, Teena Johnson, Nick Johnson, Brooke Cimentel and Don Mead. Childress and Nick Johnson picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Kevin Michnowicz won the 25 lap California Lightning Sprints Main Event.  Eric Greco and Michnowicz shared the front row with Greco taking the early lead. Jeff Dyer was an early third, and Aiden Lange was out after just two laps. Bobby Michnowicz slipped past Dyer for third on Lap 5, but his race ended in disappointment on Lap 8. Greco continued to lead Kevin Michnowicz and Dyer on the restart. A yellow flag waved for David Gasper on Lap 12. On the restart, both Kevin Michnowicz and Dyer got past Greco. Kevin Michnowicz would lead the second half of the race to score the win ahead of Dyer, Greco, point leader James Turnbull, Terry Bergstrom, BCRA point leader Dakota Albright, Brandon Leedy, Jon Robertson, Cade Lewis and Pat Kelley.

Since this race was a shootout between the CLS and the BCRA competitors, there were 24 cars on hand. Lange set the fast time of 12.908, beating the 12.961 of Bobby Michnowicz and the 13.028 of Don Hart. The eight lap heat race wins went to Albright, Bergstrom and Robertson. You can follow the respective organizations at www.racecls.com and www.bcraracing.com.

Brock Crawford won the 20 lap American Stock Main Event. This was his first win of the season. By virtue of his third place finish, Kody Sly picked up the division championship. 

Crawford started on the pole and led at the green flag ahead of Andrew Johnston and JR Daves. Dakota Brown made his way from the fourth row into third by Lap 8 and took second a lap later. Johnston surrendered third to Kody Sly on Lap 12. Crawford would lead the entire race for the win with Brown holding off Kody Sly for second. Daves settled for fourth, followed by Mason Conway, Tara Childress, Danny Smith, Antony Sly, Johnston and Colby Ward. Johnston and Brown won the eight lap heat races.

Zach Forster won the 20 lap IMCA Mod Lites Main Event. This was his fourth win of the season. By virtue of his fourth place finish, Tim Varney won the championship.

Phil Barrow took the early lead ahead of JD Brown. However, Forster took second from Brown on Lap 2 and grabbed the lead on the fifth lap. A yellow flag waved on Lap 6. Brown took the lead on the restart with Forster still second ahead of Barrow. Forster slipped past Brown to regain the lead on Lap 10. Forster would go on to win with Brown a strong second, followed by Barrow, Tim Varney, Parker Cherry, Zander Keeland, Matthew Phillips and Candi Varney. Forster and Barrow picked up the eight lap heat race wins, and Cade Lewis, Dave Dotson and Riley Clem were Main Event scratches.

This Saturday night is Championship Night, which will feature the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, NMRA TQ Midgets and Mini Stocks. For further information, go to www.bakersfieldspeedway.com.

Burke, James, Luckman, Comer, Swaim, Cooper 

Win At Cottage Grove Speedway 

Cottage Grove, Oregon...September 17...Johnny Burke won the Limited Sprint Main Event Friday night at Cottage Grove Speedway. This was the first win for Burke, who won the Freedom Cup Series back in July. This also served as the season finale race for the track as the following night's show had been canceled due to the rain in the forecast.

Burke started on the pole and charged into the lead when the green flag waved, followed by Carly Holmes and Kyle Alberding. Steven Snawder took fourth from Pat Desbiens on Lap 2 and got by Alberding for third on Lap 9. The race was destined to go without a yellow flag. Burke and Holmes ran closely at the front of the pack with a good battle for third taking place as well. Alberding regained third from Snawder on Lap 23, and Burke won ahead of Holmes, Alberding, Snawder, new champion Shane Forte, Desbiens, Donny Waddell, Tyler Thompson, Terrell Mead and Bailey Hibbard.

Bailey Hibbard set the fast time of 11.763, beating the 11.827 of Forte and the 11.879 of Alberding. The eight lap heat race wins went to Burke and Holmes.

Bricen James won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event. This was the fourth win of the season for the 2019 IMCA Western Region champion. Chad Groves started on the pole and took the early lead ahead of Paul Culp and James. James took second from Culp on Lap 2, but Culp briefly regained the position on Lap 4. On the fifth lap, James again moved into second, and Culp had problems and fell back on Lap 7. This enabled Paul Rea to move into the third position, and James slipped past Groves for the lead on Lap 14. James built a straightaway advantage over Groves in victory with Rea ending up third, followed by Eric Ashley, new champion Curtis Towns, Jeffrey Hudson, Aaron Sheelar, Gus Cooper, Andrew Mathers and Culp. Incoming point leader Jake Mayden ended up 14th and fell to second in the standings.

James was the quickest qualifier at 14.442, beating the 14.439 of Hudson and the 14.609 of Mayden. Ashley and Groves won the eight lap heat races.

Preston Luckman won the 30 lap Late Model Main Event. This was the third win of the season for the 2018 champion. Mike Taylor started on the pole and led four laps before bringing out a yellow flag. New champion Mike Peters took the lead at that point ahead of Mark Thompson and Randy Barley. Luckman took third from Barley on Lap 11 and gained second two laps later. On the 14th lap, Luckman charged past Peters to take the lead. Peters surrendered second to Thompson on Lap 17 with BJ Donofrio gaining third on the 19th lap. Donofrio briefly took second from Thompson on Lap 23, but Thompson regained the position for good on the 26th lap. Luckman went on to win ahead of Thompson, Donofrio, Rob Campos, Barley, Chuck Christian, Braden Fugate, Peters, Wayne Butler and Mike Taylor.

Thompson was the quickest of 16 qualifiers with a lap of 13.977, beating the 14.036 of Christian and the 14.049 of Luckman. The eight lap heat race wins went to Luckman and Butler.

Dustin Comer won the time-limit shortened 10 lap Royalty Core IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was his sixth win of the season as he wrapped up the division championship. Several incidents saw the cars still on the track after 25 minutes with only 10 laps completed.

Ray Comer led a lap before Isaac Sanders got by. Sanders surrendered the lead to Dustin Comer on Lap 3, but he regained the position a lap later. Unfortunately, Sanders had problems for a Lap 7 yellow flag. Dustin Comer was back in front at that point ahead of Aaron Bloom. Dustin Comer would go on to win ahead of Aaron Bloom, Justin Ryker, Jordan Henry, Daniel Ray, Ray Bloom, Isaac Sanders, Trevor Points, Steve Hopkins and Ray Comer. Jorddon Braaten was the quickest of 21 qualifiers at 15.298, beating the 15.537 of Ray. The eight lap heat race wins went to Yreka point leader Ryan Peery, Ray Comer and Dustin Comer.

Taunton Swaim won the 20 lap Street Stock Main Event. This was his fourth win of the season as he finished second in the standings behind new champion Graig Osborne. Kyle Coen led two laps before being passed by Taunton Swaim. Jody Tanner ran third for several laps before Osborne got by on Lap 13. By that time, Swaim built nearly a straightaway advantage over Coen. Osborne was challenging Coen for second when he ran out of time. Taunton Swaim won ahead of Coen, Osborne, Tanner, Michael Hollingsworth, Mike Swaim, Troy Chamberlain and Anthony Prather. Osborne set the fast time of 16.578, beating the 17.283 of Taunton Swaim. Osborne also won the eight lap heat race.

Kerry Cooper won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Compact Main Event. However, he still came up 27 points short of overtaking new champion Brad Martin. Polesitter Cole Trissell set the early pace ahead of Jack Vicari and Cooper. Vicari took the lead from Trissell on Lap 11 before encountering problems a lap later. Cooper took the lead on the restart ahead of Burnie Bryant and Trissell. Bryant made it a good battle down the stretch, but Cooper prevailed at the checkered flag. Trissell took the checkered flag in third, only to be disqualified in post race tech. This gave the position to Martin, followed by Michael Kennerly, Tiffany Towns, Andrew Langan, Vicari, Eli Miller, Stacy Bloom and Madilynn Ashley.

Bryant set the fast time of 19.007, beating the 19.713 of Cooper. The eight lap heat race wins were earned by Trissell and Jim Simmons.

The racing season is over, but the track has scheduled a playday for all divisions this Saturday night. A Trash Car race will take place on Saturday, October 2nd, followed by a Sunday 200 lap Enduro. For further information, go to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.

Rodarte, Horton, Hiroshima, Hendrix Win At Ventura Raceway

Ventura, CA...September 18...Aaron Rodarte won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Aaron Rodarte jumped into the lead at the start ahead of a Dalton Houghton and Danny Lauer. A yellow flag waved on Lap 3, and the order at the front remained the same with point leader Trevor Fitzgibbon running in fourth. There were no more slow downs for the rest of the race, and Aaron Rodarte managed to hold off the persistent Dalton Houghton for the win. Lauer settled for third. Donald Houghton managed to take fourth from Fitzgibbon on Lap 22 and would finish there, followed by Fitzgibbon, Austin Rodarte, Jack Parker, Dennis Eckert, Scott Olsen and Sam Garvin. 

Dalton Houghton and Aaron Rodarte won the eight lap heat races, Aaron Rodarte set the fast time of 14.087 on the 1/5 mile clay oval, beating the 14.123 of Fitzgibbon. With just one point race remaining, Fitzgibbon maintains a 35 point lead over Parker and will clinch the championship by merely starting the final Main Event.

Jason Horton won the 20 lap VRA Dwarf Car Main Event. Dominic Maldonado took the early lead ahead of Mike Lewis and Horton. Lewis took the lead on the second lap with Horton and Jeff Hinz following into second and third. Horton got past Lewis for the lead a lap later with Trent Morley settling into second on Lap 6. A yellow flag waved on Lap 9 with Evan Jonker out at that point, and Horton continued to lead Morley and Shane Linenburger on the restart. Linenburger saw his run in third end on a Lap 13 yellow flag. Horton continued to lead Morley and Lewis on the restart. The battle remained close at the front of the pack for the remaining laps with Horton managing to hold off Morley for the victory. Lewis was about a straightaway back in third, followed by Jeff Brink, Hinz, Maldonado, Daniel Peters, John Alonso, Linenburger and Jonker. Mike Long and Hinz won the eight lap heat races, and Horton ended the evening with a five point lead over Lewis in the championship battle.

Bruce Hiroshima won the 20 lap Super Clean NMRA TQ Midgets, Presented by Methanol Moonshine, Main Event. Ace Kale took the early lead ahead of Hiroshima and Don Brashier. A yellow flag waved on Lap 4. On the restart, Hiroshima slipped past Ace Kale for the lead with Brashier still running third. Scott Niven was in fourth and took third from Brashier on Lap 9. By the halfway point of the race, Hiroshima had a straightaway advantage over Ace Kale, and he stretched it even further by the time the race concluded. Niven settled for third, followed by Kevin Kale, West Evans, David Perry, Chuck West and Brashier.

West Evans was the quickest of eight drivers in qualifying with a lap of 13.946, beating the 14.133 of Perry and the 14.141 of West. The eight lap heat race wins went to Evans and Hiroshima. The group heads to Bakersfield Speedway this Saturday night. For further information, go to www.nmra.us.

Point leader Rick Hendrix won the 25 lap VRA Sprint Car Main Event. Hendrix led from the outset, followed by James Herrera and the Senior Sprint of Wally Pankratz. The race had one yellow flag slow down on Lap 10, but Hendrix resumed command on the restart ahead of Herrera and Pankratz. Hendrix built a half-lap advantage over Herrera in victory with Pankratz finishing third, followed by Senior Sprint point leader Chris Meredith and Camie Bell. Meredith set the fast time of 13.271, beating the 13.538 of Pankratz. Meredith also won the six lap heat race.

Zane Frisk won the 12 lap 250cc/450cc Flat Track Motocross Main Event. He was followed by Hunter Field, Tommy Crowe, Riley Frisk and Ray Richards. Zane Frisk also won the six lap heat race. Jake Anderson won the 12 lap 100cc/150cc Pit Bike Main Event. The six lap heat race winner was followed by Zac Murray, Aaron Echevarria, David Toepel and Kaj Wirsing. Zac Murray won the 125cc and under Pit Bike 12 lap Main Event. The heat race winner was followed by Kaj Wirsing, Diego Nava, Aaron Echevarria and Brandon Kimmerly.

Racing continues this Saturday night with the VRA Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, VRA Dwarf Cars, VRA Hobby Stocks, IMCA Mod Lites and IMCA Sport Compacts. For further information, go to www.venturaraceway.com.

