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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| CLEAN SWEEP FOR CHADWICK
WORTH $2000 AT KINGS SPEEDWAY by Gary Jacob |
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Dirt Modifieds,
Wingless 360 Sprint Cars, Super Street Stocks, |
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Hanford, CA..April 21-22....Forced to come through the entire field after
a fuel pressure problem put him in the pits on lap 16, young hard charger Kellen
Chadwick from Knightsen finished off a very successful debut for Sargus Racing's
new Pro Chassis mount by driving to a $2000 win in the 40 lap dirt modified
feature to highlight the "Welcome Back to Kings Speedway" Spring
Opening show at the 3/8 mile clay oval on Saturday night. The Chadwick team just
finished putting together brand new Pro mounts for both Mike Sargent and Marcus
Aue with the Sargent team asking Kellen to drive it in this first weekend of
action. Chadwick took the lead from another young star Alex Stanford on lap 39
for the thrilling win after stalling on the track while leading on lap 16.
Chadwick also won his heat race on Friday night and the heat winner's dash on
Saturday night. Stanford drove his D&M to a $1000 second and a late charge
netted Dave Byrd the $750 third place money in a GRT that Bob Foote is
attempting to sell. Many time Chico titlest Randy McDaniel led from lap 21
to lap 35, but settled for fourth place with 2005 Kings Speedway champion Aaron
Barnell fifth ahead of midway race leader Chris Shannon. The 40 lapper was run
in two 20 lap segments with a work break at lap 20. Shannon led Randy McDaniel,
Aue, Stanford and Dustin Massey at the break period. This weekend's action at
Kings was the first racing since John Soares Jr got the contract for the
fairgrounds track and put Mike McCluney in the track manager role. Veteran
official Marty Verhoven has also returned to Kings Speedway as race director.
The dirt modified show was set to pay $3500 to win with a 50 car entry, but 30
cars appeared. Scheduled for a two day $2000 to win show with a 40 car entry,
the wingless 360 sprint cars attracted a nine car turnout and decided to run
their whole show on Friday night. Rather than give the winner $450 and the
others considerably less, the nine teams asked the track to split the purse
equally among all the racers. They ran a 20 lap feature with a draw lineup and
Danny Sheridan drove the Kittle Motorsports entry to the lead from fourth
starting in 10 laps and won the caution free race ahead of third starting Davey
Pombo Jr and fifth starting Evan Suggs. Rusty Carlile led the first 9 laps from
the pole and ran fifth behind Peter Murphy. With the change in the Kings
Speedway show, Sheridan and Carlile both raced with VRA in Ventura on Saturday
night with Sheridan finishing third. Murphy ran the Golden State winged 410
sprint car rain delayed season opener in Petaluma on Saturday night. The track
offered $1750 to win for the super street stocks with a 30 car entry, but only
five cars appeared on Friday night after Rodney Sullivan broke an engine in the
Thursday night practice. With the reduced purse, the entire show for this class
was run on Friday night and red hot Brad Pounds drove the McGowan Motorsports
entry to a $220 win in that 15 lapper. He passed 2005 Kings Speedway champion
Preston Martin on lap 12. Martin ran second ahead of fellow Coalinga racer
Michael Redding. When only four street stocks entered, that class ran their
whole show on Friday night and Bakersfield Speedway hobby stock champion Michael
Johnson won both the heat and feature for a $200 payday in his first trip to
Kings. Tina McGowan ran second. It was a big night for the Johnson clan as M
Johnson's younger brother Kevin Johnson was a wire to wire $125 winner in the
pure stock main event. He won by a half lap over Bill Fredrick, who spun late in
the action. The 30 dirt modifieds were divided into four heat races on Friday night with the top four finishers in each advancing into the Saturday night 40 lapper. Sponsored by event sponsor Olsen Machine, Tim Breshears hot lapped on Friday but was not a race entrant as he was planning on running the IMCA show at Ventura on Saturday night. Outside front row starter Tom Stidham led all the way in heat 1 with a best lap of 18.96. Pole starter Randy McDaniel ran second and Jimmy Reeves broke the engine on the Minyard Racing entry in turn 3 while third on the final round. That allowed last starter Robert Miller from Gardnerville NV to run third ahead of Barnell. Waiting for a new JetMod for his regular team, Robert Miller was in the D&M of Truckee's Doug Adams for the weekend. In his new Pro, Aue paced the first 3 laps of heat 2 with a best time of 19.27 before fourth starting Chadwick took over. Chadwick ripped off a 18.84 lap in his win with Jason Selvidge getting around Aue to finish second. Selvidge is moving into the dirt late models later this season with a Warrior ride at Bakersfield. Randy