Grand Junction Drivers 1-2-3 In Topless 50

By Gary Jacob

Denver, CO -- Leading just the final four laps after making his winning pass around Jeep Berry, Dean Moore paced a Grand Junction, CO sweep of the top 3 positions in the Topless 50 special for the Colorado Late Model Association Saturday night at Rocky Mountain National Speedway. Moore's win paid $1,500 as the series allowed the teams to race without their roofs in this midseason special event. Series point leader Brett Hallmark also got by Berry on the last lap to finish second. Moore, Hallmark and Berry all tow out of the western Colorado community of Grand Junction and this was the first event for Berry since his $5,000 win in Albuquerque back in early April.

The special event drew a season high 23 entries for the traveling series and they were divided into three heat races. Berry came from sixth starting to win the first heat with a last lap pass of front row starter Jim Beaman. Beaman ran second over Bill Sabin. Dave Garmann took the lead at the start of the second heat, but crashed hard into the fence in turn 3 and his race was over. Jim Clifton raced to the win ahead of another Grand Junction racer, Butch Clark and Don Post. Outside front row starter Moore took the lead from pole starter John Kuchar on the start and he won the third heat with Kuchar second ahead of Hallmark. The top 2 finishers from each heat contested the Leary Racing Products Dash for Cash. The heat winners were started in the front and Berry won from the pole with fellow front row starter Clifton second ahead of last starter Kuchar.

The lineup for the 50 lap feature was straight up off the heat action, putting heat winners Berry, Clifton and Moore at the front of the grid. Garmann was the only driver unable to start the feature. Berry took a quick lead with Clifton and Moore continuously trading second. The trading lasted over the first four rounds before Moore secured the spot. Bill Smith pitted on lap 10 and Scott Cimfl pulled into the infield on lap 17. When Cimfl removed his helmet, the track was forced to throw the first yellow flag on lap 18. Chris Persichetti exited on this caution. Ken Brack lost his steering in a tangle with Scott Lewis, but continued to race. J T Botts and Lewis tangled for the 2nd yellow flag and the damaged car of Brack was blackflagged from the event. On lap 31, Clark collided with Kuchar. Kuchar spun and was hit by Cox. Both Kuchar and Cox had to be towed from the track and Clark's race was also over. On lap 45, Rod Glenn hit the fence coming out of turn 3. Not seeing the yellow flag, Gary Dechant tangled with Clifton, forcing Clifton into the fence only inches away from Glenn. The race was over for both Glenn and Clifton.

When green flag racing resumed, Moore made a run at leader Berry and made his winnig pass on lap 47. Terry Loos spun for a final yellow flag on lap 48. Moore paced the field over the remaining rounds for the win with Hallmark getting by Berry on the final lap to finish 2nd. Berry ran third ahead of Beaman, impressive modified graduate Dechant, Bill Sabin, Post, Rick Lieser and Lewis. With Kuchar credited with 17th place, he fell 96 points back of Hallmark. Lieser is third in points, 27 behind Kuchar and just 15 in front of Clifton. Cox rounds out the top five and Brack stands 6th.

Summary Dash-Jeep Berry, Jim Clifton, John Kuchar, Dean Moore. Heat 1-Berry, Jim Beaman, Bill Sabin, Scott Cimfl, Terry Loos. Heat 2-Clifton, Butch Clark, Don Post, Curt Daniels, Gary Dechant. Heat 3-Moore, Kuchar, Brett Hallmark, Mike Cox, Scott Lewis. Main-Moore, Hallmark, Berry, Beaman, Dechant, Sabin, Post, Rick Lieser, Lewis, Daniels, J T Botts, Loos, Mike Felton, Clifton, Rod Glenn, Clark, Kuchar, Cox, Cimfl, Ken Brack, Chris Persichetti, Bill Smith.

Clean Sweep Gives Hallmark Five Wins In Six Races

By Gary Jacob

Denver, CO -- Even with the biggest field of the season in action, Brett Hallmark from Grand Junction, CO made it five wins in six races on the CLMA schedule when he scored a clean sweep Saturday night at Rocky Mountain National Speedway. Hallmark started outside front row in his heat, the dash and the 25 lap feature, earning $1,000. After several successful Midwestern runs, Kelly Boen returned to the series and ran second with Dean Moore from Grand Junction finishing third after Moore set the early pace in the 25 lapper.

