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Hollywood Hills Speedway, Casino Hollywood, San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico. A great crowd was on hand tonight to see four exciting classes of cars put on some of the best racing seen so far this year. It seems that the racing just keeps getting better every week. Although the racing was great in all divisions, the Sprint Car Main Event was certainly the highlight of the night. The track actually had moisture coming up at the end of the night, which made for some very fast racing.
The Sprint Cars had a very nice field of 27 cars to run 3 heat races, a Semi-Main and a 25 lap Main Event. Heat #1 had 9 starters and 8 still around at the checkered. The battle for the win was non-stop with the top 5 or 6 drivers never more than a few car lengths apart. At the end of the race long, side by side action the #11W of Tim West took the win over the #40X of Scott Box with the #61X of Bo Baker coming home in the 3rd spot. Heat #2 also had 9 starters with the top 6 drivers fighting for every inch of available racetrack. At the checkered it was the #33 of Ronnie Smith holding off the #6 of Michael Marfia who was taking over the driving duties from his dad Robert. Chasing Smith and Marfia to the stripe was the #22M of Jessie Baker who was making his debut in a new car. Heat #3 was another barnburner with a great battle for the win and a bazaar ending. Johnny Herrera in the #45X took the win over the #35 of Derrik Ortega. Ortega was making his first start of the year at HHS in a Non-Wing Sprint as he has been running a Winged car with the Rockie Mountain ASCS series which he is currently leading by a scant 2 points over another young gun from Highlands Ranch Colorado, Chad Corken. Chasing Herrera and Ortega at the end was long tow winner #5X Billy Page from Minneola Texas. Page is driving an ex Johnny Herrera car and was looking very strong. Page plans on making all but 1 of the remaining shows at HHS this year. Now for the bazaar part of the race. As the checkered flag was waving the #611 of Charlie Fegan tangled with another car on the backstretch and did 3 very hard rollovers that pretty much destroyed his car. After the race Fegan said All thats left is a few spare parts for Bos car . The Semi-Main had 11 starters as the Fegan car was unable to make the call. The #8 of J.C. Powell jumped out to the early lead from his outside front row start and was pretty much uncatchable to the end. At the checkered it was Powell being chased home by the #26 of Randy Smith, #24 Jordan Mattson ( a rookie who has moved up from Mini-Sprints ), #21P Paul Whitehead and another rookie from the Mini-Sprint ranks in the #50 of Jerry Higgenbotham. These 5 drivers transferred to the rear of the Main Event. The 25 lap Main Event was possibly the best race of the year at HHS. Instead of the top 6 cars as in the heat fighting for the win there were 10-12 cars or more in the hunt for this race win. The race got off to a rough start for the #35 of Derrik Ortega as he took a tumble in turn #2 on the first lap, ending what could probably have been a real challenge to take the win. After the racing resumed, there were battles for position all over the track. Jessie Baker in his new #22M took off to a nice lead from his pole position start, only to be reeled in by the rest of the field due to another red flag for the #6 of Michael Marfia who took a tumble in turn #3 and a couple of yellow flags for minor spins. Waging war to catch Baker was a bevy of very fast cars with the #45X of Johnny Herrera coming up from his 9th starting spot to join the fray at the front. Jessies dad Bo in the #61X took over the top spot from his son and soon was joined by the Herrera car with Jessie being relegated to the 3rd spot. For the last 8 or so laps of this race Herrera tried every move in the book to get by the older Baker only to come up about a half car length short at the checkered flag. Chasing Baker and Herrera to the stripe were Jessie Baker, #40X Scott Box and the #65 of Rick Johnson who were all within striking distance of the leader and could have taken the win if any of the top three had made even the smallest of mistakes.
The Late Models had 13 cars to run 2 heats and a 20 lap Main Event. Though they had the smallest field on the night the Late Models put on some great racing. Heat #1 saw the #5B of Butch Reid take the win over the #78 of Skimmer Leathem, this was the first night that Leathem was able to compete as he had some major motor problems earlier in the season. Chasing Reid and Leathem to the line was the #59 of Allen Bowers. Heat #2 had another very close race with the #11 of Clovis N.M. driver Mark Myers taking the win over the #38 of Marc Herrera and the #96 of last years Street Stock Champion Joe Smithberger filling out the top 3 spots. The 20 lap Main Event got off to a terrific start as the cars were running 3 and even 4 wide at one point. Running 4 wide for these VERY wide cars is no small feat. The Main Event saw Reid come from his 5th starting spot to take the lead in only a couple of laps but Reid was soon to have some very tough company in the form of Myers, Smithberger, Cooder Frazier and Herrera. Reid was able to pull out to a fairly comfortable lead but the Clovis driver Myers began closing the gap and was very close to Reids bumper at the finish. Chasing Reid and Myers at the end were the cars of Smithberger, Frazier and Herrera filling out the top 5 spots.