Rocha Wins RaceSaver Sprint Car Race 

At Keller Auto Speedway

Hanford, CA...September 18...Ryan Rocha won the 25 lap IMCA Western RaceSaver 305 Sprint Car Main Event Saturday night at Keller Auto Speedway. The division ran in support of the World of Outlaws. 

Brooklyn Holland jumped into the early lead ahead of Rocha and Ryan DeLisle. Unfortunately, DeLisle saw his race come to an end for a Lap 5 yellow flag. Holland continued to lead Rocha and Albert Pombo on the restart. Both Rocha and Pombo got past Holland on Lap 11, and Holland's race came to an end for a Lap 12 yellow flag. Rocha led Albert Pombo and Michael Pombo on the restart. As Rocha pulled away to about a straightaway advantage, Michael Pombo made a last lap pass on Albert Pombo to steal the second place finish. Albert Pombo settled for third, followed by Brandon Stidham, Phil Heynen, Davey Pombo Jr, Sean Quinn, Bryson Benna, Steven Wenzel and Holland.

The RaceSaver Sprints had their best turnout in weeks with 16 competitors, and State point leader Kyle Rasmussen set the fast time of 15.113, beating the 15.206 of Albert Pombo and the 15.353 of Michael Pombo. Rocha and Holland picked up the eight lap heat race wins. 

Up next will be the Jim Turner Memorial race for the NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Car Series this Saturday night. The King of Thunder Bandit Wingless Sprints and West Coast Sport Compacts will also be competing. For further information, go to www.racekingspeedway.com.

Torgerson Gaines Point Lead With Win, 

Mognaga, Johnson, Stepps Other Dixon Speedway Winners

Dixon, CA...September 18...Ashton Torgerson won the 25 lap Super 600 Micro Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Dixon Speedway. With the win, Torgerson took a six point lead over Izaak Sharp with one point race remaining. 

Sharp grabbed the pole with his four lap Trophy Dash win ahead of Torgerson, and he jumped into the early lead. Dan Mognaga ran third for a lap before being passed by Jessica McManus. There were battles for first and third for much of the race. On the 13th lap, Torgerson put the moves on Sharp to grab the lead, and Mognaga motored past McManus for third on the 17th circuit. Torgerson went on to win ahead of Sharp, Mognaga, McManus, Colby Grieg, Anthony Lewis, Tony Alosi and Ron Singh. Sharp set the fast time on the 1/5 mile dirt oval at 10.435, beating the 10.630 of Mognaga and the 10.659 of Torgerson. Sharp also won the 10 lap heat race.

Dan Mognaga won the 25 lap Wingless 600 Micro Sprint Main Event. Mognoga has already clinched the division championship. Eight lap Trophy Dash winner Brandon Riveira had the pole and took the early lead ahead of Ashton Torgerson in Mognaga. Mognaga took second from Torgerson on Lap 5 with Cody Gray following into third. However, Torgerson regained third on Lap 7. Mognaga set his sights on Riveira and found his way by on Lap 14. Torgerson moved by Riveira for second on the 15th circuit. Though it was close, Mognaga got the win ahead of Ashton Torgerson, Riveira, Gray, Brandon Shaw, Austin Torgerson, Timothy Vaught, Austin Wood, Colin Kirby and Tyler Chamorro.

Ashton Torgerson was the quickest of 25 competitors with a lap of 11.455, beating the 11.513 of Riveira and the 11.607 of Austin Torgerson. The 10 lap heat race wins went to Bryant Bell, Riveira and Kirby. The track decided to scrap the B Main and let everybody start the feature.

Lucas Johnson won the 20 lap Restricted 600 Micro Sprint Main Event. Johnson maintains a 31 point lead over Andrew Smith with just one race remaining.

Johnson started on the pole and bolted into the lead at the green flag ahead of Adriana DeMartini and Smith. As it turned out, the order in the Top 3 would remain the same from start to finish. Kaiden Gowen had fourth at the start ahead of Nicholas Leonard Jr. Leonard briefly gained the position on Lap 10, only to surrender it back to Gowen a lap later. Unfortunately, Gowen saw his race end two laps early, and Leonard finished fourth ahead of AJ Nielsen, Kyle Cravotta, Mickelina Monico, Gowen and Cierra Wullenwaber. The clean sweep effort for Johnson included the fast time of 11.168, beating the 11.251 of Smith. Johnson had wins in both the 10 lap heat race and four lap Trophy Dash. 

Hayden Stepps won the 20 lap Junior Sprint Main Event. Stepps has already wrapped up the division championship. He started on the pole and proceeded to lead every lap in victory with Briggs Davis a race-long second. Vito Cancilla ran third for four laps before Levi Osborne got by. However, Osborne was dropped back to fourth on Lap 6 by Cancilla. Cancilla had problems on Lap 10 with Osborne briefly gaining third once more. Josiah Vega took third from Osborne on Lap 13 and would finish there. Osborne settled for fourth, followed by Jackson Tardiff, Dean Scrifvars, Cancilla, Heston Stepps, Colin Reynolds and Charlie Haines.

Hayden Stepps set the fast time of 12.772, beating the 13.002 of Cancilla. Tardiff and Vega picked up 10 lap heat race wins with Hayden Stepps claiming six lap Trophy Dash honors.

Point racing concludes on October 9th with the four regular divisions back in action. However, the track has scheduled a Hornet Mini Stock Enduro on October 30th and will run the Ninth Annual Lonnie Kaiser Memorial race on November 5th and 6th. For further information, go to www.dixsonspeedway.net.

Newberry, Coelho, Wagner, Brown 

Score Antioch Speedway Victories 

Antioch, CA...September 18...Bob Newberry won the 20 lap Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. This was the second win of the season for the two-time division champion, but he still trails Ryon Siverling by 32 points in the championship chase. 

Newberry took the early lead ahead of Daniel Whitley and Hunt Series point leader Shawn Jones. A yellow flag waved after just one lap, and Bob Davis and Jeff Scotto were both out at that point. Newberry continued to lead Whitley and Jones on the restart, but another yellow flag waved after three laps with Jimmy Christian and Chris Geilfuss both out. Whitley took the lead from Newberry on the restart with Jones grabbing second a lap later. A yellow flag waved on lap 11 after Whitley and Jones tangled in their battle for the lead. Newberry led Josh Young and 2019 champion Shannon Newton on the restart. They would finish in that order with Nathan Schank settling for fourth, followed by Brent Steck, Kevin Box, Cameron Martin, Jones, Tony Bernard and James East.

They had 25 Wingless Spec Sprints for the occasion, and Whitley set the fast time of 13.700, beating the 14.054 of Martin and the 14.067 of Jones. Eight lap heat wins went to Whitley, Newberry, Jones and Newton.

Brad Coelho won the 20 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Service Hobby Stock Main Event. This was the second win of the season for Coelho. Kenneth Robles set the early pace ahead of Misty Welborn and Coelho. A yellow flag waved on Lap 3 for James Graessle. Welborn moved into the lead on the restart ahead of Coelho and point leader Larry McKinzie Jr. That was screen order for the next 15 laps. A lap 17 yellow flag saw the race end for Gene Haney. Coelho took the lead from Welborn on the restart as Albert Ballinger moved into third. They finished in that order with Mitchell Dana ending up fourth, followed by Grayson Baca, Jon Haney, Jared Baugh, McKinzie, Aiden Ponciano and Gavin Griffiths. There were 24 Hobby Stocks for the show with eight lap heat race wins going to Coelho, Jeff Bentancourt, Welborn and Robles.

 

Danny Wagner won the 20 lap Delta Dwarf Car Main Event. This was the division-leading sixth win of the season for the two-time Antioch champion, but he lost the title by 44 points to Kevin Miraglio, who took the checkered flag in third. This was the second title at Antioch for Miraglio, who currently leads the WSDCA Nationals Veterans point race going into the Marysville finale this weekend. 

Looking to capture her second win, Ellie Russo took the early lead ahead of Jack Haverty and Chance Russell. A yellow flag waved on Lap 5 with Shawn Jones out of the event. Russo continued to lead the way with Miraglio settling into second ahead of Haverty. Wagner was running fourth at that point, and he took third from Haverty on the 12th lap. A yellow flag waved as Russo saw her race come to an end at that point. Wagner took the lead from Miraglio on the restart as Russell was running third ahead of David Michael Rosa. Russell slipped past Miraglio for second on Lap 18, and Wagner brought it home to victory ahead of Russell, Miraglio, David Michael Rosa, 2020 champion Travis Day, Mario Marques, Sean Catucci, David Rosa, Russo and Haverty. David Michael Rosa and Jones picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Tom Brown won the 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event. Brown used his fifth win of the season to overtake Eddie Humphrey III by 14 points and win the championship. A week earlier, Brown wrapped up his second championship season at Petaluma Speedway.

Brown raced into the lead at the start ahead of fellow Petaluma racer Sophie Shelly and Eddie Gardner. A Lap 4 yellow flag slowed the action, and Brown continued to lead Gardner and Shelley on the restart. A Lap 15 yellow flag bunched the field with Laina Bales eliminated. Brown maintained the lead on the restart ahead of Dan Abitz and Gardner. Brown would pull away to a half-lap advantage by the time the checkered flag waved with Gardner making a last lap pass on Abitz to finish second. Shelley ended up fourth, followed by Benito Gomez, Carson Glover, Mike Lodin, Bales, Austin Lodin and Eddie Humphrey III. Brown and Gardner picked up eight lap heat race wins.

Racing continues this Saturday night with the BCRA Midgets and the Lightning Sprints both coming to town along with the WMR Midgets, Wingless Spec Sprints and 600 Micro Sprints. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Bailey Wins Battle, Fettinger Wins War, 

Harlow, Berryhill Other Southern Oregon Speedway Winners

White City, Oregon...September 18...Jesse Bailey won the 30 lap Sweet Tea Express IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. This was his first win of the season, but he fell short of Zach Fettinger by just two points in the championship chase. Seven-time champion Mark Wauge was only four points out of the lead. This was the second-straight track championship for Fettinger. The race was run after heavy rains early in the morning that forced the cancellation of most of the races in Oregon. 

Preston Jones took the early lead ahead of Bailey and Andy Freeman. By the 10th lap, Jones held about a straightaway advantage over Bailey. However, he was starting to slow by Lap 20 with Bailey overtaking him for the lead a lap later. Wauge got past Jones for second on Lap 22 with Jeffrey Hudson moving into third two laps later. Bailey held off Wauge to score the satisfying win with Hudson ending up third, followed by Freeman, Ray Kniffen Jr, Fettinger, Jones and Steve Borror.

Hudson set the fast time of 16.601, beating the 16.623 of Jones. Wauge and Bailey won the eight lap heat races. Wauge was the four lap Trophy Dash winner, and James Anderson was a Main Event scratch.

Matt Harlow won an entertaining 30 lap Outlaw Pro Stock Main Event. This was the second win of the season for Harlow. Championship contender Johnny Cobb took the early lead ahead of Dennis Burtenhouse Jr and Harlow. Colby Hammond took third from Harlow on Lap 6 and got by Cobb for the lead two laps later. Cory Biggs got by Burtenhouse for third on Lap 20 with point leader Scott Flowers following into fourth. The battle was close between the lead four competitors as Biggs got by Cobb for second on Lap 25. Biggs put the moves on Hammond for the lead on lap 28 with Flowers moving into third. A yellow flag waved moments later as Cobb saw his good run come to an abrupt end. Biggs led Hammond and Harlow on the restart. On the final lap, Harlow made an impressive move to grab the lead and victory. Hammond settled for second, followed by Biggs, Scott Flowers, Burtenhouse, Dan Randall, Ken Irving, Cobb, Ginny Flowers and Robert Day.

Cobb was the quickest of 11 qualifiers at 17.027, beating the 17.343 of Harlow and the 17.408 of Jeff Haudenshild. Burtenhouse and Cobb picked up the eight lap heat race wins with Cobb also claiming four lap Trophy Dash honors. The championship season comes to a close for the Outlaw Pro Stocks this Saturday night at Siskiyou Golden Speedway.

Nick Berryhill turned in a stellar performance in winning the 30 lap Dusty's Transmissions IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was his first win, and he led all the way in the non-stop race. Matt Sanders wrapped up his championship season despite a disappointing ninth place effort.

