BALDING & TOSH WIN PRELIM FEATURES AT U.S. WESTERN MODIFIED NATI


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Dec 2, 2008

U.S. WESTERN MODIFIED NATIONALS

Source: Gary Thomas
Date: 09/30/2007

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TULARE, California -- The first U.S. Western Modified Nationals went green on Thursday evening with a multitude of dirt modifieds in the pit area at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway. Over the last month 50 truck loads of new clay have been added to the surface at the Thunderbowl and the new clay was being temperamental on opening night. Various rough spots had developed throughout the racing surface, which forced the decision to be made that after the heats to postpone the rest of the program until Friday morning. There were ten 15 lap heat races held on Thursday night however, and they were captured by RC Whitwall, Greg Mancebo, Jim Pettit II, Tim Balding, Alan Sharpensteen, Rich Denman, Mark Abouzeid, Ryan Mcdaniel, Johnny Scott and Larry Hood. Each heat race winner automatically moved into the preliminary main event to be held Friday afternoon.

Everyone came back early in the morning on Friday to fine tune their machines and get ready to finish up the Thursday program. Race cars hit the track at about noon for wheel packing and the difference in the surface was night and day. What had been a fast and rough 1/3 mile clay oval on Thursday, was now smooth and slick, which made for some interesting racing during the morning/afternoon action to complete Thursday’s slate of racing. The drivers that posses great throttle control came forward and it really showed as traction was hard to come by just like it usually is during a day race. After giving drivers and teams some hot lap sessions the action got underway with five 15 lap last chance semis and a 20 lap main event to be held.

The top two finishers in each semi transferred to the preliminary main event and transfers included Stormy Scott & Chris Shannon from semi one, Tommy Weder Jr. & Jason Hughes from semi two, Ricky Tosh & Richard Papenhousen from semi three, Brad Pounds & Jeff Decker from the fourth semi, and the final two transfers into the feature were Bobby Hogue IV & Jesse Williamson. All of Thursday’s heat winners drew for starting positions 1-10 and the transfers from the semis drew for positions 11-20. Drivers that finished among the top eight in the main event were automatically locked into Saturday’s 40 lap main event.

The 20 lap feature started out with Texan Alan Sharpensteen jumping out into the lead aboard the No. 75 machine. It didn’t last long however, as Sharpensteen got loose off turn four on lap three and it allowed Arizona driver R.C. Whitwall to take the lead. Whitwall held the top spot until he slowed on lap 11, which handed the lead to Prunedale, CA’s Tim Balding. On lap 14 the action heated up as 14th starting Bobby Hogge IV from Salinas and 20th starting Jason Hughes from Oklahoma, made it a three car battle for the lead. Hogge IV was able to get side by side with Balding in turn two on lap 14, but just like that Hughes got a great run in turn three to claim second from Hogge. Hughes then went after Balding and got next to him on lap 17, but a caution flag flew on lap 17 to slow the party down. With just a few laps left, Balding was able to hold off Hughes on the restart to pick up the opening preliminary main event win. Also joining Balding in the feature for Saturday night were Hughes, Hogge IV, Jessee Williamson, Jim Pettit II, Tom Weder, Stormy Scott and Brad Pounds.

Following the main event the grandstand and pit area were swept and once everyone got back in, the action was set to start for Friday evenings program. The top eight drivers from the afternoon feature didn’t have to participate in the Friday evening portion of the U.S. Western Modified Nationals, but everyone else came back to try and lock themselves into the $20,000 to win main event. The heat races on Friday night were switched to 10 laps and a one stop rule was put into affect to try and help with the time constraints since we weren’t able to start the evening portion until after 5:30. Once again however, 10 heat races were held and they were won on this night by Scott Pounds, Jay Note Boom, Bill Smith, Rich Denman, Jon DiBenedetti, Jimmy Reeves, Kellen Chadwick, Royal Jones, Robert Miller and Richie Tosh. Semi winners from the evening included Ryan Mcdaniel, Brad Coehlo, Jason Noll, Wayne Brooks and Curt Barnett.

The 20 lap prelim night two main event saw Batesville, Arkansas driver Richie Tosh lead every lap from his outside front row starting spot. Tosh was driving a modified owned by Oakland Raiders player Jeremy Newberry and he was never seriously challenged during the 20 laps of action. Some of the best racing was for the second position and it was Jay Note Boom who claimed the position after having an intense battle all race long with third place finisher Kellen Chadwick and fourth place Royal Jones. Fifth through eighth went to Paul Stone, Steve Arpin, Robert Miller and Rich Denman.

The hard chargers from the two main events held during the day were Jason Huges (20th to 2nd in race 1) and Paul Stone (18th to 5th in race 2). Each driver received $125 for their efforts courtesy of Little Darlins. The racetrack was absolutely fantastic on Friday night and many agreed it was one of the best of the season. Add that together with a very efficiently run program and it made for a great night of racing that ended well before the 11 pm state mandated curfew. ####