McDaniel ran fourth and former track champion Bryan Burnes struggled in his new GRT to a fifth. With an opening in his pavement late model schedule, Byrd and the Foote team appeared at Kings and Byrd won heat three from an outside front row start. His best lap was a 19.07 Pole starter Brad Pounds was in the Shaw normally wheeled by his father Scott Pounds and he ran second ahead of third starter Stanford and 7th starting Duane Cleveland. Heat four got off to a wild start as a spinning Michael Smith clipped California State IMCA champion Garrett Steitz. Les Friend ran off the top of the track leading and Shannon drove his GRT to a wire to wire win. Shannon was a dirt late model star back in the Steve Hendren days here in Central California and has purchased a Victory Circle car for his return to that class later this summer. Young Marysville charger Dustin Massey ran second ahead of Friend and Randy Miller, Robert's brother. The track was going dry slick and Shannon's best time was a 19.75. Reeves went home and got his own car to race in the B Main after the Minyard car broke and the 12 lap B Main had 14 starters. Burnes was a wire to wire winner as he got his brand new car working. Steitz was an early second, but something broke and he fell back on lap 3 with Mike Villanueva taking over second. Former track champion Brian Cass took third from Claudine Contente on lap 4 and M Smith tangled with Art Deavult for a lap 4 yellow. Reeves took a wild ride through the infield after he got tangled up with Joe Gonella Jr. Cass passed Villanueva for second on lap 7 and Villanueva spun for a lap 9 yellow flag. Contente got as high as third, but got shuffled back in the closing laps. David Woodbridge and M Smith crashed for a final yellow flag and Syd Smyth pitted with a flat. Burnes won ahead of Cass, Reeves and late arrival Buck Cox. M Smith was fifth ahead of Gonella and Villanueva. There was a brief thought of racing the dirt modified A Main on Friday night, but a couple of teams had already left the track. Twenty six cars returned to race on Saturday and a pair of dashes were added to the show. One for the four heat winners and another for the four second place heat finishers. Chadwick led all the way to win the heat winner dash ahead of Byrd and Shannon. Randy McDaniel was a wire to wire winner in the second place dash over Selvidge and Pounds. All 26 cars started the 40 lapper with the four heat winners in front as Stidham and Chadwick shared the front row ahead of Byrd and Shannon. Chadwick took the lead at the green flag. Both Robert Miller and Deavult were out after just 3 laps. On lap 8, Stidham destroyed his car in a spectacular flip into the flag stand. He and the flag personnel escaped injury. Cass had to get a push start on this red and he was sent to the rear of the field. Chadwick continued to set the pace until his fuel pressure issue found him stalled for a lap 15 yellow flag. He was able to make repairs and tag the restart. Shannon inherited the lead and was out front at the lap 20 work break with Randy McDaniel second ahead of Aue, Stanford, Massey, Barnell, Selvidge, Joel Chavez, Byrd, Cass and Chadwick. Also on the lead lap at midway were Cox, Woodbridge, Cleveland, Gonella and Randy Miller. Contente and Pounds had fallen out on lap 9 and the night ended on lap 15 for Ryan McDaniel and Contente. Nineteen cars returned to start the second 20 lap segment with Reeves five laps down after problems in the first 20. Massey's great night came to an end as he blew a tire on the green and had wheel issues that limited his return to just two laps. Aue fell out on lap 30. Randy McDaniel raced ahead of Shannon as the second segment started. Chadwick moved up to battle Stanford for third. Byrd also joined the fight for the win. Randy McDaniel led from lap 21 to lap 35 before Stanford put his D&M out front. Stanford paced three laps before Chadwick made his winning move. Chadwick was out front for the final two laps for the $2000 win. Stanford ran a $1000 second and Byrd nipped Randy McDaniel for the $750 third place prize. Randy McDaniel ran fourth ahead of Barnell, Shannon, Selvidge, Cass, Chavez, Gonella, Woodbridge and Cox. Cleveland fell out on lap 33 and Reeves ran with the lead group throughout the second 20, but finished 14th behind Randy Miller. While only nine wingless sprint cars appeared, the field had major quality. The track planned to run two heat races on Friday night and their feature on Saturday night, but the teams asked management to race just a draw feature on Friday that would allow them the option of racing elsewhere on Saturday night. The plan to divide the purse money equally was also introduced by the race teams. Carlile and Thad Bennett drew the front row for the 20 lapper ahead of Pombo, Sheridan, Suggs and Mark Flachman. A conflict with his prom had Chad Boespflug putting former Bandit star Jerome Warmerdam in his car for the night. Murphy started 8th alongside Charles Turner and Warmderdam was