Berryhill motored into the lead at the start ahead of Jacob Hoppes, Mike Jones, Isaac Sanders and Merissa Henson. Hoppes was in the midst of his best career effort in second as he tried to figure out a way around Berryhill. It was close at the front of the pack the entire distance with Berryhill prevailing over Hoppes at the checkered flag. Jones turned in his best finish in third, followed by Isaac Sanders, Henson, Robby Senn, Mike Medel, John Wilson, Matt Sanders and Yreka point leader Ryan Peery. Medel set the fast time of 16.969, beating the 17.342 of Matt Sanders in the 17.398 of Peery. John Wilson and Medel won the eight lap heat races, and Matt Sanders collected the win in the four lap Trophy Dash.

The season comes to a close this Saturday night with the Fourth Annual Cascade Wingless Sprint Car Challenge race, presented by Herz Precision Parts. The IMCA Modifieds will run an open show for $2,000 to win, while the IMCA Sport Modifieds have an open show for $1,000 to win. For further information, go to www.southernoregonmotorsports.com.

Pettit, Piker, Finn, Herod, Guthrie Win Point Season Finale 

At Merced Speedway 

Merced, CA...September 18...Jim Pettit II won of the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Merced Speedway. This was the second win of the season for Pettit, who has wrapped up the Merced, Antioch and State championships. 

Josh Combs raced into the early lead ahead of Ryan Porter and Pettit. They ran in that order until Pettit and Robby Sawyer both got past Porter on Lap 11. Pettit took the lead from Combs on Lap 16 with Sawyer and Porter also getting by. Pettit build a straightaway advantage over Sawyer in victory as Porter settled for third, followed by Rick Diaz, Bob Williamson, Mike Shepherd, Cory McDonald, Gary Marsh, Combs and Bill Viesselmeyer. Pettit and Diaz picked up eight lap heat race wins.

John Piker won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. He becomes the eighth different winner of the season. Tyler Bannister wrapped up the championship by 11 points over Fred Ryland.

Jacob Mallet Jr raced into the early lead ahead of the Jarrod Mounce and Piker. A yellow flag waved on a Lap 5. Mallet continued to lead Mounce and Piker on the restart, and a Lap 12 yellow flag bunched the field once more. Mounce took the lead on the restart with Piker and Bannister following into second and third. A Lap 15 yellow flag saw the end of the race for Mallet. Mounce continued to lead Piker and Bannister on the restart, but Mounce saw his good run end for a Lap 17 yellow flag. Piker took the lead on the restart ahead of Bannister and Ryland. They ran that way through one yellow flag in the final eight laps as Piker won a close race with Bannister for the victory. Ryland settled for third, followed by Chuck Weir, Richard Ragsdale, Riley Jeppesen, Mark Squadrito, Monty Tomlinson, Dutch Jantz and Mounce. Mallet and Mounce were the eight race winners.

Syd Finn won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Finn actually crossed the finish line in second behind Derek Ogden. However, Ogden was disqualified in post-race tech, elevating Finn to the victory. The first win of the season for Finn was not good enough to win him the title as second place finisher  Domossie Scoggins beat him by just two points.

Les Friend took the early lead ahead of Finn and Randy Brown. A yellow flag waved on Lap 4 with Kristie Shearer exiting the race at that point. Friend led Finn and Brown on the restart, but Finn got by Friend for the lead on Lap 8. A Lap 9 yellow flag signaled the end of the race for Jeff Lacy. Finn led Friend and Brown on the restart as Scoggins was up to fourth. A Lap 12 yellow flag bunched the field, and Finn led Scoggins and Ogden on the restart. A Lap 14 yellow flag slowed the pace with James Cornelius out of the action. Finn led Scoggins and Ogden on the restart with Ogden taking second from Scoggins on Lap 16. A lap later, Ogden put the moves on Finn to grab the lead that he would take to the checkered flag. Ogden's disqualification in tech elevated everybody up a position with Finn getting the win ahead of Scoggins, Brown, Race Shelton, Allen Neal, John Tevis, Louis Lopez, Gary Hanson, Brandon Pickford and Friend. Finn, Friend and Scoggins picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Matthew Herod won the 15 lap Mini Stock Main Event. This was the first win for Herod. Brian Post won the championship by just two points ahead of Shelby Neal.

West Coast Sport Compact championship contender Shawn DePriest set the early pace ahead of Herod and Gene Glover. Herod kept it close up front and finally took the lead from DePriest on Lap 14 of the rapidly run race. Neal got by Glover on the last lap. Herod won ahead of DePriest, Neal, Glover, Post, Skyler Chairez, Russell Myers, Ray Bunn, Patrick Kelley and Synthya Tremble. Glover and DePriest won the six lap heat races.

 

Carson Guthrie won the 15 lap California Sharp Mini Late Model Main Event. This was his third win of the season, and he used it to beat Tyler Tucker by six points in the close championship battle.

Guthrie took the lead at the start ahead of Matt Malcolm and Tucker. A yellow flag waved on Lap 3 with Mason Morton eliminated. Guthrie continued to lead Malcolm and Tucker when the race resumed. A final yellow flag waved on Lap 6. This did nothing to deter Guthrie. He continued to lead the way with Malcolm providing plenty of pressure. Guthrie was up to the challenge as he held off Malcolm for the win. Tucker was a solid third, followed by Ryder Jeppesen, Brayden Morton, Melinda Clay, DJ Saenz and Mason Morton. Mason Morton won the six lap heat race.

Following a Destruction Derby on October 2nd and a visit from the Malicious Monster Truck Insanity Tour on October 8th and 9th, the track will host the annual John Fore Jr/Bob Smith Memorial Dirt Track Nationals on October 22nd and 23rd, featuring the IMCA Modified, IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks. For further information, go to www.mercedspeedway.net. 

Kuecker, Furia, Shaha, Summers Win At Ukiah Speedway

Ukiah, CA...September 19...Forrest Kuecker won the 30 lap Bomber Main Event Sunday afternoon at Ukiah Speedway. This was the second win of the season for Kuecker, who runs a distant second to Loren Powers Jr in the championship battle. The race was originally scheduled for Saturday. After an attempt was made to run the race that night, rain forced them to move it to the Sunday afternoon time slot. 

Mike Lovell Sr was eliminated before a lap could be completed. Bradley Dale led the complete restart ahead of Joey Brackett and Anthony Fomasi. Fomasi gained second on Lap 2 with Shelby Helm moving into third a lap later. Powers was already running fourth as Fomasi and Helm both got past Dale on Lap 5. Powers moved into third on the seventh lap as the lead trio engaged in a close battle. A Lap 14 yellow flag saw Dale and Brackett both eliminated. Powers led Helm and Kuecker on the restart. Kuecker took second from Helm on Lap 20 and put the moves on Powers to grab the lead on the 23rd lap. Helm moved past Powers for second on Lap 25, but Powers stayed in the hunt and overtook Helm on the final lap. Kuecker took the checkered flag ahead of Powers, Helm, Fomasi, Bob Mook, David Jones, Josh Smith, the B Bomber of Rick Jelton, Dale, Brackett and Raymond Taylor Jr. 

Powers set the fast time of 14.751, beating the 14.829 of Mikey Lovell and the 14.888 of Helm. The 10 lap heat race wins went to Helm and Mikey Lovell.

Sierra Furia won the 30 lap Limited Modified Main Event. This was the third win of the season for the runaway point leader. Andy Vander Veer set the early pace ahead of TJ Buzzard Jr and Furia. Furia took second from Buzzard on Lap 3, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 5. Furia took the lead from Vander Veer on the restart as Upstate Bomber point leader Trystan Mucci settled into third. Mucci took second from Vander Veer on the eighth lap. Buzzard moved by Vander Veer for third on Lap 22 with Tyler Caturegli following into fourth. Mucci kept it close to the end, but Furia prevailed. Buzzard settled for third, followed by Caturegli, Vander Veer, Brandon Powers, Bo Robertson, Tyler Manning and JR Lane.

Caturegli set the fast time of 13.753, beating the 13.813 of Furia and the 13.967 of Buzzard. Mucci and Vander Veer picked up 10 lap heat race wins.

Tom Summers won the 20 lap Legend Car Main Event. He's the third different winner in as many races. Justin Johnson took the early lead ahead of Summers and Robert Byers. JK Kinney took third from Byers on the third lap, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 5. Summers continued to lead the way with Kinney taking second from Johnson. The battle remained close for the Top 3 positions with Kinney slipping past Summers for the lead on Lap 17. However, Kinney brought out of yellow flag moments later. Summers led Johnson and Byers on the restart with Byers and Mark Burch moving into second and third on the final lap. Summers collected the win ahead of Byers, Burch, Dan Camacho, Johnson, Kinney and Kai Lovell. Kinney set the fast time a 14.938, beating the 15.209 of Summers. Kinney also won the 10 lap heat race.

Jason Shaha won the 30 lap AAA Energy Systems Pro 4 Modified Main Event. Mike Peterson Jr took the early lead ahead of Shaha and James Gard. Shaha slipped past Peterson for the lead on Lap 2 with Doug Rivera moving into second on Lap 4, followed by Marty Lewis. It was a close three-car battle at the front for several laps. Wade Eldredge moved in to challenge Lewis for third before taking the position on Lap 20. It was a close battle for the win all the way to the end with Shaha prevailing over Rivera. Eldredge settled for third, followed by Lewis, Gard and Peterson. Lewis set the fast time of 13.809, beating the 13.911 of Rivera. Shaha picked up the 10 lap heat race win.

Christian Sanchez won the 15 lap Jammers Main Event. Sanchez has been struggling in recent races, and this was his first Pro division win of the year. Junior Jammer point leader TJ Sorrels topped her class with the second place overall finish, giving her two wins in her group this year. 

Sorrels raced into the lead at the start ahead of Charles French and Sanchez. It was a close battle at the front of the pack with Sanchez taking second from French on Lap 5. Two laps later, Sanchez moved by Sorrels for the lead. Sanchez built a half-straightaway advantage over Sorrels in victory with French third, followed by the Pro Jammers of Isaiah Rojas and Sorhna Li.

Rojas had the fastest Pro Jammer lap at 16.750, while French was the quickest Junior at 14.729. They ran the two groups together in the 10 lap heat race with Sorrels getting the overall victory ahead of Rojas.

Kai Lovell won the 15 lap Bandolero Main Event. This was the third win of the season for Lovell, who trails Travis Powers by 90 points in the title chase. Following a complete restart, Lovell jumped into the early lead ahead of Jordan McLean and Ronnie DenBestie. DenBestie and Powers both got past McLean on Lap 5 as the battle heated up at the front. Powers and  DenBestie both got around Lovell on Lap 6. DenBestie overtook Powers for the lead on Lap 13. On the final Lap, Lovell got around both drivers to steal the win as Powers had problems. DenBestie ended up second ahead of McLean, Powers and Alyssa Sorrels. Powers set the fast time of 16.466, beating the 16.621 of DenBestie. DenBestie won the 10 lap heat race.

Racing will continue at Ukiah Speedway on October 2nd with the Bombers back in action along with the Limited Modifieds, Jammers, Bandoleros, BCRA Vintage Midgets and the Jalopies. For further information, go to www.lakeportspeedway.com.

Keller, Armtrout Win MavTV Series Races
At Madera Speedway

Madera, CA...September 18...Kyle Keller won the 80 lap Nut Up Pro Late Model Series Main Event Saturday night at Madera Speedway. This was his first win in the MavTV Series as he continues to run fourth in the standings. Keller currently leads the Overall and Madera Club Race point battles.

Eric "Bubba" Nascimento jumped into the early lead ahead of championship contenders Tyler Herzog and Matt Erickson. A yellow flag waved on Lap 4 for a Turn 3 tangle involving Brody Moore and Brody Armtrout. Nascimento continued to lead Herzog and Erickson on the restart. Keller was running fourth and slipped past Erickson for third on Lap 10. An inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 19 put Keller into second, and a Lap 21 yellow flag turned into a red flag when leader Nascimento dumped oil all over the track. Because it was a lengthy delay getting things cleaned up, Nascimento was able to make repairs and rejoin at the rear of the field. Herzog led Keller and Howard Holden on the restart, but Keller made an inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 25 to take the lead from Herzog. Rick Thompson and Glen Cook tangled for a Lap 28 yellow flag. The first restart attempt saw Holden spin in Turn 2. Keller led Herzog and Erickson on the next restart. Keller built a half-straightaway advantage over Herzog by the Lap 50 break with Brody Armtrout getting around Erickson for third. Nascimento managed to work his way back up to fifth. 

