InsideGroove - Race Report

FIRST IMCA WIN FOR TROY MORRIS JR, HEASLET FIGHTS OFF SELVIDGE

Bakersfield, CA -- Jumping up to 5th place in track points, Troy Morris Jr won his first 25 lap IMCA Modified main event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway Park in a Qwik Chassis from Texas. Morris is considering moving his racing onto the pavement at Mesa Marin Raceway in 2002, but his recent dirt efforts have been improved and he passed division rookie Phil Cook on the final lap to take the 25 lap win. Cook was second over Billy Griffin, who was driving the Ken Hobson car. Running roofless like the local divisions are allowed in August, Keith Heaslet fought off a stiff challenge from Jason Selvidge to win the 25 lap super street stock feature. Taking the lead from 9th starting in 11 laps, Bruce Johnson won his 5th 20 lap hobby stock feature and ended the night just 17 points back of point leader M'Lissa Manzella and just a single point behind second ranked Brian Puckett. Manzella made another late charge to get third behind Chett Reeves in the feature. The American Stock feature finish was again altered in the tech area as three of the top five finishers were disqualified for exceeding the division's engine compression rule. Disqualified were winner Jeremiah VanScoy, fourth place Clyde Benson and fifth place Randy Schweitzer. Point leader Ricky Spicer moved into his third win and improved his point lead to 48 points over Roy DeGeer Sr. Perry VanScoy inherited second.

The 19 IMCA Modifieds were divided into three heat races. Cook won the first from the pole with third row starter Griffin second as Morris ran 4th. Impressive rookie Sidney Payne won heat 2 with point leader Rick Childress second. Outside front row starter Mike Corwin won heat 3 with Lee Walker second. The lineup for the 25 lap feature saw Cook and Payne in the front row. Both red hot Jeff Miller and Chris Tonoli were feature scratches as they broke their motors at the checkered flag of their heat actions. Cook raced itno the lead over Payne and Morris. Morris got by Payne for 2nd on lap 4 and Gary Dutton had to pit with a flat tire. Lee Walker took third from Payne on lap 11 and Bill Gates pitted after being lapped by the leader. Point leader Childress came from 9th to 5th in five laps and he gained fourth on lap 16 as both he and Griffin got by Payne. Darrell Hood spun for a yellow flag and a broken transmission sidelined Childress. Corwin hit the wall for another quick yellow flag. Payne rebounded by climbing back to 3rd on lap 19, but both Griffin and Lee Jensen got by him on lap 21. After trailing Cook from lap 4 on, Morris made his winning move on the inside on the final lap as he snatched the win from Cook. Cook was second ahead of Griffin, Jensen, Payne, Walker, Kathy Pierson, Hood and Lin Deines. Despite falling out, Childress still holds a strong 38 point lead over Jensen, who climbed past Dutton into second. Dutton is four points back of Jensen, 13 ahead of Lin Deines and 19 in front of Morris. Mike Scott fell one point back of Morris.

The 11 car super street stock turnout incluced Ed Barrett, who arrived after the heat action. Outside front row starter Lonnie Welch won the first heat over Heaslet and Raymond Noland. Karl Noland Jr won heat 2 from the pole with third starter Joe Wilson Jr second. The feature inversion came up a zero that put Welch and K Noland Jr on the front row. Welch led just one lap before defending champion K Noland Jr took over. A flat sidelined Royce Patterson early in the Marlon Scruggs car that Charles Paul drove to a Friday night Chowchilla win. Wilson traded third with Heaslet early. Heaslet grabbed second from Welch on lap 6 and he gained the lead for good on lap 8 when leader K Noland Jr pitted. Selvidge started 6th and moved the Dave Bauer car into third on lap 11. Point leader Brady Bell started 7th and broke into the top five on lap 14. Bell gained fourth on lap 19 in the yellow flag free feature. Selvidge passed R Noland for second on lap 22. Some contact just before the white flag left a broken left front suspension on the Selvidge car, but he still managed a second behind winner Heaslet. R Noland was third ahead of Bell, Wilson Jr, Bill Little and Mike Allen. Bell improved his point lead to 40 over K Noland Jr with Wilson 133 points back of the point leader.

