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| BRAD POUNDS FIVE FOR SEVEN AT OILDALE FOLLOWING SUB CAR WIN by Gary Jacob & Don Low |
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Super Street Stocks, Midgets, Ford Focus Midgets and Mini Stocks |
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Oildale, CA…June 24.…..In the second Richie McGowan car for a second straight race instead of his usual mount, Brad Pounds continued his complete domination of the super street stock action at Bakersfield Speedway Park by leading the final five laps of Saturday night’s 30 lap feature. Pounds started sixth, was third in just 3 laps, but didn’t gain second until his lap 17 pass of Sean Minor. Leader Mike Corwin blew a right rear tire and Pounds was out for the final 5 laps for the $1000 triumph. Pounds now has wins in five of the 7 super street stock features at the 1/3 mile clay oval in 2006 and he increased his track point lead to 20 points over Lee Jensen. A winner last week in Chowchilla, Jeremiah Van Scoy chased Pounds to the checkered flag for a $500 second and Charles Paul was a $300 third. Needing to get laps on his car after an extensive repair effort following a wall encounter at the Bottoms Up 100, 2005 track champion Rich Denman made his first non East-West start and ran fourth as Corwin got his tire changed and ran fifth. Following second fast time and a second in his heat race, Robby Flock drove the Mike Sala owned USAC Midget to a win in their 20 lapper as he led from lap 6 on following a fifth place start. Tyler Brown led from lap 2 to lap 5 and ran second to close within 9 points of point leading Jerome Rodela. Heat winner Chris Rahe started on the pole, led the first lap and ran third ahead of Greg Bragg and Rodela. USAC Ford Focus Midget point leader Bobby Michnowicz dominated their action with a win in his heat and an impressive drive from fifth for the feature win. Michnowicz got to second in five laps and took the lead from Nick Carlson on lap 10. Michnowicz was chased to the finish in the 25 lapper by point runnerup Keith Janca and long tow Quintin Crye from Chico. Michnowicz will carry a 22 point lead over Janca into the July 1 Ventura race. Runaway point leaders David Childress and Roy Duncan both struggled in the 20 lap mini stock feature and newcomer Ed Elliott won in just his fourth appearance. Elliott started 4th and led from lap 3 on. Steve Ayler ran second ahead of newcomer Dan Shippey. Childress broke a head gasket on lap 5 and R Duncan pitted from third on lap 14. Childress still holds a 10 point lead on R Duncan in the track title fight. The 15 car super street stock field also included Barstow’s Mike Miller, a Victorville racer. Corwin is going to get to drive a second dirt late model for Clovis CA star Mike Johnson at the $27,000 Firecracker 50 on July 1 and he came from sixth to win the first heat race ahead of fifth starting Pounds and pole starter David Woodbridge. Outside front row starter Lee Jensen won heat 2 with fourth starting Lonnie Welch second ahead of fifth starting Paul. Minor and Van Scoy held down the front row for the 30 lap feature with Paul and Woodbridge in row 2. Pounds started sixth and Corwin 8th. Randy Fritz was a scratch to leave a 14 car race with Denman in the back row wanting to get laps before the next East versus West show in Santa Maria on July 1. Miller dropped out on the first lap as Minor raced into the lead over Van Scoy and Woodbridge. Pounds was fourth on lap 1 and took third on lap 3 as Paul Piker pitted. Jensen had taken fifth from Welch when Steven Helms spun for a lap 5 yellow. Welch pitted and Piker returned. Helms was also involved in cautions on lap 7 and 9 before he pulled off. Jensen and Corwin shuffled Woodbridge out of the top five on lap 9 and Corwin leaped all the way to second on a lap 10 restart. Pounds remained third ahead of Van Scoy and Jensen. Corwin had just taken the lead from Minor when a stalled Piker forced a fifth yellow flag on lap 14. Pounds rode the high line around Minor for second on lap 17 as Jensen drove a low line around Van Scoy for fourth. Woodbridge spun for a lap 18 yellow and Pounds began to pressure leader Corwin with