Bakersfield, Calif. --Sean Woodside of Saugus, Calif. returned to the track of his lone Featherlite Southwest Series, NASCAR Touring victory to win for the second time. Woodside beat M.K. Kanke to the finish line by .981 seconds to win the Rialto Concrete Products "125" Saturday evening that boasted a field of 45 cars.
M.K. Kanke led all qualifiers with a quick lap of 18.415/97.746 mph to record his series leading 26th career Bud Pole Award. Woodside started the race from the top spot after an eight invert put Kanke back. Woodside would lead 67 laps in route to the victory and the Gatorade Hard Charger Award. Kanke followed Woodside to the stripe, with Eddy McKean in third, Steve Belletto in fourth and Scott Brandt rounding out the top five.
Thirty cars started the 125-lap feature which saw 15 load up after the Non-Qualifiers races which was won by 1999 Rookie-of-the-Year Todd Souza, with Steve Belletto taking the final transfer spot. The race was completed in just 53 minutes and 39 seconds at an average speed of 69.897 mph, and was slowed for caution six times for 27 laps. Belletto was the top finishing Rookie and Eddy McKean assumes the series point lead after three rounds by three markers over Burney Lamar. Sean Woodside maintains third, followed by Kanke in fourth, and Joe Herold moving into the fifth position.
The Featherlite Southwest Series will take two weeks off before returning to action on the tough 1/4-mile paved oval in Stockton, Calif. April, 27, 2002. The Featherlite Southwest Series last visited Stockton 99 Speedway in 1996.
NASCAR Touring
Rialto Concrete Products "125"
Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield, Calif., April 6, 2002
125 Laps,62.5 Miles on 1/2-Mile Paved Oval, Purse: $37,720
Finishing position, starting position, driver, car, laps completed, reason out, money won.
1. (1) Sean Woodside, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $4,775;
2. (8) M.K. Kanke, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $2,425;
3. (7) Eddy McKean, Pontiac, 125, Running, $1,900;
4. (30) Steve Belletto, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $1,100;
5. (25) Scott Brandt, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $1,350;
6. (15) Burney Lamar, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $1,200;
7. (12) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $900;
8. (10) Doug McCoun, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $1,100;
9. (6) Joe Herold, Chevrolet, 125, Running, $1,150;
10. (5) Frank Maronski Jr., Chevrolet, 124, Running, $1,025;
11. (14) Greg Voight, Chevrolet, 123, Running, $700;
12. (13) Dan Holtz, Ford, 122, Running, $650;
13. (2) Nick Joanides, Chevrolet, 121, Running, $850;
14. (16) Bob Lyon, Chevrolet, 118, Running, $840;
15. (20) Jim Pettit II, Ford, 115, Running, $905;
16. (10) Mike Ledbetter, Chevrolet, 113, Running, $820;
17. (29) Todd Souza, Ford, 112, Running, $560;
18. (24) Scott Busby, Chevrolet, 110, Running, $800;
19. (17) Joe Benedetti, Chevrolet, 105, Electrical, $540;
20. (23) Adam Andretti, Chevrolet, 100, Running, $530;
21. (21) Nick Lynch, Chevrolet, 85, Running, $520;
22. (9) Brandon Whitt, Chevrolet, 81, Running, $510;
23. (4) John Baker, Chevrolet, 65, Accident, $750;
24. (28) Rocky Nash, Pontiac, 65, Accident, $450;
25. (18) Kenny Shepherd, Chevrolet, 47, Accident, $450;
26. (3) Scott Lynch, Chevrolet, 47, Accident, $450;
27. (27) Frank Deiny Jr., Chevrolet, 47, Accident, $450;
28. (11) Jon Nelson, Pontiac, 47, Accident, $700;
29. (19) Auggie Vidovich Jr., Chevrolet, 8, Accident, $950;
30. (22) Eric Holmes, Chevrolet, 6, Accident, $450;
# Rookie-of-the-Year Contenders Failed to Qualify: Milan Garrett, Sean Monroe, Brett Thompson, Butch Gilliland, Eric Schmidt, Steve Carvajal, Michael Walker, Jimmy White, Jason Allen Scott Schmidt, Greg Fowler, Danny Burson, Bob McCoun, Clint Curry, Thomas Martin
TIME OF RACE: 53 minutes, 39 seconds
AVERAGE SPEED: 69.897 mph
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .981
BUD POLE AWARD: M.K. Kanke, Community Recycling Chevrolet, 18.415/97.746 mph
GATORADE FRONT RUNNER AWARD: Sean Woodside, Walker Motorsports Chevrolet
ROOKIE-OF-THE-RACE AWARD: Steve Belletto, California Hot Woods Chevrolet
CAUTION FLAGS: Six for 27 laps (10-14, 32-33, 49-53, 61-63, 72--78, 107-110)
LAP LEADERS: Three lead changes between two drivers. Sean Woodside 1, Nick Joanides 2-57, Sean Woodside 58-125
