Antioch Speedway, Merced Speedway, Petaluma Speedway, Dixon Speedway, Bakersfield Speedway, More

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Foulger Shows The Way At Antioch Speedway, 

Keller, Welborn, Freethy Other Winners 

Antioch, CA... April 2...Troy Foulger won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The five-time champion led most of the way aboard the Bowers Motorsports Modified to score the impressive win. He becomes the third different winner in as many races.

Trevor Clymens set the early pace ahead of Jason Robles. Troy Foulger moved into second on a Lap 2 restart with Bobby Motts Jr spinning in Turn 2 moments later for another yellow flag. The first restart attempt was botched when Jeff Browne spun in Turn 1. Clymens lead Foulger and Robles on the next restart, but Foulger made a low pass in Turn 2 a lap later to grab the lead. Kellen Chadwick went low in Turn 4 of the fifth lap to take second from Clymens as point leader and Nick DeCarlo settled into fourth. By the eighth lap, Foulger held a straightaway advantage over second place, which was regained by Clymens with a low pass in Turn 4. A lap later, Chadwick went to the inside of Clymens in Turn 2 to take second, only the surrender the spot to a low pass in Turn 4 by DeCarlo. Chadwick regained second with a Turn 2 pass on the 10th lap. While Foulger held command, Chadwick and DeCarlo battled fiercely for second. A high pass in Turn 2 pp on Lap 19 put DeCarlo into second, and Foulger cruised to victory ahead of DeCarlo, Chadwick, Buddy Kniss, Clymens, Motts, Aaron Crowell, Chris Lewis, Terry DeCarlo Jr and Kenneth Robles. Kniss and Chadwick picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

KC Keller scored a thrilling victory in the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. 2019 champion Tommy Fraser took the early lead ahead of Dylan Connelly and Keller. A low pass in Turn 2 of the fourth lap put Keller into second with Andrew Pearce settling into fourth. Pearce went inside Connelly in Turn 4 of the sixth lap to take third, and Keller went to the inside of Fraser in Turn 4 on Lap 7 for the lead. A low pass in Turn 4 of the ninth lap gained Pearce second. Jacob Mallet Jr followed closely into third, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 9 for a Connelly spin. Keller led Mallet and Pearce on the restart, but Mallet made a backstretch pass on Keller to claim the lead on Lap 11. Pearce also got by Keller for second, but it was a blanket race between the lead trio. Keller regained second on the 13th circuit, but the side by side battle saw Pearce make a high pass in Turn 4 on Lap 15 to reclaim second. Keller finally went low in Turn 4 on Lap 18 to gain second and made an inside pass in Turn 2 to take the lead from Mallet. The lead three drivers were glued to each other's bumpers as Keller led Pearce and Mallet across the finish line. Jeremy Hoff ended up fourth, followed by Fraser, point leader Fred Ryland, Kenny Shrader, Chester Kniss, Tyler Browne and Jason Ryan Jr. Fraser, Connelly, Pearce and Mark Garner won their respective eight lap heat races, but Garner's motor expired in the process.

Misty Welborn won the 20 lap Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock Main Event. This was her second win in three races as she is positioning herself as a championship contender. Looking for his second-straight win, Ken Johns took the early lead ahead of Jared Baugh. Point leader Larry McKinzie Jr settled into second on Lap 2. A close battle developed for the lead, and Baugh made an inside pass in Turn 4 on Lap 5 to briefly take over. An outside pass on the frontstretch a lap later put Johns back into the lead. McKinzie made a Turn 4 pass on Johns a lap later for second, and Michaela Taylor was running a close fourth. Contact exiting Turn 4 on Lap 9 as they were lapping a slower car left the Baugh car damaged as he stalled in Turn 2 for a yellow flag. Taylor had the lead on the restart ahead of Johns and Welborn. A low pass in Turn 4 on Lap 11 put Welborn into second, and Taylor spun from the lead in Turn 4 a lap later. Welborn led Johns and Jeff Bentancourt on the restart. McKinzie quickly charged his way back into fourth. He made an inside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 16 to gain third. A yellow flag waved on Lap 18 for Charlie Bryant. Welborn led McKinzie and Johns on the restart. Welborn went on to victory with McKinzie beating Johns back to the line in a drag race for second. Bentancourt ended up fourth, followed by Taylor DeCarlo, Jewel Crandall, Taylor, Jess Paladino, Gene Haney and Mitchell Dana. The eight lap heat race wins went to Bryant, Bentancourt and Welborn

Reigning champions Jim Freethy won the 15 lap Super Stock Main Event. Heat race winner Mike Walko led the opening lap before Freethy made an inside pass in Turn 4 to take the lead. Joey Ridgeway was running in third, but he spun for the only yellow flag on Lap 8. Freethy led Walko and Chad Hammer on the restart. As Freethy sped to the checkered flag, Walko brushed the wall exiting Turn 4, but he still got it to the line in second ahead of Hammer and Ridgeway.

Racing resumes next Saturday night with the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stocks and Super Stocks. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Gasper Wins Wayne Albright Memorial, 

Corn, Scoggins, Tucker, Hannagan Other Merced Winners

Merced, CA...April 2...David Gasper won the 25 lap BCRA Lightning Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Merced Speedway. This was the Eighth Annual Wayne Albright Memorial race, and several drivers from the California Lightning Sprints came to compete against the BCRA stars. 

Dakota Albright jumped into the early lead ahead of Eric Greco Jr and Gasper. Gasper slipped past Greco on the fifth lap and set his sights on Albright. On the ninth circuit, Gasper found his opening and raced by Albright to grab the lead. Gasper set a rapid pace and beat Albright by about half a straightaway for the big win. Greco settled for third, followed by Will Browne, Harlee Aguilera, Cody Nigh, Greg Dennett, Hunter Kinney, Tim Kinser and Pat Kelly. 

The 18 competitors qualified on the clock around the quarter-mile clay oval, and Gasper set the fast time of 13.135, narrowly beating the 13.199 of Matt Land. The eight lap heat race wins went to Gasper and Albright.

Reigning champion Domossie Scoggins won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Scoggins took the lead at the start. Ryan Hart was an early second before being passed by Clarence Holbrook on Lap 4. Les Friend moved into third on Lap 8 and put the moves on Holbrook for second on the 14th lap. DJ Keldsen followed closely into the third position. Scoggins had about a half a straightaway advantage over Friend when the checkered flag flew. Keldsen settled for third, followed by Darren Thomas, Donnie Shearer, Hart, Lance Hurst, Derek Ogden, Chad Ragsdale and Lonnie Tekaat. Scoggins, Hart and Keldsen picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Garrett Corn won the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event. He started on the pole and bolted into the lead at the green flag ahead of Austin Van Hoff. The battle was for third early on with Scott Foster running in that position until Jarrod Mounce got by on the sixth lap. Corn was unstoppable as he scored the win ahead of Van Hoff, Mounce, Mike Shepherd, Paul Stone, Steven Johnson, Mark Morton, Jason Jennings, Jesse Burks and Foster. There were 15 IMCA Stock Cars with Johnson and Stone winning the eight lap heat races.