an inside groove effort. Minor lost third with a lap 25 spin and Jensen pitted from fifth. Corwin’s right rear tire went flat as Pounds paced the final five laps for the win. A lap 26 yellow, the 8th of the race, allowed Corwin to get his tire changed and stay lead lap. Van Scoy chased Pounds over those final five laps and Paul ran third. Denman advanced to a fourth and Corwin returned to get fifth ahead of Minor and Bill Stevens. Third ranked Corwin is 46 points back of Jensen and 66 behind Pounds. Woodbridge is 36 behind Corwin and 12 up on Minor. Garrett Hansen was quickest of the 20 USAC Midgets with his 13.481 qualifying run on the 1/3 mile clay oval. Flock is a part time racer in 2006 and he was second quick at 13.511. Ford Focus graduate Chase Barber ran a 13.581 lap and Brown ran a 13.682. Rodela put the Pedregon entry in fifth with his 13.892 and Rahe ran a 13.901. The final 13 second car was Bakersfield’s own Steve Davis at 13.969. Young Alfred Galedrige was 8th quick. The Shannon McQueen team provided a second car for Michelle Decker. Brown won heat 1 from sixth ahead of fourth starting Bragg, who ran a Jack Walker entry. Rodela also came from sixth in his heat two win over last starting Flock. Rahe captured heat 3 from fifth with pole starter Brian Gard second. The feature was the usual USAC six car inversion that placed Rahe and Rodela on the front row ahead of Brown, Barber, Flock and Hansen. Rahe led one lap and Brown four before Flock took the lead for good. Hansen had a right front flat on lap 2 and pulled off. Flock got by Rahe for second on lap 2 and took the lead from Brown on lap 6 as Tony Everhart pitted. Bargg climbed to fourth on lap 7 and the yellow fell twice on lap 11. Galedrige stalled for the first yellow and Barber spun out of the event for the second. On the restart, Flock led Brown, Rahe, Rodela and Bragg. Bragg retook fourth on lap 16 and a final caution fell on lap 18 as Stephen Graves and Frank Pedrregon tangled. Brian Gard got to fifth on lap 22, but lost the spot to Rodela on lap 26. Brown made a strong inside challenge at leader Flock in the final two laps, but fell just short and settled for second. Flock won ahead of Brown, Rahe, Bragg, Rodela, Randi Pankratz, Gard, McQueen, Decker and Rick Hendrix. Three female racers in the top 9. Steve Koster and Darrin Bolton also finished lead lap. Barber is third in points, 100 behind Rodela and 29 up on Rahe. Bragg is just 7 behind Rahe and 25 up on Hansen. Seventh ranked Matt Mitchell was absent. Twenty USAC Ford Focus Midgets were divided into three heat races. Ricky Kirkbride won heat 1 from the pole with sixth starting Chris Veach second ahead of third starting Janca. Dennis Howell suffered a huge flip in heat 2, but was unhurt as pole starter Michnowicz won ahead of fellow front row starter Bobby Owens and fourth starting Gordy Edwards. Cameron Veach came from fourth to win heat 3 over 2nd starting Brett Engstrom and Carlson. Charlie Holmes joined Howell as a feature scratch to leave an 18 car grid. Edwards and Carlson shared the front row for the 25 lapper with Michnowicz starting fifth. Carlson took the lead on the start over Owens and Edwards, but the red flag fell on lap 1 for a flip by Kirkbride. Cameron Veach stalled and he restarted in the rear. A spin by fourth place Chris Veach produced a lap 4 yellow and Michnowicz took second from Owens on this green flag. Janca got around Owens for third on lap 6 and Nic Faas climbed into the top five on lap 7. Faas raced to fourth on lap 9 and Carlson pitted after leading the first 9 laps. Michnowicz was the new leader over Janca, Faas, Joseph Fabozzi and Owens. Crye had lined up last in the 18 car field and he raced into fifth on lap 15. The former outlaw kart star then took fourth from Fabozzi on lap 16. The final 21 laps were run without a caution. Crye passed Faas for third on lap 20 as Chris Veach battled his way back to fifth. Michnowicz stayed out front for the final 16 laps as he won ahead of Janca, Crye, Faas, Chris Veach, Owens, Thomas Gray, Jenna Frazier, Cameron Veach and Fabozzi, who was one lap down. Chris Veach is now third in points, 6 behind Janca and 61 up on Engstrom. Crye stands 10 