Mike Duncan made it two wins in the 2000 season and added to his NASCAR Late Model point lead at Mesa Marin Raceway Saturday night. Duncan led just the final 23 laps after leaders Dan Holtz and Jason Small got together on a restart. It was a tough night for attrition as only five cars were running at the checkered flag with J Small finishing 2nd ahead of Charlie Watler. Bill Tucker made his season debut in the street stock class and had a big night with fast time honors and a win in the 25 lap feature race. Single feature winner Mike White chased Tucker to the feature win and pulled into a tie for the point lead with three time winner Mike Riale, who finished 3rd. In the Super TT Motorcycle action, Rick Pearce repeated his March win with Don Canet making a late charge to take second from Casey Yarrow.
The late models had a 14 car field that included Steve Allison, a nephew of Bobby Allison, making his debut on what will be his home track. The winner of two straight features, Dan Holtz had fast time honors with his 18.776 lap as Duncan ran 18.876. Jason Small was the final 18 second car with his 18.920 lap. J Small also won dash honors ahead of Holtz and Duncan. The remaining cars ran in a single heat that was won by Les DenHerder over Curtis Malins. The action in that heat heavily damaged the mounts of Kevin Small, Jeff Latimer, Rex Calderwood and Steve Reaves. K Small was able to borrow a backup car from DenHerder, but the other three were done for the night. In the 75 lap main, J Small took an early lead over Holtz. A restart on lap 53 saw Holtz try to take the lead by diving low underneath J Small. They were side by side entering turn 1 and Holtz hit the side of J Small. It did enough damage to end the race for Holtz and J Small restarted in the rear. Duncan drove underneath the incident and led the rest of the way for the win. Bradshaw moved into second, but later dropped out and a spin by Charlie Watler cost him second. J Small battled back to finish 2nd and Watler was the final lead lap car. Only Brian Branson and K Small were also circulating at the checkered flag. Duncan's point lead is 14 over Holtz, 19 over J Small and 25 ahead of Bradshaw.
The street stocks also had a 14 car turnout and Tucker's big night opened with fast time honors of 23.299 seconds. White was the only other car in the 23's with a 23.379 lap. Lloyd Wren Jr timed third fast ahead of Riale. White won the dash ahead of Riale and Tucker. J R Garcia won the heat with Robert Faihtinger and John Avila. Luke Dawson was a feature scratch. It took Tucker just 3 laps to take the lead from his back of the pack start in their 25 lapper. White actually took the lead from Tucker in lapped traffic on lap 17 and paced four rounds before Tucker regained the spot. Riale spun on the first lap, but battled back to a distant third behind Tucker and White. Faihtinger was fourth ahead of Garcia, Mark Tenhet and Josh Horn. White and Riale are tied for the track point lead with a 49 point margin over Tenhet. Tenhet is 9 points ahead of Wren.
In the 911 Race for Youth action, Darrell Simons of the Superintendent of Schools Department set the early pace in their 15 lap main, but got hung up behind a slower car in the closing laps and Joe Grubbs from the Bakersfield Police Department drove by for the win. Joe Bianca of the California Highway Patrol ran second to repeat the 1-2 finish of the heat race.
Summary Fast Time-Bill Tucker 23.299 Dash-Mike White, Mike Riale, Tucker. Heat-Jr Garcia, Robert Faihtinger, John Avila, Anthony Gillespie, Mark Tenhet. Main-Tucker, White, Riale, Faihtinger, Garcia, Tenhet, Horn, Eric Ramos, Avila, Jeff Beard, Gillespie, Lloyd Wren Jr, Dan Brandon. Late Model Fast Time-Dan Holtz 18.776 Dash-Jason Small, Holtz, Mike Duncan. Heat-Les DenHerder, Curtis Malins, Bobby Aldridge, Barry Bradshaw, Steve Allison. Main-Duncan, J Small, Charlie Watler, Brian Branson, Kevin Small, Bradshaw, Holtz, Malins, Aldridge, Allison, DenHerder.
