MERCED, California — There’s only been one winner in the two-year history of the DIRTcar West Coast Nationals - Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas. He’s won the event at two tracks on two consecutive nights, two years in a row to collect $3,500 four times and the $1,000 bonus twice.
"Alex (Stanford) missed the bottom in that turn and I knew it would be my only chance to get around him"— Bobby Hogge IV
The record was set Sunday night, as Hogge IV lined up against Chowchilla’s Alex Stanford. On the first lap, third turn, Hogge IV passed Stanford and led all 35 laps of the non-stop event.
“Alex (Stanford) missed the bottom in that turn and I knew it would be my only chance to get around him,” Hogge IV explained. “He wouldn’t do that twice.”
Stanford put the pressure on Hogge IV, almost catching him in the final laps of the race.
“I needed lapped traffic to catch Bobby (Hogge IV),” explained Stanford. “But I didn’t need the traffic to hold me back when I got there. I never guessed it would have gone straight through. We could have used a caution.”
Hogge IV’s feat is a rarity in racing - there were more than 50 different cars and drivers from as far away as New Mexico and the Midwest, considered the best in their field. Hogge IV outraced them all on his home turf in California.
“Every year I think I don’t know if I could win. The competition is getting better,” Hogge explained. “I enjoy being the carrot, but sooner or later a carrot can get moldy. Thanks mainly to my dad’s expertise benefiting me, we continue to win.”
Hogge III, a standout driver in his own right, is now in the background, tightening every nut and bolt and making sure his son’s car is set up to win.
The West Coast Nationals saw cars go through 14 heat races and 3 “B” Main events at Antioch Speedway and 10 heat races and 2 “B” Main events at Merced Speedway. “A” Main Events then took place at both venues. Hogge IV emerged on top both times.
Third went to Santa Maria’s Danny Lauer, with Jeff Taylor of Cave City, Arkansas and Chris Shanon of Merced rounding out the top ten.
| Merced Dirt Modifieds |
|---|
| Round 1 Heat 1 1. 29 Mike Salazar 2. 14P Ryan Porter 3. 99 Kenny Neu 4. 16B Randy Brown 5. 15 Bill Egleston 6. 9 Jimmy Ray 7. 3 Dereck Colvin Round 1 Heat 2 1. 84 Robbie Jeppesen 2. 32 Chris Shannon 3. 198 Robbie Sawyer 4. 20 Cody Burke 5. 13 Vance Beltran 6. 11X Tom Berry Jr 7. 7W Sean Wilson Round 1 Heat 3 1.2 Danny Lauer 2. 2H Bobby Hogge IV 3. 09 Mitch Enos 4. 7 Kellen Chadwick 5. 77 Chris Norris 6. 4 Justin O’Brien 7. 81 Kevin Pendergrass Round 1 Heat 4 1. 62 Jeremy Newberry 2. 3X Dickie Gorham |
