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Hollywood Hills Speedway
6-21-2008 Report |
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Hollywood Hills Speedway @ Casino
Hollywood, San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico. After a mid-week change in track
management that saw Bobby Seals and family who had taken over the track
management at the beginning of last year and done an excellent job of getting
HHS back on its feet after being dark for a year and a half step aside, long
time sprint car racer Tom Ball took over the reins and assembled a crew of old
familiar faces and some new folks who all came together to put on a great night
of racing at HHS. Special thanks to returning Chief Flagman Russ Hein, new Chief
Pit Steward Robert Shay and returning scorers Charmaine Wheeler, Buffy
Cruickshank and Aleta Hanna. These folks and a host of others worked nearly
perfectly together to put on one of the best shows possible with very few if any
glitches the entire evening. A very nice crowd of fans saw 3 or the top
divisions (Sprints, Late Models, Modifieds) and the entry level Cruiser class
run 84 cars in 11 heat races and 4 main events.
The Sprints had 21 cars on hand tonight. Heat #1 saw the #65 of Rick Johnson have a race long duel with 4 other cars and hanging on for the win over the #11W of Tim West with the #21P of Paul Whitehead taking 3rd place honors. Heat #2 got off to a rough start with an early spin involving #19 Ted McAdams who was making his first start of the year and the #99 of 52 year old rookie Chuck Jackson. Once the racing resumed there was a furious battle for the win among the top five cars. At the checkered it was Jody Williams in the #78 taking the win over #52NM David Burns with the #22B of Jessie Baker taking the 3rd position. Heat #3 went green to checkered with the #7 of Jason Tanner taking the win, it is great to see Jason running well after suffering serious burns in a crash in Kansas last year. Chasing Tanner to the stripe was the #61X of Bo Baker in 2nd spot with young rookie Cody Mansfield in the #4X making a great run in the 3rd spot. The 25 lap Main Event saw all 21 cars on hand make the call for a wild and wooly race. After a first lap melee involving 3 cars in turn 3 this race ran all of the 25 laps without another caution making for some exciting moves through the field by the leaders. Several drivers took turns at the point with some of the drivers who started deep in the field making their moves toward the front. The #40X of Scott Box who started in the 9th spot looked like he was on rails as he was able to move high or low on the track to pick off other competitors on his move to the front. Two father and son teams were waging their own battles at the front with the #22B of Jessie Baker and dad #61X Bo Baker running wheel to wheel with the #26 or Randy Baker and son Ronnie Baker in the #33. At the checkered flag it was Box taking his first Main Event win of the year with Jessie Baker, Bo Baker, Ronnie Smith and Jason Tanner filling out the top five positions. Tanner cruised by Randy Smith on the last lap to break up the Baker and Smith tandem. The Late Models had 14 cars on hand to put on some of the best racing of the night as they ran both of their heats and the main event without a single caution period. Heat #1 saw the #26 of Monte Neff in last years Cooder Fazier car take the win over Clovis N.M. driver #11 Mark Myers with the #59 of Alan Bowers taking a very close 3rd spot. Heat #2 had last years Late Model champion Butch Reid in the #5B take the win over last years Street Stock champion Joe Smithberger in the #96 with the #06 of Ron Williams doing an excellent job coming home in the 3rd spot. The Main Event saw only 12 starter as the #11 of Myers and the #95 of Steven Dutcher were not able to make the call. This group of 12 drivers put on a fantastic show as only 1 of the 12 was unable to finish and the leaders were putting on a great show at the front. Marc Herrera in the #38 jumped out to what looked like an insurmountable lead only to see the #5B of Butch Reid reel him in and eventually make the pass and take the win. Chasing Reid to the checkered flag was Herrera, Smithberger, Bowers and the #28 of Cooder Frazier filling out the top five positions. The Modifieds had a field of 23 cars on hand to run 3 heat races and a 25 lap main event. This group of