InsideGroove - Race Report

REBEL POINT LEADER WORTH WINS AT BAKERSFIELD

Bakersfield, CA -- Rebel Winged 360 Sprint Car point leader Tim Worth from Coalinga took full advantage of his outside front row starting spot to pace all 30 laps Saturday night as the traveling series paid it's first 2002 season visit to the Bakersfield Speedway's 1/3 mile clay oval. Worth earned the outside front row start with third fast time and his win was his third of the season. Rick Williams took over second on lap 7 and finished there with Danny Faria Jr third. Teenager Brad Pounds passed Gary Dutton on lap 22 and won the 25 lap IMCA Modified main event. Dutton ran second with rookie Sidney Payne a strong third in his first division feature start. Point leader Rick Childress protected his solid point lead with a 4th. By winning the yellow flag free 20 lap hobby stock feature from 8th starting, Bruce Johnson climbed into a tie for 2nd in the track championship fight. His fourth win leaves him just 12 points behind season point leader M'Lissa Manzella, who ran 8th. Zach Forester was second in the race ahead of Steve Cimental.

The winged 360 sprint cars brought 13 entries to the Bakersfield event and point runnerup Luke Bebereia paced time trials with his 11.523 lap. Williams ran a 11.579 and Worth was third at 11.595. Recent Santa Maria winner Mark Barroso ranked fourth at 11.741 and Lawrence Edlund had a 11.747 effort. The two heat races had invert four lineups and outside front row starter Edlund won the first heat with third starter Worth second over Bebereia. Outside front row starter Kurt Nelson won heat 2 with pole starter Kirk Sargent second ahead of second fast timer Williams. The 30 lap feature was restarted after Worth half-spun, but kept going. Andy Ferris stalled and Bebereia had to pit with a flat right rear tire. Worth led the opening lap over pole starter Barroso and Nelson with Nelson spinning for a lap 1 yellow. On lap 2, Worth led Barroso, Faria, Williams and Edlund. Williams and Edlund traded fourth before Williams also got by Faria for third on lap 5. Williams took second from Barroso on lap 7. Stan Greenberg was lapped when he spun on lap 8 without a yellow flag. Faria grabbed third from Barroso on lap 9 and Davey Key was fourth on lap 12. Barroso crashed for a lap 15 yellow and he had to be checked out by the ambulance crew. Nelson pitted with a flat tire and Erik Folger gained fifth on lap 17. Bebereia climbed into the top five on lap 19. Worth won ahead of Williams, Faria, Key, Bebereia, Edlund, Nelson, Ferris and Sargent. Tenth place Folger was the final lead lap car.

The 18 car IMCA Modified field included Route 66 Raceway regular Joe Blackmore, who elected to make the tow after scoring his best career finish the previous Saturday. Payne won the first heat from the pole with recent winner's circle dominator Jeff Miller second. Outside front row starter Troy Morris Jr won heat 2 with back row starter Pounds second. Mike Corwin won heat 3 from the pole with fourth starter Dutton second. Payne and Morris shared the front row for the feature with Mike Scott and Miller in row 2. Pounds started 10th. Morris led the first six laps. Miller was out on lap 2 with a badly smoking mount and Bryson Lynch joined him on the sidelines. Payne settled into second over Scott and Corwin. Steve Morrison spun for a lap 4 yellow. Corwin gained third on the restart and he passed Payne for 2nd on lap 6. Corwin took the lead from Morris on lap 7. Morris fell from contention on lap 8 as Payne took over 2nd ahead of Dutton and Scott. Pounds broke into the top 5. After leading through lap 10, Corwin limped to the pits and Dutton was the new leader ahead of Payne, Pounds and Scott. Pounds used an outside pass to take second from Payne on lap 18 and Pounds made his winning move around Dutton on lap 22. Pounds and Dutton ran 1-2 with Payne third over the fast closing Childress, Morris, Lee Walker, Lee Jensen and Jack Parker. Childress holds a 44 point lead on Dutton and Jensen is another six points back. Lin Deines moved into fourth, 12 points back of Jensen and three ahead of Scott. Scott was able to climb ahead of Corwin in the point standings.

The 22 hobby stocks were split into three heat races. Bruce Johnson won heat 1 from third with pole starter Jeff Barrett second. Outside front row starter Mike Lee won heat 2 with third starting Tom Klamorick second. Zach Forester won heat 3 from the pole with fourth starter Brian Puckett second. This class uses a 12 car inversion in their features and that put point leader Manzella in the sixth row with the returning Brian Johnson. Brian Puckett and Larry Hood were in row 5 with Klamorick and Bruce Johnson in row 4. Pole starter Forester led the first 12 laps. Sixth starter Steve Cimental jumped to 4th on the first lap and was second on lap 2 as Bruce Johnson quickly moved from 8th starting to third. When George Scott and John Fenton hooked bumpers, they went out the pit entrance while still hooked together to allow the caution free 20 lapper. Lee took fourth from Ross Spillman on lap 5 and Bruce Johnson was second on lap 7. Bruce Johnson grabbed the lead from Forester on lap 13. On the final lap, Brian Johnson spun and was hit by Spillman as Bruce Johnson gained the win ahead of Forester, S Cimental, Lee, Robby Sawyer, Puckett, Jeff Barrett, Manzella, Klamorick and Matt Sliter. Manzella's point is now 12 over the tied duo of Puckett and Bruce Johnson with Hood now 31 points out of the lead. Lee is fifth in points, but just 13 points ahead of S Cimental.

Summary Hobby Stock Heat 1-Bruce Johnson, Jeff Barrett, Robby Sawyer, M'Lissa Manzella, Eric Cimental. Heat 2-Mike Lee, Tom Klamorick, Ross Spillman, Larry Hood, George Scott. Heat 3-Zach Forester, Brian Puckett, Brian Johnson, Steve Cimental, Chad Henry. Main-Bruce Johnson, Forester, S Cimental, Lee, Sawyer, Puckett, Barrett, Manzella, Klamorick, Matt Sliter, Brian Johnson, Chad Huffmon, Bob Brown, Spillman, E Cimental, Chett Reeves, Hood, Henry, John Fenton, Scott. IMCA Modified Heat 1-Sidney Payne, Jeff Miller, Lee Walker, Jack Parker, Rick Childress. Heat 2-Troy Morris Jr, Brad Pounds, Lee Jensen, Steve Morrison, Lin Deines. Heat 3-Mike Corwin, Gary Dutton, Mike Scott, Darrell Hood, Bryson Lynch. Main-Pounds, Dutton, Payne, Childress, Morris, Walker, Jensen, Jack Parker, Hood, Scott, Morrison, Lin Deines, Jim Deines, Tommy Gregory, Joe Blackmore, Corwin, Miller, Lynch. Rebel Winged 360 Sprint Car Fast Time-Luke Bebereia 11.523. Heat 1-Lawrence Edlund, Tim Worth, Bebereia, Andy Ferris, Erik Folger. Heat 2-Kurt Nelson, Kirk Sargent, Rick Williams, Mark Barroso, Danny Faria Jr. Main-Worth, Williams, Faria, Davey Key, Bebereia, Edlund, Nelson, Ferris, Sargent, Folger, Jerry Pelayo, Stan Greenberg, Barroso.
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