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| GREG BRAGG AND MATT DAY POST
BAKERSFIELD OPEN WHEEL WINS by Gary Jacob |
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Lightning Sprints and Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars |
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Bakersfield, CA -June 23, 2001--The 8 car inversion
of the California Lightning Sprint feature at Bakersfield Speedway
Park put division dominator Greg Bragg from Visalia on the pole and he
raced to a wire to wire win in the 15 lapper Saturday night. It gave
him four feature wins in the first 8 events on their 2001 schedule
driving for Ken Alden. David Cardey charged from 7th starting to 2nd
in three laps, but could only chase Bragg over the remainder of the
yellow flag free race. Randy Waitman finished third. With four
unwinged 360 sprint cars not residing in the Bakersfield area, the
track elected to run an event for that class on an open date in their
traveling Bandit Sprint Car schedule. Matt Day took the lead from
Anthony Pombo on lap 2 and led the remainder of the 20 lapper. Pombo
and Sherman May traded second several times before Pombo finished
there.
As usual, the California Lightning Sprint Cars filled the pit area with a 34 car turnout. They were split into four qualifying heats with the top four finishers in each advancing into their A Main. Fourth starting Brent Sexton won the first heat over front row starter Josh Williams. D Cardey came from third to win heat 2 over Jeff Stiller. Darren Hagen won heat 3 from an outside front row start with pole starter Jim Squire second. Bragg lined up 4th in heat 4 and chased outside front row starter Waitman to that win. This left a large field to race a 12 lap B Main for those final four transfer spots. Robert Szymczak led the final ten laps to win over Jon Squire, Ernie Bartley and his sister Denise Szymczak. Don Warren hit the wall hard and flipped on lap 2 and Lonnie Clabaugh was also a flip victim on lap 6. Warren had led the first two laps before his flip. Chris Swanson dropped out running third on lap 9. The A Main was scheduled for 20 laps, but the track felt that they were fighting the curfew and cut it to 15 laps when the division insisted on doing their frisbee toss prior to the green flag. They then ran the shortened race without a yellow flag. The feature inversion came up an 8, putting the four second place heat finishers in front of the four heat winners. This placed Bragg onto the pole and he raced into the lead over Stiller and Jim Squire. Stiller pitted on lap 2 with fifth starter Waitman taking over second. Seventh starting D Cardey had moved into third on lap 2 and he took over second on lap 3. B Sexton also dropped out early and Bragg was in lapped traffic in just 6 laps. He steadily increased his margin over second place S Cardey. Waitman ran a steady third ahead of Jim Squire, Tyler Brown, Williams, Hagen, Gary Sexton and Donny Gansen. The unwinged 360 sprint car action drew the four local entries from Bakersfield and Taft along with visitor Anthony Pombo. Bobby Davis Jr won the heat race from the pole over Day and Pombo. Former late model ace Rick Gifford hit the wall and flipped hard in the heat to end his night. The lineup for their 20 lap feature put Pombo and Day in the front row with May and Davis in row 2. Pombo led the first lap before Day took over on lap 2. May used an inside pass to take second from Pombo on lap 4, but Pombo used the same move on lap 14 to regain the spot. Day won over Pombo, May and Davis. Summary Lightning Sprint Heat 1-Brent Sexton, Josh Williams, Donny Gansen, George Lisenberry, Kip McCleary. Heat 2-David Cardey, Jeff Stiller, Tyler Brown, Gary Sexton, Ike Mizen. Heat 3-Darren Hagen, Jim Squire, Danny Swanson, Patrick Moroney, Don Warren. Heat 4-Randy Waitman, Greg Bragg, Wink Schweitzer, Mike Walker, Robert Szymczak. B Main-R Szymczak, Jon Squire, Ernie Bartley, Denise Szymczak, Danny Weaver, Steve Cardey, Mizen, #11X, Karl Benefiel, Chris Swanson. A Main-Bragg, D Cardey, Waitman, Jim Squire, Brown, Williams, Hagen, G Sexton, Gansen, Schweitzer, Moroney, Walker, R Szymczak, Bartley, McCleary, Jon Squire, D Szymczak, Swanson, Brown, Stiller. Unwinged 360 Sprint Car Heat-Bobby Davis Jr, Matt Day, Anthony Pombo, Sherman May, Rick Gifford. Main-Day, Anthony Pombo, May, Davis. |
