InsideGroove - Race Report

FIRST FEATURE WIN FOR MIKE SCOTT

Oildale, CA -- Running the top side of the 1/3 mile clay oval after lining up 8th, Bakersfield's own Mike Scott grabbed the lead from Jason Selvidge on lap 21 and drove to his first ever feature win in the 30 lap IMCA Modified main event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway Park. Scott, who also serves as the track webmaster, moved into a new Panther Chassis in 2004 and is sponsored by Rusty's Pizza and Performance Quality Automotive. The victory climbed him into third in track points, just five behind point leader Sidney Payne and three behind former champion Rick Childress. After a midrace duel with Lloyd Reed, super street stock rookie Jeremiah VanScoy fought off the challenge of fellow rookie Robby Sawyer to win the 25 lap super street stock main event. Sawyer clipped VanScoy coming off the final corner and VanScoy ended up spinning across the finish line just ahead of Sawyer. The victory in the Keith Heaslet car moved VanScoy into second in points behind Reed, who finished third. Defending track champion Richie McGowan led the final 14 laps to win the 25 lap hobby stock main event and take over the track point lead in the process. Incoming point leader Steven Johnson was out on lap 1 and previous week winner Devan Jones had another strong run in second ahead of Billy Irwin. Jesse Bowles also got his first win of the season by leading all 20 laps of the American Stock feature. Bowles was also first to the checkered flag in the previous race only to be disqualified that night for not reporting to the tech area. I apologize for having the wrong reason for the DQ in the previous race report. James Cecil enjoyed his best run with a second ahead of second ranked Sam Henry. Point leader Johnny McKinley was fifth behind Roxie Johnson.

The IMCA Modifieds had a 19 car turnout and used a three heat format. During the week after the previous race, IMCA explained that the track has misread the rules and Brady Bell was restored to the March 21st win ahead of California State point leader Bill Saltzman. Robert Sanders won heat 1 from the pole ahead of defending track champion Larry Hood. L Hood exploded a transmission in hot laps and went home to get another car for the night's racing. Selvidge put his D&M Performance Chassis in the winner's circle for heat 2 ahead of Steve Morrison. Tom Gregory won heat 3 from the pole and point leader Payne came from last to finish second. L Hood claimed dash honors from an outside front row start with Gregory second. The 30 lap feature had to be restarted after a first lap red flag incident that damaged several cars. Starting outside front row in the 30 lap feature, Selvidge raced into the lead ahead of Mike Hood and 8th starter Scott. Payne grabbed fifth behind Chett Reeves on lap 2 and Marvin Leist spun for a lap 4 yellow flag.

Bell stalled during this yellow flag and Scott raced by M Hood for second on lap 5. Both Payne and R Childress got by Reeves on lap 8. M Hood briefly retook second from Scott on lap 12, but Scott regained the spot on the next round. R Childress got by Payne for 4th on lap 15 and Reeves spun on lap 17. Scott's high line pulled him alongside Selvidge on lap 20 and he took the lead from the Buttonwillow farmer on lap 21. Having been damaged in an early race incident, L Hood stormed back to take fourth from R Childress on lap 20. R Childress stalled for a lap 21 caution and Payne was a late race dropout. Only 7 cars were running at the checkered flag and Scott grabbed the emotional win ahead of Selvidge, M Hood, L Hood, Morrison and R Childress.

The super street stocks had a 12 car turnout with defending track champion Darrell Hood among the missing. Eddie Dale won heat 1 from an outside front row start ahead of VanScoy. Sawyer won from the pole in heat 2 as back row starter Reed ran second. VanScoy scratched from the dash which Sawyer won. Zach Forster broke a transmission in his heat and Glen Hughes joined him as a main event scratch. With a ten car lineup, the 25 lap main event was run with just a single caution flag. Ed Barrett and new track regular Wayne Heurung shared the front row with Heurung leading the first 2 laps. Sawyer and VanScoy were in row 2 and VanScoy quickly grabbed second. He took the lead from Heurung on lap 3 with Reed and Barrett into the 2-3 slots on lap 4. Sawyer raced into third on lap 7 and Karl Noland Jr grabbed fourth on lap 10. Bill Stevens spun for the only yellow flag on lap 12 with Bill Little pitting. Reed nosed ahead of VanScoy to pace lap 13, but it was VanScoy back ahead on the next round. A smoking Dale was blackflagged and Sawyer was able to take second from Reed on lap 18. Barrett pitted from fifth on lap 20. Sawyer made his bid to take the lead with an inside pass in the final corner, but drifted up into the leader and VanScoy ended up spinning across the finish line as the race winner. Sawyer ran second ahead of Reed and Noland with Heurung the final car to see the checkered flag.