Joel Hannagan won the 15 lap Valley Sportsman Main Event. Hannagan was competing in the Doug Braudrick owned Junkyard Dog Hardtop.  Hannagan and Mike Cecil each won six lap heat races to share the front row. Hannagan would charge into lead, while Marcus Lung battled Cecil and Dwayne Short for second. Lung would win that battle with Short settling for third ahead of Cecil, Brad Coelho, Mike Friesen, Rick Elliott, Willie Cooper and Jeff West.

Fourth-generation racer Tyler Tucker won the 15 lap California Sharp Mini Late Model Main Event. Tucker started on the pole and jumped in the lead from the outset. DJ Saenz ran second for a lap before Ryder Jeppesen got by. Jeppesen held second until being shuffled back to fourth by Saenz and Connor Crews on the 12th lap. Tyler Tucker brought it home to victory ahead of Saenz, Crews, Jeppesen, Michael Green, Liam Richardson and Gary Tucker. Saenz picked up the six lap heat race win.

Racing resumes this Saturday night with the Eighth Annual Al Miller Memorial $5,000 to win IMCA Sport Modifieds race. The Hobby Stocks will also be competing for $2,000 to win. Filling out the program will be the Mini Stocks and California Sharp Mini Late Models  For further information, go to www.mercedspeedway.net. 

Torgerson Tops Field At Dixon Speedway 

Dixon, CA...April 2...Ashton Torgerson scored the victory in the 25 lap Wingless 600 Micro Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Dixon Speedway. Earlier in the evening, Torgerson also won the 25 lap Super 600 feature race.

In the Wingless portion of the program, Ashton Torgerson started on the pole and proceeded to lead every lap in victory. Jeffrey Pahule was chasing Ashton's brother Austin Torgerson for second for most of the distance before maneuvering his way past him with two laps to go. Ashton Torgerson just managed to beat Pahule to the line for the win. Austin Torgerson was a strong third, followed by Carson Perkins, Jett Barnes, Cody Gray, Lucas Johnson, past champion Kelvin Lewis, Drew Laeber and Tucker LaCaze.

Pahule was the quickest of 28 qualifiers on the 1/5 mile dirt oval with a lap of 10.947, being the 10.993 of Ashton Torgerson and the 11.006 of Gray. 10 lap heat race wins went to Pahule, Ashton Torgerson and Michael Laughton. Ashton Torgerson outran Austin Torgerson to win the eight lap Trophy Dash Danny Rozendahl won the 12 lap B Main. Rozendahl took the lead from the start and was chased the entire distance by Brent Hoffman and Savannah Brown in the place and show positions.  

In much the same way he accomplished the task in the Wingless race, Ashton Torgerson led from start to finish in scoring the 25 lap Super 600 feature win. Jeffrey Pahule took second early on ahead of Austin Torgerson. Jett Barnes slipped past Austin Torgerson for third on the fifth lap and took second from Pahule on Lap 8. Pahule briefly regained second on the 11th circuit before surrendering the position back to Barnes a lap later. As Ashton Torgerson went on to win ahead of Barnes, Austin Torgerson took third from Pahule on the last lap. Isabel Barnes ended up fifth, followed by Austin Taborski, Anthony Lewis, Tony Alosi, Brandon Alvarado and Cierra Wullenwaber. 

Austin Torgerson was the quickest of 11 qualifiers at 10.348, beating the 10.362 of Ashton Torgerson. The 10 lap heat race wins were recorded by Austin Torgerson and Isabel Barnes. Ashton Torgerson outran Austin Torgerson to claim six lap Trophy Dash honors.

Josiah Vega won the 20 lap Restricted 600 Micro Sprint Main Event. Vega jumped into the lead from the start ahead of Lucas Mauldin and Adriana DeMartini. It remained close from the start as Vega went on to win ahead of Mauldin, DeMartini, Hayden Stepps, Nicholas Leonard Jr, Cam Caraway, Brody Rubio, AJ Nielsen, Levi Osborne and Dean Skrifvas. 

Vega set the fast time of the 17 competitors with a 10.983, beating the 11.006 of Mauldin. Kaiden Gowen and DeMartini won the 10 lap heat races with Mauldin claiming the six lap Trophy Dash win.

Briggs Davis scored the victory in the 20 lap Junior Sprint Main Event. He started on the pole and took the lead immediately in a race that was destined to go without a yellow flag. Davis proceeded to lead all the way in victory and beat Maya Mauldin by about half a straightaway in victory. Jackson Tardiff ended up third, followed by Isaiah Salameh, Colin Reynolds, David Anderson, Samantha Dozier, Jayden Carey, James Grandrath and Edward Olivera. Davis set the fast time of 13.173 with Mauldin second quick at 13.198. The 12 competitors ran two 10 lap heat races going to Davis and Mauldin. Davis completed the clean sweep with a win in the six lap Trophy Dash ahead of Mauldin.

The Micro Sprint classes return on April 16th. For further information, go to www.dixonspeedway.net.

Butler, Ballantine, Ford, Prickett Get The Glory 

At Marysville Raceway 

Marysville, CA...April 2...Bobby Butler won the 25 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event Saturday night at Marysville Raceway. 

Butler shared the front row with Drake Standley, who bolted into the lead at the start. Steel Powell was an early third. A yellow flag waved on Lap 1 for Casey Schmitz, and Standley continued to lead Butler and Powell on the restart. On the ninth lap, Standley had problems as Butler moved into the lead ahead of Powell and Carson Hall. Hall slipped past Powell for second on the 12th lap, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 13 for Korey Lovell. Butler continued to lead Hall and Powell on the restart, and a red flag waved on Lap 18 as William Fielding flipped in Turn 3. Butler continued to set the pace over Hall and Powell when the race resumed, but a red flag waved on Lap 20 as Powell saw his race come to an end when he flipped in Turn 4. Butler led Hall and Michael Wasina on the restart. Even a final yellow flag on Lap 23 for Wyatt Brown didn't stop Butler. He continued to lead the restart and went on to victory ahead of Hall, Wasina, Brad Bumgarner, reigning champion Billy Wallace, Heath Hall, Schmitz, Standley, Korey Lovell and Chance Grasty.