Keller continued to lead the restart with Erickson getting past Herzog for second. Point leader Jadan Walbridge was up to fourth, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 53 for Cook. Keller led Erickson and Walbridge on the restart. A battle developed for third place with Nascimento getting by Walbridge on Lap 71. Contact between Herzog and Walbridge saw Walbridge spin for a Lap 73 yellow flag. Herzog was put to the back of the pack for his part in the incident. The first restart attempt saw Armtrout brush the front wall and clip the rear end of Erickson, causing him to spin and hit the wall in Turn 1 for another yellow flag. Keller led Nascimento and Jason Aguirre on the restart, and they finished that way with Jay Juleson fourth, followed by Bradley Erickson, Kabe McClenny, Barrett Polhemus, Walbridge, Thompson and Herzog.

Brody Armtrout won the 70 lap 51fifty Energy Drink Junior Late Model Main Event. This was the fifth win for Armtrout, but he still trails Jacob Smith by nine points headed into the season finale.

Kasey Kleyn returned to action and set the early pace ahead of Armtrout and Kercie Jung. A yellow flag waved on Lap 10 for a Rebecca Dubie spin. Kleyn continued to lead Armtrout on the restart as Ethan Nascimento moved into third. However, Jung regained the third position on Lap 19 before another yellow flag for a Dubie spin in Turn 1. Armtrout began pressuring Kleyn for the lead on the restart and made an outside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 21 to take over. Nascimento made an inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 23 to grab second with Smith moving into third on Lap 24. The lap 40 break found Armtrout leading Nascimento, Smith, Robbie Kennealy and Jung. 

Nascimento surprised Armtrout by taking the lead on the restart, but Armtrout went by on the outside on Lap 42 to regain first. An outside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 42 gained Barrett Polhemus third. However, Robbie Kennealy gained third on Lap 50. As Armtrout started to pull away, Smith made an outside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 62 to claim third for good. Armtrout went on to victory ahead of Nascimento, Smith, Kennealy, Jung, Polhemus, Brody Moore, Jeffrey Erickson, Kenna Mitchell and Tristan McKee.

Logan Chambers won the 20 lap INEX Bandoleros Main Event. This was his sixth win in the eight races held so far as he closes in on the championship. The race had an exciting four-wide moment on the opening lap with Joey Kennealy taking the lead ahead of Chambers and Konner Karsten. Chambers shadowed Kennealy until making what proved to be his winning pass on Lap 8. Kennealy kept it close, but he was no match for the smooth running Chambers. Karsten held off Caden Cordova in another close battle for third. Chambers also won the eight lap heat race.

This Saturday night is the 48th Annual Harvest Cup race, featuring the Madera Late Models, 360 Super Modifieds, Legends of Kearney Bowl Super Modifieds, NCMA Sprint Cars, Mini Super Toyotas, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and BCRA Vintage Midgets. For further information, go to www.racemadera.com. 

 

Shafer, Jones, Cross Share Spotlight At Stockton 99 Speedway

Stockton, CA...September 18....Gary Shafer Jr won the 50 lap Late Model Main Event Saturday night at Stockton 99 Speedway. Shafer is in a close battle with JoJo Stearns for the championship. 

Justin Philpott started on the pole and took the early lead ahead of Daniel DeVore and Shafer. Shafer got past DeVore for second on Lap 3 and overtook Philpott for the lead on the eighth circuit. Ty.Carlson also got around Philpott for second. Philpott was holding onto third until Stearns made the move into the position on Lap 20. Shafer built about a half-straightaway advantage over Carlson in victory with Stearns a solid third, followed by Joey Sarafin, Philpott, DeVore, Steven Fraser, Aaron Shankle, Dennis Byers and Dominic Lopez.

Brandon Jones won the 25 lap Bombers Main Event. Jones started on the pole and led from the outset ahead of title contender Allen Rider and Brandon Diede. Point leader Joseph Reichmuth slipped past Diede for third on Lap 7. Jones had Rider and Reichmuth in his rear view mirror the rest of the way but still held them off for the satisfying win. Diede settled for fourth, followed by Donnie Darter, Jerry Crawford, Nicholas Mello and Brian Enis.

Josh Cross won the 25 lap B4 Main Event. Only seven points separated point leader Nick Hall, Joe Flowers and Cross going into the night in the closest championship battle at the track. 

Cross started on the pole and led Flower and Dave Keller from the start. Jeff Harris was an early fourth before being overtaken by Hall on Lap 4. Barrett Sugden got past Harris for fifth on Lap 6. Cross led all the way in victory with Flower not too far behind in second. Keller was about a straightaway behind Flower in third, followed by Hall, Sugden, Harris, Mark Hunt, Andrew Rumsey, Rod Previtali and Joe Martin.

Justin Lovelace won the Junior B4 Main Event. Lovelace started on the pole and led all the way with Natalie Harper an early second ahead of Jayden Cross. Cross got past Harper for second on Lap 6, and Harper fell out on Lap 7 with Dave King settling into third. Lovelace won with Cross not far behind in second. King was a distant third, followed by AJ Shankle, Harper and Chase Lopez.

Gauge Wicke won the 15 lap Mini Cup Main Event. Wicke led all the way in victory, followed by Kash Holman and Leilani Sprenkel.

Racing returns to the paved oval on October 2nd with the 166 lap Bischofberger Brawl for the Spears SRL Pro Late Models. The Bombers, B4's and Junior B4's will also be an action. For further information, go to www.stockton99.com.

Bakersfield Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
American Stocks
Brock Crawford
Dakota Brown
Kody Sly
Jr Daves
Mason Conway
Tara Childress
Danny Smith
Antony Sly
Andrew Johnston
Colby Ward
Carson Conway
Jesse Buerster DNS

Hobby Stocks
Ricky Childress Jr
Stephen Johnson
Kevin Irwin
Marcus Wankum
Karl Noland
Justin Tue
Brooke Cimental
Teena Johnson
Nicholas Johnson
Don Mead
Nick Coffman
Jimmy Irwin DNS

IMCA Mod Lites
Zack Foster
J.D. Brown
Phil Barrow
Tim Varney
parker cherry
Zander Keeland
Matt Phillips
Candi Varney
Cade Lewis DNS
Dave Dotson DNS
Riley Clem DNS

California Lightning Sprints
Results are not official
1     #21x Kevin Michnowicz
2     #4 Jeff Dyer
3     #8g Eric Greco
4     #2j James Turnbull
5     #17f Terry Bergstrom
6     #35jr Dakota Albright
7     #3f Brandon Leedy
8     #42 Jon Robertson
9     #67x Cade Lewis
10     #03 Pat Kelley
11     #17 Dale Gamer
12     #41b A J Bender
13     #18 David Gasper
14     #71 Brent Owens
15     #2r Robb Pelmear
16     #61 Don Hart
17     #21k Bobby Michnowicz
18     #45 Cody Nigh
19     #13x Aiden Lange
20     #39 Mark Henry
21     #24 Chase Gaal
22     #37 Dominic Del Monte
23     #18f Josef Ferolito

USAC West Coast 360 Sprints
Chase Johnson
Trent Carter
AJ Bender
DJ Johnson
Travis Buckley
Hannah Mayhew
Kyle Edwards
Matt Day
Brody Fuson
Troy Rutherford
Jarrett Soares
Jacob Tuttle
Chris Muraoka
Steve Hix 

Antioch Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Delta Dwarf Cars
Danny Wagner
Chance Russel
Kevin Miraglio
David Michael Rosa
Travis Day
Mario Marques
Sean Catucci
David Rosa
Ellie Russo
Jack Haverty
Roberto Monroy
Devan Kammermann
Shawn Jones
Tom VanTuyl DNS

Jay's Mobile Welding Service Hobby Stocks
Brad Coelho
Misty Welborn
Albert Ballinger
Mitchell Dana
Grayson Baca
Jon Haney
Jared Baugh
Larry McKinzie Jr
Aiden Ponciano
Gavin Griffiths
James Graessle
Adam Kujala
Anthony Silva
Jake Bentancourt
Vigna Anthony
Charlie Bryant
Michael Mates
Emilie Bryant
Gene Haney
Kenneth Robles
Michaela Taylor
Jewell Crandall
Cosmo Buchconsilla
Jeff Bentancourt

Wingless Sprint
Bob Newberry
Josh Young
Shannon Newton
Nathan Schank
Brent Steck
Kevin Box
Cameron Martin
Shawn Jones
Tony Bernard
James East
Ryon Siverling
Eathon Lanfri
Roy Fisher
Steve Maionchi
Daniel Whitley
Dave Lindt Jr
MacKenzie Newton
Troy Ferry
Zack Albers
Jimmy Christian
Chris Geilfuss
Bob Davis
Jeff Scotto
Keith Calvino
Dylan Newberry

Mini Stocks
Tom Brown
Dana Gardner
Don Abitz
Sophie Shelley
Benito Gomez
Carson Glover
Mike Lodin
Laina Bales
Austin Lodin
Eddie Humphrey III


Southern Oregon Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Outlaw Pro Stocks
Matt Harlow
Colby Hammond
Corey Biggs
Scott Flowers
Dennis Burtenhouse Jr
Dan Randall
Ken Irving
Johnny Cobb
Ginny Flowers
Robert Day
Jeff Haudenshild

Sweet Tea IMCA Modifieds
Jesse Bailey
Mark Wauge
Jeffrey Hudson
Andy Freeman
Ray Kniffen Jr
Zach Fettinger
Preston Jones
Steve Borror
James Anderson DNS

Dusty's Transmission IMCA Sport Modifieds
Nick Berryhill
Jacob Hoppes
Mike Jones
Isaac Sanders
Merissa Henson
Robby Senn
Mike Medel
John Wilson
Matt Sanders
Ryan Peery
Byron Anderson


Merced Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
IMCA Modifieds
Jim Pettit II
Robby Sawyer
Ryan Porter
Rick Diaz
Bob Williamson
Mike Shepherd
Cory McDonald
Gary Marsh
Josh Combs
Bill Vieselmeyer

IMCA Sport Modifieds
John Piker
Tyler Bannister
Fred Ryland
Chuck Weir
Richard Ragsdale
Riley Jeppesen
Mark Squadrito
Monty Tomlinson
Dutch Jantz
Jarrod Mounce
Jacob Mallet Jr
Tony Peffer

Hobby Stocks
Syd Finn
Domossie Scoggins
Randy Brown
Race Shelton
Allen Neal
John Tevis
Luis Lopez
Gary Hanson
Brandon Pickford
Les Friend
Chad Ragsdale
James Cornelius
Jeff Lacy
Alex Jones
Kristie Shearer
Derek Ogden DQ
Steve Torres DNS
Xavier Baez DNS

Mini Stocks
Matthew Herod
Shawn DePriest
Shelby Neal
Gene Glover
Brain Post
Skyler Chairez
Russell Myers
Ray Bunn
Patrick Kelley
Synthya Tremble
Leo Lotz
Jeff Durant DMS
Tyler Post DNS

Mini Late Models
Carson Guthrie
Matt Malcolm
Tyler Tucker
Ryder Jeppesen
Brayden Morton
Melinda Clay
DJ Saenz
Mason Morton


Madera Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Nut Up Pro Late Models
Kyle Keller
Eric Nascimento
Jason Aguirre
Jay Juleson
Bradley Erickson
Kabe McClenny
Barrett Polhemus
Jadan Walbridge
Rick Thompson
Tyler Herzog
Brody Armtrout
Peter Soto
Ricky Nelson
Matt Erickson
Glen Cook
Howard Holden
Mike Hensley
Brody Moore

51Fifty Energy Drink Jr Late Model
Brody Armtrout
Ethan Nascimento
Jacob Smith
Robbie Kennealy
Kercie Jung
Barrett Polhemus
Brody Moore
Jeffrey Erickson
Kenna Mitchell
Tristan McKee
Holly Clark
Hailey Liles
Kasey Kleyn
Rebecca Dubie

INEX Bandoleros
Logan Chambers
Joey Kennealy
Konner Karsten
Caden Cordova


Barona Speedway Park Unofficial Race Results September 18
Lightning Sprints
Grant Sexton
Braden Chiaramonte
Brent Sexton
Matt Sotomayor
David Bezio
Jeremy Queener
Rudy Padilla
Jim Squire III
Jason Arnolde
Brent Horn
Jon Squire
DJ Dumas
Robert Early
Ryan Dumas
Dalton Sexton
Peter Benker
Cody Griggs

