InsideGroove - Race Report

BYRD CONTINUES PERFECT WEEKEND WITH DOMINATING $2,000 WIN

Bakersfield, CA -- Having won the pole position the previous night with wins in his 10 lap heat and the 20 lap qualifying main, Dave Byrd from Pacific Grove led the final 38 laps of Saturday night’s 40 lap dirt modified special for a $2,000 win at the Budweiser Western Dirt Track Nationals held at Bakersfield Speedway Park. Byrd had a $3,000 win in Watsonville the previous week and his Bob Foote owned GRT had always run strong in the Bakersfield runs, but never picked off a win here. Brian Cass from Livermore moved forward from his 5th starting spot to finish a $1,000 second while Mike Brumit used a lap 37 lap to take the $750 third spot from Antioch Speedway legend J D Willis. Bakersfield co-champion Buck Cox also got by Willis to finish fourth as Willis ran fifth.

Byrd and Antioch champion Bert Elworthy had earned the front row assignment for the rich 40 lapper with their 1-2 finish in the Friday night 20 lap qualifier. Elworthy used the favored outside starting spot to pace the first 2 laps. Byrd got underneath Elworthy in turn 3 on lap 3 to take the lead for good. Elworthy broke an axle and his night was over as Joe Antonetti and Bakersfield co-champion Steve Smothermon tangled for a yellow flag. Merced star Troy Stone lost laps with a flat tire. Willis settled into second ahead of Cass, Brumit and Jeff Decker. Matt Barrett broke for a lap 10 yellow as his transmission had exploded into the driver’s cockpit, cutting several of his fingers. Antioch rookie of the year Kellen Chadwick crashed for a lap 13 yellow flag. By lap 20, Byrd was riding 1/2 straight in front of Willis. Driving the Ken Hobson car, Billy Griffin got into the turn 1 fence and both Antonetti and Andy Obertello fell out. The busy Griffin ran the A, B and C features in the modifieds and the 100 lap late model feature. Cass got inside Willis for second on lap 25 and Antioch ace Don Shelton was eliminated in a tangle with Troy Morris Jr on lap 31. The race went 37 straight green flag laps at the end and both A J Kirkpatrick and Petaluma champion Nick Perivolaris had late race flat tires. Byrd won by a solid margin over Cass with Brumit third over Cox, Willis, Decker and Bart Reid. Kirkpatrick, Griffin and Chad Chadwick rounded out the top ten finishers.

With Chico star Dustin Jenks parked for the weekend for his Friday night actions, there were 11 transfers from the 20 lap B Main. Perivolaris was a wire to wire winner over C Chadwick. Stone took third from Merced champion Bob Williamson on lap 3. C Main winner Bobby Hogge and Eric Jacobsen were both sidelined by lap 12 and Jerry Movrich blew for a lap 12 yellow flag. Jeff Miller broke running fourth and Williamson was a late retiree as Stone finished third ahead of Reid, Antonetti, K Chadwick, Morris and Smothermon. After having flat tires in his heat and each of his practice sessions, Hogge came from the rear to win the 15 lap C Main over Jacobsen. Griffin ran third over Todd Hermasillo with Phil Torres battling back from a back wall crash on lap 4 to finish fifth ahead of Obertello. Dan Dozier crashed into the front fence riding fifth.

Summary C Main-Bobby Hogge, Eric Jacobsen, Billy Griffin, Todd Hermasillo, Phil Torres, Andy Obertello, Lee Jensen, Jerry Movrich, Larry Childress, Bill Stephens, Dan Dozier. B Main-Nick Perivolaris, Chad Chadwick, Troy Stone, Bart Reid, Joe Antonetti, Kellen Chadwick, Troy Morris Jr, Steve Smotherman, Griffin, Johnnie Baptista, Obertello, Mike Scott, Chris Tonoli, Jason Selvidge, Bob Williamson, Jeff Miller, Movrich, Hogge, Hermasillo, Jacobsen, Gary Dutton. A Main-Dave Byrd, Brian Cass, Mike Brumit, Buck Cox, J D Willis, Jeff Decker, Reid, A J Kirkpatrick, Griffin, C Chadwick, Jeremy Richey, Baptista, Perivolaris, Morris, Smotherman, Don Shelton, Obertello, Antonetti, K Chadwick, Stone, Matt Barrett, Bert Elworthy.
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