Redwood Acres Raceway held its 2009 banquet this past Saturday
evening. The track champions in the six local divisions were crowned
while various other awards were presented throughout the duration of
the evening. A great time was had by all and it was a nice way to
finish out an excellent year of racing on the north coast.
Kenny Demello took the championship trophy over Acres veteran, Fergy
Ferguson in the limited street stock division. Stan Young and Bill
Middleton were the only two other drivers who had scored points in the
division during the season. Craig Baker notched another mini stock
track championship on the year, however it was by a scant two points
ahead of his brother Scott. The Baker brothers were the dominant
forces in the division throughout the entire season. Brian McIntosh
took third, while Steve Smith placed fourth. Both drivers were able
to sneak main event victories away from the Bakers during the year.
Brian Murrell, Jr. maintained a solid and steady pace all season and
placed fifth in the standings. Smith took rookie of the year honors
in the class while Scott Baker won the fast time award.
After a brief hiatus away from racing at the Acres, Ryan Walters
returned to the real stock division in fine fashion as he took home
the championship. Casey Mitchell placed a solid second in points with
a main event win, his first ever and rookie of the year honors in the
division. Pat Conway was a regular front runner, taking home a main
event win early in the season and finishing third in the standings.
Defending division champion, Jim Redd had somewhat of a tough season
with several misfortunes. Redd did win a couple main events and
placed fourth in points. The duo of Ryan and Russell Robinson
finished fifth in points and were also victorious during the year.
It was most definitely a successful maiden voyage for the roadrunner
division in 2009. Charlie Anderson won the first-ever championship by
pacing himself and driving smart. Late in the season, Anderson and
his team were forced to use a completely new car after he was involved
in a wreck that wrote off the car he had been in for most of the year.
The efforts of both driver and crew definitely paid off. Kent
Campbell and Carrie Cook finished second in the points, only seven
behind Anderson. Cook drove most of the first half of the season
while Campbell took over for the second half. Dustin DelBiaggio was
third in points, five behind second place and 12 behind first.
DelBiaggio looked to be one of the stronger cars at the end of the
year. Jimmy Murray ran a consistent and smooth pace throughout the
year placing fourth in the points, while the Redwood Acres Raceway
track car was good enough to place fifth thanks to numerous drivers
who were behind the wheel during the season. Several drivers won main
events but didn’t place high in points. Nick Bundy was the man to
beat for the better part of the first half of the year, but did not
race the second half of the season. Wyatt Roach got a late start to
the year but looks to be the favorite in the division going into the
2010 season. Roach won the fast time award for the roadrunners. The
team of Bill Snow and Dylan Cook were also winners along with Oscar
Koskinen, III and Dax Kinsey.
David Henderson won his third track championship out of four seasons
in the thunder roadster division. Henderson was dominant all year
winning the most main events in the division for the year. Robert
Miller placed second in the standings and was a regular top 5
contender. The same could be said for Tommy Payne who took third in
points. Both Miller and Payne appear to be the two drivers on the
cusp of being able to upset Henderson going into 2010. Mike Ward was
fourth in the standings, while Bruce Ziemer took fifth. Henderson’s
dominance in the class was felt through the number of main event
victors. Other than Henderson, only Paul Peeples, Jr. and Randy Olson
took home main event trophies. Peeples proved to be Henderson’s equal
in the first part of the year, but unfortunately Peeples missed
several races in the mid-point which knocked him out of contention.
Olson had a late start in 2009, but still took three main event wins
in a row. Still though, it was Henderson’s year as he also took fast
time honors. Dan Browne earned rookie of the year for the division.
Dennis DelBiaggio was smooth and strong all season long in the
sportsman division. DelBiaggio was able to win several main events
and was fortunate enough to avoid major incident until the final race
of the season, taking the 2009 track title. Angelo Marcelli was able
to use the same tactics, but did not have the pace that DelBiaggio had
for most of the year. Marcelli did notch a main event win early in
the year. Jerry Peterson placed third in points and looked to be
DelBiaggio’s toughest competition. Unfortunately, Peterson lost his
primary car late in the season and though he was strong in a backup
car, he was not able to close the gap to the leader. Larry Pries
placed fourth on the year and might have been higher had he not missed
the Fair Night races due to a qualifying crash on the first night.