The 21 car turnout allowed for three full heat races and veteran Jim Clifton came from third starting to the lead on the first lap of heat 1. Clifton won the event with Rock Springs, Wyoming long tow Kevin Wright second over Jim Beaman. Hallmark beat pole starter Boen on the start of heat 2 and he raced his GRT Chassis to the win with Boen second over Rick Lieser. Heat 3 saw Chris Persichetti pit prior to the green flag. Moore was a wire to wire from outside front row with pole starter Mike Cox second over Scott Lewis. The top 2 finishers in each heat advanced into the Leary Racing Products Dash and Hallmark was a wire to wire winner from his outside front row start. Moore and Boen were dueling when they made contact and Moore got a flat tire. Wright spun trying to fend off Boen in the duel for 2nd with Boen finishing second ahead of Clifton and Cox.

All 21 cars were able to start the 25 lap feature with heat winners Moore, Hallmark and Clifton in the front 3 spots ahead of the three second place heat finishers. Moore raced into a quick lead over Wright and Clifton with Hallmark falling back to 4th. On lap 2, Hallmark took third from Clifton. Boen passed Clifton for fourth on lap 3. Both Hallmark and Boen shuffled Wright back to 4th on lap 4. Clifton and Cox tangled forcing a spin by Clifton that produced the only caution flag on lap 6. On the restart, Moore, Hallmark and Boen put on a three wide duel for the top spot and Moore maintained his slight advantage. Clifton and Craig Baukema both pitted with car woes. On lap 17, Hallmark and Boen both passed Moore for the 1-2 slots. Boen then attempted to wrest first from Hallmark, but couldn't complete a pass. The 25 lapper was quickly run with just one minor caution. Moore finished third ahead of Rick Lieser, Cox, Wright, Ken Brack, Don Post, Butch Clark and Beaman. It was a tough night for John Kuchar, the only driver other than Hallmark with a 2002 win. He ran 11th in the feature and Hallmark's point lead is now 61 points over Kuchar. Lieser is 23 points back of Kuchar and 17 ahead of Brack. Brack holds just a single point advantage on both Garmann and Cox. Clifton is 7th as Rod Glenn missed the race due to his engine problems of the previous weekend. Modified star Gary Dechant made his dirt late model debut with a 14th and it was also the first dirt late model race for Beaman. Clifton and Temco Trailers have teamed up to produce a two seat dirt late model to allow fans to get the experience of circling the dirt ovals.

Summary Dash-Brett Hallmark, Kelly Boen, Jim Clifton. Heat 1-Clifton, Kevin Wright, Jim Beaman, Don Post, Bill Sabin. Heat 2-Hallmark, Boen, Rick Lieser, Dave Garmann, Butch Clark. Heat 3-Dean Moore, Mike Cox, Scott Lewis, Ken Brack, Craig Baukema. Main-Hallmark, Boen, Moore, Lieser, Cox, Wright, Brack, Post, Clark, Beaman, John Kuchar, Lewis, Garmann, Gary Dechant, Sabin, Chris Persichetti, Bill Smith, J T Botts, Scott Cimfl, Baukema, Clifton.

Perkins, DiBenedetto And Larson First Colusa Feature Winners

By Gary Jacob

Colusa, Ca -- Beau Perkins, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Larson scored the feature wins as the QRC All Star Tour for the Outlaw Karts ran round four of their 2002 schedule at the Colusa County Fair Friday night. Colusa became the latest County Fair to be added to Lowell Moural's specially prepared race tracks and had to handle nearly 120 entries in a long day and night of racing. Perkins has expanded his racing into the winged sprint cars, but still remains a threat whenever he steps back into the kart action. He set fast time for the open outlaws, ran third in the dash, won his heat and then won the A Main from the pole with Robert Ballou second over Ukiah's Rick Schamber and Oregon's Brandon Farquhar. Grass Valley's DiBenedetto is the hottest driver weekly at Cycleland Speedway now and he carried that over to the Colusa action by timing 9th fast, winning the 3rd heat and the A Main. His victory boosted him into the series point lead as incoming point leader Tyler Schaaf ran fifth. Dash winner Alan Ambers was second ahead of Justin Reinolds. Larson was the Box Stock point leader entering the event and he had a huge night with fast time, a heat win and the A Main victory. Only a fourth in the dash marred his efforts. Ukiah's Andrew Anderson ran second over Garrett Mills. The 9 year old Larson has been especially successful at these limited events Fairgrounds tracks like Yuba City, Gridley and now Colusa.