IMCA Modified
P.J. Dyke
Kyle Morris
Steven Daffern
Dustin Stanley
Denis Taylor
Matthew Hicks
Eric Evans
Jake Griffin
William Miller
Cole Dick

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Brian Brown
David Kilpela
Jake Triska
Mike Pridgeon
Bill Hackett

IMCA Sport Compact
Chris Niemi
Enzo Deckers
Edward Finger
David Hunt
Benjamin Pendleton
Lucas Heimpel
Mike Duran Sr
Wynona Ragland
Billy Foultz
Zackery Conyers
Maci Constance
Michael Duran

Street Stocks
Sunny Trent
Dale Erwin
Paul Dyke
jashua wipperman
Perry Humphries
Steve Porter
Jayson Aldridge
Scott Duffy DQ
Denis Taylor DQ

Pure Stock
Curtis Reiter
Jayson Aldridge
David Hunt
Rick Chavez
Dave Evangelou
Rusty Staley
Robert Hughes
Rick Schnereger
Chris Evans
Nicole carleton
Tiffany Crow
Michael Rumbaugh
Mike Wolfe
Rick Eicksteadt
Jeff Gearhart
Thomas Soper
Joe Malone DNS
Greg Perry DNS

Dwarf Cars
Mike Tobiason
John Isabella
Robert Peters
Tommy Crow
Devin Kelly
Mikey Hall
Ron Dunlap
CJ Marin
Chris Wilder
Damon Sheets
John Bridger
Dewey Myers DMS

Junior Sprints
Landon Dalton
Caleb Scholl
Cam Baldwin
Noah Dalton San
Taylin Baldwin
Cody Benker
Gage Baldwin

Masters Mini Dwarfs
Oliver Schenk
Danielle Friel
Grace Escalante
Jacob Manalo
Tyler Warner
Kelly Weitzel
Jacob Novak
Nathan Manalo
Kellen O'Connor
Harmony Painter
Jason Painter
Jaxon Willey
Declan Sypolt
Kali Bailey
Kylee Hodgin

Sportsman Mini Dwarfs
Melanie Ross
Cody Isabella
Kaiden Johnson
Shelton Scott
Cam Baldwin
Shelby Deckers
Zach Dalton
Jackson Reiter
Brysen Byford DMS


Ventura Raceway Unofficial Race Results September 18
IMCA Modifieds
Results are not official
1     #20 Aaron Rodarte     
2     #61 Dalton Houghton
3     #41 Danny Lauer
4     #161 Donald Houghton
5     #28 Trevor Fitzgibbon  
6     #21 Austin Rodarte
7     #55JR Jack Parker
8     #38 Dennis Eckert
9     #34 Scott Olsen
10     #43G Sam Garvin

VRA Pro Dwarf Cars
Results are not official
1     #93 Jason Horton         
2     #48 Trent Morley
3     #5 Mike Lewis
4     #88 Jeff Brink
5     #57 Jeff Hinz
6    Daniel Peters
7     #20R John Alonso
8     #24 Dominic Maldonado     
9     #99 Shane Linenburger
10    Evan Jonker


NMRA-TQ Midgets
Results are not official
1     #5 Bruce Hiroshima         
2     #77 Ace Kale
3     #59 Scott Niven
4     #07 Kevin Kale
5     #36 West Evans
6     #20 David Perry
7     #75 Chuck West
8     #70 Don Brashier

VRA Senior Sprints/VRA Sprint Cars
Results are not official
1     #15 Rick Hendrix         
2     #5J James Herrera
3     #2 Wally Pankratz
4     #66 Chris Meredith
5     #29 Camie Bell


Dixon Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Wingless
Dan Mognaga
Ashton Torgerson
Brandon Riveira
Cody Gray
Brandon Shaw
Austin Torgerson
Timothy Vaught
Austin Wood
Colin Kirby
Tyler Chamorro
Isak Johnson
Cody Parmley
Chris Parmley
Blake Parmley
Brandon Alvarado
Jackie Whiteson Jr
Bryant Bell
Nick VanAtta
Jarrett Heimlich
Devin Osanna
Savannah Brown
Steve Alvarado
Justin Stretch
Cierra Wullenwaber

Super 600
Ashton Torgerson
Izaak Sharp
Dan Mognaga
Jessica McManus
Colby Greig
Anthony Lewis
Tony Alosi
Ron Singh

Restricted
Lucas Johnson
Adrianna DeMartini
Andrew Smith
Nicholas Leonard Jr
AJ Neilson
Kyle Cravotta
Mickelina Monico
Kaiden Gowen
Cierra Wullenwaber

Jr Sprint
Hayden Stepps
Briggs Davis
Josiah Vega
Jackson Tardiff
Dean Skrifvas
Vito Cancilla
Heston Stepps
Colin Reynolds
Charlie Haines
Levi Osborne DQ


Cottage Grove Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Todd's Auto Body Sprints
Johnny Burke
Carley Holmes
Kyle Alberding
Steven Snawder
Shane Forte
Pat Desbiens
Donny Waddell
Tyler Thompson
Tyrell Mead
Bailey Hibbard
Dave Hibbard
Morgan Burks
Tim Minter
Raquel Ivie

IMCA Modifieds
Bricen James
Chad Groves
Paul Rea
Eric Ashley
Curtis Towns
Jeffrey Hudson
Aaron Sheelar
Gus Cooper
Andrew Mathers
Paul Culp
John Player
Tim Meltabarger
Jesse Williamson
Jake Mayden
Matthew Drager

Late Models
Preston Luckman
Mark Thompson
BJ Donofrio
Rob Campos
Randy Barley
Chuck Christian
Braden Fugate
Mike Peters
Wayne Butler
Mike Taylor
Larry Ramates
Garrett Smith
Willie Sutton
Rob Williams
Nathan Augustine
Tony Goddard

Royalty Core IMCA Sport Modifieds
Dustin Comer
Aaron Bloom
Justin Ryker
Jordan Henry
Daniel Ray
Ray Bloom
Isaac Sanders
Trevor Points
Steve Hopkins
Ray Comer
Chuck Carson
Brandon Norton
Chuck Whitmore
Michael Lavery
Theran Trissell
Dalton Bloom
KC Scott
Garrett Craig
Matt Sanders
Jorddon Braaten
Ryan Peery

Street Stocks
Taunton Swaim
Kyle Coen
Graig Osborne
Jody Tanner
Michael Hollingsworth
Mike Swaim
Troy Chamberlain
Anthony Prather
 
IMCA Sport Compacts
Kerry Cooper
Burnie Bryant
Brad Martin
Michael Kennerly
Tiffany Towns
Andrew Langan
Jack Vicari
Eli Miller
Stacy Bloom
Madilyn Ashley
Bruce Miller
Jim Simmons
Eli Luckman
Brent Wells
Cole Trisssell  DQ


All American Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
SPEARS SWT
Derek Thorn
Buddy Shepherd
John Moore
Jacob Gomes
Brandon Farrington
Dean Thompson
Carlos Vieira
Cale Kanke
Kole Raz
Scott Sanchez
Blaine Rocha
Zach Telford

SPEARS Pro Late Model
Dylan Zampa
Austin Herzog
Jeremy Doss
Travis McCullough
Cole Moore
Tanner Reif
Cole Brown
Tyler Reif
Hans Beeler
Mike Beeler
Logan Zampa
Seth Wise
Blaine Rocha

SPEARS Modified
Jeremy Doss
Travis McCullough
Eddie Secord
Travis Thirkettle
Kyle Jacks
Andrew Anderson
William Guevara
Nathan Byrd
Nathan Gasser
Dustin Patterson
Sam Jacks


Stockton 99 Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Late Models
Gary Shafer Jr
Ty Carlson
Jo Jo Streans
Joey Sarafin
Justin Philpott
Daniel Devore
Steven Fraser
Aaron Shankle
Dennis Byers
Dominic Lopez
Chad Holman
Roy Luft
Joe Hylton

Bombers
Brandon Jones
Allen Rider
Joe Reichmuth
Brandon Diede
Donnie Darter
Jerry Crawford
Nichols Mello
Brian Enis

B4
Josh Cross
Joe Flower
Dave Keller
Nick Hall
Barrett Sugden
Jeff Harris
Mark Hunt
Andrew Rumsey
Rod Previtali
Joe Martin
Lukas Castro
Andrea Rumsey
Sonya Karavaras
Katy Hunt
Michael Hill

Jr B4
Jordan Lovelace
Jayden Cross
Dustin King
AJ Shakel
Natalie Harper
Chase Lopez

Mini Cup
Gauge Wicke
Kash Holman
Leilani Sprenkel


Lemoore Raceway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Super 600
Dominic Gorden
Mattix Salmon
Gauge Garcia
Broedy Graham
Matthew Tatoole
TJ Smith
Jake Andreotti
Caeden Steele DNS
Stefan Sidur DNS

Wingless 600
Dominic Gorden
Broedy Graham
Brian Gilbert
Caeden Steele
Katey Syra
Reilee Phillips
Zach McLoughry
Jade Avedisian
Levi Robinson
Austin Stone
Colton Jones
TJ Smith
Andrew Tamariz DNS
Jimmy Leal DNS
Dustin Jones DNS

Restricted 600
Cash Lovenburg
Taylor Mayhew
Deegan Irey
Andi Jones
Makayla Tatoole
Aubrey Mynderup

Stock 600
Jarrett Rogers
Mattix Salmon
Drew Mowry
Dalton Parreira

Junior Sprint
Braxon Vasconcellos
Brycen Roush
Landon Jones
Kasey Leal
Jaxson Sowers
Austin Turner
Brandtly Dovey
Drew Costa
Nathan Ward
Nathan McPhail
Blayden Graham DNS


Keller Auto Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
Western RaceSaver
Ryan Rocha
Michael Pombo
Albert Pombo
Brandon Stidham
Phil Heynen
Davey Pombo Jr
Sean Quinn
Bryson Benna
Steven Wenzel
Brooklyn Holland
Connor Danell
Ryan Delisle
Richard Weddle
Jacob Pombo
Kyle Rasmussen
Tony Pombo


Adobe Mountain Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 18
WMR Midgets
Blake Bower
David Prickett
Cory Brown
Nathan High
Kala Keliinoi
Megan Moorhead
Todd Hawse
Kyle Hawse
Kyle Kline
David Raquenio

Mini Late Model
Lyle Askren Jr
KJ Goodwin
Bill Lemkuil
Chris Rasta
Jesse Stone
Derrek Orr

Now 600s Non Wing
Main Event
Drake Edwards
Chris Rahe
Cameron La Rose
Dustin Cormany
Joshua Shipley
Eric Bartlett
Paul Martin
JT Imperial
Jessie Owens
Tony Morris
Mark Morin
Mason Keefer
Casey Bauman
Elijah Gile
Dennis Carrier
Tyler Brown
Cody Covey
Austin Kromberg
Alan Schindler
Preston Norbury

B Main
Eric Bartlett
Austin Kromberg
Mark Morin
JT Imperial
Ashley Afdahl
Damian Norbury
Brody Wake
Bryant Dawson
Cody Sickles

Restricted
Elijah Gile
Ethan
Mickey Gile
Xander Dundon
Hudson Storment
Hunter Wells

Junior Sprints
Kollin Klein
Logan Woodkline


Kern County Raceway Dirt Track Unofficial Race Results September 19
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints
Chase Johnson
AJ Bender
Brody Fuson
Jarrett Sores
Jacob Tutle
Travis Buckley
James Herrera
Chris Muraoka
Jeff Dyer

BCRA Midgets
Chase Johnson
Carson Macedo
Hayden Williams
Brody Fuson
Jade Avedisian
Ryan Padgett
Colby Johnson
Travis Buckley
Dylan Ito
Jarrett Sores
Caden Sarale
Robert Carson

California Lightning Sprints
David Gasper
Aiden Lange
Eric Greco
Don Hart
James Turnbull
Jon Robertson
Jeff Dyer
Pat Kelley
Dale Gamer
Cade Lewis
Chase Gaal
Brent Owens  

Mod Lites
Zach Forester
JD Brown
Phil Barrow
Tim Varney
Colby Lewis
Parker Cherry
Zander Keeland
Matt Phillips


Ukiah Speedway Unofficial Race Results September 19
Bombers
Forrest Kuecker
Loren Powers Jr
Shelby Helm
Anthony Fomasi
Bob Mook
David Jones
Josh Smith
Bradley Dale
Joey Brackett
Raymond Taylor Jr
Trevor Abella
Mikey Lovell

Jammers (Pro)
Christian Sanchez
Isaiah Rojas
Sorhna Li

Jammers (Jr)
TJ Sorrels
Charles French

Limited Modifieds
Sierra Furia
Trystan Mucci
TJ Buzzard
Tyler Caturegli
Andy VanderVeer
Brandon Powers
Bo Robertson
Tyler Manning
J.R. Lane

Bandoleros
Kai Lovell
Ronnie DenBeste
Jordan McLean
Travis Powers
Alyssa Sorrels

Legend Cars
Tom Summers
Robert Byers
Mark Burch
Dan Camacho
Justin Johnson
JK Kinney
Kai Lovell

Pro 4 Modifieds
Jason Shaha
Doug Rivera
Wade Eldredge
Marty Lewis
James Gard
Mike Peterson Jr

 

The Editor's Viewpoint

It's an interesting thing. For a good portion of the summer, I've struggled to stay on schedule with this blog. Actually, it's been a week to week basis whether I was going to do anything or not, but the schedule I like to keep is to have a post up by Wednesday night or very early Thursday morning at the latest. I've managed to hit that a few times.

