SAN BERNARDINO -- John Manke shook off a stretch of bad luck and won the ASA Super Late Model main event while Ron Overman took the class points lead Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway.
Manke, the 2005 class champion, started on the pole and led every inch of the 40 laps around the speedway's quarter-mile paved oval. Overman, who sat a track record with his 13.02-second qualifying lap, started alongside Manke on the front row and ran second all the way. Overman, of Lakeside, pressured Manke briefly midway through the event, then settled into the runner-up spot and took the points lead away from Glen Cummings, who finished fifth in the 16-car field. Cummings began the night two points ahead and ended it four points behind after the ninth of 12 races. Manke broke a tie for third with Mark Shackleford, but is 40 points behind Overman.
"We've had some bad luck the last couple of races," said Manke, who finished 12th here two weeks ago but won on July 22. "We've been pretty fast, but we had problems. You've got to bring your A game. They've put some sticky stuff on the track and it's gotten faster, so you've got to get prepared. We weren't that good in the trophy dash (after qualifying second with a :13.11), but we went back and made some changes here and there and the crew got it done."
The win, before a crowd of 2,641, was Manke's third in the past five races.
The points lead also changed hands in the Street Stock class, with former champion Johnny Russo claiming the 20-lap main and moving six points ahead of Big Bear neighbor Cliff Conklin, who began the night with a 4-point lead. Russo led all the way in the main event, with Conklin close behind after moving into second on lap 14. But Conklin got caught up in an accident in Turn 3 on the final lap and slipped from second to sixth in the final standings.
Jim Conklin, Cliff's brother, gave himself a birthday present by winning the 30-lap Late Model feature. He started third, then moved into second on lap 9 and stalked leader Anthony Mainella until lap 28, when he took the lead exiting Turn 2. Mainella held on for second with class points leader Eric Ferguson third.
Don Minut overcame a spin into the infield on an aborted start of the 25-lap Pro-4 main event to post his third straight win and his fifth in seven starts. Points leader Jim Edmiston held off 18-year-old Spencer Samaro to win the 20-lap Sport Truck main event, Dean Caskey won for the fifth time in six starts in the Mini-StocKar class and Ben Mahan moved within one race of a season sweep by winning his sixth straight Jr. Mini feature.
The West Coast Pro Trucks made their first appearance of the year at the track and Rick Wall of Irvine turned it into a personal showcase, qualifying No. 1 and easily leading from the start to the finish of the 35-lap contest.
Orange Show Speedway will host an open practice Friday, beginning at 5 p.m., and on Saturday will offer a Destruction Derby along with a racing program featuring the ASA Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pony Stocks, Sport Compacts. Sport Trucks and the Stock Cars USA series.
ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY
Saturday's results
SUPER LATE MODELS (Main event, 40 laps) -- 1. John Manke, Ramona, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 2. Ron Overman, Lakeside, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 3. Rick Chavez, Lakeside, Ford Taurus; 4. Mark Shackleford, Riverside, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 5. Glen Cummings, Highland, Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Heat race winners -- Shackleford; Overman. Trophy dash winner -- Chavez. Fast qualifier -- Overman.
PRO 4 STOCKS (Main event, 25 laps) -- 1. Don Minut, Riverside, Ford; 2. Kendall Scheidecker, Cabazon, Oldsmobile; 3. John Soares, San Bernardino, Ford; 4. Chuck Becker Jr., Cabazon, Oldsmobile; 5. Sam Newcomer, Apple Valley, Dodge.
Heat race winner -- Becker Jr. Trophy dash winner -- Scheidecker. Fast qualifier -- Minut.
LATE MODEL STOCKS (Main event, 30 laps) -- 1. Jim Conklin, Big Bear, Pontiac Grand Prix; 2. Anthony Mainella, Palmdale, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 3. Eric Ferguson, El Cajon, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 4. Dan DiGimarino, San Bernardino, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 5. Ryan Daniel, Montone, Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Heat race winners -- Alex Anderson, Lancaster; DiGimarino. Trophy dash winner -- Justin DeJaynes, Lancaster, Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Fast qualifier -- Conklin.
STREET STOCKS (Main event, 20 laps) -- 1. Johnny Russo, Big Bear, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 2. Kyle Meyer, Highland, Chevrolet Nova; 3. Ted Reich, Riverside, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 4. Nathan Gruwell, Yorba Linda, Chevrolet Camaro; 5. Brandon Haag, Santee, Chevrolet Nova.
Heat race winner -- Meyer. Trophy dash -- Russo. Fast qualifier -- Russo.
SPORT TRUCKS (Main event, 20 laps) -- 1. Jim Edmiston, Highland, Ford; 2. Spencer Samaro, San Bernardino, Toyota; 3. Eduardo Garcia, Glendale, Toyota; 4. Ed Reid, Moreno Valley, Isuzu; 5. Jeff Imbriani, San Bernardino, Toyota.
Heat race winner -- Reid. Trophy dash winner -- Samaro. Fast qualifier -- Reid.
MINI-STOCKARS (Main event, 15 laps) -- 1. Dean Caskey, Grand Terrace; 2. Mike O'Hara, Canyon Country; 3. Pattie Caskey, Grand Terrace; 4. Rick Walton, La Crescenta; 5. Dick Laycock, Santee.
Heat race winner -- Dean Caskey. Fast qualifier -- O'Hara.
JR. MINI-STOCKCARS (Main event, 15 laps) -- 1. Benjamin Mahan, Hesperia; 2. Taylor Hede, Riverside; 3. Tony Forfa IV, San Bernardino; 4. Alexander Bissett, Hemet; 5. Toby Becker, Highland.
Trophy dash winner -- Mahan. Fast qualifier -- Mahan.
WEST COAST PRO TRUCKS (Main event, 35 laps) -- 1. Rick Wall, Irvine, Ford; 2. Jeff Williams, Newbury Park, Ford; 3. Tony Edwards, Mentone, Ford; 4. Jim Satterfield, Mira Loma, Ford; 5. Tim McMillin, Nuevo, Chevrolet.
Heat race winners -- Dallas Leiniger, Corona, Chevrolet; McMillin. Trophy dash -- Satterfield. Fast qualifier -- Wall.
