Moulton, Olson victorious again

Moulton, Olson victorious again

By Matthew J. Sullivan

It was race number 10 of the 2010 season at Redwood Acres Raceway this past Saturday evening. With only three races remaining in the season after the night, competition for position in races was even more crucial. It lead to a brutal night in several of the five local divisions as a couple incidents knocked out several competitors on Eureka, California’s 3/8-mile paved oval.

Prior to qualifying in the mini stock division, Wyatt Roach who was driving Ryan Ahrens car lost an engine in practice and was unable to race. In the trophy dash, Brian Murrell, Jr. got loose in turn four on the first lap, overcorrected and hit the concrete wall. Murrell was able to walk away from the incident but was finished for the evening. Brian McIntosh took the dash victory over Brian Murrell and Scott Baker. With only four cars remaining, the division skipped the heat race and ran a 10-lap main. Murrell made a daring pass inside of McIntosh for the lead and was able to take the win over McIntosh, Baker and Harry Walford.

Jim Redd won the real stock trophy dash over Ronnie O’Neill, Nick Green and Bill Middleton. Ryan Robinson took the heat race win ahead of Casey Mitchell, O’Neill, Middleton and Green. Robinson used his pole-position starting spot in the main event to full advantage as he took the lead from the get-go from Mitchell. While Robinson ran away, Mitchell fought hard to fall into second but unfortunately was unable to use the high line to his advantage as Green, Redd and O’Neill all were able to move past for position. On lap four, Middleton hit the wall on the backstretch and was finished for the night. After the restart, Green briefly challenged Robinson for the lead but Robinson was eventually able to pull away. Redd moved by Green for second on lap 10 bringing O’Neill with him. Two laps later, O’Neill moved by Redd for second. Robinson’s lead was insurmountable though and unfortunately for O’Neill he lost power coming to the white flag. Robinson crossed the finish line first over Redd, Green, Mitchell and Doug Way.

The roadrunner trophy dash went to Kolby Jackson over Raleigh Willoughby, Dax Kinsey and Robbie Nelson. Willoughby passed Jackson on the last lap of the heat to win while Dylan Cook, Kinsey and Nelson rounded out the top five finishers. Ken Barrett held the lead at the start of the main event but lost the position to Michael Lawrence on lap two followed by Jackson. Unfortunately for Lawrence, his time up front was short as Jackson took the lead on lap three bringing Willoughby with him. Meanwhile, Kinsey methodically maneuvered his way to the front, getting by Lawrence on lap 8 for third. Kinsey closed in as the front duo of Jackson and Willoughby fought for the lead. Kinsey got by Willoughby on lap 13 and then moved under and past Jackson for the lead on lap 16. Kinsey was able to hold on from that point as he took the win over Jackson, Willoughby, Nelson and Lawrence.

Chris Sarvinski won the thunder roadster trophy dash over Tommy Payne, Randy Olson and Mike Ward. The heat race proved to be a very interesting race. After a caution flag for Jay Bahner’s spin off turn two, Allen Olson spun in the first turn. Mike Ward hit Olson’s left-front wheel severely damaging the suspension on Olson’s car. Ward’s car came out of the incident clean. After the restart, another caution flew when Payne and Ward came together in turns three and four. Luckily nobody suffered any damage. Coming to the white flag, Sarvinski spun coming off turn four. As Sarvinski came back across the track, Ward had nowhere to go and slammed into the side of Sarvinski’s car ending the night prematurely for both drivers. Just after taking the yellow flag, Randy Olson and Ray Elliott who were first and second pulled into the pits believing they had taken the checkered flag when it had not been thrown. The end result put Belinda Ward into the lead on the restart and she was able to hold on and won over Bruce Ziemer, Rob Nelson, Bahner and Olson.

Bahner got a good start in the main event and took the race lead initially but he had his hands full by the end of the first lap as Elliott and Randy Olson had moved to second and third place. On lap two, Elliott looked for room under Bahner for the lead. Olson seized the opportunity and took the high line past Elliott for second. Olson worked the high line on Bahner the next two laps and took the race lead on lap five. At the same time, Payne hit the wall on the front stretch but continued on in the race. Moments later, Elliott and Bahner made contact sending Bahner spinning into the infield on the back stretch and bringing out the yellow flag. After the restart, Elliott began to make a charge back to the front along with Payne. Unfortunately for Payne, he spun off turn two and ended up losing a lap to the leaders. Elliott began racing Nelson for third on lap 10 and on lap 11 he moved under Nelson going into turn one. The two came together though. Nelson was able to slow up and avoid hitting the wall but Elliott was not so fortunate as he hit the wall and damaged his suspension. When the checkered flag flew it was Randy Olson winning handily over Ziemer, Nelson, Allen Olson and Belinda Ward.

Mic Moulton proved superior in the sportsman trophy dash beating Angelo Marcelli, Larry Pries and Dennis DelBiaggio. Jerry Peterson took the heat race win over DelBiaggio, Moulton, Donnie Brown and Scott Baker. Brown pulled into the lead in the initial stages of the main event ahead of Peterson. Brown tried as best he could to hold the top position but finally on lap five, Peterson moved under to take the lead. On lap seven, Marcelli made contact with Baker sending Baker spinning and bringing out the caution flag. Marcelli was sent to the rear of the field for initiating the contact. Racing resumed for two laps before DelBiaggio made contact with Brown coming off turn two while racing for second. Brown did a 360 and everyone avoided contact as the yellow flew. Like Marcelli, DelBiaggio was sent to the rear for his role in the spin.

After the restart, Peterson had his hands full with Moulton who was now in the second position. Moulton wasted little time, taking the lead on lap 10. Peterson desperately hung on to Moulton but as the laps wound down, Moulton was able to build his margin over Peterson to approximately five car lengths. At the checkered flag it was Moulton winning over Peterson, Pries, DelBiaggio and Marcelli.

Racing returns to Redwood Acres Raceway Saturday August 28th for Fan Appreciation Night.