InsideGroove - Race Report

TWO STRAIGHT FOR JEFF MILLER AT BAKERSFIELD

Oildale, CA -- Jeff Miller made it two straight IMCA Modified 25 lap feature wins at Bakersfield Speedway Park on Saturday night after taking the lead from young Matt Barrett on lap 14. Veteran racer Buck Cox got around Barrett on lap 17 to finish second while Barrett had another strong run in the former Eric Jacobsen mount placing third. It was a night of horrors for the hobby stock class as they only managed to get 8 laps scored in their 30 minute time window. Last year’s track champion Bruce Johnson collected the win ahead of Mike Lee and Tom Klamorick. Zach Forster drove a borrowed car to 4th and closed to within four points of point leader Richie McGowan. Connected with the Mac Tools dealership that is sponsoring the track’s Super Late Model Series, Matt Peternal made it two straight wins in the 20 lap American Stock main event. He wheels one of the cars that Randall Davis rents in this division.

With several other area tracks dark for the holiday weekend, Bakersfield attracted 29 cars in the IMCA Modified division and they were divided into four qualifying heat races. Chasing the Western Region rookie of the year honors, teenaged Larry Hood won the dash from an outside front row start. He raced in Phoenix on Friday night and was towing to Northern Nevada to finish his weekend with events at Fallon and Winnemucca. Miller ran second in the dash. Brad Pounds wheeled his Xtreme Chassis to the first heat win from 4th starting as pole starter Barrett ran second. Miller won heat 2 from third starting ahead of sixth starter Rick Childress. Gary Dutton charged from sixth to win heat 3 ahead of fellow third row starter Brady Bell. L Hood also came from sixth to win heat 4 ahead of David Childress. Only the top 3 finishers in each heat advanced and they were joined by five transfers from each of two B Mains. Track point leader Steve Smothermon led every lap of the first 8 lap B Main with recent feature winner Jimmy Reeves second ahead of Jim Deines. Jason Selvidge passed Phil Cook on the final lap to win the second B Main. Steve Morrison ran third ahead of Mike Hood. The usual 12 car inversion off the point averages was used to line up the 22 car, 25 lap A Main. That put Ventura’s Joe Porche and Barrett on the front row with Miller and Cox in row 2. Barrett charged into the lead over Porche and Miller. Miller drove underneath Porche for 2nd on lap 6 and debris forced the first caution on lap 8. Cox and D Childress traded third several times with Selvidge and Morrison spinning for a lap 10 yellow flag. Point title contender Dutton dropped out. Miller pulled alongside leader Barrett on lap 13 and took the lead on lap 14. Morrison spun for a lap 15 yellow and the final caution fell on lap 21 when Mike Scott spun. Cox took second from Barrett on lap 17 and 13th starter Smothermon climbed to 4th on the same lap. Kathy Pierson returned after missing a couple races and climbed into the top five on lap 17. Miller won ahead of Cox, Barrett, Smothermon, Pierson, Selvidge, Chris Mendenhall and R Childress. Smothermon came out of the night with a 6 point lead on 9th place finisher L Hood and a 9 point lead on R Childress.

The hobby stocks had a 25 car turnout, but Forster was forced to switch to the Robert Sanders car when his broke in hot laps. Point leader Richie McGowan won the dash from the pole ahead of Devan Jones. B Johnson won his heat from 4th, outside front row starter Robby Sawyer won heat 2 and Chris Taylor repeated that feat in heat 3. Chad Johnson made it three straight outside front row start winners in heat 4. Several scratches allowed a 21 car feature without racing a B Main. Outside front row starter Mike Wilson paced the first 2 laps with Sawyer in second. The first caution fell on lap 3 when C Johnson spun with a flat tire. Sawyer had moved ahead of Wilson with B Johnson up to third. B Johnson and Wilson both passed Sawyer on lap 5 for the 1-2 slots and Wilson then tangled with Taylor for another yellow flag. Sawyer pitted from third and several tow truck efforts were eating up the minutes. Lee inherited second ahead of McGowan and Jacky Wood. Jones broke an axle for a lap 7 yellow flag and a final green flag lap was scored on lap 8 with B Johnson leading Lee, Tom Klamorick and Eric Olson. When Dave Hayder had a problem, the checkered flag was dropped early. Olson was disqualified for an illegal shock making the official finishing order B Johnson, Lee, Klamorick, Forster, Jeremy Valov, C Johnson and Kathy Irwin. McGowan ran 8th and ended with a four point lead on Forster. Lee is third in points, 18 behind the point leader.

