The 2013 season kicked off this past Saturday evening at Redwood Acres Raceway with all four local classes in action. A great crowd was on hand to see real stocks, roadrunners, Thunder Roadsters and sportsman cars put on a fantastic show.
The real stock trophy dash was won by Tyler Avelar while Leonard Ward took the heat race victory. The feature event saw a three car incident in the early going between Ryan Walters, Chris Naughton and division rookie and 2012 Redwood Acres Raceway roadrunner champ, Michael Lawrence. Unfortunately, Lawrence was the only car that was unable to continue.
William Sand held the lead briefly before smacking the wall allowing Avelar and Ward to get by. Ward made his way to the lead for several laps but could not hold off the faster Avelar who took the lead late in the going and held on to win over Ward, Sand, Naughton and Walters.
Jarrett Mayo took the victory in the roadrunner trophy dash while the heat races were won by Ryun Leazer and Ken Barrett. The roadrunner main event featured a scary incident involving Barb Paiment. Paiment was starting her first ever race and moved high in turn one to allow the leaders to pass her safely. Unfortunately, Paiment got too high off the second turn and hit the wall at the pit road entrance head-on. The race was halted and delayed while rescue crews extracted Paiment from her car. Paiment broke her left arm, her left ankle and her right foot in the incident.
The remainder of the race showcased a thrilling duel for the lead and the victory between Mayo and Tim Abeyta. Abeyta did all he could to pressure Mayo into making a mistake and coming off turn four it looked as though he had a chance to steal the victory. Unfortunately, he came up short in his effort as Mayo beat him to the checkered flag. Kolby Jackson, Gary Kinetob and Barrett rounded out the top five.
David Henderson narrowly defeated Paul Peeples, Jr. in the Thunder Roadster trophy dash while Peeples held off Henderson for the win in the heat race. A rocky start that saw Jim Rich get loose in front of the field in turn three on the first lap gave Peeples the advantage he needed while Henderson lost precious track position to avoid wrecking.
Lonnie Tamboury held the lead in the early stages but could not hold off Peeples who took the lead. Chris Sarvinski, who looked to be very strong on the night, followed Peeples into second and road right on his tail for the majority of the race. Meanwhile, Henderson had to work hard to get by the likes of Thomas Payne, Allen Olson and Tamboury then had a tough battle for second with Sarvinski which he eventually won. Henderson was in Peeples’ mirror the rest of the way but was unable to make the challenge necessary to take the lead. At the line it was Peeples winning over Henderson, Sarvinski, Payne and Olson.
The sportsman dash was won by Brandon Barnwell while the heat race was taken by Angelo Marcelli. Jerry Peterson took the lead from pole position in the main event and fought off Barnwell until Marcelli moved into second. Marcelli took the lead from Peterson and looked to be home free the rest of the event. Peterson was able to close in on the final laps and made a serious challenge on Marcelli coming off the fourth turn on the last lap. Marcelli was able to withstand it and crossed the line first over Peterson, Kenny Demello, Barnwell and Al Acuna.
Racing resumes this Saturday night, April 27th for Pepsi Night at the Acres.