The grandstands were packed for the third straight weekend for
Mother’s Day weekend racing this past Saturday evening at Redwood
Acres Raceway. Unlike the previous too weekends where the weather was
sunny but extremely windy, this weather for the afternoon was sunny,
warm and with only a slight breeze in the air. Just like the first
two races this season, the drivers in the local divisions did not fail
to disappoint as the racing was close and many of the finishes hotly
contested.
For the first time since the inception of the division in 1989, the
mini stock class did not compete due to a low car count. Unless the
division gains some more competitors as the season progresses, it may
be unlikely that the minis will be racing at the Acres again. It
would be an unfortunate shame for what is the oldest running division
at Redwood Acres Raceway and at one time boasted fields of 20 or more
cars.
In real stock action, Jim Redd won the trophy dash over Nick Green,
Casey Mitchell and Shawn Craig. In the heat race, Wyatt Roach’s car
succumbed to engine problems, something that had been plaguing him all
afternoon. Mitchell won the heat ahead of Ryan Robinson, Craig, Green
and Redd. Craig put his pole position starting spot to good use as he
took the lead in the early going of the main event. Outside front row
starter, Mitchell didn’t have the same fortune as he was unable to get
his car to handle on the outside line costing him several positions.
Redd proved to be Craig’s closest competition and at one point it
looked as though Redd had the strength to challenge Craig for the
lead. However, a challenge by Mitchell for second broke Redd’s
momentum and gave Craig enough of gap to get to the checkered flag
comfortably. Redd held on for second while Green, Mitchell and
Robinson rounded out the top five.
The roadrunner division had another solid turnout with more drivers
expected to join the field in the very near future. For the third
time in three races, Raleigh Willoughby took the trophy dash win ahead
of Dax Kinsey, Nick Hansen and Bill Snow. The heat race got rough for
Dylan Cook who was using a barrowed car for the night when he made
contact in turn one. Jimmy Murray also suffered damage in the
incident as his hood popped open and covered his front vision.
Thankfully the damage to both cars was reparable. Snow took the heat
race victory over Charlie Anderson, Hansen, Kinsey and Willoughby.
The action got going from the very beginning of the main event.
Robbie Nelson and Kolby Jackson got together and spun in turn two to
bring out the caution flag. After a complete restart, Cook got
bounced around and slammed into the backstretch wall putting him out
of the race and bringing out the yellow flag again. After the
restart, Cook and Anderson came together racing for third place in
turn one sending Anderson spinning. Unfortunately, Jackson got loose
and spun into Anderson’s stopped car. Anderson was able to continue
in the event while Jackson was finished for the night.
After that incident, the field calmed down and the real racing got
going. Kinsey was able to take the lead away from Rick Crawley
bringing Hansen and Willoughby with him. These three were able to
pull away from the rest of the field to decide who would be the winner
amongst themselves. Willoughby was able to sneak under Hansen for
second on lap 10. On lap 14, Kinsey got too high in turn four
allowing Willoughby to slide under to take the lead. The two hit
coming off the corner but both drivers were able to safely recover.
Hansen was able to use lap traffic to get by Kinsey a few laps later.
Unfortunately for Hansen, he was unable to put any kind of challenge
to Willoughby for the lead and at the checkered flag it was Willoughby
winning the third of three main events on the season. Hansen crossed
second with Kinsey third, Snow fourth and Murray fifth.
Paul Peeples, Jr. found himself in familiar territory in the thunder
roadster trophy dash as he was the race’s winner over Brandon
Barnwell, Mike Ward and Tommy Payne. Barnwell took the heat race
victory over Belinda Ward, Peeples, Mike Ward and Payne. Barnwell
knew that getting to the front quickly would be a major key to getting
the victory and he did just that, maneuvering through the field to
take the lead away from Belinda Ward on lap five. By lap 8, Peeples
moved by Ward for second and set his sights on Barnwell who had a
substantial lead. The best racing of the night was between the
husband/wife, or better wife/husband duo of Belinda and Mike Ward
along with Tommy Payne. Belinda was driving her best race ever on the
night solidly holding down the third position over two faster
qualifiers.
On lap 15, Peeples finally caught Barnwell and tried to move under him
coming off turn four. Peeples came off the corner too tight however
forcing him to get sideways. In an effort to save his car, he drove
through the grass and safely back on the track, however he lost his
track position. On lap 20, Belinda Ward’s night went south when
contact from her husband Mike sent her spinning in turn one and two.
Peeples was able to close the gap in the final stages, but could only
manage to catch Barnwell’s bumper at the checkered flag. The victory
was Barnwell’s first in the thunder roadster division driving for Donn
Cole. After Peeples it was Mike Ward third and Tommy Payne in fourth.
Larry Pries took the win in the sportsman trophy dash over Mic
Moulton, Dennis DelBiaggio and Angelo Marcelli. The heat race
featured a nip and tuck duel at the line as Donnie Brown won over
DelBiaggio, Jerry Peterson, Pries and Moulton. Brown took the lead
early on in the main event until lap four when the lights in turns
three and four lost power resulting in a yellow flag. The drivers
deemed the track safe enough to continue to race despite the lack of
lighting and the race continued.
Things got close coming off the fourth turn on lap six when DelBiaggio
and Joe McDonald made contact. McDonald drove his car though the
grass and back into turn one without any further incident. Brown held
onto the lead until lap 10 when Peterson drove under to take the spot
bringing DelBiaggio and Moulton with him. With the field spread out,
DelBiaggio and Moulton both worked to try to catch Peterson. With two
laps remaining, DelBiaggio spun off turn two and into the infield.
Peterson was able to take the checkered flag without challenge over
Moulton, McDonald, Brown and Pries.
Racing at the Acres takes a much needed week off before returning
Saturday May 22nd. The Airport Auto Brokers Late Model series will be
making their first ever points-paying stop at Redwood Acres Raceway.
It is the first of three events that the series will be making at the
3/8-mile paved oval in 2010.