There are a few factors as to why I've struggled the way I have this year, but I don't feel like getting into any of that here. The bottom line is I have struggled a bit this year in what I see as the final year of the blog as you've known it for the past half a decade or so. 

What's interesting is what I have used as part of my motivation to get it done. I have added an additional big blog post to the schedule. What I found was I've struggled to put together the big post. Once that's been posted, my mind is even more focused. Friday gets here and I'm ready for it. There's enough racing going on that I'm keeping track of that and I decide it's time to do another post for Saturday afternoon. Therefore, I do a rough draft of most of the Viewpoint, monitor the races on Friday and start putting it together. Of course, it also means that I might be covering a few more tracks than normal in this scenario. 

It happens to be that I'm writing this on Thursday afternoon to get a head start, but it looks like there won't be a Saturday post. There's not enough happening on Friday night for me to cover that much. The weather forecast doesn't look good for Deming Speedway. Cottage Grove may happen on Friday, but we'll throw that into the regular post. Not much racing is happening in Oregon this weekend due to the forecast. The bad news is no racing, but the good news is we need the rain. We need to saturate the ground a little bit. It'll do something about the smoke in the air in some locations. Hopefully there won't be a lot of lightning. 

The blog itself is a challenge. I don't want to keep the regular schedule anymore. I'm just getting tired of the editing process. Of course, I'm going to be jumping in to more editing when I start working on the books. The difference is I don't have just a couple of days to get that all done. I can take my time a little bit more. With the posts, if I don't have something up by early Friday morning, I missed the deadline. Therefore, even when I drag my rear end on editing, that's only an additional day or so. After that, it's too late.

I'd like to hand the editing off to somebody else, but there are multiple problems with that idea. First of all, I'm not generating any revenue. Most people with a functioning brain aren't going to do this work for free. Somehow I keep doing it. Maybe I don't have a functioning brain? Anyway, the budget isn't there for it. 

The second and more important factor is the fact that errors get by me when I write the review articles. I have a list of tracks I'm doing articles for, which can be anywhere from 8 to 12 for any particular Saturday night blog post. I have to go from one article to the other and try not to take too long doing it. Once racing is done, I'm on the clock and the deadline looms.

Most of the time the ideas are fresh in my mind. I'll also call on facts that I remember about certain things that weren't in the notes I took while I was monitoring the races. Every once in awhile, the brain short circuits and the fact is wrong. Or, the scoring that I was watching got glitchy and was inaccurate. That's the thing about monitoring so many races in livetime, which I'll get into more in a moment. The scoring gets glitchy. Most of the time I can catch it very easily, but a few times it looks good enough that I may not see it upon first viewing.

With factual errors, I can go over the cleanup portion of the process and get to the second reading before the light bulb clicks. I think I have a fact wrong here. I have to go back and clean that up and do it right. I end up catching the majority of the mistakes. I would estimate in the 90% to 95% range for sure. Maybe higher? However, mistakes get by. It's one of the reasons why I put the disclaimer at the top of the posts. 

We are unofficial. We strive to be as accurate as possible with the information we have, but mistakes get by. If I had somebody editing this stuff for me, more mistakes of a factual nature would get by unless they were as into the current events at as many tracks as I am. 

The process is straightforward. Even though I could probably wait for all of the races to be done and go through and find the statistics afterwards, I try to monitor live scoring in real time. This is done through Race Monitor, which is my preferred app. I also use My Race Pass thanks to somebody who's sponsored me on that. 

This enables me to keep track of when the yellow flags are waved. Later, I can look back at when the yellow flag was waived and notice when certain drivers retire. Whether they brought out the yellow flag or retired at that moment, I can make a note of it in the article. I can also note when positions change in the Top 3.

With Speedhive, you have the trajectory. That is the say, they have a graph showing when the drivers gained positions, and I can use that for the article. There are a couple of tracks that use another function and make a note of when yellow flags come out and who caused them. Chico and Marysville do that. 

Speedhive is one of my favorite tools. My Race Pass tries to do some of this, but they are not as good at it. You have to do a little bit more clicking and going back and forth to get the information that would be easier obtained through Speedhive. It's one of the reasons I wish tracks who use this scoring system would upload the raw data to Speedhive, which they all did before My Race Pass started intercepting that data.

This information isn't 100% perfect. It can be completely accurate and is a majority of the time, but there are mistakes. Sometimes the scoring loop misses a car, and other times the drivers don't have a functioning transponder. This is why you need humans up in the score booth, preferably doing some line scoring to reference against the computer when needed. Some tracks don't do that. They rely on the person running the computer and hope they are really on the ball. Oftentimes they are, but mistakes get by. They'll check all of that data and make adjustments as needed. 

Therefore, I wait for the track to post the official finish. Oftentimes, they'll do that on My Race Pass, and sometimes they accompany that by uploading the raw data to Speedhive. When they don't do that, I'm left trying to go with the scoring app information. I have to do the best I can to figure out whether I might be getting inaccurate data or not when an official finish isn't posted until after my deadline. 

Most of the time, that still works out okay, but I know mistakes happen. That's the nature of what I do. Even when Gary Jacob was doing everything with pencil and paper, sometimes he would go with his own scoring and be inaccurate. He always strived to be accurate, but none of us are perfect.

We are living in a time when we have these computers taking care of the scoring for us. They aren't perfect, but they are getting better. The way technology keeps evolving, they will get better. In fact, the tools are there right now for somebody to develop an app to essentially do what I do. That is to say, they could create an app that took all the data that was in the scoring program and spit out a story within moments of the race being completed. If you uploaded your information the way Marysville does and included when the yellow flags flew and for who, that information could be included in a story as well. You wouldn't need a human to write anything, just somebody running the computer who made sure the information was accurate. 

I'll be honest with you, I don't see us getting away from relying on this technology in the foreseeable future. If I was a little bit more tech savvy, I'd develop that story app myself and figure out a way to generate money. I know a lot of tracks basically use photos, audio and video to market what they do. 

However, there are a few tracks that see the value in having little articles. I think there are promoters who would pay x amount of dollars to use the app, even if it was a yearly fee. What would you rather do if you were a promoter, pay a publicity person whatever that rate is per week or use an app for a year for a flat fee that is a small fraction of what it would cost to pay a person?

This is sad, because computers will never truly replace the human touch. We lose a little bit of our humanity this way. I don't care that computers might one day be able to simulate reality, even if we could plug into something that looked like The Matrix. It will never replace real life. 

However, we do need money to get by, and the person who could develop that app would make quite a bit of money in the end. They could even develop an app like this and sell it to a company like My Race Pass, and I bet they'd pay for it too. In this company, you have people who want to be all things to all people when it comes to racing.

You know the movie Field Of Dreams? If you build it, they will come. Actually I think that's a misquote that could be attributed to The Mandela Effect. Side topic, but I couldn't help but notice that Major League Baseball had a game in that very field this year. 

In any case, many people in the racing community fantasize about owning a race track. You hear stories of people who have built race tracks in their yards. I know a few of them. Mike McCann has told me stories of tracks that were built almost overnight in the most unlikely of places so that the Micro Sprint community could have races 35 or 40 years ago. 

I have admired from a distance how Cory and Sandra Penfold built the track out in their backyard. They called it Marion Creek Speedway, and it has beautiful scenery. They have an old bridge and no access way. They were using a tractor to haul the Karts over one at a time. They built a 1/10 mile dirt oval a few years ago with the intent of having some races. At the time, any Kart division was fair game. Cory was partial to the Flat Karts, and he was renting some of them out at the time. They had a concession trailer that they parked out in the yard underneath the trees that sat next to the creek. It's shady and beautiful there. 

You have to kind of drive out to the country, and this place has a nice mom and pop feel to it. I never witnessed a race there, but I took a trip out there with Mike last year. They were packed with tow vehicles, and I bet there were 25 or 30 Karts. There were occasions when they had more than that during the season from what I heard, but Cory and Sandra drew the ire of their neighbors. Nobody seemed to be on their side, which was unfortunate. The neighbors threw up every obstacle they could, but they were able to keep it going up until very recently. Before the season, they were limited on the type of Karts they could run, and that impacted the count they had. Nonetheless, they kept going. 

One of the things about building a race track in your yard is you have to pay attention to the ordinances and the county codes. I don't know how in line they were with that at first. I have a hunch they weren't, but they started brushing up very quickly. They wanted to make sure they were within the law to do what they were doing. 

They truly hoped to make this a track that would last for years to come. There were so many positives about the location that helped make it special. It was also a place where families could race together. They even endeavored to run the program early so that there wasn't a bunch of noise at night. It was afternoon racing, but that still didn't make the neighbors happy. 

I was dismayed to find out that the neighbors slapped them with an injunction. This means racing has come to a halt. Obviously, they'll have their day in court, but it didn't sound like Cory was very optimistic that racing would return there again. His dream of promoting his own race track has been derailed, but it isn't over yet. I'll get into that in a bit, but I want to expand on the subject of having a race track on your property when you live in a neighborhood. 

I know the Dalton family had a track in the Bay Area. Prior to racing season for two or three years, they had a special race where drivers from Ocean Speedway in various divisions came to compete. I think they even had some Sprint Car guys in the field. It was Flat Kart racing. They called it Daltonapolis Speedway, and I thought it was pretty cool. 

As I said, Mike told me stories about the DeCarlo family, not the ones we know at Antioch, building a track out in the yard behind the shop. I'm aware of the Johnson family of Orland Raceway building a track on their property that has been used for practicing. Tanner Holmes and his sister have a track they practice Karts at. I believe Bubba Nelson had something he used down in the valley for his kids to practice for Outlaw Kart racing

I don't think a big splash was made when Dan Simpson built the track out in Rio Vista on his own property. This was a practice track for he and his daughter in their Sprint Cars before he took over the reigns of the King of the West Series for a few years. They had practice gatherings there, although I can't find information on that. There were multiple drivers who participated. There's also some footage of Michael "Buddy" Kofoid making laps in a Sprint Car as he was beginning to move forward in his career. I can't seem to find the documents that I saw back in 2015 when I had the track brought to my attention.

Mike being somebody who notices so much of this stuff, he had his eyes on that location back then. What he was looking for was property information and those types of things, but I uncovered some information online regarding meetings. Dan wanted to do racing there beyond practice. I don't know if he took over the King of the West Series with the intent of having races there, though I can't imagine he wouldn't want to if he knew he could. Sadly, they came up with every reason why he couldn't. It's a shame because I think it probably would have worked out okay there. You get the "not in my backyard" types and there it goes.

This type of stuff is what really intrigues me, especially when I can find proof that something actually happened at a location like that. I love the obscure stuff. There are a couple of race tracks in Oregon I'd like to find more information about because there's almost nothing out there for tracks that ran for years. When it comes to doing something on your property, it varies from county to county. There are noise ordinances and those types of things that come into play. Some things actually are possible, and other things are not. What Cory was doing was exploring the possibilities. 

I know for a fact that Cory wants to promote a race track, and he confirmed in his announcement that they are looking for another location for Kart racing. Don't be surprised if that could turn into a Kart track and a bigger track if they found the right property. In fact, I have discussed this with Cory briefly in the past. 