The 24 car hobby stock turnout saw the return of Chad Johnson as he has been disappointed with his recent treatment at Route 66 Raceway. Rookie Robby Sawyer won heat 1 from fourth starting, second row starter Robert Sanders won heat 2 and Mike Lee won heat 3 over B Johnson. Jacky Wood was a feature scratch to leave 23 A Main starters. Reeves started on the pole for the feature and led the first lap over John Fenton and Sanders. Sanders spun on the next lap and was drilled hard by both C Johnson and Devan Jones. Sanders had to be transported to the hospital to check on back pains. Tom Klamorick had a flat riding third and B Johnson gained that spot. A lap 4 yellow tightened the field and B Johnson raced into second on lap 7 with teenaged Larry Hood now third over Steven Johnson. After trying an inside move on leader Reeves for many laps, B Johnson made the pass stick on lap 11. S Johnson, Manzella and Lee all got by Hood on lap 17, but Hood bounced back to finish fifth as B Johnson beat Reeves, Manzella and S Johnson. Lee finished 6th ahead of Puckett and Sawyer. Manzella ended the night with a 16 point lead on Puckett and a 17 point lead on B Johnson. Hood is only 36 points of the track point lead.

The 24 American Stocks were divided into three heat races. Richie McGowan beat Spicer in heat 1. Donnie McGowan also came from the second row to take heat 2 with Craig Houk beating fellow front row starter Mark Hogue in heat 3. The scheduled 20 lap feature was restarted after fourth starter Hogue spun and Roy DeGeer Sr restarted in the rear after pitting. The red flag fell on lap 3 as Amy Hedden slammed hard into the fence. Randy Jordan was blackflagged from the event for forcing Hedden into the fence. Steve McKinley was spun for a lap 4 yellow flag. Houk led the first four laps of the feature before Lee got by on the outside. Spicer passed both J VanScoy and Houk for second on lap 7. P VanScoy took over second on lap 9, but lost the spot to son J VanScoy a lap later. Another red flag on lap 15 saw race leader Lee blackflagged out of the event for stuffling newcomer Anthony Kellogg into the wall. The 11 o'clock curfew saw the race checkered at lap 17 and the standings got altered in tech as winner J VanScoy, fourth place Benson and fifth place Schweitzer were all found with too much engine compression. Spicer ended up with the win over P VanScoy, Roy DeGeer Jr, Mike Lipscomb and DeGeer Sr. Spicer ended the night with a 48 point lead on DeGeer Sr as Robert Smith is now 53 points back.

Bakersfield Speedway Park has a rare dark night on August 17.

Summary American Stock Heat 1-Richie McGowan, Ricky Spicer, Matt Wankum, Mike Bennett, Roy DeGeer Jr. Heat 2-Donnie McGowan, Roy DeGeer Sr, Anthony Kellogg, Clyde Benson, Pete Little. Heat 3-Craig Houk, Mark Hogue, Eric Olson, Perry VanScoy, Robert Smith. Main-Spicer, P VanScoy, DeGeer Jr, Mike Lipscomb, DeGeer Sr, Smith, Wankum, D McGowan, Bennett, Houk, Kellogg, Hogue, Little, Christy Carl, Olson, Loth, Steve McKinley, Amy Hedden, Paul Weeden. Hobby Stock Heat 1-Robby Sawyer, Chett Reeves, M'Lissa Manzella, Larry Hood, David Hayder. Heat 2-Robert Sanders, Tom Klamorick, John Fenton, Brian Puckett, Chad Johnson. Heat 3-Mike Lee, Bruce Johnson, Jeff Barrett, Steven Johnson, Jacky Wood. Main-B Johnson, Reeves, Manzella, Steven Johnson, Hood, Lee, Puckett, Sawyer, Steve Cimental, Zach Forester, George Scott, Barrett, Ross Spillman, Hayder, Lou Wolfe, Klamorick, Fenton, Roger Brewer, Devan Jones, C Johnson, Eric Farris, Eric Cimental, Sanders. Super Street Stock Heat 1-Lonnie Welch, Keith Heaslet, Raymond Noland, Brady Bell, Mike Allen. Heat 2-Karl Noland Jr, Joe Wilson Jr, Jason Selvidge, Royce Patterson, Bill Little. Main-Heaslet, Selvidge, R Noland, Bell, Wilson, Little, Allen, Welch, Patterson, K Noland Jr, Ed Barrett. IMCA Modified Heat 1-Phil Cook, Billy Griffin, Lee Jensen, Troy Morris Jr, Darrell Hood. Heat 2-Sidney Payne, Rick Childress, Jeff Miller, Lin Deines, Wes Richardson. Heat 3-Mike Corwin, Lee Walker, Chris Tonoli, Jim Deines, Kathy Pierson. Main-Morris, Cook, Griffin, Jensen, Payne, Walker, Pierson, Hood, L Deines, Richardson, J Deines, Tommy Gregory, Mike Scott, Gary Dutton, Corwin, Childress, Bill Gates.

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