behind Engstrom in fifth and just 3 ahead of Cameron Veach. Twenty five mini stocks were divided into three heat races with just the top four finishers in each moving into the A Main. Lance Hilderbrand won heat 1 from the outside front row ahead of fifth starting Elliott and sixth stating Ayler. Childress had engine woes that were evident as he ran at the back. R Duncan came from fifth to win heat 2 over outside front row starter Lloyd Wren Jr and pole starter Shippey. Coming off his feature win in just his second start, Jared Schweitzer won heat 3 from the pole ahead of Christopher Cross, who was in the second Ayler car. Cross started second and ran second ahead of third starting Billy Winchester. Thirteen cars battled for 10 transfer slots in the 10 lap B Main. Mike Pilatti won from the pole with Clint Duncan coming from 10th to get second. Lulu Strub ran third ahead of Tina Wheeler and Shane LeBlanc as Childress managed to transfer in sixth. The 20 lap feature started one car short when Schweitzer did not make the call. Outside front row starter Hilderbrand led the first two laps with Elliott in second. Fourth starting Elliott raced into the lead on lap 3 and Hilderbrand pitted from third to move Ayler into third behind 2005 champion Aaron Stewart. The first caution came on lap 5 as both Pilatti and Junior Valdez got into the fence. Childress elected to park his car and take a 19th place finish. Two more cautions fell on lap 6 and the trio of Ayler, R Duncan and Shippey all passed Stewart on lap 8 for the 2-4 slots. The final 14 laps were run caution free and R Duncan pitted from third on lap 13 to relegate him to a 15th place run that allowed Childress to remain the point leader. Shippey was now third and he cahsed winner Elliott and runnerup Ayler to the checkered flag. Stewart ran foruth ahead of C Duncan, Wren, Cross, Winchester, Wheeler and Darren Akins. Stewart has climbed to third in points, but stands 72 behind R Duncan. Valdez is now 8 behind Stewart and 6 ahead of C Duncan. Winchester holds down sixth, 12 ahead of Ayler and 48 in front of Strub. The annual Fireworks race on July 1 will see the Western All Stars dirt late models chasing a $5000 win out of a huge $27,000 purse in their Firecracker 50. The IMCA Modifieds will also race and there is a lot of outside interest in this show with the hobby stocks the final division in action. Summary Mini Stock Heat 1-Lance Hilderbrand, Ed Elliott, Steve Ayler, Aaron Stewart, Mike Pilatti. Heat 2-Roy Duncan, Lloyd Wren Jr, Dan Shippey, Junior Valdez, Steve Roark. Heat 3-Jared Schweitzer, Christopher Cross, Billy Winchester, Darren Akins, Shane LeBlanc. B Main-Pilatti, Clint Duncan, Lulu Strub, Tina Wheeler, LeBlanc, David Childress, Brian Clark, Brian Williford, John Zenger, Carl Pearson. A Main-Elliott, Ayler, Shippey, Stewart, C Duncan, Wren, Cross, Winchester, Wheeler, Darren Akins, Pearson, Strub, Williford, Zenger, R Duncan, LeBlanc, Valdez, Childress, Pilatti, Hilderbrand. Super Street Stock Heat 1-Mike Corwin, Brad Pounds, David Woodbridge, Jeremiah VanScoy, Mike Miller. Heat 2-Lee Jensen, Lonnie Welch, Charles Paul, Sean Minor, Dave Bauer. Main-Pounds, VanScoy, Paul, Rich Denman, Corwin, Minor, Bill Stevens, Jensen, Woodbridge, Welch, Paul Piker, Bauer, Steven Helms, Miller. Ford Focus Midget Heat 1-Ricky Kirkbride, Chris Veach, Keith Janca, Keith Iaia, Thomas Gray. Heat 2-Bobby Michnowicz, Bobby Owens, Gordy Edwards, Joseph Fabozzi, J R Williams. Heat 3-Cameron Veach, Brett Engstrom, Nick Carlson, John Nickel, Nic Faas. Main-Michnowicz, Janca, Quintin Crye, Faas, Chris Veach, Owens, Gray, Jenna Frazier, Cameron Veach, Fabozzi, Engstrom, James Fryslie, Williams, Iaia, Nickel, Carlson, Edwards, Kirkbride. USAC Midget Fast Time-Garrett Hansen 13.481 Heat 1-Tyler Brown, Greg Bragg, Hansen, Michelle Decker, Randi Pankratz. Heat 2-Jerome Rodela, Robby Flock, Shannon McQueen, Darrin Bolton, Frank Pedregon. Heat 3-Chris Rahe, Brian Gard, Alex Harris, Rick Hendrix, Chase Barber. Main-Flock, Brown, Rahe, Bragg, Rodela, Pankratz, Gard, Shannon McQueen, Decker, Hendrix, Steve Koster Jr, Bolton, Stephen Graves, Pedregon, Barber, Alfred Galedrige, Steve Davis, Tony Everhart, Hansen. |
