SAN BERNARDINO, California — Josh Whitfield did everything the hard way this weekend at Orange Show Speedway, but couldn’t complain about the results.
Sidelined for much of Friday’s practice while changing motors in his Gone Fishin’ Marine Chevrolet Camaro and unable to qualify Saturday due to more problems, Whitfield earned a spot in the 1-800LoanMart Street Stock Shootout main event by going from 18th to first in the 30-lap B main.
Then he went from 17th to first to win the richest Street Stock race in West Coast history and take home the $4,000 first-place portion of the $15,000 purse.
A 23-year-old race car fabricator from Rocklin, in Northern California, Whitfield finished 1.998 seconds ahead of OSS Super Stock champion Stevie Smith, who led the first 43 laps over the historic quarter-mile oval. Gerrit Cromsigt of Saugus was third, Jesse Lawson of Big Bear City fourth and Kyle Meyer of Highland fifth.
Smith took home $2,500, Cromsigt $1,500, Lawson $1,000 and Meyer $750, unheard of payoffs for a class that usually gets $200 or $300 for a win.
After 9-year-old Karissa Kusy of Menifee sang the National Anthem and a crowd of approximately 4,500 settled down, the final three champions of the California Speed Jams 2011 season were crowned – Brandon Loverock in Late Models, Erik Spring in Pony Stock and Danny Gutierrez in Factory Fours. But all that was just a prelude to the Shootout.
Smith, the newly-crowned OSS Super Stock champion, won the pole with a lap of 14.595 seconds at 61.665 mph to lead 16 drivers who qualified on time. He was joined by OSS regulars Meyer, Lawson, Jim and Cliff Conklin, Tom Whitson, Mark Fletchall, Steven Clark and Shaun Estes, Las Vegas Bullring Chargers class champion James Wingard and Kayli Barker, 14, of North Las Vegas, among others.
Whitfield, David Lord, Brian Maza, John Mattie, Stan Mullis and Justin Good advanced from the B main to round out the 22-car field.
Lord, of Riverside, was making his first start on pavement and driving a Chevrolet Camaro built for and still raced on dirt tracks. He was in contention in the main, too, until fading at the end and finishing 12th.
Smith started on the pole and he and Meyer ran one-two throughout the opening 25-lap segment. After a break to allow the teams to top off the fuel tanks and adjust tire pressures, Smith set the pace again until lap 43. That’s when Whitfield, who was ninth at the break, took advantage of a caution-flag restart to take the lead. And once in front, he wasn’t seriously challenged.
Loverock, of Highland, wrapped up his Late Model championship by winning for the eighth time in 10 races, with Matt Goodwin, of Wildomar, second and first-time starter Michael Self, of Salt Lake City, third.
Gutierrez, of Redlands, went into the final race trailing leader Tony Forfa III, of Redlands, by 6 points. He did what he needed to do by putting his Toyota truck in the lead on lap 19 and winning the 30-lap race. Forfa rallied after slipping to sixth and finished fourth. That left the two men tied in points, with Gutierrez claiming the title by virtue of his five victories – the final three in a row – to one for Forfa.
The only thing Spring needed to do to win the title was take the green flag in the Pony Stock main. He did that and then led briefly, made a quick pit stop and finished seventh while Jeremy Perez took the win in a race cut to 13 laps because of a 30-minute time limit.
CALIFORNIA SPEED JAMS
At Orange Show Speedway
Race Results
Saturday, October 22, 2011
STREET STOCK SHOOTOUT (65 laps) – 1. Josh Whitfield, Rocklin, Chevrolet Camaro; 2. Stevie Smith, San Bernardino, Chevrolet Nova; 3. Gerrit Cromsigt, Saugus, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 4. Jesse Lawson, Big Bear City, Camaro; 5. Kyle Meyer, Highland, Nova; 6. Cliff Conklin, Big Bear Lake, Camaro; 7. Jim Conklin, Big Bear City, Camaro; 8. Ted Reich, Riverside, Cadillac; 9. Tom Whitson, Riverside, Chevrolet Chevelle; 10. Brian Maza, Glendora, Camaro;
11. James Wingard, North Las Vegas, Camaro; 12. David Lord, Riverside, Camaro; 13. Stan Mullis, Las Vegas, Nova; 14. Justin Good, Newhall, Nova; 15. Chuck Burgess, Las Vegas, Camaro; 16. John Mattie, Highland, Nova; 17. Mark Fletchall, Riverside, Chevelle; 18. Jerry Snell, Lake Havasu City, Az.; 19. Ralph Adams, Oak Hills, Camaro; 20. Shaun Estes, Riverside, Buick Regal; 21. Kayli Barker, North Las Vegas, Camaro; 22. Steven Clark, Riverside, Monte Carlo.
