EL CAJON, California -- Things didn't come easily for John Manke at Cajon Speedway Saturday night. But still the Ramona racer was able to pick up his fourth NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge main event on the 3/8 mile paved oval.
After having clutch problems earlier in the night, Manke battled side-by-side with Bob Wickey for several rounds before taking over the number one spot late in the 40-lap affair. Manke was just a length in front of Jeff Seifert when the checkered flag was thrown. Wickey was another length back in third. Rounding out the top five were Don Kerr and Danny Gay. Gay, the current point leader, had his woes as well. He had to step into his dad's car for the feature after breaking the motor in his Dodge Intrepid during the heat race.
Hector Leon outran the pony stock field for the second week in a row. Pat Garity prevailed in the bomber stocks. And in the best race of the night, no make that the year, Brian Collins ran side-by-side with Rick Hagen for 17 of the 25 laps in the street stock contest before he was able to pull out front and collect the victory. It marked Collins' first true triumph and one he will be telling his grandchildren about many, many years from now (he is only 24 years-old). Collins was awarded a win last year when another driver was disqualified.
The epic battle between Collins and Hagen was one to remember. The duo started on the front row. Hagen gained the early advantage but Collins pulled alongside on lap five. From that point until lap 22, they ran door-to-door. Collins would gain a slight advantage on the straights while Hagen would pull back up in the turns. The two never touched. In fact Collins never ran Hagen up the track entering the turns nor did Hagen try to pinch Collins down. Adding to the excitement, the event ran non-stop. Dave Arce had the best seat in the house for the battle up front. He was right behind them the whole way. After Collins finally gained a full car length lead on Hagen on exiting turn two on the 22nd circuit, Hagen's car went away just enough to allow Arce to take over second and have his best run ever. Hagen held on for third ahead of fast qualifier Eric Ferguson and rookie Kenny Hall.
"We were battling," a very happy Collins said nonchalantly after the race. "We were able to pull out with it. Rick got me at the start. He crowded me a little. So he got ahead. And then I said I want this one too bad. We're too far up here. The car was hooked up at that point. We had some problems earlier - a plug wire. We fixed that after qualifying."
"We never touched," Collins went on. "But right before the race, he pushed up a little and hit me. Then he got the jump on me (at the start). But we came back. It was awesome. What was happening (in the turns) was that he was able to get on the gas sooner. I was able to go in a little bit deeper, I think. I just kept after it. I think we both wanted it so badly. It just came down to who wanted it more and that's where we were."
Leon outgunned the pony stock field after starting tenth in the 20-lap main event. He made mincemeat of the field during the early going. Sticking in the low groove, Leon worked his way to the front of the pack in nine laps. Once in front he ran away from the field and was nearly a quarter lap ahead of runner-up Chris Vaughn when the only yellow flag of the contest was displayed. On the restart Leon pulled away again and was ten lengths in front of Marty Schmidt when the checkered flag was thrown. Vaughn held on for third, his best finish to date. Polesitter Tim Beeney and Mike Weimann rounded out the top five. Following the race, the officials tore down the motors of the top four in points (Hale, Victor Clark, Leon, and Schmidt) plus the top four in the race (add in Vaughn and Beeney). Both Schmidt and Vaughn ended up disqualified. For Vaughn it was extremely unfortunate. He ended up with the best finish of his short career. But he is a one-man operation and had neither the tools nor the help to respond to the teardown. The officials understood his situation, but unfortunately had to disqualify him. Schmidt was found to have non-conforming valves in his engine and was also disqualified. That made the finish Leon, Beeney, Weimann, Pete Franke, and Dan Brown.
Ala Collins and Hagen, Claude Bell and Bob Wickey battled tooth and nail for much of the sportsman feature. But their tussle came to a quick conclusion when Bell looped it in turn three on 28. That left former street and bomber stocker Wickey gunning for his first sportsman victory. But Manke made a move late in the contest. He slipped under the leader on lap 35. But it took him three rounds to make his way past. To make the pass Manke had to run Wickey up the track entering the turns. When Wickey finally lost the advantage, he slipped a bit and Seifert was able to motor past into second.
