See Also GRIFFIN AND KIRKPATRICK GET $500 HANFORD WINS 10/22/2004 SHERIDAN CONTINUES HANFORD MASTERY WITH $500 WIN 10/22/2004 FIFTEENTH TO FIRST IN 19 LAPS FOR ROBBY SAWYER 10/23/2004 BIGGEST CAREER WIN FOR YOUNG ARRON CHANEY 10/23/2004 FIRST EVER HANFORD WIN WORTH $3000 FOR STEVE DRAKE 10/23/2004

Hanford, CA --

Forced to battle from the back of the B Main after breaking an engine leading his heat race on Friday night, Gardnerville NV star Robert Miller came from 18th starting to the lead in 18 laps and won the 30 lap dirt modified feature at the Western Dirt Track Nationals at Kings Speedway on Saturday night. The win paid $2000 and Oregon star Jon DeBenedetti ran second with Kellen Chadwick third despite climbing the front fence and flipping at the checkered flag. Miller won over 30 features in 2003 when he was the IMCA Modified Western Region champion, but ran a greatly reduced schedule in 2004. He has been active every weekend in October, scoring a $2200 win at Fernley, placing second to Oregon’s Jesse Williamson at Fallon and winning the first night feature in Hawthorne last weekend before a flat on Sunday dropped him to fifth overall. Despite his long career which included a NASCAR Regional championship when he lived in San Jose, Miller had only been to Kings Speedway once previously. Merced’s Dale Ferriera provides the D&M Performance Chassis mount for Miller and they will be in Las Vegas for the Western Nationals next month. Having missed the other October races while getting married, Jason Selvidge returned to action with a 4th in his Warrior and double division racer Bobby Scott Jr ran fifth.

With their 60 car turnout, it took a D, C and B Main to complete the 22 car grid for the rich 30 lap A Main on Saturday night. Action started early in an attempt to beat approaching rain showers and Ventura female star Kathy Pierson was a wire to wire winner in the 10 lap D Main. Kings Speedway female star Claudine Contente ran second until losing the spot to Bakersfield Speedway champion Larry Hood on lap 7. Pierson beat Hood, Contente, Monty Tomlinson, Chris Tonoli and Mike Aldrich to the checkered flag. Those six transfers produced a full 22 car grid for the 10 lap C Main. Chico’s Dustin Jenks took the lead from Petaluma’s Charley Campbell on lap 3 and won with Campbell second ahead of Watsonville ace Andy Obertello, Steve Smothermon, Dale Underwood and Aaron Barnell. Pierson got into the fence on lap 1 and Hood was making moves up the field when he made heavy contact with the front wall on lap 4. Just missing the move forward were Chris Compton and IMCA Modified California State champion Garrett Steitz. The B Main had 22 heavy hitters again chasing just 6 transfer slots and Dave Byrd was a wire to wire winner after coming from 4th starting to the lead in just one lap. Steve Noack took second from Cameron Beard on lap 2, but Miller charged from 13th starting to fifth in six laps. Miller then passed both Beard and Lonnie Welch for third on lap 7 and he took second from Noack a lap later. Welch fell out and Obertello broke for a yellow flag with just one lap to run. Byrd won ahead of Miller and Noack with Brad Pounds coming through the pack for fourth over Nevada star Mark Allison and Wes Richardson. Done for the night, but just missing the move up were Beard, Ray Mayer, Barnell and Smothermon. Friday night Kings Clash winner A J Kirkpatrick had problems and finished last in the B Main.

