InsideGroove - Race Report

TWO STRAIGHT WINS FOR BRAD POUNDS

Oildale, CA --

Taking just 11 laps to race into the lead from sixth starting, teenager Brad Pounds won his second straight 25 lap IMCA Modified feature race Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. With his five wins, Pounds is slowly creeping back into track title contention as he stands 34 points back of teenaged rookie point leader Larry Hood and 22 points back of second place Rick Childress. Mike Hood finished 2nd and Chris Mendenhall had a career best third. A wild finish to the 20 lap hobby stock feature saw teenager Robby Sawyer taking the lead from Chad Johnson in the final corner to win. After taking the checkered flag, Sawyer broke an axle in turn 1. It was Sawyer's third win while C Johnson got a flat running over debris after leading from lap 7. C Johnson did cross the line second ahead of Tom Klamorick. American Stock point leader Mark Hogue enjoyed a clean sweep with wins in the dash, heat and 20 lap feature race. In just his third appearance, Eric Jones ran second ahead of Jesse Bowles. Bowles leaped from fourth to the lead on lap 1 and paced the field through the white flag. The VRA Dwarf Cars appeared with six Pro entries and 8 Senior Entries. They ran a combined feature and Pro winner Jeff Shelton passed Senior winner Mike Sweeney on the final lap of their 20 lapper to take overall honors. Pro racer Mike Bradley was third ahead of Senior competitor Gary Conditt.

The IMCA Modifieds had a 24 car turnout that included Merced Speedway title contender Bob Williamson Sr. Upset with a call at the end of the July 4 feature, Williamson Sr elected to tow south to Bakersfield rather than race at his hometown track. Former Ascot Park champion Ron Meyer came out of retirement to sub for Billy Griffin in the Ken Hobson car, but it broke in hot laps. Outside front row starter R Childress won the dash over Buck Cox. Pole starter Brady Bell won heat 1 over sixth starter L Hood. M Hood came from third to win heat 2 over defending champion R Childress. Pounds had a perfect night as he came from 4th to win heat 3 over sixth starter Mike Corwin, who filled in for the absent Robert Sanders. Kenneth Cleveland and David Childress had a fierce heat race crash and point chasing rookie D Childress borrowed the Jimmy Goldsmith car for the main event. The feature lined up 21 cars and outside front row starter Jeff Miller took a quick lead over Pounds and Bell. M Hood took fourth from brother Darrell Hood on lap 8 and Pounds took the lead from Miller on lap 11. Super Street Stock ace Darrell Hood broke for a lap 12 yellow. A string of cautions saw Bell spin and visitor Randy Gens spin. Track title hopeful Steve Smothermon had to pit and both R Childress and Williamson returned from flat tire pit stops in time to tag the field with Smothermon. M Hood was now second with Gary Dutton and Mendenhall trading fourth. On fire, second place Miller was blackflagged from the race and Smothermon broke for the final yellow flag on lap 20. Pounds led M Hood and Mendenhall over the final 7 laps for the win. Dutton ran fourth ahead of newcomer Cory Turner, Corwin, Mike Scott, L Hood and visitor Jack Parker. L Hood's point lead is 12 over R Childress, 16 in front of Smothermon, 24 ahead of Dutton and 34 in front of Pounds. Scott did move around D Childress for sixth.

There were 18 entries in the hobby stocks. Point leader Richie McGowan won the dash ahead of Eric Olson and Sawyer. Second ranked point racer Mike Lee broke an engine in the dash. They hurried off to the Robert Sanders' shop to get his car for the rest of the night. The spare car arrived in time to run third in heat 1 won by outside front row starter Sawyer ahead of Jeremiah VanScoy. C Johnson won heat 2 from 4th starting and Clyde Benson was second. Olson came from fifth to win heat 3 over pole starter David Hayder. Rookie Geoff Menees was on the pole for the 16 car main with both Roger Brewer and Ricky Ward scratching. Menees led the first 6 laps. Coming off a strong Chowchilla race on Thursday night, VanScoy spun for a lap 1 yellow. Sawyer gained second on lap 2, but lost the spot to Johnson on lap 5. Johnson took the lead from Menees on lap 7 and Sawyer was second on lap 8 ahead of Klamorick and Mike Wilson. Billy Irwin spun with a broken axle and Menees pitted along with Olson and Lee. Zach Forster gained fourth on lap 9 and C Johnson appeared headed to his second win of 2003 when he ran over debris and blew a rear tire tire. Sawyer raced by the limping Johnson for the win only to break his own axle in turn 1 after the checkered flag. Johnson salvaged second ahead of Klamorick, Forster, VanScoy, McGowan, David West and Wilson. McGowan improved his point lead to 20 over Lee and 38 ahead of Forster. Klamorick is 52 points back in fourth and fifth ranked Bruce Johnson was absent after a fierce Chowchilla wreck on Thursday.

