BAKERSFIELD, California -- Bakersfield's Mesa Marin Raceway officially kicked off their 2005 Chase For the Championship, August 6th, with twin NASCAR Late Model main events. Ten drivers, eligible for the chase at the end of the regular points season, began the evening 30 points apart in the five event, winner take all, format. Bakersfield drivers Cody Pruitt and Eric Richardson jumped to the top of the standings by winning the features during an evening filled with hard racing and multiple accidents.
In the first race Josh Horn came off of the front row to lead the field under the initial green flag. The race barely made a lap when the first yellow came out. Series points leader Eric Richardson was hit from behind and went spinning through turn three. The ensuing restart only made it to lap six when the second yellow came out due to turn one contact between Lloyd Wren Jr and Greg Puskarich.
Horn paced the field to lap 18 when Roy W Degeer's Ford flexed its racing muscles and took over the point. Degeer's race rhythm was slowed by two more caution flags. The first was a turn four spin by Eddie Patterson while the second one was for one of the more serious accidents of the evening. A J Destefani blew a tire and slammed hard into the turn three wall. Destefani was not injured but the damage to his Mission Bank Chevrolet was massive.
From that point it appeared that Degeer, who finished second in the regular season standings, was primed and ready to take his third feature win of the season as well as making a great stride towards the championship. However all of that got derailed on the final lap of the race when Degeer's Viceroy Homes Ford suddenly slowed while going down the backstretch. Much to everyone's amazement, it was later determined that his car had ran out of fuel.
Even more amazed was Cody Pruitt who suddenly found himself heading for the checkered flag and his second win of the year. Josh Horn, Ray Robinson, Mike Alexander and Jeff Smith followed him under the checkers to complete the top five.
Pruitt, who is having a sensational rookie year, said before the race that he would have never imagined being in a position to win a NASCAR points championship. After parking his McMillen Homes Chevrolet in victory lane Pruitt said, "this is great, the guys did a great job on setting up the car this week and I'm absolutely thrilled right now."
Commenting on the final lap of the race, Pruitt said "I went down into turn one and I knew I had to make my move then. I forced my way to the inside of Roy, (Degeer), and I don't know what happened. All of a sudden he just went backwards. Going into turn three I knew if I could just hold it down we would have this win."
Eric Richardson picked up his fifth win of the season at Mesa
Marin after winning the second half of the twin main events that
launched the raceway’s chase for the championship.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Swanson’s Speed Shots)
In the second, 40 lap, Late Model feature Eric Richardson came off of the front row to take the lead and won the race flag to flag. However, it was not an easy ride for Richardson. He had to endure three yellow flags, one red flag and a late race charge by Cody Pruitt who was looking for two feature wins on the same night.
The race made it to lap four when the first yellow flag came out due to Jeff Smith's turn four spin. The yellow appeared again, on lap 18, when Ray Robinson and Keven Sevenich collected each other and spun in turn four. The final yellow, which became a red flag, came out on lap 29 due to a very hard, three car, crash on the backstretch involving Ray Robinson, Eddie Patterson and Candance Muzny. The drivers were not injured but the damage to their cars was massive.
With the track cleared and the green flag out, Richardson focused on the serious business of winding down the remaining seven laps while making sure Pruitt stayed behind him. Scott Youngren, Row W. Degeer and Mike Alexander followed them across the line to complete the top five.
After parking his Richland Chevrolet-Green Frog Markets-Rich Pak Monte Carlo in Mesa Marin's victory lane, for the fifth time this year, Richardson said "we spun out in the first race following some contact with someone else. No biggie, it was a racing accident. We came back through the field and began catching everyone. I thought maybe I had a flat tire but it turned out that our tire stagger just went through the roof. For the second race my crew, who are a bunch of great guys, got things turned around. We didn't get down on ourselves, we just got right back out there. The 88, (Cody Pruitt), was good tonight. He definitely was strong in the late going. We have some more work to do before the next race but we're definitely going to get 'er done."
