Heavy fog cancels another night of racing

Heavy fog cancels another night of racing

By Matthew J. Sullivan

For the second time out of three scheduled evenings, Redwood Acres Raceway officials were forced to cancel Saturday night’s racing action, this time due to heavy fog. The limited street stock cars were in the midst of their heat race before an incident between Kenny Demello and Duayne Mayo brought a yellow flag out. It was under the caution period that the drivers and track officials deemed the speedway unsafe.

The limited street cars pulled into the pit area for a short period hoping for the fog to lift. The fog lifted for a brief period and the limited streets came out again along with the mini stocks to try to get the track back in racing condition. But once again, the fog dropped and officials decided it best to cancel the rest of the night’s races.

The track was able to get qualifying, trophy dashes and the real stock heats in before the fog came. The dash winners were Ryan Peeples in the real stocks, Fergy Ferguson in the limited street stocks, Brian Murrell in the mini stocks, Paul Peeples, Jr. in the thunder roadsters and Larry Pries in the sportsman division. Bob Lima and Trevor Miller won the two real stock heat races. Qualifying for the real stocks was paced by Trevor Miller with a 18.937 time. Scott Lyons was fastest in the limited streets with a 17.941. Max Capps set the pace for the mini stocks with a 19.381. Paul Peeples, Jr.’s 17.009 was fastest in the thunder roadsters, while Dennis Delbiaggio set the standard in the sportsman division with a 16.456 qualifying lap.

The Best Appearing Car contest that was scheduled to be held on the first night of racing but was rained out was held on this night. Drivers from all divisions pulled their cars on the front straightaway, and the winner was determined by the amount of noise generated by the fans in the grandstands. The winners were Brian Murrell in the mini stocks, Robert Miller in the thunder roadsters, Ryan Peeples in the real stocks, Fergy Ferguson in the limited street stocks and Larry Pries in the sportsman.

Thankfully, racing returns this coming Saturday night May 17 with all five local classes returning to action once more.

Rain cancels racing at the Acres

Rain cancels racing at the Acres

By Matthew J. Sullivan

For the second time in the 2007 season, rain prevailed over racing at Redwood Acres Raceway cancelling the events this past Saturday night. Fans were able to watch trophy dash races in the real stock, mini stock and limited street stock divisions before a heavy fog quickly rolled over the track just as the thunder roadsters took to the track. This was the first time in recent memory that the races were canceled during the actual running of the events.

Steve Kimberling set the quick time for the real stocks with a 19.532 lap time. Orion Mosher was fastest in the limited street stock class with a 17.571. Jason Shaha set the fast lap in mini stock qualifying at 18.900. David Henderson took his first fast time in qualifying with a 17.111, while Brandon Barnwell was the fastest sportsman driver timing in at 16.485. Marvin Savage won the real stock trophy dash ahead of Kimberling, Ryan Peeples and Barry Barnwell. Mosher won the limited street dash narrowly edging Kenny Demello, Stan Young and Scott Lyons. Brian Murrell won the mini stock dash over Shaha, Byron McIntosh and Max Capps. Of course because of the cancellation of the rest of the night’s events, these races were not scored as being official therefore making the results more or less meaningless.

Racing resumes at the Acres June 22nd and 23rd at the Acres for the Redwood Acres Fair Classic. All five local classes will run both nights with the North State Challenge Series late models joining the action on Saturday night for their 100 lap feature.

Qualifying Times
Limited Street Stocks: Orion Mosher 17.571, Kenny Demello 17.996, Scott Lyons 18.245, Stan Young 18.654, Duane Mayo 18.902, Romeo Venza 24.040

Mini Stocks: Jason Shaha 18.900, Brian Murrell 18.999, Byron McIntosh 19.022, Max Capps 19.100, Scott Baker 19.166, Glenn Bernald 19.678, Nick Karanopoulos 19.797, Brian McIntosh 20.703

Real Stocks: Steve Kimberling 19.532, Ryan Peeples 19.567, Barry Barnwell 19.713, Marvin Savage 19.717, Troy Wood 19.896, Chuck Essex 19.897, Jim Redd 19.949, Nick Mitchell 20.138, Mark Mullan 20.189

Thunder Roadsters: David Henderson 17.111, Mark Arroyo 17.130, Gerhy Foster 17.159, Ray Elliott 17.215, Dave McMurray 17.270, Leroy Marsh, Jr. 17.318, Chris Banfill 17.332, Thomas Payne 17.341, Jay Bahner 17.356, Bill O’Neill 17.426, Troy Combs 17.439, Donn Cole 17.462, Mike Ward 17.496, Bruce Ziemer 17.522, Rob Nelson 17.801, Ron Borges 17.857, Belinda Ward 17.951, Chris Sarvinski 18.048, Paul Peeples, Jr. no time

Sportsman: Brandon Barnwell 16.485, Larry Pries 16.753, Angelo Marcelli 16.809, Aaron Byers 16.881, Rick Fox 17.040, Lissa Uselton 17.092, Jerry Peterson 17.180.