MERCED, California -- Bob Williamson held off Ramie Stone for the 50 lap IMCA Modified feature victory Saturday night at Merced Speedway. The win was the third straight for Williamson in his D&M Performance Chassis, but Stone still maintained a one point lead by night's end. Andrew Krumm raced to his fifth straight Hobby Stock feature win in the special double point CCMR Food 4 Less Series 50 lap Hobby Stock feature. Rookie Raul Rodriguez Sr. earned a season best second place finish. Tim Goodson scored his second win of the season in the 20 lap California Sportsman Main Event, while Dan Holcomb won his fourth 20 lap Pure Stock feature.
The IMCA Modifieds had 16 cars, including the return of Tony Hornyak, and eight lap heat race wins went to Robert Marsh and Troy Stone. Rookie Aaron Barnell won the four lap Trophy Dash and paced the first two laps of the feature before T. Stone and R. Stone raced into the top two positions. Bob Williamson grabbed third on lap six and put the moves on R. Stone for second a lap later. T. Stone's problems continued as he fell from the lead and contention on lap 27, handing Williamson the lead as Jack Stanford took second from R. Stone. R. Stone regained second from Stanford on a lap 30 restart as Bill Saltzman worked his way into fourth. R. Stone pitted during a lap 36 caution period, but he returned for the restart as Williamson led Stanford and Saltzman. Saltzman and James Wilson shuffled Stanford out of the top three on lap 44, and the hard charging R. Stone made it back up to third on the final lap as Bob Williamson scored the impressive victory. Saltzam was disqualified in tech for illegal wheels as R. Stone ended up second ahead of Tommy Bostic, Bobby Williamson and Marsh.
Rodriguez picked up the four lap Hobby Stock Trophy Dash victory. In the Main Event, Cliff Daniels set the early pace, but Rodriguez and Lester Beavers both got by him on lap three. Daniels and Andrew Krumm were second and third on lap four, but Krumm and Syd Finn passed Beavers for second and third a lap later. Krumm raced by Rodriguez for the lead on lap 12, and Marshall Weaver moved in to challenge Finn for third, grabbing the spot on lap 22. Weaver briefly took second from Rodriguez on lap 29, but he fell out a few laps later as Rodriguez and Scott Van Gelder grabbed second and third. Andy Welch moved into third on lap 40. Krumm would stretch his point lead over Welch to nearly 100 points with the impressive victory as Rodriguez, Welch, Finn and Daniels rounded out the top five finishers.
Tim Leidich claimed four lap California Sportsman Trophy Dash honors. Brad Goodson paced five laps of the Main Event before T. Goodson gained the lead with B. Goodson's mechanical woes. Rob Schropp held second ahead of incoming point leader Kevin Freitas. A lap 17 caution flag flew for Jason Belton and Leidich. Gary Tucker moved in to challenge Freitas for third as T. Goodson continued to lead Schropp on the restart. Tucker made a last lap pass on Freitas for third as T. Goodson won ahead of Schropp, Tucker, Freitas and Leidich. After the double point race, Freitas led Schropp by just two tallies and Goodson by nine.
Aaron Widick drove his Ford to a four lap Trophy Dash victory in the Pure Stock action. Impressive rookie Shane Hausman set the early Main Event pace with Holcomb taking third from Raul Rodriguez Jr. on lap four. Widick claimed third on lap five, and the leaders lapped Lester Beavers on lap eight. Holcomb began pressuring Hausman hard down the stretch and grabbed the lead on lap 17. From there, Holcomb brought it home to the victory as Hausman, Jim Ford, Widick and Rodriguez rounded out the top five. Ford's lead over Holcomb is just 12 points as Widick is only 14 back in one of the closest point races at the track.
Four Street Stocks were on hand for a non point exhibition, and Red Williams won the four lap Trophy Dash. Williams led the Main Event that ran nine laps before second place contestants Craig Thatcher and Ramon Neilson tangled for a yellow and checkered finish. Behind winner Williams, Thatcher was credited with second ahead of Neilson and early race retiree Tim Ragsdale.
- H 1
- Robert Marsh, Steven Williams, Aaron Barnell, Ramie Stone, Garrett Steitz
- H 2
- Troy Stone, Jack Stanford, Bob Williamson, Johnnie Baptista, Mike Gillard
- DASH
- Barnell, Gillard, James Wilson
- MAIN EVENT
- Bob Williamson, R. Stone, Tommy Bostic, Bobby Williamson, Marsh, Baptista, Wilson, Stanford, Gillard, Williams, Steitz, Tony Hornyak, T. Stone, Barnell, Ray Lasswell, Bill Saltzman (DQ)
- DASH
- Raul Rodriguez Sr., Cliff Daniels, Andy Welch
- MAIN EVENT
- Andrew Krumm, Rodriguez Sr., Welch, Syd Finn, Daniels, Scott Van Gelder, Dave Parker, Lester Beavers, Garrett Steitz, Marshall Weaver, Jake Ebersole, Mark Funkhouser
- DASH
- Tim Leidich, Gary Tucker, Jason Belton
- MAIN EVENT
- Tim Goodson, Robb Schropp, Tucker, Kevin Freitas, Leidich, Brad Goodson, Belton
- DASH
- Aaron Widick, Raul Rodriguez Jr., Jim Ford
- MAIN EVENT
- Holcomb, Shane Hausman, Ford, Widick, Rodriguez, Lerster Beavers, Donald Dumm