The field was now set for the 22 car, 30 lap A Main with an 8 car inversion putting 8th heat winner Chadwick on the front row along with previous week Watsonville winner J D Willis. Both Chadwick and DeBenedetti had raced in Batesville ARK the previous weekend with DeBenedetti getting a preliminary night feature win for a second straight year at the $20,000 to win race. Chadwick took a quick lead over Willis and Ryan McDaniel. Chadwick got into the infield in turn 2 on lap 2, but a yellow flag for a spin by Pounds wiped out that lap and put Chadwick back in the lead. Previous week Hawthorne NV winner Richard Papenhausen had engine woes and was out on lap 3 as Selvidge moved up to 4th ahead of 16 year old Alex Stanford. McDaniel put his former John Logue Harris in second by passing Willis on lap 4 and Hanford point runnerup Paul Stone ended up in the infield on lap 6. A tangle between Richardson and Kurtis Moore forced a lap 7 yellow flag. Selvidge took third from Willis on lap 10 and B Main transfers Miller and Byrd had come from the 9th row to 7th and 8th behind DeBenedetti. Miller took fifth from Scott Jr on lap 12 as Hanford titlest Bryan Burnes spun. A Stanford spun and Stone stalled with a flat tire. McDaniel’s great run ended as he broke on lap 15 and Willis spun with a flat tire. Bobby Hogge also fell out as Chadwick now led Selvidge, Miller, DeBenedetti and Byrd. Miller drove underneath Selvidge for second on lap 16 and DeBenedetti was third a lap later. Byrd broke into the top four as Miller got underneath Chadwick coming off turn 4 on lap 18 for the top spot. Mark Hamblin lost a lap when he spun without a yellow flag. DeBenedetti passed travelmate Chadwick for 2nd on lap 20 and began to challenge Miller for the top spot with his Loose Gruf Chassis. Byrd’s front suspension failed and he dropped from the lead pack on lap 22 with Selvidge into 4th over Scott. Miller was working heavy lapped traffic with DeBenedetti and Chadwick both right behind when Moore spun for a final yellow flag on lap 27. With a now clear track, Miller was able to stay ahead of DeBenedetti for those final 3 rounds. Chadwick had a wild finish as he climbed the front fence just feet before the checkered flag and sent flagman Dennis Tinker scrambling. Chadwick flipped at the end of his wild ride, but emerged from his Pro Chassis without injury. Chadwick still finished third ahead of Selvidge, Scott, Noack, John Pierce, Richardson, Allison, A Stanford and Willis. Seventeen cars finished with 15 on the lead lap.

This was the final race for Kings Speedway in 2004, but track manager Dave Swindell announced that a similar show to the Western Dirt Track Nationals would open the 2005 schedule on the final weekend of February.

Summary D Main-Kathy Pierson, Larry Hood, Claudine Contente, Monty Tomlinson Jr, Chris Tonoli, Mike Aldrich, Mike Mendenhall, Joe Gonella Jr, Marvin Leist. C Main-Dustin Jenks, Charley Campbell, Andy Obertello, Steve Smothermon, Dale Underwood, Aaron Barnell, Chris Compton, Garrett Steitz, Jack Stanford, Tomlinson, Rick Karnes, William Woodbridge, Tom Topping, Tonoli, Buck Cox, Aldrich, Tommy Bottini, Contente, Pierson, Rod Fauver, Hood, Chett Reeves. B Main-Dave Byrd, Robert Miller, Steve Noack, Brad Pounds, Mark Allison, Wes Richardson, Cameron Beard, Ray Mayer, Barnell, Smothermon, Jon Schlundt, Chad Patterson, Jenks, Campbell, Underwood, Ron Dickerson, Larry Lundin, Obertello, Lonnie Welch, Mike Villaneuva, Tim Stratmeyer, A J Kirkpatrick. A Main-Miller, Jon DeBenedetti, Kellen Chadwick, Jason Selvidge, Bobby Scott Jr, Noack, John Pierce, Richardson, Allison, Alex Stanford, J D Willis, Bryan Burnes, Paul Stone, Duane Cleveland, Pounds, Lonnie Lacy Jr, Mark Hamblin, Byrd, Kurtis Moore, Bobby Hogge, Ryan McDaniel, Richard Papenhausen.

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