"Mike (my crew chief) told me we are at the point (in the points race) where we can't gamble," Manke explained about his problems earlier in the night. "We ripped the tranny out. To get our transmission out, we have to do some fancy footwork. We put new clutch discs in it and just barely made it for the heat race. My crew thrashed."
"We had a fairly good start (in the main event)," Manke recounted. "Then Wickey and Bell got kind of dicing. I thought Wickey was going to get by him so I was playing middle of the road. All of a sudden Bob got kinda loose and they both kinds switched. I just sleeping a bit in one of the corners and Kerr got in there and ran me up into the weeds. You have to do that (sometimes). But I was watching Kerr and he was getting a little looser and a little looser. My car usually comes in a little bit. We got back by him (on lap 21)."
"I thought we were done in third right there. Wickey was rockin tonight. He was good. He was getting after Bell. And Bell was pretty good. Then whatever happened Bell spun . Then I knew or I thought we had him. But Bob was running well. With five or six to go I was pushing the car harder. I was wearing the brakes out a little bit and they did fade a little bit. I nudged him a tick. But it was time to go at that point."
In stark contrast to the other three features that were very clean, the bombers extended their 20-lapper to nearly 40 minutes. But even old Father Time couldn't keep Pat Garity out of victory lane for the third time this year. Chris Boyer led until his car expired on lap 14. Garity was in hot pursuit by this point and took over the lead when "the Destroyer" pitted. But a couple of late race yellow flags opened the door for Greg McCown. McCown actually moved under "The Professor" following a lap 17 restart and appeared ready to inch past. Another wreck in turn one of the final round gave McCown one final shot at his first career victory. But Garity used his smarts and pulled ahead on the restart. McCown ended up second, the best run of his career. Point leader Mark Holland was third ahead of Chuck Nevin and Rodney Shaw.
PIT NOTES: The night started on a very sad note. Shawn McPheron, who suffered serious head injuries after a vehicle accident in April, died Saturday. To honor him and his memory, fellow street stock competitor Rich Green ran a couple of memorial Polish victory laps prior to the first race of the night. RIP Shawn. Your friends at Cajon Speedway will miss you. . At Orange Show Speedway Saturday night Gary Tamborelli finished first and second in twin main events to widen his point lead in his chase for a second straight championship on the quarter mile San Bernardino track.
RESULTS FOR THE NASCAR WEEKLY RACING SERIES PRESENTED BY DODGE
Fast Time - Danny Gay, Lakeside; Time - :16.533.
1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Bob Wickey, Spring Valley; 2. Claude Bell, El Cajon; 3. Rex Murray, El Cajon; Time - 2:16.65.
2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. John Manke, Ramona; 2. Jeff Seifert, Jamul; 3. Danny Gay, Lakeside; Time - 4:12.62.
Main (40 laps) - 1. John Manke, Ramona; 2. Jeff Seifert, Jamul; 3. Bob Wickey, Spring Valley; 4. Don Kerr, Alpine; 5. Danny Gay, Lakeside; 6. Stephen Peace, El Cajon; 7. Claude Bell, El Cajon; 8. Bill Parenteau Jr., Santee; 9. Dee Cable, Santee; 10. Rick Chavez, Lakeside; 11. Rex Murray, El Cajon;
Time - 15:32.62.
Fast Time - Eric Ferguson, El Cajon; Time - :17.796.
1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Rick Hagen, Alpine; 2. Brian Collins, Oceanside; 3. Ivan Harrison, Santee; Time - 2:37.12.
2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. Rob Freeman, Santee; 2. Neil Rodvold, Lakeside; 3. Todd Phelps, El Cajon; Time - 2:34.34.