I know he had an eye on Southern Oregon Speedway and attempted to bid for it. He's also had an eye on Willamette Speedway. The problem with that location, which I know means a great deal to Cory, is the price tag is ridiculously high for anybody wanting to buy it. It may never sell because of that.

What I've encouraged Cory to do is check into some locations in Oregon. I've mentioned a few of them to him that might have potential. Obviously, they'd like to do something that isn't going to be a long drive if it's possible. The search will probably be for something that will accommodate the Outlaw Karts. In this case, they would most likely run every type of Kart possible as they wouldn't be facing the same restrictions. However, I could see them looking for a location that could accommodate more than that as they build something special over time. I know he has that dream. 

Actually, I know a little bit more than that, and rumors are starting to circulate that there will be a big announcement coming from the Penfold's very soon. It's a pretty huge announcement if I'm hearing correctly and a huge investment on top of that. I've been a bit skeptical about this for a while, because it is such a big investment. I'm sort of coming at this from an "I'll believe it when I see it" kind of standpoint. However, the rumors are that we may be hearing about it soon. I know what the rumor is, but out of respect to the party's involved, I'll let those announcement be made if they are indeed forthcoming.

I was going to segue into the state of racing in Oregon, which I don't feel is very good. We have nine outdoor oval tracks for big cars, two of which are pavement tracks. I strongly believe there is the potential for a 10th or even 11th track to come into existence. There are some places right now that would entertain the right person who came in with the money and the right plan. I'm not saying any of that would be a slam dunk, because it wouldn't. However, there are a few locations that would have a better chance than others. It really comes down to what sort of plan you have and having the drive to see it through. 

It's not a big car outdoor oval, but there is a 10th track getting ready for a doozy of a race on September 24th. This will be the Leach Cup. All manner of Outlaw Kart racing will be happening that night, and there's lots of money on the line. This will be happening in Albany, Oregon on the site of the MX track. The Leach family promotes racing there, and the oval track sort of exists as an afterthought. They have done Kart racing there through the years as well as some Motorcycle racing. In fact, they've run Outlaw Kart programs this year with Sunset Speedway General Manager Jeremy Means promoting. 

I don't know if the Leach family has ever entertained doing anything with bigger cars or if that would even be permitted at this facility. Then again, they have such big success with MX Racing that it's a bonus that they would even do anything with Outlaw Karts. The Leach family also promotes the Salem Indoor venue, which offers all sorts of racing. They have a tentative schedule for that track, which runs during the winter months. One of the things I like about that little quarter-mile indoor venue is that they include Dwarf Cars, Pro 4 Modifieds and Mini Stocks among the things that they do there.

In any case, the Leach Cup was created to pay tribute to Promoters Bob and Linda Leach, who died tragically in an automobile accident. The Leach family has promoted several different venues in Oregon through the years. They are known more for their MX promotions, but they have promoted big car racing venues as well, which includes Cottage Grove Speedway. They've also promoted Outlaw Karts at multiple venues, so Means saw this as an opportunity to put on a special event in their honor. He's worked very hard to get sponsorship and pay nice purses, and this event should be the biggest for Outlaw Kart racing on the West Coast.

Speaking of big races, Antioch Speedway released purse information for the Bill Bowers West Coast Nationals event on October 1st and 2nd. The money is better than usual. It's very good when you consider what we're going through right now. As of now, the IMCA Modifieds will get $3,000 to win the Saturday portion of the show. They'll get $1,500 to win on Friday, and it's the same total for second on Saturday. This means $750 for second on Friday and for third on Saturday. The minimum on Friday is $150 and Saturday is $200. The IMCA Modifieds have been the class struggling the hardest with cars, so the hope is that they can get the car count up to 25-30 cars. That's not a high expectation, and I think it's doable. 

The IMCA Sport Modifieds get $1,500 to win on Saturday and $750 for second. It's a minimum of $150 to start. The Friday IMCA Sport Modified purse and the purse for the IMCA Stock Cars on both nights is identical. $1,000 to win, $500 for second and $100 minimum to start. The Sport Modifieds will be carrying the heaviest load. They should have a car count in the 30s or maybe even higher. There is just not a huge state-wide roster for the IMCA Stock Cars yet, but can they get to 20 cars and be the first track in the state to do it? That's a reachable goal. 

When you consider all that we are going through, running races with purses this big is challenging. There's more of a struggle to get car counts worthy of this money, and there's also the challenge of getting the fans to come watch. Promoters aren't just putting up big money like this to award the drivers. I mean, they want to do that, but they're doing it in the hopes that they'll get a return on investment and maybe make a few dollars when everything is added up after the show. There's a formula for doing it, but I don't want to stretch this column out too long in discussing that. I'll just say George Steitz knew how to do it and make everybody happy. I'm hoping Antioch will do well with this show. 

At Ocean Speedway, we've already been through the whole purse debate for the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial Dirt Track Shootout. At one time, they kept raising the purse up higher and higher. I think they even got it up to $10,000 to win for the IMCA Modifieds, but it really wasn't necessary. I mean, the drivers will race for as much as they can get, but $10,000 wasn't getting them that many more cars than they'd get for a more reasonable and still big purse. Hence, we've seen it level off at $3,006 to win for the IMCA Modifieds for the last few years. That's just where it needs to be. This race is more about honoring the Pettit's than just the money. If somebody comes in with more money, by all means let them sponsor it.

It is $3,006 to win on Saturday, September 25th. $1,006 goes to second and $806 goes to third. You get $206 just to take the green flag on Saturday. The Friday show is worth $1,003 to win and $603 for second. It's $103 just to take the green. The IMCA Sport Modifieds get $1,006 to win and $606 for second on Saturday with a minimum of $106 to start. In any case, the money is better than average. Even the Hobby Stocks will make out better than they usually do there on both nights. 

There's also a special incentive where a driver who wins both Main Events could come out with $5,000 on the weekend, but there are conditions that include signing up before a certain date, reserving your pit stall, making sure you take a green in qualifying or your heat race each night and so on. It was open to all divisions, which I found interesting. Yes, that means even the Hobby Stock winner can bag those bucks if they do it on both nights, and there are drivers capable of getting the job done.

This race is put on by the Pettit family, so they continue to bring in as much sponsorship money as they can. There are lots of contingencies and things of that nature that make it fun. You might end up 10th in the B Main and get some special prize. There's also the pre-race car show and party on Thursday, which has become an important part of the weekend for many of the competitors. This isn't just a race, it's a gathering. They work pretty hard to make it as fun as they can for everyone involved. Isn't that the point of the big, special shows at the end of the year? It should be.

I believe the last big Late Model show on the West Coast happens at Coos Bay Speedway on October 2nd, if weather allows. My theory on this is that the Prather Family Lucas Oil Open Show happens on odd number years, so I'm trying to be optimistic in believing it won't get rained out. The Super Late Models get $2,000 to win and $1,000 for second among the increased purse. The track will also be paying out $1,000 to win for the Street Stocks. It's $500 to win for the Sportsman Late Models. I am a little bit disappointed they didn't throw $1,000 at them as I think the division is worthy this year, but it's still better than average. The Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Junior Stingers get to play for a little bit more money at the pay window, but as of yet there's no IMCA Modifieds on the card. They probably don't think they're going to get any. 

It's kind of sad to see the Late Models not having a presence in California now. Oregon has them, and we've seen several tracks even give them bigger money purses. When you get into October, the gates are closed at most of those tracks. The further north you go in Oregon, the less likely you are to see anything attempted. I have noticed the weather being more conducive to having some racing in October in Medford, but we're getting into hunting season. Southern Oregon Speedway could do something if they wanted to. Actually, this is when they used to put on the big Late Model show. Believe it or not, this was an idea Mike even flirted with, which would have been the traditional Late Model and Street Stock show that people remembered from back in the day.

 

It seems kind of funny that Petaluma Speedway didn't make purse announcements for this Saturday's Adobe Cup until Monday. Here you have what's been the biggest race of the year at the track for the last decade, and Promoter Rick Faeth didn't make those announcements until Monday. It tells me that either they were working until the last minute to get the purse up, or the track has sort of taken a lackadaisical approach here. I'm hoping it's the first thing and not the second, because you always want to hype races like these as early as possible. I want the race to be the big success it's been in the past.

The Adobe Cup is a race that features the Winged 360 Sprint Car class. The track has certainly struggled with this division in recent years. It used to be they could depend on a field in the teens at least to show up on any given week, but that's been an issue. Furthermore, the last two or three champions that have been crowned were sort of champions by default. I don't want to belittle any track champion, because the guy who earned it deserves it. Let's just say that winning the 360 Sprint Car championship has not been high on the priority list of the racers, and that's disappointing to me.

In any case, it's going to be $5,000 to win on Saturday. There isn't much Winged 360 Sprint Car activity in Northern California for the weekend, so it's my hope that they can get a car count deserving of a purse like this. However, I'm nervous. The fact that they haven't been hyping this race up properly when the tracks in Marysville, Chico and Placerville aren't running them is a wasted opportunity. Will they get a B Main? I don't know. I do know that it's $2,000 for second, $1,000 for third and even taking the green flag gets you a minimum of $225 at the pay window. It's good money.

The Jay's Mobile Welding Service Super Stocks have been a part of this race from the start. It's been their biggest race of the year, I don't know if the purse increase for them started that first year. It didn't take long before they were getting more money. Bob McCoy was a big supporter of the speedway and loved being there on any given Saturday night. When he passed away, the race was named in his honor. It's not just the biggest race of the year at Petaluma, but it ranks high on the list of events on the West Coast for this division anywhere.

It got the attention of the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series last year, and they endorsed the show then. This year, they will be trying to send more drivers to support the track. The purse includes $1,500 to win, $750 for second, $600 for third and a minimum of $100 to take the green flag. Tri State point leader Richard Brace Jr won the race last year. To go along with the money, there's a very nice trophy that will look good in one of the drivers trophy collection for sure. The combination of the two divisions should make the show at Petaluma entertaining. 

They've also made good on plans to call Adobe Cup II night for the Redwood Dwarf Cars the Todd Damron Memorial, which is a twin 25 lap event. I don't know what the purse money is yet. There is a race in Oregon that got rained out last week. It's at River City Speedway, and it's the Pocket Change race. I believe the Northwest Dwarf Cars and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars will be supporting the race that will pay $2,000 to win and $1,000 for second among other prize money. People don't hear a lot about the track in St Helens, but Is there a bigger paying race for the division on the West Coast? It will happen on October 2nd, weather permitting.

When it comes to WSDCA Nationals events, there is none bigger than Marysville Raceway. This Friday and Saturday night, some of the best Dwarf Car racers on the West Coast return. There should be over 100 competitors across the Pro, Veteran and Sportsman divisions. They might run a little bit late on this occasion, but you'll get plenty of Dwarf Car excitement. I do like that the WSDCA is making a better effort to let the people know what's going on. They have been posting their point standings for the last couple of years. I'm glad they are finally starting to do things like this, rather than just keeping it a secret amongst themselves.

For almost 40 years now, Madera Speedway has had the Harvest Cup event. In better days, this race featured the offset Super Modified class. As time went on, the track added the 360 Super Modified class, and some have suggested that this didn't do anything for the upper class. There are a few offset 360 Modifieds left, but you don't see many of them at the track. Without a sanctioning body to promote this effort, it's left up to the drivers to get motivated to want to race. The only way Madera Speedway would probably entertain booking the class more is if somebody took on a serious promotional role for just this division. Otherwise, they are lucky to get a date or two during the season.

We get a look at the old Super Modifieds this week, because the Legends of Kearney Bowl will be there with their beautiful cars. This also happens to be the Kenny Takeuchi Memorial race. Kenny was the voice of Super Modified racing for a number of years. He announced for the LOKB group and Super Modified racing at places like San Jose and Madera back in the day. He lived into his 90s and was still running marathons. I don't know that he has an equal when it comes to announcing, and the LOKB definitely feels the loss. They should have a good turnout for this race.

In order to get enough cars for an offset 360 Super Modified race, the track allows the upright 360 Sprint Car drivers to come run. I've been hearing rumblings that there could be a half-dozen offset cars, and I hope that's true. I'd love to see somebody try to spark a revival of the division. Something that would see this group at Madera a couple of times and maybe three or four other races in the state would be cool. People will cite cost issues, but my theory is if you didn't run them too many times, some drivers might support it. I don't know. It could be wishful thinking.

