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Oildale, CA....August 21......With
the VRA unwinged 360 sprint cars invading Bakersfield Speedway Park's 1/3 mile
clay oval, runaway series point leader Tom Stansberry got the opportunity to
showcase his talent to his hometown fans. Stansberry didn't disappoint as he won
his heat race from an outside front row start and took just three laps to get to
the front in the 30 lap feature from fourth starting. It was Stansberry's second
$1000 win of 2004 and third starting Chris Wakim ran a $750 second for the final
19 laps. Fourth ranked Steve Conrad came from sixth to finish a $500 third ahead
of 15th starter Kevin Kierce. While it was only Stansberry's second win, he has
9 top 3's and 13 top fives in the 16 completed races in 2004. Scott Hansen
returned after a lengthy absence to wheel a Greg Edenholm team car to a victory
in the 25 lap NMRA TQ Midget feature. Outside front row starter S Hansen took
the lead from pole starter Walt Johnson on lap 2 and led Johnson and Dennis Hart
at the checkered flag. The VRA dwarf cars combined the Pro and Senior divisions
for their 20 lap feature. Senior racer Bill VanPraag gained the lead on lap 9
and led the remaining 12 laps for the win. On laps 17 and 18, he traded the lead
with Senior point leader Mike Sweeney each lap but was always in front as the
lap finished. Sweeney spun in turn 4 and VanPraag got the win over Pro point
leader Jeff Shelton and Senior racer Ed Niedzwiecki. It was VanPraag's second
appearance with the VRA group in 2004.
The VRA
unwinged sprint cars broke a 24 car turnout and the track was set to start
everyone in the 30 lap feature. Tom Hendricks hit the wall hard and flipped in
hot laps. He was unhurt, but his car was destroyed. Bakersfield's own Rick
Gifford broke in his heat and joined Hendricks as a feature scratch. Pole
starter Wakim won the first heat over Ron Wade and Chris Tramel. Ageless Mike
Knopf also won heat 2 from the pole with fourth starting Danny Ebberts second
over Mike Broome, a dwarf car graduate like Stansberry. Stansberry got the heat
3 win from an outside front row start with Conrad second over Ryan Devitt. The
front of the 22 car feature grid for the 30 lapper put Ebberts on the pole ahead
of Knopf, Wakim, Stansberry, Wade and Conrad. Ebberts paced the first two laps
with Stansberry quickly into second. Conrad took third from Knopf on lap 2 and
Ron Bach stalled for a lap 3 yellow flag with Stansberry now leading over
Ebberts, Conrad and Wakim. Wade traded fifth with Knopf as Wakim worked his way
into third on lap 6. Spins by John Nock and Jeremy Ellertson produced yellow
flags on laps 10-11 and Wakim took second on lap 12 as Ebberts fell back to
fifth behind Conrad and Kierce. Point runnerup Rob Kershaw took fifth from
Ebberts on lap 13 and Ellertson spun again with a broken front end for the final
yellow flag on lap 14. The top five stayed unchanged for those final 16 laps.
Kershaw made an inside run at Kierce on lap 21 and Wakim tried the high line in
his challenge of leader Stansberry on lap 23. Neither could pull off a pass and
Stansberry raced to the win over Wakim, Conrad, Kierce, 14th starter Kershaw and
22nd starting Luis Espinoza. Ebberts was 7th ahead of Devitt, Blake Miller and
Mike Whitcomb. Stansberry enjoys a big 1920 point lead over Kershaw with Conrad
another 640 points back in third. Wakim is fourth ahead of Bill Welch and Kierce.
The NMRA TQ Midgets
had a 14 car turnout, but Rob Hansen lost an engine in hot laps. Outside front
row starter Todd Hunsaker won heat 1 over Kenny Wiley and Hart. Jody Bandfield
also turned an outside front row start into a win in heat 2 over S Hansen and
Johnson. Johnson, S Hansen, Wiley, West Evans, Hunsaker and Chuck West made up
the front three rows for the 25 lap feature. The field ran 18 laps before the
first caution. Johnson led lap 1, but it was S Hansen in front on lap 2.
