THREE FIRST TIME WINNERS AT BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY

IMCA Modifieds, Super Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and American Stocks

By: Gary Jacob and Don Low Where: Oildale, CA On: 06/21/2003

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Oildale, CA -- Charging from 8th starting to the lead in 16 laps, Gary Dutton raced to his second local feature win of 2003 in the 25 lap IMCA Modified main event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway Park. Jeff Miller battled back from an early spin to place second ahead of Mike Scott. Karl Noland Jr from Porterville didn’t get his racing season started until late May, but he raced to victory in the 25 lap super street stock main event. Lonnie Welch made a late pass around Dave Bauer to finish second and he took the track point lead in the process. Tom Klamorick also became a first time winner for 2003 as he outdueled Robby Sawyer for the 19 lap hobby stock feature win. Sawyer ran second ahead of Eric Olson. Richie McGowan saw his point lead cut to 8 points by 5th place finisher Mike Lee when he was blackflagged for spinning defending champion Bruce Johnson late in the race. Don Mead’s first career 20 lap American Stock win came in impressive fashion as he earlier won his heat race and ran second in the dash. Mead ended the night just 16 points back of point leader Mark Hogue as Hogue ran third behind Rose Tyack.

The June 21 date was a late addition to the schedule and the IMCA Modifieds had a 16 car turnout. Teenaged point leader Larry Hood won the dash ahead of fellow front row starter Miller. Rookie David Childress came from 4th to win the first heat over Miller. Steve Smothermon won heat 2 from the pole as fellow front row starter Chris Mendenhall ran second. Defending champion Rick Childress won heat 2 from fourth with last starter Alan Updyke second. Rookie Robert Sanders and J Miller shared the front row for the feature and Miller raced into a quick lead. Scott and Mendenhall both passed Sanders for the 2-3 slots on lap 2. Dutton started 8th, was fifth on lap 5 and took fourth from Brady Bell on lap 6. The red flag fell on lap 7 when L Hood and Buck Cox tangled with Cox flipping. Cox was unhurt, but done for the night and L Hood restarted in the rear after repairing his front suspension. After leading 9 laps, Miller spun to hand the top spot to Mendenhall. When the yellow dropped for an incident at the other end of the track, Mendenhall found himself being trailed by Dutton, Scott, Bell and Miller. Bell grabbed third on the lap 11 restart and Porterville car builder Smothermon spun for a lap 15 yellow flag. Dutton made an inside run at leader Mendenhall on the green flag and raced into the lead. Miller grabbed fourth from Scott on lap 19, then third place Bell spun for a lap 20 yellow flag. Driving the Ken Hobson car, Lee Jensen spun for a lap 21 yellow flag. Brad Pounds restarted in the rear after pitting. Both Miller and Scott got around Mendenhall for the 2-3 slots, but they could only chase Dutton over the remaining laps. Dutton won ahead of Miller, Scott, R Childress, Updyke, Sanders, L Hood and Mendenhall. The 17 year old L Hood holds a 9 point lead over Smothermon and a 13 point lead over R Childress. Dutton is fourth in points ahead of D Childress and Pounds.

The super street stock action drew 10 cars. Bill Little beat Welch in the dash and Keith Heaslet returned with a win in heat 1 over Lloyd Reed. Outside front row starter Bauer won heat 2 ahead of Darrell Hood. Mike Bulley was a feature scratch and outside front row starter Little paced the first two laps. Bauer took over on lap 3 as John Romero pitted. Noland Jr started 6th and was third on the first lap. Noland Jr took second on lap 6 and both D Hood and Welch got by Little for the 3-4 slots on lap 9. A smoking Terry Simpson was blackflagged and Noland Jr raced underneath Bauer for the top spot on lap 15. D Hood spun for the only yellow flag on lap 20. Welch inherited third with the D Hood spin and he took second from Bauer on lap 22. Noland Jr won ahead of Welch, Bauer, Reed, Heaslet, Little and D Hood. Welch’s point lead is 10 points over D Hood and 16 in front of Reed. Bauer is 24 points back of the point leader.