in the back row. The 20 lapper was run without a single yellow flag. Carlile took a quick lead over Sheridan with Flachman into third on lap 2. Flachman slipped off the top of the track on lap 5 and Pombo gained third place. Suggs raced into fourth o lap 6 as Sheridan began to pressure leader Carlile. Pombo caught the lead twosome as Flachman pulled off. An outside pass on lap 10 netted Sheridan the lead and Pombo got around Carlile as they lapped Turner on lap 12. Suggs raced into third on lap 13. Murphy was able to take fourth from Carlile on lap 18. Sheridan drove to the win ahead of Pombo, Suggs, Murphy and Carlile. All of the drivers after the race expressed excitement about being able to return to Kings and hope that more teams will support the schedule. Warmerdam ran sixth ahead of Bennett and Turner. Chris Smith from Trona had the pole for the super street stock heat and won with a best lap of 19.11. Pounds was able to get around Redding in turn 2 on lap 3 and finish second. Marysville long tow Chris Warner got into the fence and Redding ran third ahead of 2005 track champion Martin. The lineup for the 15 lap feature was a complete inversion off the heat result. Martin raced into the lead over Warner and Pounds. C Smith got out of shape and fell back on the first lap. Pounds got underneath Warner for second on lap 3 and C Smith charged up to third on lap 5. C Smith began to slow on lap 6 and Warner broke for a lap 7 yellow. C Smith limped off the track. Pounds had to pressure leader Martin for several laps before making his winning move in turn 3 on lap 12. Redding stopped high in turn 4 to force a yellow flag with just two laps to run. Pounds stayed out front for the win over Martin and Redding. Kings' street stock class is designed for the hobby stocks that race throughout the area, but only four cars appeared. Melodie Smith had transmission woes and pulled off before start of the heat race. She did not appear for the feature. M Johnson won the heat race with a best lap of 21.55 and a winning margin of ¼ lap over Southern California's Mark Altman. Tina McGowan ran third. Again, the 15 lap feature was inverted and Altman blew a right rear tire on lap 2. McGowan led four laps before M Johnson took over. After losing the lead, McGowan spun and M Johnson enjoyed a large lead for the rest of the way. He ran a 21.10 lap while leading and McGowan settled for second. The pure stock class is for the Hanford enduro cars and American Stocks from the other tracks. Again, four cars appeared and their show was originally scheduled for Friday night only since Bakersfield Speedway was racing their American Stocks on Saturday night. Fredrick ran a 22.77 best lap as he won the heat race by 1/3 lap. K Johnson drove his Cadillac around Michael Anderson on lap 7 to get second. K Johnson led all the way in the 15 lap feature. This is K Johnson's first season in this class after racing mini stocks in 2005. He was clocked as fast as 21.93 as he won by a half lap over Fredrick, who spun on lap 12. Anderson blew a right rear tire on lap 2 and Rick Sylvester was lapped a couple times as he spun three times in the early laps. The mini stocks were scheduled for their first ever action at Kings on Friday night, but none appeared. April 29 will see the first 100 lap enduro of the season with the super stocks, street stocks and pure stocks also in action. The night will conclude with a destruction derby. The dirt modifieds return on May 6 and May 13. Summary Pure Stock Heat-Bill Fredrick, Kevin Johnson, Michael Anderson, Rick Sylvester. Main-K Johnson, Fredrick, Sylvester, Anderson. Street Stock Heat-Michael Johnson, Mark Altman, Tina McGowan, Melodie Smith. Main-M Johnson, McGowan, Altman. Super Street Stock Heat-Chris Smith, Brad Pounds, Michael Redding, Preston Martin, Chris Warner. Main-Pounds, Martin, Redding, C Smith, Warner. Unwinged 360 Sprint Car Main-Danny Sheridan, Davey Pombo Jr, Evan Suggs, Peter Murphy, Rusty Carlile, Jerome Warmderdam, Thad Bennett, Charles Turner, Mark Flachman. Dirt Modified Heat 1-Tom Stidham, Randy McDaniel, Robert Miller, Aaron
Barnell, Mike Villanueva, Brian Cass, Jimmy Reeves, Jon Schlundt. Heat 2-Kellen
Chadwick, Jason Selvidge, Marcus Aue, Ryan McDaniel, Bryan Burnes, Joe Gonella
Jr, David Woodbridge. Heat 3-Dave Byrd, Brad Pounds, Alex Stanford, Duane
Cleveland, Claudine Contente, Joel Chavez, Art Deavult. Heat 4-Chris Shannon,
Dustin Massey, Les Friend, Randy Miller, Garrett Steitz, Buck Cox, Syd Smyth,
Michael Smith. B Main-Burnes, Cass, Reeves, Cox, M Smith, Gonella, Villaneuva,
Contente, Schlundt, Smyth, Chavez, Woodbridge, Steitz, Deavult. Heat Winner
Dash-Chadwick, Byrd, Shannon, Stidham. 2nd Place Dash-Randy McDaniel, Selvidge,
Pounds, Massey. A Main-Chadwick, Stanford, Byrd, Randy McDaniel, Barnell,
Shannon, Selvidge, Cass, Chavez, Gonella, Woodbridge, Cox, Randy Miller, Reeves,
Cleveland, Aue, Schlundt, Smyth, Massey, Ryan McDaniel, Burnes, Contente,
Pounds, Stidham, Robert Miller, Deavult. |