The Mini-Sprints brought out 17 cars to run two heat races and a 20 lap Main Event, although the Main was cut to 10 laps due to a flurry of yellow flags and a red flag in the first 3 laps of the race. Heat #1 saw long tow driver young D.J. Snyder from Pagosa Springs Colorado take the win over a very fast #68 Brian Perea with another youngster Jeremy Schofield in the #5 taking the show position. Heat #2 had the 13 year old SPEEDSTER Joshua Hodges in the #74X take the win over the #95 of Aaron Wheeler with the #91 of Clint Miller coming home in the 3rd spot. The scheduled 20 lap Main Event got off to a very rough start as there were several caution periods and one red flag within the first few laps. The most serious mishap was the #8 of Chris Perea taking a pretty hard tumble coming out of the 4th turn. After having so many problems early it was decided to cut this race to only 10 laps. Hodges was able to take a well deserved win over the hard charging cars of #5 Schofield, #68 Perea, #24 Wim Dons with the #95 of Wheeler filling out the top five spots.
The Hobby Stocks had a field of 18 cars to run their 2 heat races and a 20 lap Main Event. This was the only class on the night to run all of their races without a red or yellow flag ( Great Job Guys and Gals ). Heat #1 saw hard luck driver Steve Moore in the #55 take the win over lady driver #54 April Dutcher-Trujillo in second with the #98 of Brian Haworth coming home in 3rd. Heat #2 saw Gallup N.M. driver Dale Lovato in the beautiful Orange and Yellow #12X take the win over relative newcomer Paul Jenicek in the #66 taking the 2nd spot and the #75 of Kenny Ford coming home a very close 3rd position. The 20 lap Main Event was a great race as they ran the entire way without a slow down. Dan Harmon in the #86 made a fantastic run from his 11th starting spot to take a hard fought victory over old-timer Phil York in the #1 with the #75 of Ford taking the 3rd position. Chasing Harmon, York and Ford to the line were the #7T of Thomas Hayes and the #12X of Lovato filling out the top five spots. All of these drivers put on a great show for the large crowd in the stands.
Here are the full results for tonights racing. These results are unofficial and we apologize for any errors.
Sprint Cars
Heat #1
#11W Tim West
#40X Scott Box
#61X Bo Baker
#7 Jason Tanner
#4X Cody Mansfield
#26 Randy Smith
#24 Jordan Mattson
#21P Paul Whitehead
#48 Larry Kesterson DNF
Heat #2
#33 Ronnie Smith
#6 Michael Marfia
#22M Jessie Baker
#78 Jody Williams
#52NM David Burns
#8 J.C. Powell
#F2 L.C. Kesterson
#99 Chuck Jackson
#27 Shawn Kautz DNF
Heat #3
#45X Johnny Herrera
#35 Derrik Ortega
#5X Billy Page
#65 Rick Johnson
#17 Steve Spiak
#50 Jerry Higgenbotham
#611 Charlie Fegan DNF
#93 Jon Taylor DNF
#27K Tim Knight DNF
Semi-Main
#8 J.C. Powell
#26 Randy Smith
#24 Jordan Mattson
#21P Paul Whitehead
#50 Jerry Higgenbotham
#17 Steve Spiak
#27 Shawn Kautz
#48 Larry Kesterson DNF
#99 Chuck Jackson DNF
#F2 L.C. Kesterson DNF
#27K Tim Knight DNF
#611 Charlie Fegan DNS
Main Event
#61X Bo Baker Held off Johnny Herrera for many laps, well deserved win
#45X Johnny Herrera First time this year not taking the checkered in first spot
#22M Jessie Baker Led many laps and was right on the tail of the Dad and Herrera at the end
#40X Scott Box Mixed it up with the leaders all race long, a win soon to come ??