The 20 hobby stocks were divided into four heat races. Point leader McGowan won the dash from an outside front row start with B Johnson second. Heat winners were Zach Forster, Sawyer, McGowan and B Johnson. Pole starter Mike Wilson paced the first two laps of the scheduled 20 lap feature ahead of Sawyer. Fourth starter Sawyer paced lap 3, but 6th starter Klamorick took over on lap 4. Wilson pitted from second on lap 4. Chad Johnson grabbed second from Sawyer on lap 5 and flat tires sidelined both Clyde Benson and Roger Brewer on lap 8. Sawyer made an inside move to retake second from C Johnson on lap 13. Brewer returned and broke an axle to force a lap 13 yellow flag. C Johnson had dropped to fifth behind McGowan and B Johnson and he retired on the caution. Continuing to race the inside groove, Sawyer pulled alongside leader Klamorick but couldn’t pull off a pass. B Johnson took third from McGowan on lap 15, but a tap from McGowan sent him spinning on lap 17. McGowan was immediately blackflagged, but he stayed on the track to take the checkered flag in third. Klamorick won with Sawyer second. McGowan was penalized back to a 12th place finish as Eric Olson climbed to third ahead of Doug Robinson, Lee, B Johnson and Steve Cimental. McGowan saw his point lead cut to 8 points by Lee with third ranked Zach Forster falling 40 points behind the point leader. Klamorick ranks fourth, 50 points out of first.

There were 16 American Stocks and Christine Carl won the dash over Mead. Heat winners were female racers Tyack and Carl along with Mead. All three started outside front row. Tyack was also front row for the 20 lap feature and she took a quick lead over 4th starter Mead and Jessie Bowles. Bowles ran the outside groove in his duel with Mead for second and they traded the spot several times before Bowles retired on lap 9. Mead was now second ahead of Hogue and Robbie Truesdale. Newcomer Tyler Weeks hit the wall headon for a lap 10 yellow flag. Tyler Bandy gained fourth on the restart and Mead rode the inside route around Tyack for the lead on lap 12. Mead stayed out front for the final 9 laps for his first win. Tyack ran second ahead of Hogue, Bandy, Bill Johnston, Teddy Scott and Jeff Dunlap. Much of this division are rental cars with different drivers each week and Hogue’s point lead is 16 over Mead, 28 in front of Tyack.

Dash

Christine Carl, Don Mead, Jessie Bowles

Heat 1

Rose Tyack, Tyler Bandy, Teddy Scott, Jeff Dunlap

Heat 2

Carl, Mark Hogue, Bill Whaley, Bill Johnston, Tyler Weeks

Heat 3

Mead, Bowles, Robbie Truesdale, Mike Johnson, Jimmy Schmidt

Main

Mead, Tyack, Hogue, Bandy, Johnston, Scott, Dunlap, Whaley, Truesdale, Carl, Bowles, Johnson, Weeks, Schmidt, Steve McKinley

Dash

Richie McGowan, Bruce Johnson, Eric Olson

Heat 1

Zach Forster, Steve Cimental, Chad Johnson, Wes Scott, Ricky Spicer

Heat 2

Robby Sawyer, Mike Lee, Tom Klamorick, Doug Robinson, Geoff Menees

Heat 3

McGowan, Eric Cimental, Mike Wilson, Jeremiah VanScoy

Heat 4

B Johnson, Clyde Benson, Roger Brewer, Olson, David West

Main

Klamorick, Sawyer, Olson, Robinson, Lee, B Johnson, S Cimental, West, Spicer, E Cimental, Benson, McGowan, C Johnson, Brewer, Forster, Wilson, VanScoy

Dash

Bill Little, Lonnie Welch, Karl Noland Jr

Heat 1

Keith Heaslet, Lloyd Reed, Terry Simpson, Welch, John Romero

Heat 2

Dave Bauer, Darrell Hood, Noland Jr, Little, Mike Bulley

Main

Noland, Welch, Bauer, Reed, Heaslet, Little, Hood, Simpson, Romero

Dash

Larry Hood, Jeff Miller, Alan Updyke

Heat 1

David Childress, Miller, Brady Bell, Lee Jensen, Steve Smothermon

Heat 2

Gary Dutton, Chris Mendenhall, L Hood, Buck Cox, Steve Morrison

Heat 3

Rick Childress, Updyke, Mike Scott, Robert Sanders, Brad Pounds

Main

Dutton, Miller, Scott, R Childress, Updyke, Sanders, L Hood, Mendenhall, Smothermon, D Childress, Pounds, Kenneth Cleveland, Morrison, Jensen, Bell, Cox

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