One of the classes that will be a part of the show is the NCMA Sprint Cars. I've written recently how if they could get some more drivers to get their car count up to double digits, they would become very popular at the pavement tracks. Since they get about 4-6 cars, they are about halfway there. It could be a case of them allowing too much and putting a high enough price tag on these cars. I really don't know, but there's enough determination in the NCMA to keep it alive today.

The group has been rocked by sad news in the last two years as longtime Race Director Linda Boessenecker and past President and Business Manager Ed Amador Sr both passed away. I don't think it's overstating things to say that the NCMA wouldn't have made it through the past 20 years without Amador. He was the glue keeping the whole thing together, and you still see his sons competing every now and again. Linda was a female Race Director in a sport that's dominated by men in that position. She ran a no nonsense program, and the racers liked her. Both Ed and Linda are in the NCMA Hall of Fame.

What they are trying to do is create a race that has more meaning than your average NCMA event. I don't disagree with that, but right now they don't get a very good car count. You want to honor people like this with a bigger show than average, and I think they will be scraping just to get the numbers up to eight cars, if that's even possible. However, I think Ed and Linda would both approve. They'd see this as a way for the group to continue on and possibly grow in the future. I'm hoping for the best as pavement tracks don't get that many races that feature open wheel racing in California these days.

Dan Myrick continues to promote the West Coast Sport Compacts. One of their best sponsors has been House of JuJu in Clovis and Morro Bay. On October 30th, the group will be at Kern County Raceway, and this has become a more special race. It will be $1,000 to win, making this the biggest race for the entry level Mini Stock class anywhere on the West Coast as far as I've heard. They've raised second place to $300, $50 guaranteed to start and even $100 to the B Main winner. Dan is working to make this race bigger and has a few weeks to work his magic.

When it comes to the class that I like to refer to as Hornets, it's hard to find anybody on the West Coast promoting it better than the WCSC. Dan had the right idea when he founded the group at Lemoore Raceway. Keep the rules basic and affordable so the drivers can easily get into this class. He and his crew has done more to get people onto the track than most people I've heard of. I know Chris Corder certainly had his moments. What Dan does is keeps the rules affordable, but he's also making sure these drivers get paid better than they will anywhere else. In fact, some places don't pay this division at all.

There's a couple ways of thinking about this. Some promoters bristle at the notion of paying this class, because it goes against the old formula. You have certain entry level divisions designed to make the promoter money at the back gate. It's hard to think of divisions at race tracks that don't get paid anything. Most tracks will throw a few bucks at every division, but there are still a few that don't. When Myrick was trying to branch out from Lemoore Raceway, he was trying to get dates at other tracks. I'll leave the promoter's name out of it, but Dan was told by a promoter at a certain track that what he was doing was hurting the class. 

Why would a promoter say that? It's simple. If they have a similar division and aren't paying them anything, drivers start looking around and wondering why they can't get the money. Believe it or not, even the entry level divisions have these issues. Therefore, even if a track only has one big paying night for the class, some would say that's one too many. 

Antioch Speedway started their own Hornet/Four Banger class in 2004 after a year of exhibition races. The division grew so rapidly that the promoter started hearing drivers speaking of how important they were to the roster and how they deserved money. The next thing you know, points were taken away from them, car count dwindled and the division went away for a few years.

While that move by Antioch management didn't impress me, I do like what I'm hearing out of Siskiyou Golden Speedway Promoter Kevin Barba. I've been speaking of the need that this track has to increase their car count. There are a few factors in that, and one is creating divisions that have growth potential. Yreka has flirted with Hornets, but they've never taken the plunge. I don't want to rehash history, but let me comment on the fact that Kevin was all too willing to welcome these drivers when a few Eureka racers wanted to come play in the dirt. I don't know if Kevin would have attempted to run this class had that not happened, but I do know he has seized the opportunity he has now.

The Hornets/Roadrunners class is part of the finale in Yreka this week. They are keeping points, although I don't know if this will translate to trophies at the banquet or not. I would hope they'll do something, even if just acknowledging a champion. During the week leading up to this race, Kevin made some interesting posts about looking to get more cars in Yreka. I think that's a good idea. There are cars sitting parked in the Medford area right now, and the smart move might be to see if any of them can be bought at a reasonable price so that Yreka gets even more cars in 2022. At least they are starting to do something.

The Mini Stock topic is an interesting one, because Hornets and traditional Mini Stocks are two different divisions. Petaluma Speedway started out with the Modified Mini Stock and regular Mini Stock divisions when Baylands closed at the end of 1988. The Mini Stock division was thriving, but the Modified Mini Stock class didn't last but a couple of years. At the time, these cars were probably a little bit higher on the scale than the Hornet class, but at some point management put them in line. Petaluma cars can go to other places now and be illegal.

I had a conversation with a Mini Stock racer at Medford as car count dropped a little bit. What he said was the Hornet division was impeding the Mini Stock division's ability to get a number in the 20s. Truthfully, they hadn't been there in a few years prior to me arriving in 2016, so there were other factors. Even now, there's enough Mini Stocks in the area to have car counts in the 20s, but I've heard some disturbing things attributed to Medford management. You don't say things like that if you want the drivers to show up, and that's all I will say about that.

Could the Hornet division have impacted the Mini Stock count we were seeing there in 2017 and beyond? Maybe. The Hornet division did grow as high as 17 cars before self-destructing two years later, but the Mini Stocks struggled just to get to double digits. The Mini Stocks allow a little bit more to be done with their cars, though not ridiculously so. They are clearly faster cars. The Mini Stocks are four cylinder race cars, while the Hornet cars are four cylinder cars that you can race. There's a subtle difference there, but both are entry-level divisions when you think about it. 

In any case, one of the Mini Stock pages I follow on Facebook spoke of the concern that a certain type of Mini Stock car is being phased out of existence. That type of Mini Stock doesn't really exist in Northern California on the dirt, unless we're talking about cars that are parked. I guess you could say Orland has a few cars left and whatever is up in Susanville, but other tracks let it go too far. Those tracks would include Marysville and Chico. It's interesting that at the time Antioch Speedway management dropped the Hornets/Four Bangers division for the second time prior to 2015, those two tracks also got out of the Mini Stock game.

People are getting the front wheel drive Mini Stocks that make up the Hornet class. They are easier to acquire. There's been some discussion about IMCA and their version of the class, Sport Compacts. There a notion that this division is going to become a $6,000 car, which isn't a ridiculous idea. It's ridiculous to call something like that an entry-level class, but it's not ridiculous to think that IMCA will take it down that path. They aren't the low dollar organization they once billed themselves as. That's not a shot at them, simply an observation. What the poster was lamenting was the idea that it's going to take over the movement, and the junk yard Mini Stock class will disappear.

That was one of the cool things about the Mini Stock division back in the day. You might see a VW Beetle, a VW Rabbit, a Ford Pinto, a Nissan and so on. It was another division that might not have been fast, but the cars looked unique. In this era of body wraps and what have you, I can see the Sport Compact division starting to produce cars that all look the same. I don't know that we can fight this trend. How many VW Beetles are out there that somebody would want to turn into a race car? We have car clubs where people show off their old Bugs on the street. In Northern California, there aren't that many Mini Stock divisions as we once knew them anymore.

Bringing it full circle, this is why I like what Dan Myrick is doing. He's promoting this division as an entry-level class. He wants it to be affordable so that people can get involved. However, he also wants the drivers to feel appreciated and receive something at the pay window for the show they put on. His guys race hard and are entertaining. There's a hierarchy in divisions, so the Hornet division isn't going to make out that well on your average night. Is it too much to ask for $200 or so at the pay window to win and maybe $30 or $40 to start? That I don't know, but it does seem reasonable.

 

I could easily go into my observations on what happened last weekend, but I want to be brief. As expected, the races fell one by one in Oregon as the rain came. Cottage Grove went ahead with the Friday portion of the weekend, which became Championship Night with no Saturday to follow. They booked a practice day to end September and a Trash Car race on the first weekend of October. St Helens had a huge Dwarf Car race, maybe the best paying of any Dwarf Car race on the West Coast. Rain took care of that, although they have rescheduled. Roseburg has postponed the championship night they had for the weekend. Willamette Speedway canceled on Saturday morning, but Southern Oregon Speedway was rolling the dice.

News wasn't good in Medford when a pipe burst underneath the Outlaw Kart track and forced the cancellation of another race. Track preparation was being made on the big track to compensate for the rains that were expected to occur from very early Saturday morning into the early afternoon. They believed they could weather the storm if they made the right preparations. Everything is so dry out there as it is that they figured it could be absorbed. One bonus is the rain would get rid of all of the smoke in the air. The downside is gloomy skies and colder weather, which might not mean great fan attendance.

We had three competing pavement Late Model shows on Saturday. Madera was running a MavTV Series event, Stockton had their regular Late Models and Roseville was offering up the three SRL classes. It looked like there were enough cars to go around that people saw a good show at all three venues. You don't like to see tracks booking on top of each other when they are featuring the same class, but it can't be helped sometimes. I don't think any of these tracks are actually hurting each other with the shows they have, so that's a positive.

Antioch Speedway followed up the successful Monster Truck event from the previous week with a nice show featuring Wingless Spec Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Delta Dwarf Cars and Mini Stocks. The lowest turnout in any class was 10 Mini Stocks, which is one of the best efforts for that class since it was brought back. The Sprints delivered 25 cars, while the Hobby Stocks had 24. The fans got to see a lot of race cars and a show that ran past 10:00 pm. I know the fairgrounds wants them to be done by then, but this one couldn't be helped. As it is, the track wasn't running any 25 lap Main Events. They were all 20, and no laps were cut.

I'm still of the opinion that Antioch Speedway has way too many races on their schedule, but it's expected and they have to do it. I will be curious to see what this open wheel show coming up has to offer. The Saturday race will feature BCRA Midgets, BCRA Lightning Sprints, WMR Midgets, Wingless Spec Sprints and 600cc Micro Sprints. There's a reasonable possibility that most of the divisions can get to double digits, and I'd call that a success if it happens. The bigger question is how many fans will come out, or will they save their money for the Bill Bowers Memorial IMCA event a week later?

Merced Speedway put a book end on their point season, but Promoter Doug Lockwood has some special shows he's finalizing. You can expect some purse announcements to come soon as the track has big races set in October and November. As it was, the Hobby Stocks had 18 cars, while the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds each produced a double-digit field. The Mini Stocks and California Sharp Mini Late Models put on a good show as well. 

Domossie Scoggins is the Hobby Stock champion, because he had a really good season and drove his ass off. That should be the statement, but a bit of history was made. To my knowledge, he's the first black champion the track has ever had. As I said, he's proven himself to be a good racer, regardless of skin killer.  

I don't think Jim Naylor was delighted by the turnout he had at Ventura Raceway, but the show still went on. I think there were two classes that reached 10 cars. You know you're going to get weeks like this, so you make the best of it and go ahead to the next week. It did help that he had 20 riders across three Motorcycle classes.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars got to headline Bakersfield Speedway and Kern County Raceway. There's been some concern about the future of that class as it has been taken over by another promoter. I don't think you can factor in their promotional skills to the car count just yet. They're just trying to get things to the finish line and will go about working their magic next year and beyond.

Sadly, there aren't enough drivers committing weekly to win the 360 Sprint Car title, and even the point leader only ran one race. The runner up in points wasn't at either track. They still had 14 cars at Bakersfield and nine at Kern Raceway. Overall, the car counts were good enough at both venues, so people saw some good racing. The Lightning Sprints had 23 cars at Bakersfield and 12 at Kern. There were a couple of really entertaining races at Kern County Raceway. I'd like to see that track develop more open wheel stuff as it helps set them apart on the dirt from Bakersfield Speedway and it's not seen as stepping on anybody's toes.

That's the thing about scheduling races. You're guaranteed to step on somebody's toes somewhere. Most of the time, the attempt is being made to not step on the big shows. If you step on somebody's weekly show, you're just trying to make sure your track has what it needs. You've got to do what you've got to do to put on a show that fans want to come out and watch. That's really what it's all about. It's been a challenging year for these tracks, so I think they've all made the best of it and have kept the business going for another year. There's good things to look back on and better things to look forward to.

In any case, being as this was my birthday weekend, I lagged a little bit. I actually shut my brain down on Monday. I just didn't want to do any of this stuff. This has me scrambling on Tuesday to get up to a reasonable schedule. If it happens it happens. There aren't too many of these weeks left, and I'm looking forward to taking things to the next phase. As always, thank you for reading.

That's all for now, until next time...