#65 Rick Johnson Also ran with the leaders all night
#7 Jason Tanner
#11W Tim West
#4X Cody Mansfield
#78 Jody Williams
#26 Randy Smith
#52NM David Burns
#21P Paul Whitehead
#24 Jordan Mattson
#5X Billy Page
#50 Jerry Higgenbotham
#8 J.C. Powell DNF
#93 Jon Taylor DNF
#33 Ronnie Smith DNF
#6 Michael Marfia DNF
#35 Derrik Ortega DNF
Late Models
Heat #1
#5B Butch Reid
#78 Skimmer Leathem
#59 Allen Bowers
#06 Ron Williams
#72 Bob Suber
#95 Steven Dutcher
#27 Steve Suber
Heat #2
#11 Mark Myers
#38 Marc Herrera
#96 Joe Smithberger
#28 Cooder Frazier
#26 Monte Neff
#38F Fidencio Francia
Main Event
#5B Butch Reid Two wins in three tries this year, very, very fast
#11 Mark Myers Clovis driver getting faster every week, closed the gap on Reid at the end
#96 Joe Smithberger Street Stock driver learning quick, a real threat to win the main soon
#28 Cooder Frazier Always fast, just couldnt get there tonight
#38 Marc Herrera - Another driver searching for his first win
#59 Allen Bowers
#95 Steven Dutcher
#72 Bob Suber
#06 Ron Williams
#27 Steve Suber
#26 Monte Neff DNF
#78 Skimmer Leathem DNF
#38F Fidencio Francia DNF
Mini-Sprints
Heat #1
#17 D.J. Snyder
#68 Brian Perea
#5 Jeremy Schofield
#23W Adam Mollenkoph
#72 Bruce Hosea
#8 Chris Perea
#44 James Hatch DNF
#9X Eric Smith DNF
Heat #2
#74X Joshua Hodges
#95 Aaron Wheeler
#91 Clint Miller
#24 Wim Dons
#61 Gary Saiz
#21 Avie Chavez
#29 Caleb Saiz DNF
#22X David Gay DNF
#7H Jerrill Higgenbotham DNF
Main Event
#74X Joshua Hodges Josh ( The Jet ) was on rails tonight and was untouchable
#5 Jeremy Schofield Best run in new car, this youngster will win one soon
#68 Brian Perea Has been getting faster every week, always in the hunt for the win
#24 Wim Dons Good run for second night out at HHS
#95 Aaron Wheeler Best run this year for this young driver
#9X Eric Smith
#91 Clint Miller
#17 D.J. Snyder
#61 Gary Saiz
#21 Avie Chavez
#23W Adam Mollenkoph
#8 Chris Perea DNF
#72 Bruce Hosea DNF
#29 Caleb Saiz DNf
#7H Jerrill Higgenbotham DNF
#22X David Gay DNF
#44 James Hatch DNS
Hobby Stocks
Heat #1
#55 Steve Moore
#54 April Dutcher Trujillo
#98 Brian Haworth
#12 Debbie Baxter
#43 Dan Glass
#2 Kitty McKeown
#20 Juilana Myers
#26 Derek Dietz DNF
Heat #2
#12X Dale Lovato
#66 Paul Jenicek
#75 Kenny Ford
#7T Thomas Hayes
#1 Phil York
#86 Dan Harmon
#5T Mike Dempsey
#11 Larry Stoerkel
#36 Anthony Castillo
#27 Roger Frakes DNF
Main Event
#86 Dan Harmon Came from deep in the field to take a hard fought victory
#1 Phil York Came from even deeper in the field, close but no cigar tonight
#75 Kenny Ford Always at the front, could win anytime
#7T Thomas Hayes Has run strong all year, always in the hunt
#12X Dale Lovato Won his heat tonight, soon to be a Main Event Winner
#11 Larry Stoerkel Good run, just tuning up to bring out his Sprinter
#26 Derek Dietz
#5T Mike Dempsey
#2 Kitty McKeown
#12 Debbie Baxter
#55 Steve Moore
#43 Dan Glass
#66 Paul Jenicek DNF
#20 Juliana Myers DNf
#36 Anthony Castillo DNF
#54 April Dutcher Trujillo - DNF
#98 Brian Haworth DNS
#27 Roger Frakes - DNS
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