Schmitz was the quickest of 20 drivers in qualifying with a time of 12.785 on the quarter-mile clay oval, beating the 12.869 of Hall and the 12.908 of Wallace. The eight lap heat race wins went to Wasina, Standley and Powell.

Jason Ballantine won the 20 lap Winged Crate Sprint Main Event. He started on the pole and bolted into the lead when the green flag waved, followed by previous winner Cameron Haney Jr and Chase Madden. Haney saw his race end in Turn 4 for a Lap 5 yellow flag. On the restart, Derek Droivold tangled with Kirk Miner on the backstretch to end both of their races. Ballantine continued to lead Madden and Britton Bock on the restart. They ran that way until Madden and Bock tangled in Turn 4 for the final yellow flag on Lap 13. Ballantine continued to lead the restart ahead of Mike Hall and Jacob Johnson. Reigning champion Brett Youngman and the Jeff Macedo got by Johnson on Lap 15, and Jason Ballantine won ahead of Hall, Youngman, Macedo, Johnson, Kelly Hicks, Misty Castleberry, Madden, David Sims and Mike Ballantine. There were 17 drivers, and Madden and Johnson won the eight lap heat races.

Jimmy Ford won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. The 2021 championship runnerup started back in the fourth row, and a yellow flag waved after one lap for Lisa Shelby in Turn 1. A lap later, the yellow flag waved for a Turn 2 tangle involving Todd Cooper and Phil Marino. Shelby brought out another yellow flag a lap later to end her race. Shaun Merritt took the early lead ahead of Scott Savell and Hunter Merritt, but Ford moved into third on a Lap 3 restart. A yellow flag on Lap 5 saw the race end for Shannon Barton. The restart saw a yellow flag wave for Shaun Merritt in Turn 2. Savell jumped into the lead on the next restart, followed by Ford and Hunter Merritt. Hunter Merritt surrendered third to Todd Cooper, but Cooper's race ended on Lap 11 as Damian Merritt gained the position. Ford put the moves on Savell to take the lead on lap 13 with Damian Merritt following into second, and Shaun Merritt moved up to battle Hunter Merritt for third. Shaun Merritt gained that position on Lap 19, and Ford held off the determined Damian Merritt for the victory. Shaun Merritt settled for third, followed by Hunter Merritt, Savell, Thomas Reynolds, Cooper, Marino, Barton and Shelby. There were 10 competitors with Shaun Merritt and Savell winning the eight lap heat races.

David Prickett won the 20 lap WMR Midgets Main Event. Prickett is the 2020 series champion. Bryant Bell raced into the lead at the start, followed by Prickett and Nate Wait. A yellow flag waved on the 13th lap as Bell saw his race come to an end in Turn 2. Prickett led Wait and Sage Boardenave on the restart, but Wait saw his race come to an end for the final yellow flag on Lap 15. Prickett resumed command on the restart ahead of Boardenave and Todd Hawse. They finished in that order with Kyle Hawse fourth, followed by Robert Shelton, Wait, Bell, Brody Petrie and Jason Sneep. Prickett also won the eight lap heat race.

The Winged 360 Sprint Cars return next Saturday night along with the Pepsi IMCA Sport Modifieds and the Hobby Stocks. For further information, go to www.marysvilleraceway.com.

Pettit, Mendenhall, Debem, Brown 

Score Petaluma Speedway Wins 

Petaluma, CA...April 2...Jim Pettit II won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Petaluma Speedway. Pettit is the reigning State champion, and this was a rare appearance in Petaluma for him. 

Jeffrey Faulkner had the pole and bolted into the lead at the start, followed by Pettit and Garrett Brady. Tim Yeager briefly gained third on Lap 4, but Brady regained that position a lap later. In the later stages, Pettit began pressuring Faulkner for the lead and made what proved to be his winning pass on Lap 20. Pettit went on to victory with Faulkner a solid second, followed by Garrett Brady, reigning champion Michelle Paul, multi-time champion Oreste Gonella, Tim Yeager, multi time champion Michael Paul Jr, Mitch Machado, Trevor Brady and Gary Zwicker. Pettit set the fast time on the 3/8 mile adobe oval with a lap of 17.212, beating the 17.573 of Gonella. The eight lap heat race wins went to Pettit and Gonella.

Carroll Mendenhall won the 20 lap Redwood Dwarf Car Main Event. After a rough start to the race, past champion John "Scooter" Gomes bolted into the lead ahead of Mendenhall. Zack Albers gained third on Lap 3. Mendenhall started pressuring Gomes and took the lead on Lap 6. Albers followed into second, but his race came to an end on Lap 11. Mendenhall led Gomes and Allen Heeney on the restart, but Heeney saw his race end a lap later. Mendenhall continued to lead reigning champion Chad Mathias and Gomes on the next restart. They ran that way until Gomes got past Matthias for second on the final lap. Mendenhall won ahead of Gomes, Matthias, Darren Fridolfs, Shiloh Borland, Michael Williams, Danny Marsh, Tom Van Tuyl, Sam Borland and JT Russell.

The 26 Dwarf Car competitors ran four eight lap heat races with the wins going to Heeney, Albers, Jimmy Damron and past champion John Peters. Sam Borland won the 12 lap B Main with a flag to flag run ahead of race long second Kylee Johnson. Adam Freitas held third for the first half of the race before he retired, giving the position to Kasey Horat at that point. Russell and Antonio Miramontez completed the Top 5.

Reigning champion Caleb Debem won the 20 lap 600 Micro Sprint Main Event. Don McLeister led three laps before Debem went racing by. George Nielson was an early third, and he stalked McLeister until making the pass for second on Lap 13. McLeister saw his race come an end on Lap 16 with past Stock Car racer Orval Burke settling into third. Debem went on to victory ahead of Nielson and Burke. Carroll Mendenhall ended up fourth, followed by Rick Alonzo, Anthony Soper, Sam Borland, Victor Guerra, McLeister and Jeromie Charon. Debem and Burke were the eight lap heat race winners.

Reigning champion Tom Brown won the 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event. Brown started on the pole and bolted into the lead when the green flag waved, followed by recent Antioch winner Randy Miramontez and Antioch regular Dana Gardner. Gardner briefly took second from Miramontez, but reigning Petaluma Super Stock champion Miramontez regained the position for good on the fifth circuit. Brown set a rapid pace and beat Miramontez by half a lap with Gardner a solid third, followed by Austin Lodin, Daisy Eszler, Roberta Broze, Haley Learn, Mike Lodin and JB Hagemann. The eight lap heat race wins went to Brown and Miramontez.

Racing resumes this Saturday night with the Wingless Spec Sprints back in action along with IMCA Modifieds, 600 Micro Sprints and Mini Stocks. For further information, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com.