Brandon Barnwell was fifth on the year. Barnwell won several main
events, but did most of his racing in the last part of the season in
Donn Cole’s thunder roadster. Joe McDonald and Aaron Byers were the
only other drivers who scored main event victories in the division.
DelBiaggio won the fast time award for the class.
There were several highlights throughout the 2009 season. Two of the
most memorable involved unfortunate incidents for two roadrunner
drivers. Robbie Nelson had an unfortunate meeting with the turn two
water barrels during the year, while Raleigh Willoughby flipped while
trying to correct his car in the next to last race of the season.
Several drivers made the trek from Oregon to race at the Acres in the
limited street stock class during the Fair races. The Northern
California Pro-4 cars made three visits to the Acres with Codi Barba
winning the third event. The season finished out with a 100-lap late
model event that was won by Noel McCormack, Jr.
2010 is just around the corner and it won’t be long until racing at
the Acres returns for yet another season.
2009 Final Points Standings
Limited Street Stocks
Track Record: Trevor Miller 17.143
Kenny Demello 398, Fergy Ferguson 390, Stan Young 331, Bill Middleton 109
Mini Stocks
Track Record: Craig Baker 18.597
Craig Baker 973, Scott Baker 971, Brian McIntosh 919, Steve Smith 778,
Brian Murrell, Jr. 687, Len Bowman/Jesse Chown 565, Brian Murrell, Sr.
272, Norm Carmichael 143, Nick Karanopoulos 117, Mike Weekly 111,
Denzil Barrett 59
Real Stocks
Track Record: Shawn Craig 18.763
Ryan Walters 1009, Casey Mitchell 937, Pat Conway 896, Jim Redd 856,
Ryan/Russell Robinson 752, Nick Green 624, Dustin Walters 596, Roger
Linn, Jr. 526, Doug Way 301, Don Hyman 217, Ray Middleton 123, Bob
Lima 111, Jim Bailey 11
Roadrunners
Track Record: Wyatt Roach 21.634
Charlie Anderson 825, Kent Campbell/Carrie Cook 818, Dustin DelBiaggio
813, Jimmy Murray 796, Track Car 725, Nick Bundy 579, Wyatt Roach 571,
Bill Snow/Dylan Cook 454, Raleigh Willoughby 432, Oscar Koskinen III
391, Eric Rice/Rick Crawley 374, Aaron Sandifer 341, Eric Mendes 236,
Robbie Nelson 175, Nick Hansen 129, Dax Kinsey 119, Landon Newell 49
THUNDER ROADSTERS
Track Record: Paul Peeples, Jr. 16.839
David Henderson 938, Robert Miller 836, Thomas Payne 825, Mike Ward
742, Bruce Ziemer 675, Paul Peeples, Jr. 644, Rob Nelson 599, Chris
Sarvinski 590, Belinda Ward 572, Jay Bahner 551, Dan Browne 522, Mark
Arroyo 500, Jim Rich 474, Brandon Barnwell 333, Dave McMurray 312,
Randy Olson 250, Shane Toole 203, Mic Moulton 191, Chris Banfill 141,
Ray Elliott 98, Donn Cole 59, Gerhy Foster 54, Mark Baldwin 48, Doug
Pulver 43, Al Olson 38, Bill Bradbury 19, Rick Crawley, Jr. 12
Sportsman
Track Record: Shawn Andrews 15.794
Dennis DelBiaggio 927, Angelo Marcelli 852, Jerry Peterson 815, Larry
Pries 780, Brandon Barnwell 444, Joe McDonald 392, Frank Billy, Jr.
328, Lissa Uselton 311, Aaron Byers 297, Shawn Craig 271, Kenny
Demello 263, Kavin Conn 230, Ken Hallis 158, Al Acuna 149, Jim Walker
134, Rick Fox 14.