Main (25 laps) - 1. Brian Collins, Oceanside; 2. Dave Arce, Santee; 3. Rick Hagen, Alpine; 4. Eric Ferguson, El Cajon; 5. Kenny Hall, Lakeside; 6. Rob Freeman, Santee; 7. Richard Hinze, Lakeside; 8. Scott Holmberg, San Diego; 9. Todd Phelps, El Cajon; 10. Eric Seene, Santee; 11. Neil Rodvold, Lakeside; 12. Gordon Anderson, Lem Grv; 13. Josh Green, San Diego; 14. Rich Green Jr., El Cajon; 15. Scott Moses, Chula Vista; 16. Ivan Harrison, Santee;
Time - 7:39.00.
Fast Time - Hector Leon, Santee; Time - :18.556.
Dash (4 laps) - 1. Ed Hale, El Cajon; 2. Hector Leon, Santee; 3. Victor Clark, Lakeside; 4. Mike Weimann, Temecula; Time - 1:14.65.
1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Tim Beeney, Escondido; 2. Dan Brown, El Cajon; 3. Chad Harmon, San Clemente; Time - 2:34.93.
2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. Ed Hale, El Cajon; 2. Hector Leon, Santee; 3. Marty Schmidt, El Cajon; Time - 2:31.53.
Semi (10 laps) - 1. Scott Morris, Alpine; 2. Carole Schacher, San Diego; 3. David Pardo, Encinitas; Time - 3:20.90.
Main (20 laps) - 1. Hector Leon, Santee; 2. Tim Beeney, Escondido; 3. Mike Weimann, Temecula; 4. Pete Franke, Lakeside; 5. Dan Brown, El Cajon; 6. Victor Clark, Lakeside; 7. Chad Harmon, San Clemente; 8. Trevor Maynard, El Cajon; 9. John Swink, Lakeside; 10. Andre McKay, San Diego; 11. Debi Urioste, Poway; 12. Marvin Chappell, El Cajon; 13. Carole Schacher, San Diego; 14. Scott Morris, Alpine; 15. Steve Warne, Chula Vista; 16. Thomas Winter, La Jolla; 17. Ed Hale, El Cajon; 18. George Behlman, Santee; 19. David Pardo, Encinitas; 20. Chris Polkinghorn, El Cajon;
Time - 12:37.37.
Fast Time - Pat Garity, El Cajon; Time - :19.955.
1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Thomas Osborne, San Diego; 2. Scott Denton, Fallbrook; 3. Chris Boyer, San Diego; Time - 5:41.18.
2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. Greg McCown, El Cajon; 2. Charles Nevin, El Cajon; 3. Mark Holland, San Diego; Time - 2:42.21. Semi (10 laps) - 1. Allen Basile, Poway; 2. Bill Holland, El Cajon; 3. Gary Lamb, El Cajon; Time - 9:08.75.
Main (20 laps) - 1. Pat Garity, El Cajon; 2. Greg McCown, El Cajon; 3. Mark Holland, San Diego; 4. Charles Nevin, El Cajon; 5. Rodney Shaw, El Cajon; 6. Mike Johnson, Spring Valley; 7. Bob Blew, Santee; 8. Joey Schneider, Escondido; 9. Leonard Manos, El Cajon; 10. Gary Lamb, El Cajon; 11. Darrell Moore, El Cajon; 12. Alex McKay, Olivenhain; 13. Bill Holland, El Cajon; 14. Marv Evans, National City; 15. Allen Basile, Poway; 16. John Aganowski, National City; 17. Mark Wendell, Santee; 18. Chris Boyer, San Diego; 19. Marty Lehrke, San Diego; 20. Thomas Osborne, San Diego; 21. Scott Denton, Fallbrook; 22. Hayden Smith, San Diego;
Time - 38:08.21.
Eric Decker, Chula Vista and Drew Homan, El Cajon
2902