Bernal Wins USAC/CRA Sprint Car Race 

At Tulare Thunderbowl

Tulare, CA...April 2...Ryan Bernal won the 30 lap AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Main Event Saturday night at Tulare Thunderbowl. Bernal was driving Keith Ford's Edgewater Construction/Sun Valley Ag Transport XXX Sprinter. This was the annual Chris and Brian Faria Memorial race.

Chase Johnson bolted into the lead from his outside front row starting position with Bernal in pursuit. Bernal slipped past Johnson for the lead on Lap 18, only to watch Johnson motor back around him on Lap 19. The tenacious Bernal came back strong to grab the lead on the 24th circuit, but Johnson again got by to lead one more lap. Bernal powered ahead for the final time on Lap 26 and brought it home to victory. Austin Williams made the charge to finish second as Johnson fell back several spots. Matt Mitchell ended up third, followed by AJ Bender, reigning series champion Damion Gardner, Austin Williams, Johnson, Tommy Malcolm, Trent Williams and Ricky Lewis.

Gardner was the quickest of 24 competitors with a lap of 15.457, beating the 15.709 of Logan Williams and Austin Williams, who tied for second quick. The Flow Dynamics Incorporated first 10 lap heat went to Gardner with the billsjerky.net second heat honors going to Nathan Schank. The In Memory of Jim and Chuck Gardner third heat win went to Austin Liggett. Next up for the group will be an event at Mohave Valley Raceway in Arizona on April 23rd. For further information, go to www.usacracing.com.

Chase Johnson won the 25 lap King of Thunder Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. Caeden Steele led the first four laps before Johnson got by. Craig Stidham ran third until getting around Steele for second on the 10th lap. Johnson picked up the win by about a straightaway ahead of Stidham with Steele settling for third, followed by Michael Pombo, Joey Ancona, Grant Duinkerken, Steven Kent, Zane Blanchard, Brendan Warmerdam and Ryan Rocha. 

Rocha was the quickest of 16 drivers in qualifying with a lap of 14.007, beating the 14.023 of Tucker Worth and the 14.037 of Duinkerken. The eight lap heat race wins went to Stidham and Pombo.

Brody Fuson earned the win in the 25 lap USAC Western States Midgets Main Event. Chase Johnson followed Dylan Ito for two laps before racing into the lead. Fuson settled into second on the fourth lap with Travis Buckley gaining third a lap later. Johnson saw his race come to an end on Lap 14. Fuson took over at that point ahead of Buckley. Reigning champion Blake Bower moved past Buckley for second on Lap 19 with Ben Worth following into third. Fuson held a straightaway advantage over Bower by the time the checkered flag waved. Worth was a close third, followed by AJ Bender, Buckley, Michael Snider, Anthony Esberg, Ito, CJ Sarna and Johnson.

Johnson was the quickest of 12 qualifiers with a 15.823, beating the 15.920 of Worth. The eight lap heat race wins went to Bender and Fuson.

Albert Pombo won the 20 lap IMCA RaceSaver 305 Sprint Car Main Event. Pombo launched into the lead at the start ahead of Connor Danell and reigning series champion Kyle Rasmussen. The lead trio remained unchanged from start to finish in the rapidly run race as George Tristao Jr ended up fourth, followed by Davy Pombo Jr, Brandon Emmett, Tyler Gray, Tyler Stidham and Richard Weddle. Danell was the quickest qualifier at 15.148, beating the 15.169 of Albert Pombo. The eight lap heat race win was earned by Rasmussen.

Racing resumes next Friday night with the Winged 360 Sprint Cars back in action along with the IMCA Western RaceSaver 305 Sprint Cars and the IMCA Stock Cars. For further information, go to www.thunderbowlraceway.com.

 

Shannon, Baker, Crockett Prevail At Bakersfield Speedway

Bakersfield, CA...April 2...DJ Shannon won the 30 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. Logan Drake charged into the early lead ahead of Shannon and Ethan Dotson. Cody Laney slipped past Dotson for third on Lap 3. On the 11th lap, Drake had problems for a yellow flag. Shannon took over at that point ahead of Laney and Kyle Heckman, but Laney had problems on Lap 12 as Heckman moved into second ahead of Robby Sawyer. Shannon went on to win ahead of Heckman and Sawyer as Drake settled for fourth, followed by Austin Kiefer, Rob Sanders, Danny Lauer, Laney, Michael Scruggs and Dotson. Laney and Kiefer won the eight lap heat races.

Brian Baker won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified feature race. Baker jumped into the lead from the outset ahead of Daniel West and Jared Schweitzer. Markus Frazier moved into third on Lap 3, but he had problems on Lap 6. Garrett Jernagan settled into third on Lap 10 and moved by West a lap later. West surrendered third to Levi Kiefer on the 13th circuit. It was a close race up front between the lead three competitors, but Brian Baker prevailed ahead of Jernagan, Kiefer, Nick Spainhoward, Jason Bannister, Tyler Bannister, West, Willy Oathout, Adam Baker and David Pearson. The four eight lap heat races were won by Brian Baker, Frazier, Kiefer and Dylan Potter.

Justin Crockett won the 20 lap Western Pro Stock Main Event. Late Model veteran Jerry Stewart led the first four laps before Crockett went motoring by. Frank Nyback was an early third before surrendering the position to Ryan Smith on Lap 4. Smith had problems on the seventh circuit with Paul Miller gaining third, only to surrender the position to Nyback for a lap. Miller regained the third on Lap 10. Meanwhile, Crockett set a blistering pace and beat Stewart by over a half a lap for the win. Miller settled for third, followed by Nyback, Dustin Harrington and Smith. Crockett won the eight lap heat race. 

Reigning champion Ricky Childress Jr won the 25 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Polesitter Marcus Wankum set the early pace ahead of Dakota Brown and Karl Noland. Noland got by Brown for second on Lap 5, but he lost the position to Childress on the 10th circuit. Wankum had problems a lap later as Childress gained the lead over Tate Loftis and Noland. Despite Loftis keeping it somewhat close, Childress prevailed at the checkered flag. Noland held off Dylan Wilson for third as Brown, Austin Manzella, Colby Quinton, Jonathan Flippin, Brooke Cimentel and Rick Henderson completed the Top 10. Flippen and Loftis picked up the eight lap heat race victories.