Hunsaker settled into third over point leader Steve Lambert. Hart took fifth
from Wiley on lap 5 and the 8th starter raced into fourth on lap 9. With an
outside run, Hart took third from Hunsaker on lap 13. Evans stalled for a lap 18
yellow and spins by Bruce Hiroshima and Michael Bliffen forced a pair of yellow
flags on lap 19. A second spin by Hiroshima forced a lap 23 yellow and S Hansen
stayed out front for the win over Johnson, Hart, Hunsaker, Lambert, Bandfield,
West, Ron Ahrendt and Wiley.
With 8
seniors and 6 pros, the dwarf cars were separated for the heat action but
combined for the 20 lap feature. VanPraag showed his strength when he came from
sixth starting to win the Senior heat race over fifth starter Sweeney and fourth
starting Gary Conditt. Rookie Ryan Blade won the Pro heat race from an outside
front row start over Marc Lippert and Thomas Velasquez. The feature lineup had
the pro racers in the inside row and the seniors on the outside. Niedzwiecki
took a quick lead over Sweeney and Blade. VanPraag started 8th and was third on
lap 3. Conditt had moved into fourth ahead of Blade when the lapped car of Matt
Williams spun. That forced contact between Rick Denny and Thomas Velasquez with
Velasquez flipping spectacularly. VanPraag emerged with the lead on lap 9 when
Sweeney tried to go underneath Niedzwiecki and they got together allowing
VanPraag to pass them both. Niedzwiecki stopped and had to restart in the rear.
VanPraag now led Sweeney, Conditt and Shelton. Shelton gained third on lap 13
and Williams forced his second yellow flag on lap 16. While VanPraag was always
in front as each lap finished, on two straight laps Sweeney went underneath him
for the top spot only to see VanPraag use the same move at the other end of the
track to regain first. Sweeney spun in turn 4 and VanPraag got the win ahead of
Shelton, a fast closing Niedzwiecki, Conditt, Lippert, Blade, Jon Prechtl, Jerry
Doolittle and Sweeney.
Summary
VRA Senior Dwarf Car
Heat-Bill Van Praag, Mike Sweeney, Gary Conditt, Ed Niedzwiecki, Rick Denny.
Main-VanPraag, Niedzwiecki, Conditt, Jon Prechtl, Jerry Doolittle, Sweeney, We
Harris, Denny. VRA Pro Dwarf Car Heat-Ryan Blade, Marc Lippert, Thomas
Velasquez, Jeff Shelton, Cindy Addison. Main-Shelton, Lippert, Blade, Addison,
Matt Williams, Velasquez.
TQ Midget
Heat 1-Todd Hunsaker, Kenny Wiley, Dennis Hart, Steve Lambert, Michael Bliffen.
Heat 2-Jody Bandfield, Scott Hansen, Walt Johnson, Chuck West, West Evans.
Main-Hansen, Johnson, Hart, Hunsaker, Lambert, Bandfield, West, Ron Ahrendt,
Wiley, Bruce Hiroshima, Bliffen, West, Linda Taylor.
VRA Unwinged 360 Sprint Car
Heat 1-Chris Wakim, Ron Wazde, Chris Tramel, Blake Miller, Ron Bach.
Heat 2-Mike Knopf, Danny Ebberts, Mike Broome, Jeremy Ellertson, Rob Kershaw.
Heat 3-Tom Stansberry, Steve Conrad, Ryan Devitt, Mike Whitcomb, Kevin Kierce.
Main-Stansberry, Wakim, Conrad, Kierce, Kershaw, Luis Espinoza, Ebberts, Devitt,
B Miller, Whitcomb, Tramel, Wade, Bill Welch, Tim Moon, Broome, Knopf, Hobie
Conway, Dennis Rodriguez, John Nock, Ellertson, Bach.
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