Margin of victory – 1.998 seconds. Trophy Dash winner – Bishop. Fast qualifier – Smith, 14.595 seconds/61.665 mph.
STREET STOCK SHOOTOUT “B’ MAIN (top 6 to main) -- 1. Whitfield; 2. Lord; 3. Maza; 4. Mattie; 5. Mullis; 6. Good; 7. Mike McKearn, Las Vegas, Camaro; 8. Gary Dionne, Acton, Chevelle; 9. Don Oatley, Santa Clarita, Ford LTD; 10. Donny Rudd, Riverside, Chevrolet Impala;
11. John Gibbons, Big Bear Lake, Monte Carlo; 12. Ken Michaelian, Lawndale, Dodge Dart; 13. Marissa Henson, Oak Hills, Camaro; 14. Jerome Gipson, Highland, Nova; 15. Dave Vreatt, Riverside, Nova; 16. Jeff Kraft, Las Vegas, Nova; 17. Jeff Henson, Fallbrook, Camaro.
Margin of victory – 0.918 seconds.
LATE MODELS (40 laps) – 1. Brandon Loverock, Highland, Toyota Camry/Chevrolet; 2. Matt Goodwin, Wildomar, Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 3. Michael Self, Salt Lake City, Monte Carlo; 4. Jacob Bishop, Vista, Chevrolet Impala; 5. Jim Conklin, Big Bear City, Monte Carlo; 6. Frankie Gould, Woodland Hills, Monte Carlo; 7. Shawn Rizzone, Colton, Monte Carlo; 8. Dave Scheidecker, Rialto, Monte Carlo; 9. Brian Jackson, San Bernardino, Dodge Charger/Chevrolet.
Margin of victory – 2.634 seconds. Trophy Dash winner – Bishop. Fast qualifier – Loverock, 13.597/66.191. Class champion – Loverock.
PONY STOCKS (13 laps; 30-minute time limit) – 1. Jeremy Perez, Chino, Ford Pinto; 2. Adrianne Murlin, Corona, Pinto; 3. Evan McCray, Riverside, Pinto; 4. Larry McCray, Corona, Pinto; 5. Sean Spencer, Riverside, Pinto; 6. Jeff Imbriani, San Bernardino, Pinto; 7. Erik Spring, Beaumont, Pinto; 8. Spencer Samaro, San Bernardino, Pinto; 9. Jack Hughes, Beaumont, Pinto; 10. Bud Smith, Orange, Pinto;
11. Joe Fernandez, Fontana, pinto; 12. Josh Hodges, Yucaipa, Pinto; 13. Joe Van Sant, San Bernardino, Pinto; 14. Nevada Chovan, Rialto, Pinto; 15. Lucas McCray, Corona, Pinto; 16. Kevin Myrick, Tustin, Pinto; 17. Steve Patterson, Riverside, Pinto; 18. Darrell Kelsoe, San Bernardino, Pinto.
Margin of victory – 1.286 seconds. Trophy Dash winner – Patterson. Fast qualifier – Murlin, 15.026/59.900. Class champion – Spring.
FACTORY FOURS (30 laps) – 1. Danny Gutierrez, Redlands, Toyota; 2. Greg France, Claremont, Toyota; 3. Dwayne Blay, Riverside, Toyota; 4. Tony Forfa III, Redlands, BMW 318i; 5. Tommy Reed, Riverside, Toyota; 6. David Rice, Wildomar, Ford Escort; 7. Victor Garcia, San Bernardino, 8. Jeff Imbriani, San Bernardino, Ford Courier; 9. Gary McLaughlin, Garden Grove, Toyota; 10. John Long, Yorba Linda, Toyota; 11. Dan French, Claremont, Toyota; 12. Rick Hinkle, San Bernardino, Nissan.
Margin of victory – 2.360 seconds. Trophy Dash winners – Garcia. Fast qualifier – Gutierrez, 16.047/56.085. Class champion – Gutierrez.
