Aug. 4 -- Taking the lead from Fred Lind halfway through the race, 1999 Antioch Speedway champion Bart Reid won the 20 lap RACE Modified main event Friday night at Chowchilla Speedway. The win capped a clean sweep of trophy dash, heat race and main event for Reid in his West Coast Motorsports sponsored Cobra Chassis. Subbing in the Steven Williams car, Merced point leader Jack Stanford finished second ahead of Chowchilla point leader Mike Johnson. Gaining the lead when leader Ken Jepsen had problems late, point leader Red Williams won his fifth 20 lap Hobby Stock main event ahead of Paul Salaiz and Johnny Howard.
Reid and Lind each won six lap Modified heat races before Reid came back to capture four lap trophy dash honors. Lind had a pole position start with Reid back in eighth for the main event. Lind set the early pace ahead of Paul Stone and Johnson. A lap six caution flag flew for debris on the race track, and Reid moved into third behind Lind and Stone on the restart. A Turn 1 pass on the eighth citcuit gained Reid second, and Johnson gained third a lap later. Marcus Aue stalled in Turn 2 for a lap nine caution. A low pass in Turn 2 of the 11th lap gained Reid the lead, and Johnson spun in Turn 4 to avoid contact with Lind. Stone was back in third and gained second on a lap 16 restart before getting put to the back of the pack a lap later by track officials for his part in a Lind spin. Reid led Stanford and Johnson on the next restart, and that's exactly how they finished as Bill Vieselmeyer, Lind, Matt Perry, Bob Williamson, Stone, Raymond Casey and Aue rounded out the top ten finishers.
Howard and Jerry O'Hagan were six lap Hobby Stock heat race winners, but
O'Hagan hurt his motor in victory. Mike Meazell captured his fourth four lap
trophy dash win. Making his Chowchilla debut in a 1967 Chevelle, fouth
starter Jepsen set the early pace ahead on Donny Large and Roger Dory.
Williams fell to the back of the pack in a lap two incident, and Dory used an
inside move on the back stretch of the third lap to take second. Large was
black flagged on lap six, and the flying Williams made a low pass in Turn 4
of the seventh lap to take third from Charles Seals. Williams was second
with Dory's pit stop on lap 11, and a lap 12 caution flag flew for a Turn 4
tangle between Salaiz and Danny Holcomb. Jepsen continued to lead Williams
on the restart, and Salaiz settled into third on lap 14. Jepsen was holding
off Williams until throwing a tire in Turn 1 after 17 laps to give Williams
the lead. Williams would lead the final three circuits for the victory ahead
of Salaiz, Howard, Holcomb, Seals, Corrie Stone, Dale Falkenberg, Jepsen,
Craig Tatum and Large.