Steven Lawler won the 20 lap American Stock Main Event. Lawler took the early lead ahead of Kevin Johnston, but James Williams moved into second on Lap 2. Marc McCaslin was running third and took second from Johnston on the sixth lap. Kody Sly moved into third on Lap 9 and began a battle with Miranda Scott for the position. Scott briefly gained second on Lap 12, surrendered it a lap later and then moved back ahead of Sly on Lap 14. There was a close, three-car battle up front, and Sly got around Scott for second on Lap 19. However, Lawler prevailed ahead of Sly, Scott, Tyler Weeks, Sunnie Simkins, Kimberly Brown, Alexis Blankenship, Tori Sivisend, McCaslin and Danny Smith. The wins in the eight lap heat races went to Ryan Elcano, Simkins and James Williams.

Racing continues this Saturday night with the IMCA Modifieds back in action along with IMCA Stock Cars, NMRA TQ Midgets, Mini Stocks and Kern County Hardtops. For further information, go to www.bakersfieldspeedway.com.

Mayden, Cox, Peery, Ashley Win At Cottage Grove Speedway

Cottage Grove, Oregon...April 2...Past champion Jake Mayden won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Cottage Grove Speedway. Ricky Ashley led a lap before Mayden went motoring by. Willamette Speedway star Collen Winebarger took second from Ashley on the fourth lap, and past State champion Bricen James took third from John Campos on Lap 11. As Mayden led the way, James surprised Winebarger by taking second on Lap 16. Winebarger came back strong on the 18th circuit to regain second for good. Winebarger was nipping at Mayden's heels, but Mayden prevailed at the checkered flag. James settles the third, followed by Curtis Towns, Paul Culp, Steven Sturdevant, Campos, Paul Rea, Jeremiah Hester and John Player. James was the quickest of 13 qualifiers at 15.366, beating the 15.423 of Culp. Culp and Ashley won eight lap heat races with Sturdevant the four lap Trophy Dash winner.

Kinzer Cox won the 25 lap Todd's Auto Body Limited Sprint Main Event. Cox charged into the lead when the green flag waved, followed by David Marble. Jake Waddell settled into third, and Axel Oudman began pressuring Waddell for the position during the second half of the race. The duo swapped third multiple times from Lap 18 through Lap 21 with Oudman grabbing the spot for good at that point. Cox picked up the win ahead of Marble, Oudman, Waddell and Brandon Governer. Waddell had the fast lap of 12.396, beating the 12.589 of Marble. Oudman picked up the eight lap heat race win with the four lap Trophy Dash victory going to Waddell.

Ryan Perry won the 25 lap Royalty Core IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Peery recently picked up a win at Susanville and is the reigning Yreka champion. Ray Bloom took the early lead ahead of Jordan Henry. Peery gained third when Justin Ryker had problems on Lap 3 and passed Henry for second a lap later. On the seventh lap. Peery put the moves on Bloom to take the lead. Bloom surrendered second to previous winner of Matt Sanders on Lap 11. Isaac Sanders gained third two laps later. Peery set a good pace and went on to victory with Matt Sanders settling for second ahead of Isaac Sanders, Kevin Wilson, Ray Bloom, Daniel Ray, Jordan Henry, Trevor Points, Ryker and Garrett Craig. Ray Bloom set the fast time of 16.206, beating the 16.744 of Wilson. The eight lap heat race wins went to Henry and Ray Bloom, and it was Ray Bloom also picking up the win in the four lap Trophy Dash.

Marilyn Ashley won the 21 lap IMCA Sport Compact Main Event. The race had a bit of a wild finish. Ryan Dickinson took the early lead ahead of Tiffany Towns. Towns briefly surrendered third to Burnie Bryant on Lap 3, but he had issues a lap later with Towns back in the position. Jake Vicari settled into third on Lap 5. Towns and Vicari moved into first and second on Lap 9 as Dickinson fell back to third. Unfortunately, the lead duo tangled for a Lap 19 yellow flag. This moved Ashley into the lead, followed by Dickinson. As Ashley headed to the checkered flag, Dickinson surrendered second on the final lap to Chris Pierce. Ashley won ahead of Pierce, Dickinson, Bruce Miller, Towns, Stacey Bloomfield, Vicari, Cole Trissell, Kerry Cooper and Michael Hule. Bryant was the quickest of 20 drivers in qualifying at 17.968, beating the 18.462 of Vicari. Dickinson, Jim Simmons and Bryant picked up the eight lap heat race victories with Ashley claiming four lap Trophy Dash honors.

This Saturday night finds the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Street Stocks making their first appearance of the season along with the IMCA Modifieds and Late Models. For further information, go to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.

Outlaw Pro Stocks Prepare For 10th Anniversary Season

Kamath Falls, Oregon...There's excitement in the air in Klamath Falls as the bulk of the membership from the Outlaw Pro Stock Association gets set for their 10th Anniversary season, which kicks off on Friday night at Siskiyou Golden Speedway, along with the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. When the season gets started, drivers from the Klamath Falls, Medford and Yreka areas will contest for the 11th season championship.

Association President Scott Flowers will be gunning for his unprecedented fourth championship, but there is something to consider about this. Championships aren't the main goal of Flowers, who enjoys those nights when he gets to race with his son James and his wife Ginny. It's more about keeping the spirit of Pro Stock racing alive, which was threatened not too many years ago with extinction. Not only is it still thriving in Southern Oregon, but Klamath Falls resident Roy Bain also gives the drivers more options with his Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series, which the association will support multiple times this year.

In 2012, management at Southern Oregon Speedway was enamored with getting on the IMCA Sport Modified bandwagon. In a mind-boggling decision, they didn't decide to just add an additional division. They drove a steak through the heart of the Outlaw Pro Stocks by forcing the drivers to choose. You could go down the road and race your Pro Stocks elsewhere, or you could convert your cars to Sport Modifieds and race with IMCA. A few drivers opted for the Medford option.

Two Medford area people, Arlen Heath and Maurie Skaggs, decided to forge ahead with the creation of the Outlaw Pro Stock Association.  The association that ran Siskiyou Golden Speedway at the time was more than happy to give the group dates, and eventually Medford started inviting them back as their own entity. The Outlaw Pro Stock division couldn't be stopped. At one point, the biggest car counts happening in Medford were with this division, and they consistently deliver good numbers in Yreka to this day.

Ken Irving, who had been competing in the class for several years, wrote his name in the books as the first champion in 2012. Another long time competitor, Dave Everson, won the next title before Irvin reclaimed his spot atop the point listings. Rising young star Jeffrey Hudson, who was just 15 years old at the time, followed in his father's footsteps by winning the 2015 title. A man with the reputation of having one of the fastest cars in the history of the group, Steve Borror, won the 2016 championship in dominant fashion.