There were 47 entries in the Open Outlaw division and Perkins' fast time was a 10.494 effort. Schamber ran a 10.556, Ballou a 10.586 and Tyler McCain a 10.642. Cassie Thain was fifth over Kyle Hirst and Santa Rosa's Chris Mansell. Hirst won the dash over Ballou and Perkins, but had nothing to do with the feature lineup. The karts were split into four heats with the fast timers in front. The top 3 finishers in each heat advanced to the A Main. Perkins won the first heat over Farquhar and Jason Webb, who was filling in for Ryan Foster. Schamber won heat 2 over Hirst and Chris Faulkner. Ballou took heat 3 ahead of Mansell and Steven Gannon. T McCain took heat 4 over Daniel Becker and double division racer Tyler Schaaf. Five more slots were available in the B Main where Robbie Berge won over David Lewallen, Kirk Simpson, Series point leader Sean Becker and Heath Withrow. The A Main had 19 starters as both Tony Sousa and Dennis Clark were added to the A Main grid. Alec Kerns won the C Main over Michael Tarter and Pete Johnston. Johnston is one of the hottest drivers at Cycleland, but was saddled with a 10th place heat run. He ran second in the D Main behind D Clark and advanced through the C Main with a 3rd, but saw his night end with a 8th in the B Main. Starting up front was a key to finishing high as Perkins won the A Main from the pole, second place Ballou started 3rd, third place Schamber lined up 2nd and 4th place Farquhar came from 5th. Sousa put a show coming from dead last to place fifth over Gannon, Berge, Mansell, Lewallen and S Becker. Schamber will climb to third in points behind S Becker and Berge with his big night.

Michael Hubert III was the quickest of the 27 125's with his 10.969 lap. Incoming point leader Schaaf ran a 11.047 effort with Lakeport Speedway star Bradley Terrell third at 11.126. Brothers Michael Helwig and Nic Helwig rounded out the top five qualifiers. Alan Ambers was sixth fast and won the dash over N Helwig and M Helwig. The entire field was split into three heat races with the top 5 finishers in each moving into the A Main. Hubert won the first heat over M Helwig and Reinolds. Jessica Helberg won heat 2 over Javonne Cowan and Richard Bailey. DiBenedetto had to come from third starting to win heat 3 over front row starters Ambers and Terrell. Only 3 transfer spots were available in the B Main where Tyler Wolf won over Nevada's Tom Purcell and Schaaf. Derek O'Bannon was fourth over John-Michael Bunn. DiBenedetto charged to the A Main win over Ambers, Reinolds, N Helwig, Schaaf, Brett Miller, JoJo Helberg, Hubert and Cowan. M Helwig was last in the 18 kart field and tumbled in the points as he started the night third behind Schaaf and DiBenedetto.

Larson was the quickest of 42 Box Stocks with his 12.476 lap. Brian Southers ran a 12.612, Dillon Silverman turned a 12.620 and both Jake Cartwright and Thomas Bruckenstein had 12.635's. Sixth fast Moore won the dash over Bruckenstein and Southers. Larson won heat 1 with Bruckenstein second over Jesse Red. Southers won heat 2 over Moore and Keith Bloom Jr. Silverman was chased to his heat 3 win by Anderson and Jonny Lentz. Cartwright won heat 4 with Garrett Mills second over Hunter Colodny. The top 4 in each heat advanced to the A Main and they were joined by four more transfers from the B Main. Derek Copeland won that B Main with Medford winner Riley Gomes second over Shane Graham. Kelley Bell won the C Main with Jerrad Cowan second over Matt Killion. Larson grabbed his third A Main win of the series with Anderson second over Mills, Southers, Red, Copeland, Cartwright, Lentz, Derek Kennemore and Moore. While Larson maintained his solid point lead, the second place duel between Red, Anderson, Southers, Mills, Lentz and Moore continued fierce with Bloom losing ground with a 20th place finish.

