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Orland, CA.....May 16.......Visitor
Sam Fries charged forward from 7th starting and paced the final 15 laps to win
the 20 lap feature for the wingless limited sprint cars Friday night as Orland
Speedway staged it's annual county fair race. The win snapped a two race win
streak for defending champion Josh Jacobo, who ran 2nd ahead of Doug Emery. In
the Pure Stock action, John Rabideau from Winnemucca, NV led 20 laps from his
pole starting position to collect the unlikely win. Rabideau had actually signed
in to race at Silver Dollar Speedway earlier only to find out that the pure
stocks were not racing due to the fair action in Orland. He asked for and
received directions on how to tow to Orland and ended up with a win at a race
that he didn't even know existed. Track title duelers John Embrey and Wes
Dinsmore chased Rabideau to the victory. In the mini stock action, 16 year old
high school sophomore Heather Bartlett drove her 1985 Ford Mustang to wins in
the dash and 20 lap feature for a third straight race. The daughter of veteran
racer Jerry Bartlett, Heather started her career at Orland because she could
race in the mini stock class at the age of 14. She was named Most Improved
Driver when she ranked third in points in 2002. Mini Modified point leader Adam
Schroer paced the final ten laps to win his third straight 15 lap main event.
Pure stock regular John Embrey got the opportunity to wheel the Chris Compton
car and finished a strong second ahead of Greg Higginbotham. Defending track
champion Mario Romano blasted from the second row into the lead on the first lap
of the 20 lap mini truck main and he was a wire to wire winner ahead of double
division racer Bruce Woodard and Phil Metz. It was also a third straight win for
Romano.
The wingless
limited sprint car class is in it's third season and visitors Fries and Scott
Pearson grew the car count to 16. Fourteen year old outlaw kart star Chris
Webber won the first heat and the dash. Rob Worthington ran second in both.
Jacobo won the second heat ahead of Dave Emery Sr and Robert Baker, but crashed
into the wall exiting the pits for the dash. The crash did major damage forcing
the Jacobo team to make repairs in time for the 20 lap feature. Dudley Burrows'
car caught fire in the heat action and he was joined as feature scratches by Pat
Bisio and Stan Hansen. The 13 surviving cars started the 20 lapper straightup
off the heat finishes. Pearson's race ended with a broken front end on the first
lap and Ed Butterfield drove over the Jerry Bartlett car forcing Bartlett to pit
with a flat tire. Webber led the opening lap, but got clipped by Worthington on
lap 2 as Jacobo raced into the lead. Worthington dropped out after spinning and
Fries raced into second on the lap 3 restart. Webber and Doug Emery traded third
and a broken front end forced Guy Bean out of the race before the final caution
fell for debris on lap 6. Fries had taken the lead from Jacobo and he was
unchallenged over those final 14 straight green laps. Fries built his lead to
1/4 lap by lap 14 and was a half-lap in front at the checkered flag. Doug Emery
took third from Webber on lap 13 and Dave Emery Sr traded fourth with Bartlett
several times. Fries won ahead of Jacobo, Doug Emery, Emery Sr, Bartlett, Webber
and Butterfield. Like Butterfield, Brian Mead, Baker and Dave Emery Jr finished
one lap down.
The pure stocks had a 17 car
turnout and Silver Dollar regular Tulara Seabourne won the first heat ahead of
Wes Smock and late arrival Rabideau. Mike Adams beat point leader Dinsmore and
Bruce Woodard in heat 2. Smock beat Dinsmore in the dash. Justin Monk and Jess
Garland were main event scratches, but Burrows hurried home and the pure stock
that he races at Silver Dollar when his sprint car caught fire. The race was 8
laps old before Burrows could get on the track. The main event had a six car
inversion off the heat results. Rabideau shared the front row with Woodard and
raced to a quick lead. Dinsmore and Smock gained the 2-3 slots on lap 3 and the
first caution came on lap 8 when Rich Chapman, Leif Berglund and Seabourne
tangled. John Kirkpatrick had to pit with a flat tire. On a lap 11 restart,
Embrey climbed into fourth behind Rabideau, Dinsmore and Smock. Smock used an
outside pass to take second from Dinsmore on lap 15 only to get out of shape
when he blew a right rear tire. Embrey was now second ahead of Woodard and M
Adams, but M Adams had to pit with a loose rear bumper. Rabideau continued to
set the pace for the win with Embrey second ahead of Dinsmore, Dave Jahn, Smock,
Woodard and Rich Chapman. Chapman hit the front wall and spun to provide an
obstacle for the cars racing to the checkered flag.
The mini modifieds
had a six car turnout and Schroer won the heat race ahead of Anthony Porter and
Embrey. Embrey won dash honors ahead of Schroer. The main event lineup was a
complete inversion of the heat finish. Embrey paced the first five laps before
hooking bumpers with the lapped car of Mike Garcia. Schroer led the final 10
laps, but Embrey was back to second by lap 8 and he provided a stiff challenge
over the closing rounds. A flat sidelined Porter while in third. At that time,
Schroer and Embrey were dueling side by side, but Embrey could never nose ahead.