Another driver with roots going back to the old Posse Grounds Medford Raceway, Dr Scott Lenz, came in and set a blistering pace in winning the 2017 and 2018 championships. Then came long time President Scott Flowers. Flowers and his family have been running this class for several years as well as Street Stocks and Enduros. When Worden Speedway opened up, they were part of that program as well. Scott has been at the front of the pack for several years, but he stepped forward to enjoy his time in the spotlight, winning the last three championships with the group.

Flowers didn't just enjoy a cakewalk in winning the 2021 title. He had to work hard to get it done. Longtime Pro Stock competitor Johnny Cobb made his presence known all season long, and Flowers was only able to beat him by 18 points in the end. Flowers had one win in Yreka to his credit, but he also enjoyed five runner-up finishes and a third. Cobb didn't get a win, but he had a second and three thirds.

A relative newcomer to the group, Denny Burtenhouse Jr had a solid hold on third by 65 tallies ahead of Matt Harlow. Denny finished as high as third on one occasion to go with seven Top 5 efforts. Harlow, meanwhile, had one of his better seasons with a pair of victories and a second place finish in the Maurie Skaggs owned entry. He was 44 points ahead of Colby Hammond. Hammond had his season-best second place finish in the final race last year, keeping him 35 points ahead of one-time winner Rick Lukens. 

The balance of the Top 10 in the standings was made up of Ginny Flowers, James Flowers, rising young star Darek Alford and Jeff Haudenshild. Alford won a race early in the season, and Haudenshild earned his best result in second at the opener. It wasn't the best of seasons for James Flowers, who did have a season high second. When things are running well with his car, he's always in the mix. 

Steve Borror didn't buy a membership for points, but he supported several races and picked up five victories. Notable were his wins at Coos Bay and in the Tri State Pro Stock Rocky Nash Memorial at Medford. That Medford race featured no yellow flags and was one of the best races of the year. He beat Tri State star Richard Brace Jr and Scott Lenz that night. The Coos Bay race sees the Outlaw Pro Stock drivers take on the best NASCAR Sportsman racers Coos Bay has to offer, and Borror was just a little bit quicker than past Coos Bay champion Braden Fugate and Tahlan Rogers in his victory.

The group supported the annual Billy Geyer Memorial race, which was a Tri State affair. Susanville Promoter Jeff Olschowka won both nights, beating Dave King Jr and Tri State champion Justin Crockett the first night and Crockett and Jeffrey Hudson the next. Hudson won the season opener, and Corey Biggs also had a win during the season. All in all, the 14 races the Outlaw Pro Stocks participated in were very entertaining and were particularly helpful in keeping Siskiyou Golden Speedway going. 

For this season, they are participating in a dozen events, and Yreka will feature them for five of those races. They open this Friday night, and follow with another appearance on April 22nd. Medford gets it in gear with a Pro Stock visit on May 7th and does it again the following week. The Tri State race will be supported by the Outlaw Pro Stocks at the end of May. It's the Billy Geyer Memorial race, happening on May 28th and 29th in Yreka. They come back to Medford on June 18th and then head to Cedarville the following week for the annual Gordon Russell Sr Memorial. On July 3rd, they return to Medford. The Yreka season ends in July, and the Pro Stocks go there on the 15th. It's back to Medford on July 30th, Coos Bay on August 6th and then the annual Rocky Nash Memorial Tri State event at Medford on September 3rd and 4th.

Because of the dedication of people like Heath, Skaggs, the Flowers family Scott Bennett, the Haudenshild family and Cobb, to name a few, Pro Stock racing thrives in Southern Oregon. They bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm everywhere they go with their affordable version of a Late Model style of racing. For further information, go to the Outlaw Pro Stock Association Facebook page or check out www.siskiyogoldenspeedway.com or www.southernoregonmotorsports.com. 

 

Siskiyou Golden Speedway Notes

Yreka, CA...Kevin Barba may not have fully realized what he was getting himself into when he took on the duties of becoming the promoter at Siskiyou Golden Speedway three years ago, but he jumped in with great enthusiasm and a willingness to learn what it takes to get the job done. The off-season had to be just a little bit nerve-racking for Kevin, but the end result was that he got the keys to the gates in March and will be promoting the track for another three seasons.

The track at the Yreka Fairgrounds has been in existence since the 1950s and has made many good memories that racing fans have treasured. In more recent seasons, economic hard times have hurt this track to the point where they struggle at times to get a car count. Barba has been working hard over the past year or so to forge a relationship with management at neighboring Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Oregon. He's made great headway, and things are starting to come together very nicely. 

Everybody already knows that Siskiyou Golden Speedway features IMCA Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks as two of the core divisions, and that will continue. In fact, they've created a 12 race series between Medford, called The Jefferson State Series. Each track will have six Sport Modified races with increased prize money available. There will also be a five-race IMCA Modified Series featuring the best purse for a regular Modified event the track has offered in years on all five occasions, and a point fund. It will also be IMCA sanctioned, and it's hoped that scheduling allows Medford drivers to come in and make this thing really pop.

Mini Stock racing continues to be a staple at the track as well, and longtime supporter Marilyn Yawnick, a three-time champion, will be carrying the banner proudly for her team. During the off-season, her longtime friend and teammate "Magic" Mike Whitaker passed away. She races this season in memory of the three-time champion. The track will also be running several non-sanctioned Sport Compact races, the unique Jefferson State Jalopies and multiple appearances from the Outlaw Pro Stocks and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars.

To give you a sample of the things Barba has planned, they open this Friday night with IMCA Sport Modifieds, Outlaw Pro Stocks and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. They celebrate Easter with IMCA Sport Modifieds, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, Mini Stocks and Sport Compacts the following week. The Bo Hittson Memorial race remains on the schedule on April 29th, honoring the 1970s racer and police officer who was killed in the line of duty. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars will be there. 

The Billy Geyer Memorial Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series race happens again on May 28th and 29th. Mini Stocks and Sport Compacts will be at the opening night. Mini Stocks take a break the following night with the Jefferson State Jalopies taking their place. There's a Junior Fan Night bike giveaway on June 3rd with the Mini Stocks and Sport Compacts on the schedule. Management is working to add something else to the program. The John Arnberg Memorial race happens on June 10th, featuring IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks and Sport Compacts

The stretch run continues on June 24th with the Rod Barba Memorial race, honoring the father and inspiration of current Promoter Kevin Barba. Mini Stocks, Sport Compacts and Jefferson State Jalopies are on the bill. They'll have a July 1st Celebrate America special, including IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks and Sport Compacts. Christmas in July brings the final appearance of the IMCA Modifieds on July 8th, including the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Sport Compacts and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. The fairgrounds wants them to wrap things up earlier, so July 15th and 16th will see the track feature IMCA Sport Modifieds, Outlaw Pro Stocks and Sport Compacts on the opening night and the addition of the Mini Stocks and Jalopies and subtraction of the Pro Stocks for the final night. 