Summary Box Stock Fast Time-Kyle Larson 12.476 Dash-Mason Moore, Thomas Bruckenstein, Brian Southers. Heat 1-Larson, Bruckenstein, Jesse Red, Derek Kennemore, Derrick Hirst. Heat 2-Southers, Moore, Keith Bloom Jr, Mackenna Bell, Riley Gomes. Heat 3-Dillon Silverman, Andrew Anderson, Jonny Lentz, Cody Ambers, Dallas Colodny. Heat 4-Jake Cartwright, Garrett Mills, Hunter Colodny, Doug Kennemore, Shelby Dargert. C Main-Kelley Bell, Jerrad Cowan, Matt Killion, Brad Patchen, Leanna Kenyon, Zachary Heinz, Zachary Pina, Jennifer Purcell, Tristan Miller, Dylan Greenleaf. B Main-Derek Copeland, Gomes, Shane Graham, Andrew Compton, Tyler Seavey, Bradley Coupe, Jasper Fenton, Hirst, D Colodny, Cameron Mendes. A Main-Larson, Anderson, Mills, Southers, Red, Copeland, Cartwright, Lentz, Derek Kennemore, Moore, H Colodny, Gomes, Bruckenstein, Compton, Ambers, Silverman, Doug Kennemore, Graham, M Bell, Bloom. 125 Intermediate Fast Time-Michael Hubert III 10.969 Dash-Alan Ambers, Nic Helwig, Michael Helwig. Heat 1-Hubert, M Helwig, Justin Reinolds, JoJo Helberg, Brett Miller. Heat 2-Jessica Helberg, Javonne Cowan, Richard Bailey, N Helwig, Michael Forslund. Heat 3-Matt DiBenedetto, Ambers, Bradley Terrell, Cody Miller, Austin Kerns. B Main-Tyler Wolf, Tom Purcell, Tyler Schaaf, Derek O'Bannon, John-Michael Bunn, Alex Cartwright, Steven Rogers, Klint Simpson, Glenn Parman, Ryan Gomes. A Main-DiBenedetto, Ambers, Reinold, N Helwig, Schaaf, B Miller, JoJo Helberg, Hubert, Cowan, Kerns, Forslund, Purcell, Terrell, Wolf, Bailey, Jessica Helberg, C Miller, M Helwig. Open Outlaw Fast Time-Beau Perkins 10.494 Dash-Kyle Hirst, Robert Ballou, Perkins. Heat 1-Perkins, Brandon Farquhar, Jason Webb, David Lewallen, Taylor Simas. Heat 2-Rick Schamber, Hirst, Chris Faulkner, Robbie Berge, Heath Withrow. Heat 3-Ballou, Chris Mansell, Steven Gannon, Kirk Simpson, Sean Becker. Heat 4-Tyler McCain, Daniel Becker, Tyler Schaaf, Cody Braund, Kyle Calvert. D Main-Dennis Clark, Pete Johnston, Shawn Amos, Aaron Colburn, Chad Widener, Cassie Thain, Zack Mason, Michelle Mootz, Josh Hughes, Josh Chartier. C Main-Alec Kerns, Michael Tarter, Johnston, Mike Clark, Hank Withrow, D Clark, Kevin Juvenal, Bubba Hill, Colburn, Thain. B Main-Berge, Lewallen, Simpson, S Becker, Heath Withrow, Braund, Ryan Kaplan, Johnston, M Clark, Robbie Whitchurch. A Main-Perkins, Ballou, Schamber, Farquhar, Tony Sousa, Gannon, Berge, Mansell, Lewallen, S Becker, Faulkner, T McCain, Heath Withrow, Schaaf, D Becker, Simpson, Webb, Hirst, D Clark.

Acres Action Sharp And Prompt

Acres Action Sharp And Prompt

By Matthew J. Sullivan

Racing at Redwood Acres was exciting on Saturday, June 1, as the late model tour cars made their first visit to the fast 3/8-paved oval in Eureka, California. Originally, the cars had been scheduled to make a visit earlier in the year; however, the race was rained out. Mike Sackett of Myrtle Point, Oregon took the hard fought victory over Rick Spencer. All of the defending champions of the Acres regular racing action won; Shawn Craig in the real stock division, Shawn Andrews in the sportsman division and Phil Wood in the mini stock class.

The racing action was fast in all of the classes, in fact the entire race time lasted from 7:00 to about 9:45. In the mini stock trophy dash, Wood took the victory over Jason Rhodes and Dan Brown. Jason Chand who was also in the race had motor problems; something that would plague him for the rest of his evening.

Racing action was intense in the heat race. Wood quickly made his way to the front as Rhodes and Troy Boyce attempted to chase him down. Bad luck struck both drivers; on lap 2 Rhodes spun between turns three and four, a lap later in the same part of the track, the same thing happened to Boyce. Boyce was fortunate enough not to loose any positions to cars but he lost a lot of track position to Wood who went unchallenged. Boyce finished second with Mac Collado third.

