SAN BERNARDINO, California — Brandon Loverock and Robby Hornsby Jr. stayed perfect Saturday night as round three of the Speed Jams 2011 racing season unfolded at Orange Show Speedway.
Loverock, of nearby Highland (Ca.), won the 40-lap Late Model main event and Hornsby, of Yucaipa (Ca.), came from 10th on the grid to win the caution-plagued, 35-lap Pony Stock feature.
It was the third win in as many races for both drivers.
The Super Late Models, on the other hand, got their third winner in as many starts after John Manke of Ramona (Ca.) inherited the lead when Matt Hicks and Rob Kiemele got together and easily held off Mark Shackleford over 50 laps of the historic quarter-mile oval.
Hicks had been the first race winner over Manke and Kiemele had won the second outing over Shackleford.
Saturday’s event was the third in six weeks for the new promoters of the ASA-sanctioned track and now they’ll have some time to catch their breath,because there are six weeks before the next race on June 18. That also should give Super Late Model driver Frankie Gould and Pony Stock driver Lucas McCray time to repair their badly-damaged cars after losing confrontations with the speedway walls.
Manke, a two-time class champion, started his Redlands Ford Ford Fusion on the pole, but lost the lead to Kiemele at the start. Kiemele continued to set the pace until Manke got inside him in Turn 1 with 22 laps to go. Hicks and Kiemele alreadyhad made contact by that point, and two laps later Hicks turned Kiemele sideways in Turn 4, costing them both any chance at a win.
Loverock started fourth and stalked pole-sitter Jim Conklin for 15 laps, then took the lead through Turn 1 with 25 laps to go and never looked back.
Hornsby started 10th due to the invert after setting fast time in qualifying, but as was the case two weeks ago his drive to the front was made easier by five yellow caution flags and one red flag stoppage of the 35-lap event and the mechanical problems that befell Kevin Meador and Adrianne Murlin, his primary challengers.
Dan French of Claremont, one of the three Factory Four drivers disqualified two weeks ago for illegal intake manifolds, came from back in the pack to overtake reigning champion Dwayne Blay with 10 laps to go and win that 35-lap main event.
Alta Loma (Ca.) resident Brent Scheidemantle overcame a second lap incident with Jared Torres, caught leader Matt Hicks midway through the 35-lap race and won eased up. Blaine Perkins, an 11-year-old from Bakersfield, won the 25-lap Bandoleros handily with a wire-to-wire performance.
| SUPER LATE MODELS (50 laps) |
|---|
| 1. John Manke, Ramona, Ford Fusion; 2. Mark Shackleford, Riverside, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 3. C.J. Evans, San Bernardino, Monte Carlo; 4. Dee Cable, Santee, Monte Carlo; 5. Rob Kiemele, Riverside, Monte Carlo; 6. Matt Hicks, Santee, Dodge Charger/Chevrolet; 7. JR Stout, Riverside, Monte Carlo; 8. Barry Kelperis, Whittier, Monte Carlo; 9. Frankie Gould, Woodland Hills, Monte Carlo; 10. Dave Scheidecker, Rialto, Monte Carlo; 11. Stephen Peace, El Cajon, Ford Fusion; 12. Gary Rodriguez, Bonita, Monte Carlo. |
| LATE MODELS (40 laps) |
| 1. Brandon Loverock, Highland, Toyota Camry/Chevrolet; 2. Jesse Lawson, Big Bear City, Chevrolet Impala; 3. Matt Goodwin, Wildomar, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 4. Jim Conklin, Big Bear City, Monte Carlo; 5. Jeremy Perez, Chino, Monte Carlo; 6. Jered King, Hesperia, Monte Carlo; 7. Stan Chatwood, Bloomington, Monte Carlo; 8. Sam Newcomer, Apple Valley, Dodge Charger/Chevrolet; 9. Shawn Rizzone, Colton, Monte Carlo; 10. Toni McCray, Highland, Monte Carlo; 11. Chase Catania, El Cajon, Monte Carlo. |
| PONY STOCKS (35 laps) |
| 1. Robby Hornsby Jr., Yucaipa, Ford Pinto; 2. Tyrone Tipton, Spring Valley, Pinto; 3. Evan McCray, Riverside, Pinto; 4. Bud Smith, Orange, Pinto; 5. Michael Reid, San Jacinto, Pinto; 6. Steve Patterson, Riverside, Pinto; 7. Nevada Chovan, Rialto, Pinto; 8. Adrianne Murlin, Corona, Pinto; 9. Kevin Meador, San Bernardino, Pinto; 10. Jack Hughes, Beaumont, Pinto; 11. Josh Hodges, Adelanto, Pinto; 12. Joe Van Sant, San Bernardino, Pinto; 13. Erik Spring, Beaumont, Pinto; 14. Lucas McCray, Corona, Pinto. |
| FACTORY FOURS (35 laps) |
| 1. Dan French, Claremont, Toyota; 2. Dwayne Blay, Riverside, Toyota; 3. Danny Gutierrez, Redlands, Toyota; 4. Tony Forfa IV, Redlands, BMW318i; 5. Tony Forfa III, Redlands, Ford Courier; 6. Tommy Reed, Riverside, Toyota; 7. Stan Youngblood, San Bernardino, Toyota; 8. Victor Garcia, San Bernardino, Toyota; 9. David Rice, Wildomar, Ford Escort; 10. Jay Verdusco, Fontana, Ford Escort; 11. John Long, Yorba Linda, Toyota; 12. Gary McLaughlin, Garden Grove, Toyota. |
| LEGENDS CARS (35 laps) |
| 1. Brent Scheidemantle, Alta Loma, ’34 Ford; 2. Matt Hicks, Lakeside, ’34 Ford; 3. Jared Torres, Perris, ’37 Chevrolet; 4. Ryan Cansdale, Laguna Beach, ’34 Ford; 5. Chancellor Tiscareno, Menifee, ’37 Chevrolet; 6. Parker Malone, Redlands, ’42 Ford. |
| BANDOLEROS (25 laps) |
| 1. Blaine Perkins, Bakersfield; 2. Mikael Lovas, Menifee; 3. Ricky Schlick, Claremont; 4. Tanner Cervantes, Hemet; 5. Case Brinksma, Claremont. |
