InsideGroove - Race Report

RICK WARD CHASING NATIONAL TITLE WITH SIXTH WIN AT CANYON

Lake Pleasant, AZ --

Taking advantage of the busy Arizona IMCA Modified schedule, Rick Ward is chasing both the Western Region and National championships in 2001. He already has made 33 starts and his 20 lap win at Canyon Raceway Saturday night was his 6th of the 2001 season. Ward wheels a Pro Chassis and he was chased to his latest win by Joe Warner. The Mini Sprint 600 and Modified Midget 250 classes again raced together and Justin Fisher won the 600 action with Ron Copley on top in the 250's. The new Bomber division ran a double feature format to make up for a recent rainout. Charles Kimbrell and John Rogers shared the $100 wins. Mark Dryer led from lap 3 to win the yellow flag free mini stock feature.

There were 29 IMCA Modifieds and heat wins went to Marvin Hart, Jason Kerekanich, Jeff Stafford and Brian Combs. Bub Bullis took B Main honors. The 24 car, 20 lap feature had two yellow flags and two red flags. Greg Ambrose raced into the lead. Rob Miller and Darin Center tangled for a lap 3 yellow flag. The first red flag on lap 6 saw Joe Parmeley hit Hart, who crashed into Combs. With nowhere to go, Mark Fowler slammed into Combs. Parmeley was disqualified and will be suspended from the track. Jason Noll took over on the restart and he was leading when the second red flag fell on lap 9. This time, Parmeley spun and tried to race across the track, collecting six other cars. Before a green lap could be counted, Ambrose, Darren Williams and Bill Slocum tangled. Ward got by Noll at the midway mark for the lead and the final 10 laps were run without another slowdown. Ward won ahead of Warner, Stafford, Dan Klinder, Noll, Jason Kerekanich, John Walter and Darin Center.

The modified midget-mini sprint combined action was the first feature run on the night and they went their 20 lap distance without a yellow flag. Copley had won the dash with heat wins going to Trey Deane and Brian Hacker. Derek McCluskey led the first lap in the feature only to be passed by Fisher. The faster cars ran in lapped traffic from lap 4 on. Fisher won the mini sprint 600 portion ahead of McCluskey and Deane. The modified midget 250 portion had a new winner as Copley triumphed over Greg Cox and Rick Evans.

The main for the bombers from the rain out was run before the heat action. Point leader Kimbrell took an early lead over Joe Vigliotte. At the halfway mark, John Rogers took second from Vigliotte, but couldn't chase down winner Kimbrell. Vigliotte was third over Jerry Jordahl and Ty Warner. Vigliotte and Scott Atwater won heat races. 16 cars started the second main event of the night and Rogers took an early lead over Ben Shepherd and Jordahl. Warner stalled for a yellow flag and Jordahl was able to take second from Shepherd. Rogers won the feature over Jordah and Vigliotte took over the point lead with his third place run. Warner was fourth ahead of John Bullock.

Jay Pate won the heat race for the mini stocks. Brandon Jackson led the first two laps of their main event before Dryer took over. Dryer won over Gene Povinelli, Jackson, Gary Hadler and Russ Clark.

Summary Mini Stock Heat-Jay Pate. Main-Mark Dryer, Gene Povinelli, Brandon Jackson, Gary Hadler, Russ Clark. Bomber Heat 1-Joe Vigliotte. Heat 2-Scott Atwater. 1st Main-Charles Kimbrell, John Rogers, Vigliotte, Jerry Jordahl, Ty Warner. 2nd Main-Rogers, Jordahl, Vigliotte, Warner, John Bullock. Modified Midget Dash-Ron Copley. Heat 1-Trey Deane. Heat 2-Brain Hacker. Mini Sprint 600 Main-Justin Fisher, Derek McCluskey, Deane. Modified Midget Main-Copley, Greg Cox, Rick Evans. IMCA Modified Heat 1-Marvin Hart. Heat 2-Jason Kerekanich. Heat 3-Jeff Stafford. Heat 4-Brian Combs. B Main-Bub Bullis. A Main-Rick Ward, Joe Warner, Stafford, Dan Klinder, Jason Noll, Kerekanich, John Walter, Darin Center, Chris Huneycutt, Eric Center, Lance Salo, Hart, Greg Ambrose, Stu Moffett, Robert Paquette, Rob Miller, Combs, Darren Williams, Brian Bullis, Bub Bullis, Bill Slocum, Tim Palmer, Mark Fowler.

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