Peterson, Henderson Pepsi night winners
By Matthew J. Sullivan
It was the dawn of a new era this past Saturday night at
Eureka, California’s Redwood Acres Raceway as the 2014 racing season at the
3/8-mile paved oval began after an extended and lengthy off season. Besides
being the first race of the new year, it was the first race for the track’s new
promoters, Blair Aiken and his daughter, Jennifer Aiken. The Aikens took over
promoting the Acres this year after Rich and Linda Olson decided to retire at
the end of 2013 after 26 straight seasons as the track’s promoters.
Along with the new promoters taking over the responsibility
of operating RAR, changes have been made on both sides of the track in order to
better improve the experience for the fans. The mini stock class is back at the
Acres after being away for a few years. A bigger change comes in the form of
new rules for the real stock and sportsman divisions with the idea of local
cars in both divisions being able to compete at other tracks in the region and
vice versa. On the fan’s side of the
track, there is a new café with a fresh new menu.
The roadrunner division trophy dash win went to Gary
Klinetobe. Victories in the heat races went to Steve Paiment and Klinetobe.
Gray Ethridge led the opening few laps of the feature event before losing the
lead to Rick Esty. A few laps later, Paiment took the lead away from Esty as
the field sorted itself out. Klinetobe
and Eugene Palmer worked their way by Paiment just before Tim Abeyta had issues
entering turn three and hit the wall.
Things got wild on the restart when Ethridge got together
with Esty going into the first turn. Officials disqualified Ethridge for rough
driving. On the next restart, Paiment spun resulting in another caution. The
run to the checkered flag featured a duel between Klientobe and Palmer. Second
place, Palmer tried his best to intimidate Klientobe out of the lead, including
applying the bumper several times. Klientobe withstood Palmer’s challenges and
went on to claim the win followed by Paiment and Kayla Foster.
Prior to racing in the bomber division, Donnie Hyman’s car
suffered issues in practice which forced him out of action for the night.
Leonard Ward took home the trophy dash victory while Tyler Avelar narrowly beat
Ward to win the heat race. Matt Simon became the second casualty of the night
in the heat when he engine let go. The bomber feature was highlighted by an
intense duel for the lead between Avelar and Ward. Avelar dominated the race
until the closing stages when he began suffering issues. Ward was able to inherit the lead and cruise
to victory a lap ahead of second and third place finishers, Michael Lawrence and
rookie driver, James Moore.
The mini stock had only three cars show up on the night with
Brian Murrell, Jr. not being able to race after issues in practice. His younger
brother, Brett Murrell was able to beat Jordon Paiment in both the trophy dash
and feature races. Both drivers are mini stock rookies coming up from the
roadrunner division ranks.
Paul Peeples, Jr. took the trophy dash win for the Thunder
Roadster cars while David Henderson won the hotly contested heat race over
Peeples. The Thunder Roadster feature got off to an unfortunate start when
Robbie Nelson and Peeples wrecked coming off turn two. Henderson was also
involved but spun and did not receive any damage to his car.
After the restart, Chris Sarvinski and Henderson staged a
fantastic nip and tuck duel for the race lead. It appeared as though Sarvinski
held the advantage in the power department while Henderson had the edge in
handling. With 10 laps left, Henderson was able to find the low day past
Sarvinski to take the lead and the eventual victory. Sarvinski fought off Tommy
Payne for the runner-up position while Bruce Ziemer took fourth.
Jerry Peterson was victorious in the late model trophy dash.
Heat race victories in the division went to Al Acuna and Mic Moulton. The
35-lap feature proved to be a slam-bang affair right from the first lap. Going
into the third turn, Luke Hall made contact with Kenny Demello. Demello spun
and appeared to have minimal damage but was unable to return to the track.
After the restart, the race was slowed again for an incident, this time between
Acuna and Peterson who were racing for the lead. Thankfully both drivers were
able to continue in the race.
The highlight of the entire evening was the duel for the
race lead between Moulton and Hall. The two veteran drivers raced
door-handle-to-door-handle for numerous laps, thrilling the packed house.
Moulton appeared to have the advantage handling wise but just as he was able to
put a gap between himself and Hall, a caution flag flew.
As happens in short track racing, there was contact on lap
25 when Hall got into the rear of Moulton sending Moulton spinning out of the
lead and both cars to the rear of the field. This gave the lead to Peterson who
had been watching the top two cars duel for the entire race. After the restart,
Moulton was able to quickly maneuver his way to second but that was as far as
he would get. Peterson had enough strength
to fight off a last lap challenge from Moulton who spun between turns three and
four on the final lap. Moulton’s spin allowed Hall to finish second with Acuna
taking the third position.
Racing returns to Redwood Acres Raceway for a special Sunday
evening event this weekend, May 25th. It’s Salute The Troops night
at the Acres featuring the North State Modified Series which is in its
inaugural season. Of course the five local divisions of late models, Thunder
Roadsters, bombers, mini stocks and roadrunners will also be joining in the
action. Grandstand ticket booths open at 5:00 PM while racing begins at 6:30
PM. There is a special test and tune event Saturday the 24th for all
divisions.
For more information regarding this weekend’s races or
anything else this season, please visit Redwood Acres Raceway’s new and
official website, www.racingtheacres.com.