InsideGroove - Race Report

CLEAN SWEEP HANDS POUNDS SECOND STRAIGHT OILDALE WIN

Oildale, CA -- Eigthteen year old Brad Pounds not only backed up his win of the previous week, but did it in clean sweep fashion Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway Park. Wheeling an Xtreme Chassis produced by the company headed by father Scott Pounds and Terry Henry, B Pounds opened his night with a photo finish win in the dash, then won his heat and paced the final 22 laps to win the 25 lap IMCA Modified feature. The win climbed B Pounds into a tie for fourth in the track points as Ventura female star Kathy Pierson finished a solid second ahead of point leader Steve Smothermon. Pierson’s Dirt Works Chassis is a former Scotty Allen car that won the prestigious Harris Clash in Knoxville, IA in 2002 and was wheeled to a race win by Winston Cup star Bill Elliott later that summer. The newly formed VRA dwarf cars took their act on the road for the first time and produced 17 entries at the 1/3 mile clay oval. The Pro and Senior classes ran a combined feature with CDCRA invader Angel Figueroa driving the Dave Johns car a 20 lap win ahead of Jeff Shelton and Chuck Lippert. Jim Koch’s 7th place run paced the Senior Division.

The 27 car IMCA Modified turnout included the return of former track champion Alan Updyke with his new Dirt Works. The car is a former IMCA show car that Updyke purchased from the IMCA office. Updyke won the first heat from last starting. During this event, defending champion Rick Childress climbed the third turn fence and ended up flipping onto his top. He was unhurt and the team was able to repair the car in time to tag a B Main. Younger brother David Childress ran second behind Updyke. Chris Mendenhall beat teenager Larry Hood in heat 2 and Pounds came from 4th to win heat 3 ahead of Smothermon. The Hood team fielded three cars this night and veteran late model racer Mike Hood won heat 4 ahead of Mike Scott. Only the top 3 in each heat advanced and the top four from each of two B Mains joined them. Jeff Miller beat Jason Selvidge in the first B Main with Ventura regular Bill Waltman taking the second B Main ahead of Brady Bell and Darrell Hood. With a fifth, R Childress was first alternate and he was added to the A Main when Waltman scratched.

Five yellow flags slowed the action in the first 9 laps of their 25 lap feature, but the field then ran the final 16 rounds with just two cautions. Mendenhall paced three laps before Pounds took command. Recent hobby stock winner Robert Sanders hit the wall on lap 9 to end his race. Phil Cook took second from Mendenhall on a lap 5 restart. Visitor Dale Underwood spun out of fifth on lap 6 and Pierson raced into fourth on the restart. On lap 8, Pierson passed both Mendenhall and Cook to race into 2nd. On a lap 10 restart, D Childress and Smothermon gained the 3-4 slots. Pounds was 1/4 lap ahead of Pierson when Cook pulled off the track on lap 17. Scott blew for a lap 18 yellow and the final yellow came on lap 20 for a spin by L Hood. L Hood was restored to his spot and Buck Cox penalized to the rear for spinning L Hood out. Smothermon grabbed third from D Childress on this restart. Smothermon has been top five in all the Bakersfield events this season. Pounds won the 25 lapper ahead of the impressive Pierson, Smothermon, D Childress, Updyke, a fast closing Selvidge, 2002 super street champion Bell, L Hood and Mendenhall. With Gary Dutton an early dropout, Smothermon’s point lead is 16 over both Pierson and Dutton with Pounds and D Childress tied for fourth, five more points back.

The 10 Pro Dwarf Car entries were divided into two heat races. Shelton won the first from the pole with Lippert second. Figueroa won heat 2 from the pole as Bill Van Praag ran second. Mike Sweeney came forward from the third row to win the lone Senior heat race after Jim Kojaku spun out of the lead. Rick Denny put his new M&M in second ahead of Kojaku. The Pro entries lined up in the front of the Senior class in their combined 20 lap feature. Cindy Addison wheeled the car that she shares with Senior racer Steve Addison. Shelton grabbed a quick lead in the feature with 4th starter Figueroa into second on lap 2. Figueroa used an outside groove run to take the lead from Shelton on lap 6. Figueroa’s teammate Randy Throne took second from Shelton on lap 8. Lippert was riding in 4th ahead of VanPraag. Sweeney grabbed fifth on lap 12 and Jon Prechtl spun for a lap 15 yellow flag. Shelton retook second on this restart. On lap 17, fifth place Sweeney slipped into the infield and spun in his attempt to recover. The caution again flew on the restart when Jose Guevara crashed and Throne climbed the front fence. Throne had to restart in the rear with Figueroa leading those final 3 laps for the win ahead of Shelton, Lippert, VanPraag, Carl Behmer and Dale Gregory. The next four finishers paced the Senior class with Koch in 8th ahead of Gary Conditt, Denny and Sweeney.

A March rainout for the Super Street Stocks has been rescheduled for April 26 instead of the previously announced May 24th to avoid conflict with the California State Street Stock Championship Series. The April 26th race will headline the first Bakersfield appearance for the VRA Sprint Cars and the IMCA Modifieds will also race.

Heat 1

Jeff Shelton, Chuck Lippert, Randy Throne, Dale Gregory, Cindy Addison

Pro Heat 2

Angel Figueroa, Bill Van Praag, Carl Behmer, Mike Bradley, Jose Guevara

Senior Heat

Mike Sweeney, Rick Denny, Jim Kojaku, Gary Conditt, Jon Prechtl

Combined Main

Figueroa, Shelton, Lippert, VanPraag, Behmer, Gregory, Jim Koch, Conditt, Denny, Sweeney, Throne, Bradley, Kojaku, Prechtl, Guevara, C Addison

Dash

Brad Pounds, Rick Childress, David Childress

Heat 1

Alan Updyke, D Childress, Dale Underwood, Jeff Miller, Jason Selvidge

Heat 2

Chris Mendenhall, Larry Hood, Robert Sanders, Billy Griffin, Chett Reeves

Heat 3

Pounds, Steve Smothermon, Phil Cook, Brady Bell, Steve Morrison

Heat 3

Mike Hood, Mike Scott, Kathy Pierson, Bill Waltman, Joe Porche

1st B Main

Miller, Selvidge, Doug Thompson, Gary Dutton, R Childress, Kenneth Cleveland, Reeves

2nd B Main

Waltman, Bell, Darrell Hood, Buck Cox, Porche, Chris Tonoli, Morrison

A Main

Pounds, Pierson, Smothermon, D Childress, Updyke, Selvidge, Bell, L Hood, Mendenhall, D Hood, R Childress, Thompson, Cox, Underwood, Miller, Scott, Cook, Dutton, Sanders, M Hood