The 17 American Stocks were divided into three heat races. Hogue beat Don Mead in the dash. Hogue won heat 1 from outside front row and Jones won heat 2 from the pole. Third starter Mead won heat 3. With the scratches of Steve McKinley and Robbie Truesdale, their 20 lap feature had 15 starters. Fourth starter Bowles leaped into the lead on the opening lap. Both Bowles and teammate Christine Carl had raced in Santa Maria the previous weekend. Jones settled into second over Mead. Hogue started 5th and was fourth on lap 4. Both Hogue and Rose Tyack passed Mead for the 3-4 slots on lap 16 and Alan Reeves caught fire after crashing hard into the fence on lap 17. Hogue raced by Jones for second on lap 19 and took the lead from Bowles on the final lap. Jones also got by Bowles to finish second. Mead settled for fourth ahead of Tyack, Mike Johnson, Randy Duncan and Garrett Jernagen. This was Hogue's third win and his point lead is 22 over Mead, 36 in front of Tyack. Bowles has climbed into fourth in points, 12 ahead of teammate Carl.

The VRA Dwarf Cars split their 8 Seniors into two heats with the six Pros raced in a single heat race. Conditt won heat 1 for the Seniors from the back row and Sweeney broke on the pace lap for heat 2 with Rick Denny from Taft winning. Outside front row starter Shelton won the Pro heat ahead of Carl Behmer and Mike Bradley. The decision to combine the classes into one feature cost a couple starters as two of the cars have shared drivers. Missing out on racing in the 20 lap feature were 80 year old Senior Ed McBride and Steve Addison. The Seniors were placed in front of the Pros for the feature grid and Jim Kojaku paced the first 3 laps before Pro Behmer took over. Bradley took second from Kojaku on lap 5, but lost the spot to Sweeney on lap 7. Sweeney raced around Behmer for the lead on lap 8 and Shelton was buried in third behind Bradley. The 20 lapper was run without a caution flag and both Bradley and Shelton passed Behmer on lap 11 for the 2-3 spots. Shelton took second from Bradley on lap 12 and Behmer briefly retook third. On the final lap, Shelton was able to make his winning drive around Sweeney for overall honors, but Sweeney still paced the Senior division in second. Bradley was third ahead of Conditt, Behmer, heat race scratch Ken Lippert, Denny, Glen Monk and Jon Prechtl.

The track announced that the July 12 MAC Tools Super Late Model race will pay a special $2000 to win purse.

Summary Senior Dwarf Heat 1-Gary Conditt, Glen Monk, Jon Prechtl, Ed McBride. Heat 2-Rick Denny, Jim Kojaku, Steve Addison. Pro Dwarf Heat-Jeff Shelton, Carl Behmer, Mike Bradley, Mark McElroy, Cindy Addison. Main-Shelton, Mike Sweeney, Bradley, Conditt, Behmer, Ken Lippert, Denny, Monk, Prechtl, Kojaku, John Lynch, McElroy, C Addison. American Stock Dash-Mark Hogue, Don Mead, Bill Whaley. Heat 1-Hogue, Doug Thornhill, Conrad Feliks, Garrett Jernagen, Steve McKinley. Heat 2-Eric Jones, Jesse Bowles, Tyler Bandy, Rose Tyack, Mike Johnson. Heat 3-Mead, Whaley, Alan Reeves, Randy Duncan, Christine Carl. Main-Hogue, Jones, Bowles, Mead, Tyack, Johnson, Duncan, Jernagen, Carl, Jack Renshaw, Feliks, Reeves, Thornhill, Whaley, Bandy. Hobby Stock Dash-Richie McGowan, Eric Olson, Robby Sawyer. Heat 1-Sawyer, Jeremiah VanScoy, Mike Lee, Tom Klamorick, Billy Irwin. Heat 2-Chad Johnson, Clyde Benson, McGowan, Geoff Menees, Zach Forster. Heat 3-Olson, David Hayder, David West, Eric Cimental, Roger Brewer. Main-Sawyer, Johnson, Klamorick, Forster, VanScoy, McGowan, West, Mike Wilson, Steve Cimental, Menees, Hayder, Olson, Lee, Benson, Irwin, E Cimental. IMCA Modified Dash-Rick Childress, Buck Cox, Brad Pounds. Heat 1-Brady Bell, Larry Hood, Chris Mendenhall, Gary Dutton, Mike Scott. Heat 2-Mike Hood, R Childress, Cory Turner, Jeff Miller, Bob Williamson Sr. Heat 3-Pounds, Mike Corwin, Steve Smothermon, Darrell Hood, Cox. Main-Pounds, M Hood, Mendenhall, Dutton, Turner, Corwin, Scott, L Hood, Jack Parker, R Childress, Williamson Sr, Bell, Marvin Leist, David Childress, Cox, Steve Morrison, Smothermon, Miller, Tommy Gregory, Randy Gens, D Hood.

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