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Parker Era Begins With A Bang At Merced Speedway
People were asking for change at Merced Speedway, and what they got was
far beyond what they expected. A new promoter stepped in to bring
change to the speedway, and that man is Ed Parker. While engaged in
lengthy negotiations with Oval Motorsports, Parker was already putting
together his crew. From the moment he thought about becoming the
promoter, Parker had a definite game plan in mind.
Three of the first people that he recruited were General Manager Doug
Williams and Announcer Dale Falkenburg, who has helped put some
promotional things together for the speedway. Parker also enlisted good
friend Tim Ragsdale to handle the track preparation. All three of these
moves have paid off pretty well for the speedway so far.
In Ragsdale, the racers have been given a smooth racing surface. In
Falkenburg the speedway has an enthusiastic promotional guy. This has
led to candy giveaways for the kids, concerts underneath the grandstands
and other fun stuff. In Williams, the racers have a General Manager
that they respect.
There were no big changes when it came to the divisions at the
speedway. When Williams was the General Manager a couple years ago, the
speedway had solid car counts in the IMCA Sport Modifieds and the IMCA
Modified divisions. The expectations were that the car count would come
back in both classes, and the Sport Modifieds have delivered big time.
Indications were that car count was improving in both the Hobby Stock
and Mini Stock divisions last year under Oval Motorsports. Those trends
continued under Parker and Williams. In fact, like the Sport Modified
division, the Hobby Stock division has needed B Mains on several
occasions this year.
Parker attempted to secure dates from one of the two traveling Dwarf
Car associations, but the schedules were already booked. Rather than try
to keep the track's Dwarf Car division that Oval Motorsports had
instituted last year, Parker decided to wait until next year. While the
track continues to try to work to revive the Valley Sportsman effort,
The Limited Late Model division has been shelved. Focus has been put on
the core four divisions.
The IMCA Modified division has been very competitive this year, and
feature wins have been shared among five different drivers. It was 2014
Champion Paul Stone kicking off the season with a win, and 2012
champion and current point leader Bill Egleston has a win as well. Jeff
Streeter and Bakersfield visitor Ethan Dotson are both winners this
year, and it was Ramie Stone finally getting his car sorted out in the
biggest race of the year, the All Star Modified Tour race.
Though there are a few name drivers missing from last year's roster,
that has been more than made up for with new additions to the roster
this year. Rookie Bruce "Bubba" Nelson has done quite well this year
with multiple top 5 finishes. Late Model veterans Chris Shannon and
Derek Nance have been competing this year, and Chris's son D.J. Shannon
has also debuted his own ride. Past Antioch Speedway Sport Mod champion
Jeremy Hoff recently made his Modified debut as well.
While the Modified division has been very competitive this year and
will probably see a few more winners before the season is up, the Sport
Modified division has been off the chain. After John Fore Jr. passed
away prior to the season, 2014 champion Rick Diaz took John's car number
as a tribute to him and is making an effort to win the championship. He
is already a two time feature winner this year, but he's found some
competition in one time winner Steve Stone and the very consistent Mike
Drake. Though Drake is without a win yet, he has two top three finishes
driving for George Medeiros and seems poised to get a win soon.
Past IMCA State and Bakersfield champion Nick Spainhoward was a recent
Main Event winner on Ted Stoffle Classic night. The competition in this
division is intense just to make the Main Event, and there are some
drivers without a win who you should be seeing get a win at some point
this year. On the list of likely feature winners are Chris Falkenburg,
Gary Tucker and defending champion Josh Hensley.
It is rare in this day and age to have divisions that needs B Mains,
and Merced Speedway has two of them. There are some pretty darn good
racers on the roster of Sport Modifieds, including 2015 point runner up
Mark Odgers, Dwayne Short, Alex Odissio, Nick Tucker, Danny Roe and Tim
Prothro. Several drivers are just getting into the Sport Modified
division, including young guns Gavin Espino, Tanner Thomas and his
brother Chase Thomas. The Thomas boys have a good teacher as their
father is three time Street Stock champion Darren Thomas.
Speaking of Street Stocks, the Hobby Stock division is the heir
apparent to the Street Stocks. Just as the Hobby Stock division was last
year, it has been a wide open race this year with multiple feature
winners. Raul "Showtime" Rodriguez Sr., a multi time Hobby Stock
champion, picked up his second feature win of the season last time out.