very fast cars ran their heats with only 1 yellow flag only to run into some problems in the main event that saw several cautions in the early stages of the race and a heartbreaker at the end. Heat #1 had the #54 of Shawn Dutcher take a commanding win from his outside front row start over the #2M of Richard Johnson with the #7R of Steven Bertetto making a strong run to finish in the 3rd spot. Heat #2 saw Kenny Wheeler in the #68 also take the win from his outside front row start over the #88J of Mark McClarran and the #Lucky 13 of Luigi Truden coming home in the show position. Heat #3 had the familiar #5 of Butch Reid (the same driver who won the Late Model heat and main event) take the win over the #25 of Bo Martinez with the #32 of Steve Sutton hanging tough and taking the show money. The 25 lap main event had a hard time getting going as there were several yellow flags in the first 5 laps of the race. Lugi Truden took off to the early lead with the rest of the field chasing him down. Bo Martinez in the #25 eventually took the lead but was being hounded lap after lap by the #5 of Reid, With Martinez holding his line in the middle groove Reid tried to get by on the inside for many laps. Finally at the white flag Reid decided to go to the high side and was able to make the pass for the lead with less than a lap to go and take his second Main Event win of the evening. Unfortunately Martinez and the #2M of Richard Johnson came together and collected the #88J of Mark McClarran and took all 3 drivers out of the top five spots. Chasing Reid to the finish was the #21 of James Hodgdon who has finished second the last two times the Modifieds have run and is sure to take the 1st spot very soon. Behind Reid and Hodgdon were the #13 of Luigi Truden with brother Mario Truden Jr. taking 4th and the #17M of Gallup N.M. racer Doug Goodenough filling out the top five spots. The Cruisers again had a very large field of 31 cars on hand to do battle in this mostly entry-level class. Although most of these drivers have very little racing experience they always manage to put on some great racing. Heat #1 saw the BIG red station wagon of #4 Randy Combs take the win over the ex-police car #00 of David Ewers and the little bitty white and pink #23 of youngster Kelcie Mac Runnels. Heat #2 saw newcomer John Saulnier in the #911 take his first win. Saulnier has Damian Medina as a passenger. What makes this a bit special is the fact that Damian is handicapped with Cerebral Palsy and needs assistance getting in and out of the car but has a GREAT time riding along with Saulnier. Chasing Saulnier home were the #7 of Daysha Moseley and the #619 of Mr. Excitement Lalo Saenz. Heat #3 saw the #0 of Gary Smith take the win over the #17 of Mica Brittle and the #11 of Greg Nidel. The scheduled 25 lap Main Event was cut to 20 laps as the 29 starters had numerous caution flags during the earlier part of the race. In the end the little Dodge Neon of #619 Lalo Saenz took the win. Saenz had Michael Buga as a passenger. Michael is an exchange student from Moldavia. We had the opportunity to talk to Michael before the races and warned him that Lalo tends to take BOTH hands off the steering wheel and wave to the fans on the front stretch and suggested that he might want to take the wheel at these times. Apparently Michael thought this wasnt a good idea and instead joined Lalo in waving to the crowd on every lap, leaving two people in the car but NOBODY steering?????? Chasing Saenz to the finish was the # O of Gary Smith who is still looking for Main Event win #1, the #77 of Roseanna Ford, the #54 of Steve Ewers and the #76 of Robert Moharder in the huge Land Yacht. Here are the full results from last nights action at Hollywood Hills Speedway. These results are UNOFFICIAL and we apologize for any errors. Sprints Late Models Modifieds Cruisers Be sure to come out next Friday and Saturday night when the Winged Sprint Cars make their first appearance of the year at HHS. The Rocky Mountain division of the ASCS Winged Sprints will bring their show to town with local 17 year old driver Derrik Ortega leading the series by a slim 6 points over 19 year old Highlands Ranch Colorado driver Chad Corken. Expect to see 20 plus Sprints joined by our local heros in the Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks. Have A Great Day
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