There were 16 American Stocks and female racer Amy Hedden won the dash from the pole. Peternal was second in the dash and won his heat race from 4th as Johnny McKinnley ran second. Improving Christine Carl won heat 2 from an outside front row start. Boy friend Jesse Bowles ran second behind Carl. Hedden was involved in a first lap feature incident as Bill Whaley led the first four laps. Peternal took second from Ken Patterson on lap 3 and he took the lead from Whaley on lap 5. Carl was fifth on lap 7, but leaped to second on the next lap when second place Whaley spun. A broken axle took out point leader Mark Hogue. Newcomer Steve Weisberg took third on lap 9 and Don Mead passed early season dominator Tyler Bandy for fourth on lap 13. Weisberg broke late in the action and Peternal led Carl and Mead at the checkered flag. Bandy’s championship hopes took a blow when he drove to his pit instead of the tech pad and was disqualified from his fourth. Rose Tyack advanced to fourth and cut Hogue’s point lead to just 12 points on the night. Karen Spicer was fifth ahead of J McKinnley. Mead is third in points, ten behind Tyack.

Dash

Amy Hedden, Matt Peternal, Mark Hogue

Heat 1

M Peternal, Johnny McKinnley, Ken Patterson, Amy Hedden, Steve McKinnley

Heat 2

Christine Carl, Jesse Bowles, Tyler Bandy, Rose Tyack, Jeff Dunlap

Main

M Peternal, Carl, Don Mead, Tyack, Karen Spicer, J McKinnley, Steve Weisberg, Hogue, Bill Whaley, Patterson, Dunlap, S McKinnley, Janette Reeves, Hedden

Dash

Richie McGowan, Devan Jones, Steven Johnson

Heat 1

Bruce Johnson, McGowan, Jacky Wood, John Fenton, Lou Wolfe

Heat 2

Robby Sawyer, David West, Kathy Irwin, Steven Johnson, Eric Olson

Heat 3

Chris Taylor, Zach Forster, Tom Klamorick, Chad Huffmon, Jeremy Valov

Heat 4

Chad Johnson, Mike Wilson, Mike Lee, Jones, Eric Cimental

Main

B Johnson, Lee, Klamorick, Forster, Valov, C Johnson, Irwin, McGowan, Wolfe, Steve Cimental, E Cimental, Huffmon, Wood, Fenton, Dave Hayder, S Johnson, Jones, Sawyer, Wilson, Taylor, West

Dash

Larry Hood, Jeff Miller, Mike Scott

Heat 1

Brad Pounds, Matt Barrett, Mike Scott, Steve Smothermon, Bryan Terry

Heat 2

Jeff Miller, Rick Childress, Joe Porche, Jim Deines, Robert Sanders

Heat 3

Gary Dutton, Brady Bell, Kathy Pierson, Lin Deines, Kenneth Cleveland

Heat 4

L Hood, David Childress, Buck Cox, Phil Cook, Jason Selvidge

1st B Main

Smothermon, Jimmy Reeves, J Deines, Sanders, Chris Mendenhall, Chett Reeves, Larry Blake

2nd B Main

Selvidge, Cook, Steve Morrison, Mike Hood, Tommy Gregory, Cleveland, L Deines, Doug Thompson

A Main

Miller, Cox, Barrett, Smothermon, Pierson, Selvidge, Mendenhall, R Childress, L Hood, J Deines, Bell, Gregory, M Hood, Pounds, D Childress, Reeves, Scott, Morrison, Porche, Dutton, Cook, Sanders