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Perris, Ca.....March 22.....Point
leader Greg Taylor and Arizona invader Marty Miller shared the feature wins as
the VRA unwinged 360 Sprint Cars ran a double feature format Saturday night at
Perris Auto Speedway. The first main was the only portion of a March 1st date
that was rained out that night. Taylor paced the final 6 laps of that 26 lapper
after getting the lead when Will Perkins flipped while leading on lap 20. The
race ended early when Ronnie Case flipped. Bakersfield's Tom Stansberry and
Santa Maria's Mike Knopf chased Ojai's Taylor to the $1,250 win. A top runner
with the Arizona unwinged 360 sprint car club, Miller showed his strength with a
heat race win. He then came from third starting to win the curfew shortened 20
lap feature also worth $1,250. After claiming the final transfer spot in the B
Main, Clark Templeman III came from 22nd starting to finish second ahead of Oren
Prosser Jr. For 2003, the IMCA Modifieds have been booked for the clay half-mile
for five shows and they brought an impressive 38 cars to their opener. Bob Dias
from Arroyo Grande outdueled Nevada's Ronnie Williams and Porterville car
builder Steve Smothermon for the crash shortened 18 lap feature win.
Taylor and Perkins
shared the front row of the 22 car grid for the rain makeup feature with Ronnie
Case and Knopf in row 2. Perkins was setting the pace when he flipped for a lap
20 yellow flag. Taylor then inherited the lead with a severe challenge from SCRA
sprint car star Mike Kirby. Kirby broke on lap 25 and the flip by Case on lap 26
led to an early checkered flag for the scheduled 30 lapper. Taylor won with 7th
starter Stansberry second ahead of Knopf, Rob Kershaw, 19th starting Aaron Reyer,
Mike Davis, 10th row starter Kevin Kierce, Bill Welch, Jesse Denome and rookie
Kyle Hancock. The 37 car field was then divided into the usual four heat races
to start that night's program. Knopf won heat 1 ahead of Mark Deskovick and
Chris Wakim. Taylor charged forward from 6th to capture heat 2 in front of Ryan
Devitt and Prosser. Miller outdueled Stansberry in heat 3 and veteran racer
Wally Pankratz drove the backup Kierce car to victory in heat 4 ahead of Welch
and Luis Espinoza. Perkins, Kirby and Case were unable to repair their cars from
the makeup race damage. The big half-mile action allows for a 22 car field in
the A Main and they took six transfers from the B Main to join the four
transfers each out of the heat action. Kierce won the B Main ahead of Ron
DiDonato, Jeremy Ellertson, Mike Davis, Reyer and Templeman. Knopf and Pankratz
shared the front row for this race which was shortened to 20 laps due to the
impending curfew. Miller and Taylor were in row 2 ahead of Stansberry and
Devitt. After a 22nd place finish in the makeup race, Chris Wakim's tough
night continued with a flip on lap 2 of main event. Taylor was running 2nd, but
retired with a broken tie rod end. Miller charged to this win with Templeman
putting on a clinic as he passed everyone in the field except for winner Miller.
Prosser came from 11th to place third ahead of Pankratz, 12th starter Chris
Tramel, Deskovick, 13th starter Jake Ford and 18th starting DiDonato. Reyer came
from 20th to 9th to get his second top ten of the night.
In the IMCA Modified action, Don
Pannel broke in hot laps and the heat race action ended the nights for John
Lowery, Western Region rookie of the year Jim Bonetti, John Linn, Victorville
star Bob Forster Jr and veteran Mike Corning. Usual dirt late model racer Lowery
was in the Kevin Nichols car and Bonetti skipped a race at Mohave Valley Raceway
to join the action. He was track champion there in 2002. Dias has been a regular
at several west coast race tracks as his businesses have moved him around. He
and Doug Thornton put on a very successful dirt modified special at Santa Maria
Speedway in 2002. Long tows in the field were the New Mexico duo of Royal Jones
and Holly Jones as they were in the area enjoying spring break from Holly's
college work. Both qualified for the A Main, but Las Cruces race track promoter
Royal broke his radiator and traded Holly a Los Angeles shopping spree for her
radiator to use in the A Main. Driving a brand new Dirt Works, former
Bakersfield champion Alan Updyke got tangled up with Brad Pounds and that led to
a confrontation in the pits that drew Pounds a fine. Dias won the shortened 18
lap feature after a strong duel with both Williams and Smothermon. Rich Rose
made his 2003 debut with a fourth ahead of defending Western Region champion
Mark Allison, who won a heat race. Ventura's Wes Richardson, Bill Hiney, R
Jones, Victorville champion Jimmy Barttelt and Damon Redman rounded out the top
ten finishers. Hanford star Jimmy Reeves ran 20th and Allison travelmate Joe
Farre from Las Vegas was 24th.
The VRA sprint cars do
not return to Perris until August when they have four dates while idled by the
Ventura County Fair. Next action for the IMCA Modifieds on the clay half-mile
will be May 17th.
Summary
IMCA Modified
Main-Bob Dias, Ronnie Williams,
Steve Smothermon, Rich Rose, Mark Allison, Wes Richardson, Bill Hiney, Royal
Jones, Jimmy Barttelt, Daman Redman, Charlie Armstrong, Steve Linthicum, Tom
Topping, Billy Wormsbecker, Brett Lynsky, Keith Smith, Steven McCollough, Gary
Papps, Alan Updyke, Brad Pounds, Jimmy Reeves, Don Wright Jr, Dale Underwood,
Joe Farre.
VRA Unwinged 360 Sprint Car
Makeup Main-Greg Taylor, Tom
Stansberry, Mike Knopf, Rob Kershaw, Aaron Reyer, Mike Davis, Kevin Kierce, Bill
Welch, Jessie Denome, Kyle Hancock, Jake Ford, Ron Bach, Preiss Movius, David
Sinsley, Mike Kirby, Richard McCormick, Will Perkins, Steve Chulahoff, Bill
Camarillo, Chris Tramel, Chris Wakim.
Heat 1-Knopf, Mark Deskovick, Chris Wakim, Jake Ford, Kierce.
Heat 2-Taylor, Ryan Devitt, Oren Prosser Jr, Hancock, Aaron Reyer.
Heat 3-Marty Miller, Stansberry, Chris Tramel, Denome, Ron DiDonato.
Heat 4-Wally Pankratz, Welch, Luis Espinoza, Jay Ervine, Clark Templeman
III.
B Main-Kierce, DiDonato, Jerry Ellertson, Davis, Reyer, Templeman, Rob
Kershaw.
A Main-Miller, Templeman, Prosser, Pankratz, Tramel, Deskovick, Jake Ford,
DiDonato, Reyer, Espinoza, Ellertson, Tom Stansberry, Hancock, Denome, Davis,
Kierce, Ervine, Knopf, Welch, Taylor, Wakim, Devitt.
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