Rodriguez is joined on the feature winner's list this year by recent Ted
Stofle Classic winner Phil Vaughn, point leader Michael Shearer, two
time Watsonville champion Terry Campion and Bubba Nelson.
Still looking for wins and likely to get them are current second ranked
driver Kristie Shearer, the wife of Michael, and 2015 champion Kevin
Joaquin. Joaquin finally grabbed his first top three finish of the year
last time out. 2015 third ranked driver Austin Van Hoff should be a
winner at some point this year, but as a recent high school graduate, he
already is a winner. Other drivers looking good so far this year are
the surprising Dexter Long, Robby Loquaci, Kodie Dean, Garrett Corn and
George Silva.
Many times, the Hobby Stock division steals the show. The racing is
close and sometimes a little bit too close, but the Hobby Stock division
always seems to entertain the fans. It will not be a surprise to see
another half a dozen or more new feature winners before the season is
done. And, you never know when somebody unexpected will get a win. Keep
an eye on Chris Williams, Adam Reed, Cody Parker, Gary Hildebrand,
Darren Miguel and John Hensley as drivers who could win at some point
this season.
Chris Corder will probably win the Mini Stock division championship.
It's not necessarily a knock on his competition, it's just a tribute to
the skill level of Corder, who is the 2015 point runner up and 2014
champion. Corder knocked out three Main Event wins in a row before
finally being beaten last time out by Jason Lewis. Corder actually
didn't finish that Main Event.
The Corder team brings out three cars and sometimes four to the race
track. Chris's second team car has been driven very well by Joy Alger,
who has two third place finishes. It was Robert Alger who drove the
second Corder car to a feature win last year, and it won't be a surprise
to see Joy get one this year. After selling her Hobby Stock, the car
she finished second in points with last year, Jennifer Corder has
returned to the Mini Stocks. Jennifer chased her brother in the points
in 2014 to finish second in the standings. Not to be forgotten in the
mix is top five ranked "Rookie Of The Year" hopeful Destiny Carter, who
continues to improve with each race in another Corder car.
Mike Germait and James Stockton are two drivers who seem to be in the
hunt for a feature win. Others, such as Brian Widdowson, Paul Lauretti,
Curtis Thornhill, Steven Johnson and Tony Peffer, are drivers who could
pick up a win at any time. They might need a little help from mechanical
failure on the number #68 car of Corder.
The renaissance of the Mini Stock division is a good thing for Merced
Speedway. You need a division that brings new drivers into the fold, and
this division fits the bill. It was another four cylinder division, the
Mini Trucks of the 1990's, that brought Merced Speedway some of the
best drivers that it's ever had. Two of those drivers, Paul Stone and
Ramie Stone, continue to run strong in IMCA Modifieds to this day. One
of those drivers, Ed Parker, is the track's promoter.
Despite its difficult time, Ed Parker and Doug Williams continue to
hang in there with the Valley Sportsman division. Right now, there seems
to be at least ten cars available, but the highest the division has
gotten so far this season is five. The man who has been really boosting
the division and trying to get support for it, Kenny Birdsong, finally
got his first two feature wins in the last two races. Kenny wheels the
#25m car, reminiscent of the car driven by Rod Poor in the 1970's. When
he finally won his first race, he dedicated it to Poor.
Two time champion Mike Friesen made his return to the division in a
newly painted race car. Mike hasn't been racing so much at Merced
Speedway in recent years, and he is a definite welcome addition to the
class. Mike loves the nostalgia thing and has competed in Hardtops and
Super Modifieds as well. Eric Sealy, Jeff Bristow, Mike Palmberg and Tim
Prothro are other drivers who have competed this year.
The Valley Sportsman cars are some of the neatest race cars that you're
going to find, and hopefully more cars will be returning to the
speedway in the weeks ahead. If they do, they're going to find a
promotional team that cares about them. Back in the 1970's, General
Manager Doug Williams even drove one of these cars.
The track continues to try different promotional ideas all the time. Ed
Parker treats the community at the speedway like they are family, and
he is constantly looking for new ways to honor the past. One of the big
ways is Legends Night on August 13th, which was reestablished a couple
years ago by Williams. Parker has confirmed that there will be a Hall Of
Fame in Merced Speedway's future, though he's still figuring all of
that out at the moment. First to appear will likely be a collage beneath
the grandstands of pictures and past champions through the years.