The 20 lap mini stock main event was fast and furious as Brian Murrell led the field to the green. Soon after, Boyce took the lead and made an attempt to move out to a sizeable lead. That wouldn’t be the case though as Wood made a charge to the front from the back and passed Boyce on lap seven. A few laps later Boyce went into the pits and didn’t return. Wood took the sizeable advantage and won the race over Brown, Rhodes and Collado.

The real stock field was strong again at the Acres. Rick Fox won the trophy dash over Shawn Craig, Donny Hyman and young driver Travis Maytanes. In the first of the three heat races another youngster, Gary Adams fought off a hard charging Marty Walsh. The second heat consisted of a lot of bumping and grinding. On lap 3, Aaron Byers and Mike Peeples made contact resulting in a caution flag. On the restart a tight battle ensued between leader, Chad Gurney, Steve Kimberling and Byers. Gurney held off the challenge for the victory. The third heat was calmer with Doug Way taking the victory over Craig and Fox.

Because of the high car count, a B-main event was held allowing only the top two in the race to transfer to the main event. Adams and Walsh continued their hard fought battle in the first heat with Walsh coming out the victor with Adams taking the second transfer position. The 25 lap main was very exciting as Peeples led the field to the green flag. On lap 6, Bill Middleton spun to bring out the caution. After the restart, Craig who had made his way quickly through the field took the lead. By lap 14, Rick Fox had made the pass for second and set his sights on Craig.

On lap 20 when going into turn three, Peeples blew his motor. Keith Conn and Doug Way hit the oil and hit the wall ending both of their nights. On the restart, Fox applied as much pressure as he could on Craig, trying to force him into making a mistake. Maytanes spun on lap 22 but there was no caution. Shawn Craig took the checkered flag with Fox, Hyman, Walsh and Lissa Uselton behind him.

Defending sportsman track champion, Shawn Andrews took the trophy dash victory over Acres veteran Pat Walsh, sportsman rookie Scotty Turner and second year sportsman driver David Henderson. Angelo Marcelli, Walsh and Andrews were closely contesting the lead in the heat race. Marcelli held off all challenges and took the heat race victory. Rookie Jim Norris led the field to the green flag, disaster struck in turn four on the first lap when rookie Joe McDonald spun. Al Acuna tried to avoid McDonald’s spun vehicle but ended up hitting the wall ending his night of racing. Ed Peters also spun his car but avoided damage to his car.

After a restart, Peters took the early lead. On lap 7, Turner lost his car coming off of turn two. Peters slowed up for the incident but was spun by Walsh also trying to avoid Turner’s car. After a quick restart, Andrews took advantage and passed Norris. He quickly caught up to Walsh and began to make an attempt for the lead. On lap 16, Andrews was successful and passed Walsh. That same lap, Norris lost power and took his car to the pits. Lap 18, Henderson spun but he continued on. Andrews held off Walsh on the restart and took the victory with returning driver Roger Sanderson third and Marcelli fourth.

In late model action, Mike Sackett won the six-lap trophy dash over fan favorite, Jimmy Walker, Mic Moulton and Larry Pries. The heat race was fast as David Miller took the victory over Rick Spencer, Bill Ward and Sackett. The main event action was exciting to say the least as Spencer led the field to the green flag. Paul Peeples who started on the outside got a good start and took the lead going into turn one and led the field for the first twelve laps however on lap thirteen he had car problems and pulled his car into the pits allowing Spencer to take the lead.

On lap 21, Walker pulled his ill handling racecar into the pits and did not return. Sackett made his way to second and began to apply pressure to leader Spencer. Several times Sackett tried to make the pass on Spencer but he couldn’t get the run. The two fought tooth and nail for many, many laps bumper to bumper. Finally on lap 27, Sackett saw his opportunity and took it passing Spencer for the race lead. Though it seemed that he was faster, Sackett didn’t draw a very large lead over Spencer.

As the two hit the “slower” cars Sackett pulled out to a larger margin. Sackett had trouble passing Miller however allowing Spencer to close back up to him. Sackett made the pass with Spencer passing Miller a few laps later. With only a few more circuits left in the race, Pries, Luke Hall and Preston O’Dell were collected in a wreck with Pries suffering the brunt of the damage. Mike Sackett held off the rest of Spencer’s challenges for the lead as he took the victory with Moulton third, Bill Ward fourth and David Miller fifth.