The show goes on at Siskiyou Golden Speedway, and that's the main takeaway. Last season, they did crown multiple champions, including Ryan Peery in IMCA Sport Modifieds, Michael Knuckles in Mini Stocks, JR Brant in Sport Compacts and JJ Smith in Jefferson State Jalopies. They were making the best of it as they tried to emerge from the pandemic that rocked motorsports a year earlier. It's also noteworthy that they had championship seasons under those difficult circumstances a year earlier as Barba did his best to promote a good program. 

The IMCA Sport Modified title run saw Perry get all Top 5 finishes in his 14 starts, including five wins. He missed a race, and that meant that eight-time Top 5 finisher Ryder Boswell was within 22 points of overtaking him. Ryder's brother Colt Boswell was just 16 points behind him in third. Jace Wright had one win to his credit to finish fourth in the standings, and Matt Sanders had five wins in eight visits to rank fifth in the final rundown. Also noteworthy were four wins for Jordan Braaten and one win each for multi-time Modified champion Travis Peery and State champion Trevor Clymens. 

The Mini Stocks were in doubt all the way to the end of the season. Ashtin Hedges missed a race at the start of the season, and that made the difference as he lost to Michael Knuckles by five points. Knuckles had a division-leading 13 Top 5 finishes and one win. Hedges had 12 Top 5 finishes and led the way with nine victories. 58 points out of the lead was Marilyn Yawnick, who had eight Top 5 efforts. There were seven Top 5s each for Connor Franklin and Logan McKnight, who ranked fourth and fifth respectively. The other four wins went to multi-time champion David Steele, who also picked up the championship in Medford.

Several Eureka Roadrunner competitors wanted to bring their Sport Compacts to Yreka and give dirt a try. Management gave them a five-race championship season, and JR Brandt was the one driver who made all five races. He had a win and ranked 82 points ahead of two-time winner Bryan Brandt. Ty Rose was a solid third with Joe Natale and Leroy Marsh rounding at the Top 5 with a win each. 

JJ Smith and Karl Bernstein were the driving force behind starting the Jefferson State Jalopies, which are almost like a bigger version of a Dwarf Car with four-cylinder motors, built from truck frames. They debuted their fifth car, a pink #5 for the ladies. Smith repeated as the champion with five wins in his seven starts. Kade Bernstein was a solid second, 29 points ahead of past champion Marilyn Yawnick. Kade had one win, while fourth ranked Karl Bernstein had a win as well. Tim Acord ranked fifth. 

Siskiyou Golden Speedway will be running from April through the end of July. For further information, go to www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com.

The Editor's Viewpoint

It's been a crazy week as I write this late on Wednesday night. I'm not keeping the schedule I wanted to keep. Quite honestly, I wanted a day or two every week where I could just pull back from racing, but it's not happening. If this is still the case in July, we have a problem. I'm thinking it's just me getting settled into a routine, being able to tune out certain distractions and just getting comfortable. I'm very happy being where I am and I do feel loved, but it's crazy right now. I also have somebody I very much care about who's on my mind, and I'm carefully weighing options there

Distractions or at least things that took my focus away included after race beers on Saturday, but I'm okay with that. A loud Mariachi festival right next door to me on Sunday caused me to just get dressed up and go dancing with them and a few lengthy phone conversations on Monday and Tuesday didn't help. It didn't feel like I was getting anything done, but today brought it all into order. Funny how that happened. I'm just not going to have the free day as Thursday is the day to get this edited and posted. Friday starts the cycle again. Oh well.

I made a big discovery that will help the Antioch Speedway souvenir programs, but it also puts more work on my shoulders. I kind of vowed at a certain point with my magazine that I'd never stand over a copy machine to assemble one of my booklets again. Mike McCann basically forced me to change that at Southern Oregon Speedway. When he insisted on his program covers, that meant I got to staple covers and put those books together for four years. Might have been nice to get a buck or two every once in a while for the work, but at least I had a roof over my head. That's something, right?

I know how to get the best deal at a printer, and I'll be damned if we're going to get shanked over a bad deal. Antioch Speedway had a bad deal brought in by somebody, but I'm not going to elaborate. I rushed the first souvenir program and got the best deal I could, but I was informed that we had a copy machine sitting in the office. I know that machine, and it's been sitting there unused for probably the last seven years. Mike Kord, who handled the souvenir programs at the track for several years, brought that copy machine, and it's quite good.

What happened was I wanted to do a test to see if it would still function. It turns out that there was ink, and the cartridges are pretty full. I hooked up my laptop, and there was no issue whatsoever. I took the cover of the first program I had done, printed in full color and wow. It does the job. 

According to the specs, we should be able to get a couple of full printings on the cartridges we have in there, and I'm pleased with that. The main thing now is we're side stapling instead of 11x17, but I might compensate by getting glossy paper. The program cost will check in at a rate that is reasonable to me.

But enough about my process and how the week has been. I don't want to get into much here. At Antioch Speedway, we're running pretty much every week through the end of October. Putting a schedule together that works and can give the fans a full program is challenging. We're literally shuffling things around and at times plugging things in that weren't originally on the schedule. I really wish we had about 10 less races and could concentrate more on quality of race versus quantity of races, but that's not my call. My call is to hype this deal as best I can.

Saturday night had about 20 Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stocks and 23 IMCA Sport Modifieds. Those two divisions delivered in spades. You had drama at the front of the pack and didn't know who might win until the checkered flag flew. As a fan, I'm entertained by what I saw. You could throw a blanket over the Top 3 Sport Modified finishers as KC Keller denied Jacob Mallet Jr the win. Misty Welborn was a jubilant Hobby Stock winner for the second time in three races. Add in the IMCA Modified win for Troy Foulger, and it wasn't bad.

It's going to be challenging to get the Super Stock division to deliver the cars, and the reason is because the numbers had been down as it was. People had moved on, some had parked their cars and the track hadn't really made a serious play to get driver interest in this division in several years. I think nobody officially knew that the schedule would be what it was until about a week before this race. Delivering four cars under those circumstances was not as bad as you might think, but it clearly wasn't a great number.

I think what bothered me the most was listening to Rich do his driver meeting and berate the drivers for only delivering four cars. It's like, dude, we didn't put out a full-scale message telling everybody what the schedule was and what they would get paid based on what car count. They were flying blind, and telling these four drivers who did show up how messed up it was was just not good. When Rich started to say the same thing in the office after the races, I had to bring something up. No, I didn't jump on him for his concern over the car count number. I know why he said what he did.