Still to come on an action packed schedule will be the Timmy Post
Memorial Race, complete with Fireworks Show, and the Matt Van Hoecke Fight Against Cancer. On any given Saturday night, as Johnny Sass would say,
action is the attraction at Merced Speedway. The season is off to a
really good start right now with no signs of letting up. Next up will
be this Wednesday's fair race, featuring IMCA Modifieds and Hobby
Stocks. For further information on Merced Speedway and its happenings,
check out the official website at www.racemerced.com.
Note: Not long after the Timmy Post Race was announced, things really started to come together. The July 2nd event will now have a Fireworks Display and that's not all. An anonymous sponsor has come forward to offer free admission to the fans. This was something that past Promoter Chuck Griffin would do for 4th Of July races in the past, even though this is typically one of the biggest attended races of the year. Timmy's Race has always been very special to the competitors, and this is a race that you won't want to miss.
Another of the big races happens tomorrow (June 8th). The Annual Merced County Fair Race is one the racers like to attend because of the increased fan attendance. The Hobby Stocks are already a packed show that could need a B Main this week, but word on the Modifieds is that several drivers are making returns. This includes the return of Troy Stone, a past top 5 driver and multi time feature winner in IMCA Modifieds, three time 2015 feature winner and past Hobby Stock champion Ryan Porter, past Sport Mod champion Ryan Larimer and Karl Rose, who also had a win last season.
Merced Speedway Points
IMCA Modified
Bill Egleston 151
Randy Brown 139
Bruce Nelson 138
Ramie Stone 135
Ricky Thatcher 132
Jarod Fast 126
Paul Stone 116
Jeff Streeter 111
T.J. Etchinson III 103
Jerry Corn 88
IMCA Sport Modified
Rick Diaz 185
Steve Stone 184
Mike Drake 178
Josh Hensley 168
Tim Elias 166
Gary Tucker 149
Alex Odishoo 139
Chris Falkenberg 133
Dwayne Short 129
Andy Welch 117
Hobby Stock
Michael Shearer 113
Kristie Shearer 101
Dexter Long 98
Phillip Vaughn 88
Garrett Corn 86
Kodie Dean 82
Robbie Loquaci 80
Austin Van Hoff 79
Kevin Joaquin 73
Andrew Krumm 70
Mini Stock
Chris Corder 69
Joy Alger 66
James Stockton 59
Mike Germait 57
Destiny Carter 56
Paul Lauretti 46
Dennis Copus 44
Curtis Thornhill 39
Jason Lewis 39
Lucy Falkenberg 32
Note: Not long after the Timmy Post Race was announced, things really started to come together. The July 2nd event will now have a Fireworks Display and that's not all. An anonymous sponsor has come forward to offer free admission to the fans. This was something that past Promoter Chuck Griffin would do for 4th Of July races in the past, even though this is typically one of the biggest attended races of the year. Timmy's Race has always been very special to the competitors, and this is a race that you won't want to miss.
Another of the big races happens tomorrow (June 8th). The Annual Merced County Fair Race is one the racers like to attend because of the increased fan attendance. The Hobby Stocks are already a packed show that could need a B Main this week, but word on the Modifieds is that several drivers are making returns. This includes the return of Troy Stone, a past top 5 driver and multi time feature winner in IMCA Modifieds, three time 2015 feature winner and past Hobby Stock champion Ryan Porter, past Sport Mod champion Ryan Larimer and Karl Rose, who also had a win last season.
Merced Speedway Points
IMCA Modified
Bill Egleston 151
Randy Brown 139
Bruce Nelson 138
Ramie Stone 135
Ricky Thatcher 132
Jarod Fast 126
Paul Stone 116
Jeff Streeter 111
T.J. Etchinson III 103
Jerry Corn 88
IMCA Sport Modified
Rick Diaz 185
Steve Stone 184
Mike Drake 178
Josh Hensley 168
Tim Elias 166
Gary Tucker 149
Alex Odishoo 139
Chris Falkenberg 133
Dwayne Short 129
Andy Welch 117
Hobby Stock
Michael Shearer 113
Kristie Shearer 101
Dexter Long 98
Phillip Vaughn 88
Garrett Corn 86
Kodie Dean 82
Robbie Loquaci 80
Austin Van Hoff 79
Kevin Joaquin 73
Andrew Krumm 70
Mini Stock
Chris Corder 69
Joy Alger 66
James Stockton 59
Mike Germait 57
Destiny Carter 56
Paul Lauretti 46
Dennis Copus 44
Curtis Thornhill 39
Jason Lewis 39
Lucy Falkenberg 32