They were still close at the white flag, but Embrey got out of shape in turn 2
on the last lap and settled for second ahead of Higginbotham and Porter.
The 15 car mini stock field
included several visitors from Marysville trying to snap H Bartlett's winning
streak. Marysville racers Rene Robertson and Jeff Olschowka were 1-2 in heat 1
ahead of James Barnes. Former track champion Ken Lewis beat H Bartlett in heat
2, but it was H Bartlett getting her third straight dash win ahead of Olschowka.
The main event lineup was an invert 4 off the heat action and the talented field
raced the 20 lap distance with just a single yellow flag. H Bartlett took a
quick lead over Olschowka and Robertson. Ken Reische took third from Robertson
on lap 5 and Lewis was fourth a lap later. Ben Crain spun as Brandon Dozier
raced into fifth on lap 7. With Olschowka challenging H Bartlett for the lead,
the three way duel for third saw Dozier climb into fourth on lap 14. The only
yellow came on lap 17 for a Ian Tennison spin and Doug McKenzie retired. H
Bartlett paced Olschowka and Reische for the closing rounds with Dozier giving
up 4th when he spun in the final corner trying an outside pass. Lewis ran fourth
ahead of Zac Baptiste, Dozier and Robertson.
The mini trucks have been the
staple division for the track since Paul and Carol Turner took over the track
control. They had 13 in action this night. Romano came from last to win the
first heat ahead of 2nd ranked point racer Doug Butterfield. Bruce Woodard won
heat 2 from the pole ahead of 78 year old Ed Dearing. Dearing started his racing
career just 3 years ago. Woodard won the dash ahead of Dearing. The feature
lineup was an invert 4 off the heat action and this class also ran the 20 laps
with just a single yellow flag. Romano blased from the second row to pace all 20
laps. When second place duelers Butterfield and Dearing tangled, Woodard gained
second on lap 3. A flat tire took out visitor Ryan Francis. Romano held a
quarter-lap lead when Mike Ray and Olin Crain tangled for a lap 6 caution. Metz
took fourth from Buddy Skaggs on this restart. Woodard did put constant pressure
on leader Romano with Metz into third when Butterfield got tangled up with the
lapped truck of Alex Jones on lap 14. Romano won ahead of Woodard, Metz,
Butterfield, Crain, Dearing and Skaggs with those seven on the lead lap.
Orland will go dark
on May 24 to allow racers and fans to attend the Silver Dollar Fair action and
return to their regular Saturday night slots on May 31.
Summary
Mini Trucks
Dash-Bruce Woodard, Ed Dearing, Doug Butterfield.
Heat 1-Mario Romano, Butterfield, Buddy Skaggs, Phil Metz, Alex Jones.
Heat 2-Woodard, Dearing, Mike Ray, Olin Crain, Darren Sciruer.
Main-Romano, Woodard, Metz, Butterfield, Crain, Dearing, Skaggs, Sciruer, Ray,
Robbie Mabe, Jones, Sam Jager, Ryan Francis.
Mini Stocks
Dash-Heather Bartlett, Jeff Olschowka, Rene Robertson.
Heat 1-Robertson, Olschowka, James Barnes, Larry Button, Rick Comer.
Heat 2-Ken Lewis, Bartlett, Ken Reische, Brandon Dozier, Ian Tennison.
Main-Bartlett, Olschowka, Reische, Lewis, Zac Baptiste, Dozier, Robertson, Ken
Micheli, Lee Mabe, Button, Comer, Barnes, Ben Crain, Doug McKenzie, Tennison.
Mini Modifieds
Dash-John Embrey, Adam Schroer, Greg Higginbotham.
Heat-Schroer, Anthony Porter, Embrey, Higginbotham, Mike Garcia.
Main-Schroer, Embrey, Higginbotham, Porter, Garcia, Ricky Swigart.
Pure Stocks
Dash-Wes Smock, Wes Dinsmore, Mike Adams.
Heat 1-Talura Seabourne, Smock, John Rabideau, Dave Jahn, John Embrey.
Heat 2-M Adams, Dinsmore, Bruce Woodard, John Kirkpatrick, Rich Chapman.
Main-Rabideau, Embrey, Dinsmore, Jahn, Smock, Woodard, Chapman, Brian Wammack, M
Adams, Kirkpatrick, Leif Berglund, Earl Adams, Dudley Burrows, Chris Seamon,
Seabourne, Steve Martin.
Limited Wingless Sprint Cars
Dash-Chris Webber, Rob Worthington, Dave Emery Sr.
Heat 1-Webber, Worthington, Doug Emery, Sam Fries, Jerry Bartlett.
Heat 2-Josh Jacobo, Emery Sr, Robert Baker, Stan Hansen, Ed Butterfield.
Main-Fries, Jacobo, Doug Emery, Emery Sr, Bartlett, Webber, Butterfield, Brian
Mead, Baker, Dave Emery Jr, Guy Bean, Worthington, Scott Pearson.
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