The hobby stocks split 18 cars into three heat races. Steven Johnson won heat one from 4th starting ahead of Jones. Tom Klamorick turned an outside front row start into a win in heat 2 with Billy Irwin second. Bruce Johnson did the same in heat 3 as pole starter Steve McGowan ran second. Klamorick got the outside front row assignment for the dash and he won with S Johnson second ahead of B Johnson. Outside front row starter B Irwin led the first 6 laps of the 25 lap feature. Mike Wilson pitted on lap 1 and incoming point leader S Johnson was done after spinning. M'Lissa Manzella took over second on lap 2, but lost the spot with a lap 3 spin as B Johnson gained the runnerup slot. Wilson pitted on fire on lap 4 and Geoff Menees stalled for a lap 5 yellow. B Johnson was out with a broken axle to hand second to Jones. Jones nosed ahead of Irwin to lead lap 8, but Irwin was back in front on lap 8. Tenth starter R McGowan took over second on lap 9 and Rachel Paul spun for a lap 10 yellow flag. Trying an inside line challenge, R McGowan pulled alongside leader Irwin on lap 11 and he gained the top spot on lap 12. Rick Spicer used the outside half of the track to grab third on lap 16, but Jones regained that spot a lap later. Jones then took second from Irwin on lap 20 and chased winner R McGowan to the checkered flag. Irwin ran third ahead of Spicer, Klamorick, S McGowan and Lou Wolfe.

Running for purse money for the first time in 2004, the American Stocks had a solid 22 car turnout. Bowles won the first heat from third starting ahead of front row starter Mike Boyd. Wayne Dotson took heat 2 from the pole as fellow front row starter Christine Carl ran second. Point leader J McKinley came from 4th to win heat 3 ahead of last starting Mike McInnerney. Dotson had the outside front row for the dash and he won with pole starter Bowles second. Their 20 lap feature was also cleanly run with just four yellow flags. Bowles and Cecil had the front row and Bowles grabbed a quick lead over Cecil and R Johnson. Henry raced into third on lap 3 and Conrad Feliks hit the wall for a lap 5 yellow. J McKinley pitted and returned with Jackie Wood into fourth on lap 8. Boyd took advantage of a Wood flat to take over fourth on lap 10, but lost the spot to Carl on lap 11. R Johnson was back to fourth ahead of Dotson on lap 13. Carl regained fifth on lap 15, but stalled for a lap 16 yellow flag. Bowles stayed out front for the entire race to win with Cecil a race long second. Henry ran third ahead of R Johnson, J McKinley, Michelle Childress and Boyd.

The California Clash dirt late models return for their second 2004 event on the 1/3 mile clay oval on April 10. The American Stocks and CDCRA dwarf cars will be joining them and the children in attendance will enjoy a huge Easter egg hunt. Steve Drake from San Luis Obispo snapped his March bad luck streak with a California Clash $2000 win in Tulare on April 4 and will head the field next week.

Summary American Stock Dash-Wayne Dotson, Jesse Bowles, Johnny McKinley. Heat 1-Bowles, Mike Boyd, Sam Henry, Troy Morris, Mike Armitage. Heat 2-Dotson, Christine Carl, Roxie Johnson, Jackie Wood, Michelle Childress. Heat 3-J McKinley, Mike McInnerney, James Cecil, Conrad Feliks, Jason Bannister. Main-Bowles, Cecil, Henry, R Johnson, J McKinley, Childress, Boyd, Carl, Dotson, Armitage, Lisa Hudnall, Adam Watkins, Robert Swearengen, Dan Kennison, Chris Martin, Steve McKinley, Wood, Michael Johnson, Bannister, Morris, McInnerney, Feliks. Hobby Stock Dash-Tom Klamorick, Steven Johnson, Bruce Johnson. Heat 1-S Johnson, Devan Jones, Clyde Benson, Rachel Paul, Lou Wolfe. Heat 2-Klamorick, Billy Irwin, Richie McGowan, M'Lissa Manzella, Geoff Menees. Heat 3-B Johnson, Steve McGowan, Eric Olson, Billy Danner, Matt Wankum. Main-R McGowan, Jones, Irwin, Rick Spicer, Klamorick, S McGowan, Wolfe, Danner, Menees, Benson, Manzella, Paul, Wankum, B Johnson, Mike Wilson, Eric McGough, Olson, S Johnson. Super Street Stock Dash-Robby Sawyer, Lloyd Reed, Eddie Dale. Heat 1-Dale, Jeremiah VanScoy, Karl Noland Jr, Bill Stevens, John Romero. Heat 2-Sawyer, Reed, Bill Little, Wayne Heurung, Zach Forster. Main-VanScoy, Sawyer, Reed, Noland, Heurung, Ed Barrett, Dale, Romero, Little, Stevens. IMCA Modified Dash-Larry Hood, Tom Gregory, Steve Morrison. Heat 1-Robert Sanders, L Hood, Mike Hood, Mike Scott, Jeff Miller. Heat 2-Jason Selvidge, Morrison, Rick Childress, Jim Deines, Chris Mendenhall. Heat 3-Gregory, Sidney Payne, Brady Bell, Lee Jensen, Marvin Leist. Main-Scott, Selvidge, M Hood, L Hood, Morrison, Childress, Chett Reeves, Gregory, Payne, Nick Sylvester, Jim Deines, Bell, Leist, Buck Cox, Jensen, Miller, Lonnie Welch, Lin Deines, Sanders.

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