|
Albuquerque, NM....May 18........Rick Johnson passed Tom Ball on the final lap to win the NMMRA unwinged sprint car feature at Duke City Raceway Saturday night. Ball finished second and Bo Baker from Grants was third after leading the first 16 laps. Richard Johnson made it four wins in five starts as his home track with his Big Dog Chassis. A surprise visit by Alamagordo’s Lorne Wofford saw Wofford and Toby Herring trade second several times before Herring claimed the spot on the final lap. Herring is locked in a tight point race duel with Johnson at Duke City. Driving for Hal Harter, Squeaky Mendoza won the dirt late model feature over Ronnie Frazier. Ron Leathem Jr was the hobby stock winner of Jeff Whyman and the season debut for Sandy York. A huge windstorm at 5 PM produced a 30 minute brownout that hurt attendance, but the 80 race cars put on a great show for those that turned out.
The sprint cars had an 18 car turnout for their third race of 2002 on the 3/8 mile clay oval and Johnson’s win broke a two race winning streak for Joe Larkin Jr. Johnson won the first heat race over Charlie Fegan and Russell Gossett. Baker beat Ball and Larkin in heat 2. Baker led the first 16 laps of the feature before getting caught up in the lapped traffic. The rim riding Ball drove the high line around both Johnson and Ball for the top spot. Johnson got around Baker and then reeled in Ball before making his last lap wining pass. Baker was third ahead of Larkin, Steve Nix, Miles Merritt, Jeff Brumfield, Nick Rael and Regan Tafoya. In the NMMRA point listing, Larkin is 8 points ahead of Ball and 14 ahead of Johnson.
This year, the Duke City Raceway events are part of the Barnett’s Harley Davidson Series for the dirt modifieds as they have joined the El Paso and Las Cruces tracks. To be awarded a full 40 points for a win on this series, the event has to have 20 cars in attendance and the 22 car turnout allowed the race to pay the full total. Wofford was upset with some recent rulings at his home area tracks and elected to give the Albuquerque track a try for the first time since he lost a car in a July 4th flip at the track last season. Johnson won the first heat over Bobby Bachechi and Wofford’s travelmate Larry Josselyn. Andrew Frazier won heat 2 ahead of new track regular Tyrone Yazzie, an Aztec Speedway defector. Herring won heat 3 over Wofford and John Tanner. Crowd favorite Butch Reid returned for the first time since destroying his new D&M Performance Chassis on opening night. Johnson again commanded the feature with Herring winning a race long duel with Wofford for 2nd. Reid ran fourth over Tyrone Yazzie, Ford powered Bo Martinez, Michael O’Neal and California transplant Mark McClarran.
The late models are enjoying one of their best seasons at the track. There were 12 racing this week with Rick Boelter winning the first heat over Mike Ford Sr. Mendoza had a clean sweep as he won heat 2 over Robert Schorr and John Aragon. Mendoza won the main event over Ron Frazier Jr, Jim Willis, point leader Schorr and Carlos Dorcas. David Gallegos ran sixth over Andy Tanner and Aragon. The hobby stocks had nearly 30 cars and used a three heat format. S York won heat 1 over James Mickle. Shane Kapinski won heat 2 over Juan Dorcas and April Trujillo. Monte Hunter took heat 3 with Randall Trujillo second. Leathem Jr started the night second in track points and he cut into Phil York’s point lead with his win ahead of Whyman, S York, A Trujillo, two feature winner Bell, Hunter, P York, R Trujillo and Shane Kapinski.
Summary
Hobby Stocks
Heat 1-Sandy York, James Mickle, Cody Gable, Charla Robinson, John
Cruickshank.
Heat 2-Shane Kapinski, Juan Dorcas, April Trujillo, Ron Leathem Sr, Lee Abers.
Heat 3-Monte Hunter, Randall Trujillo, Steve Bonesteel, Ron Leathem Jr, Phil York.
Main-Leathem Jr, Jeff Whyman, S York, A Trujillo, Ronnie Bell, Hunter, P York, R Trujillo, S Kapinski, J R Bonesteel, Leathem Sr, Mickle, Robert Kapinski, Cruickshank, Robinson, Abers, Thomas Hayes, Dorcas, Aleta Hanna, Randy Carter, S Bonesteel, Bob Scribner, Cody Gable, Paul Clevenger.
Late Models
Heat 1-Rick Boelter, Mike Ford Sr, Brad Zellner, Kenny Wheeler, Andy Tanner.
Heat 2-Squeaky Mendoza, Robert Schorr, John Aragon, Jim Willis, Tony Martinez.
Main-Mendoza, Ron Frazier Jr, Willis, Schorr, Carlos Dorcas, David Gallegos, Tanner, Aragon, Marc Herrera, Ford, Boelter, Martinez.
Dirt Modifieds
Heat 1-Richard Johnson, Bobby Bachechi, Larry Josselyn, Bo Martinez, Eric Alwin.
Heat 2-Andrew Frazier, Tyrone Yazzie, Mark Harger, Donald Clinger, James
Hodgdon.
Heat 3-Toby Herring, Lorne Wofford, John Tanner, Butch Reid, Michael O’Neal.
Main-Johnson, Herring, Wofford, Reid, Tyrone Yazzie, Martinez, O’Neal, Mark McClarran, Harger, Clinger, Scott Lynch, Kyle Odom, Hodgdon, Alwin, Josselyn, Bill Lynch, Tim Lamm, Taylor Yazzie, Bachechi, Matt Whetstine, Frazier.
Unwinged Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Rick Johnson, Charlie Fegan, Russell Gossett, Kristy Smith, Ron King.
Heat 2-Bo Baker, Tom Ball, Joe Larkin Jr, Steve Nix, Chris Faber.
Main-Johnson, Ball, Baker, Larkin, Nix, Merritt, Jeff Brumfield, Nick Rael, Anthony Tafoya, Faber, Kelly Dennison, King, Gossett, Smith, Kevin Faber, Tim Jones,
Fegan.
|