My contention for the past several years was that Antioch Speedway should be working as closely with Petaluma Speedway as possible. There's no need to be adversarial. Both tracks are only running four divisions most weeks, so there's plenty of opportunity to share cars. All it takes is for two promoters to talk a little bit and be sincere in the agreements they make. Do you want both tracks to benefit? Then do it. Don't be mad that you helped that track succeed when they helped you. Be happy both of you are getting something out of the deal. Makes too much sense, right?

What I told Rich was that I was aware of a driver from Petaluma asking about the schedule for that night. As I don't handle rules and just talk about the hype and keep people excited about it, I hoped somebody would get in there and make it clear that he was welcome and wanted. He didn't show up, so I don't know what was said. 

What I told Rich is we should reach out to the Petaluma drivers, who aren't booked this week. The worst they're going to say is no, but we weren't going to get them if we didn't say anything, right? You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. We saw that Petaluma had no Super Stocks, and Rich, Tina and myself agreed we should take a shot at this.

Right now, the decision is to try to do something with Super Stocks. I think you take a page out of Roy Bain's Tri State book and don't beat everybody over the head with a rule book. As long as the cars are close enough, all the fans care about is seeing cars on the track racing. 

My understanding is there will be two additional local drivers, and the four drivers who showed up last week should be there. One driver we were hoping for is going to be busy, but he does intended to make it when his schedule allows in May. There's another driver or two that could make it, I don't know. I do know that Larry put a call out to as many people as he could from other tracks, so we'll see.

The challenge Antioch Speedway has is that this week's schedule will be impacted by what Merced Speedway does. The reason you don't book certain divisions on top of other track's big races isn't always just because you want your drivers to go support the other guy. You also do it because your guys are going elsewhere, and you're not going to see them at your track if you book them. 

Therefore, Antioch gave up trying to book IMCA Sport Modifieds this week on top of the Al Miller Memorial race at Merced. $5,000 is on the line, so Antioch isn't getting their top drivers. I think it was hoped that we could have Hobby Stocks, but Merced has sweetened the pot at their race to the tune of $2,000 to win. Because we had already booked Hobby Stocks and need the cars, it stayed on the schedule. Will our car count reach into the 20s? I don't know.

Also, there could be a couple of IMCA Stock Car drivers that we might get under normal circumstances, but we won't because of the Sport Modified race at Merced. What I'm saying is we have two divisions that might be slightly underperforming, and the IMCA Modifieds might only get 12-14 cars as it is. 

Therefore, there's more pressure on the Super Stocks to deliver more than four cars. These days, if we can get the number up to eight cars, we can force a pair of four car heat races and an eight car Main Event. The magic number for any division these days is 12 cars, but unless we have Petaluma visitors, that's not likely. 

I do like the schedule that Doug Lockwood put together at Merced, and it's a testament to the special shows they have that drivers from everywhere want to come support them. They had solid numbers for the Jerry Shannon Memorial a few weeks back, and the Sport Modified count will probably be into the 50s this week. 

They featured the BCRA/CLS Lightning Sprints for the Wayne Albright Memorial last week, and David Gasper bested the field of 18 drivers. Between the 18 cars they had there and the good turnouts for IMCA Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks, it was a good show at Merced. They're expecting strong numbers this week as well.

Petaluma Speedway had double digits in all four of their classes. The 600 Micros, IMCA Modifieds and Mini Stocks delivered about a dozen each, and they had 26 Redwood Dwarf Cars. It was a steller showing for the Dwarf Cars, and the fans got to see Jim Pettit II come for the Modified race. 

Watsonville is still delivering a car count well into the 20s for the Winged 360 Sprint Cars. There was some excitement in the Hobby Stock race, won by Brady Muller. I'm still concerned that they can't get double digits in the IMCA Modifieds after three races. Might they be negatively impacted by fuel prices?

I didn't cover Placerville this week as I'm trying not to do too much, but they seemed to do okay with their Winged 360 Sprint Car/Wingless Spec Sprint program. The Hunt Series didn't get them a B Main, but it wasn't bad. 

You also have Marysville running a Winged 360 Sprint Car show with a count in the 20s. They had the one-two punch with 17 Winged Crate Sprints. Dennis Gage has to be delighted that he's finally seeing a good turnout in the Crate Sprints after several years. The IMCA Sport Modifieds delivered 10 with Jimmy Ford prevailing, but the WMR Midgets didn't hit 10. 

I'll just say that Mike McCluney did a heck of a job launching this Ecotec Midget class. My criticism of his leadership is that he over booked the class this year. If they wanted to go to other tracks, they might have wanted to cut back on Watsonville and Ventura dates. Then again, who else was going to take a chance on this class other than Watsonville and Ventura in the beginning? They should benefit and get the first race dates. 

When you're booking a schedule of some 30 dates, you're going to have duds. Is it wise to overbook this thing when you're poised to take over Midget racing in Northern California from BCRA? I don't know. Midgets are struggling anyway, as evidenced by the dozen Midgets that were running down in the valley as part of the CRA/USAC Sprint Car show.

My friend Roy Bain is a busy man. I'm very proud of what he's done. He was just a good old boy racing with the Outlaw Pro Stocks, hailing from Klamath Falls. He saw an opportunity to help, first by getting on social media and hyping the local group. Then, by founding the successful Tri State Pro Stock Series. Now, he's got Speed Union TV. This deal is broadcasting tracks that aren't ones that get the coverage all the time. Siskiyou Golden Speedway opens this weekend with a schedule will include IMCA Sport Modified, Outlaw Pro Stocks and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars.

Here's the deal with Yreka. Kevin Barba is poised to have his best season and give the fans the best season they've seen there in several years. I didn't have a lot of confidence in Kevin, but he's managed to get Medford to work with him. With the recent passing of a car owner for multi time Yreka champion Nick Trenchard, they have booked a five-race IMCA Modified Series. It will be an officially recognized sanctioned championship with a point fund and an increased purse, better than Yreka has paid this class in years. They've also started the State of Jefferson Series for the Sport Modifieds between Medford and Yreka. Good things are happening.

Roy has been making preparations so the broadcast can go off smoothly. He's doing some work with Flo Racing and helped Stockton and Hanford with some things. It turns out that the Tri State Series is headed for Hanford, so they should probably have some good Bakersfield support for that. 

Peter Murphy does some good things at that track, and I'm sure he had a big smile after the show the CRA/USAC Sprint Cars put on. The IMCA Stock Cars delivered the goods, and the RaceSaver Sprint Car numbers were finally up a little bit.

I don't want to take all day on this, so this is a good place for me to shut my mouth. I will get my schedule in order, one way or the other. On that note, I'll end this column. Until next time...