Barnwell takes win number four, Peeples notches his fifth

Barnwell takes win number four, Peeples notches his fifth

By Matthew J. Sullivan

A packed house of excited race fans greeted Redwood Acres Raceway this past Saturday night. It was one of the biggest night’s of the 2007 racing season; Fan Appreciation Night. Fans were able to get into the race free of charge provided that they pick up tickets at any number of locations in the area thanks to Bear River Casino. Prior to the night’s racing, drivers in all of the divisions lined their cars on the front straightaway and fans were allowed to meet and greet with the drivers.

At the night’s end, several familiar faces returned to victory lane. Orion Mosher continued his winning ways in the limited street stock class winning yet another main event, number four for the season. After unfortunate circumstances sidelined him in the main the previous weekend, Steve Kimberling took the win in the real stock main after Bob Lima’s car failed tech inspection. Craig Baker held off Byron McIntosh to win the mini stock main event. Paul Peeples, Jr. fought off the hard charging David Henderson in the thunder roadster main to score his fifth win of the season. In the sportsman division, Brandon Barnwell returned to victory lane after a five race winless drought.

Orion Mosher set fast time for the limited street stocks with a 17.706. Robert Miller won the dash over Mosher, Kenny Demello and Scott Lyons. Mosher won the heat race ahead of Demello, Duane Mayo, Stan Young and Lyons. Miller and Young took the field to the green in the 15 lap main event. Miller took the lead off the start while Lyons slotted himself into the second position. On lap two, Young spun into the infield but continued on. The next lap, Romeo Venza spun in the fourth turn but was able to get going without bringing out the caution flag. Mosher challenged Lyons for second on lap five, but Lyons maintained the position. On lap seven, Lyons moved inside of Miller to take the lead bringing Mosher into second. On lap 11 while working slower traffic, Lyons was caught out allowing Mosher to move outside and by for the race lead. The next lap, Miller moved back by Lyons but by then Mosher held a comfortable lead. At the checkered flag it was Mosher winning over Miller, Lyons, Demello and Mayo.

Fast time honors for the mini stock class went to Craig Baker with a lap of 18.960. Baker won the dash over Byron McIntosh, Glenn Bernald and Max Capps. Baker followed that up with the heat race victory over Brian McIntosh, Brian Murrell, By. McIntosh and Capps. Br. McIntosh and Nick Karanopoulos took the eight car field to the green of the 15 lap main event. McIntosh took the lead from the start over Murrell and Karanopoulos. On lap four, Baker took third away from Karanopoulos. At the same time, Denzil Barrett spun in the second turn bringing out the yellow flag. On the restart, Baker moved by Murrell for second. On lap seven, Baker moved by Br. McIntosh for the lead. Meanwhile, By. McIntosh moved by Karanopoulos for fourth, then by Murrell for third. On lap nine, Byron moved by brother Brian for the second spot. Murrell pulled his car into the pits on lap 10 with something dragging under his car. By. McIntosh closed in on Baker but ran out of time at the end as Baker took the win over By. McIntosh, Br. McIntosh, Karanopoulos and Glenn Bernald.

Chuck Essex was the quick qualifier among the real stock cars with a 19.514 lap time. Jim Redd won the dash over Bill Middleton, Ryan Walters and Essex. Walters won the first head followed by Marvin Savage, Bob Lima, Nick Green and Barry Barnwell. Troy Wood won the second heat over Middleton, Steve Kimberling, Nick Mitchell and Doug Way. Mitchell and Savage led the field to the green in the 25 lap main event. Mitchell took the lead from the drop of the green while Savage was clotheslined back to the fifth spot. On lap seven, Redd moved to the fifth position. On lap eight, Lima moved inside and by Mitchell for the lead. On lap nine, Mitchell spun in the second turn collecting Redd and Doug Way. At this time Lima led Wood, Kimberling, Savage and Walters.

On the restart, Lima got an excellent jump and pulled out his lead. Walters also got a good start and was able to move by Savage for fourth. On lap 11, Kimberling moved outside of Wood for the second spot. While the two dueled for position, Lima pulled away. After several laps of close but clean racing, Kimberling was able to move by Wood on lap 15. On lap 16, Middleton moved into third by Wood with Walters following in his wake. While Kimberling, Middleton and Walters dueled for second, Lima stretched out to an insurmountable lead. At the checkered flag, Lima crossed the line first over Kimberling, Middleton, Walters and Barnwell, however Lima’s car failed post race tech giving the victory to Kimberling and moving Nick Green into the fifth position.

David Henderson set the pace for the thunder roadsters in qualifying with a 16.960 lap. Chris Sarvinski won the dash over Henderson, Troy Combs and Paul Peeples, Jr. Gerhy Foster won the first heat ahead of Chris Banfill, Bill Bradbury, Thomas Payne and Leroy Marsh, Jr. Unfortunately Rob Nelson had right front issues in the heat and was involved in an incident with Chris Lawrence. Fortunately, both were able to make it out for the main event. Ray Elliott won the second heat over Bruce Ziemer, Peeples, Combs and Mark Arroyo.

21 cars lined up for the 30 lap feature. Marsh and Banfill lead the field to the green flag with Marsh getting the early lead. On lap five, Elliott marched his way into the top spot, passing Marsh. On lap seven, Foster spun bringing out the yellow flag. On the restart, Elliott led Marsh, Banfill, Ziemer and Jay Bahner. Combs began to make his presence felt getting by Bahner and Ziemer on the restart. The yellow came out once again on lap 8. The green flew once more and the front four pulled away. On lap 12, Combs moved inside and by Banfill for third. Two laps later, Combs made his way by Marsh for the second position. On lap 15, Marsh got into the back of Combs in turn two sending Combs into a spin and bringing out the yellow flag.

Marsh dropped to the rear of the field for his involvement in the incident and the top five now consisted of Elliott, Banfill, Ziemer, Peeples and Bahner. With the race halfway over, Peeples began to make his way to the front. On the restart, he moved by Ziemer for third and began to challenge Banfill for second. On lap 18, Banfill turned sideways in the fourth turn but held off Peeples and continued on. At the same time, Payne spun in the fourth turn bringing out the yellow flag again. On the restart, Henderson moved inside of Bahner taking the fifth spot. On lap 20, Henderson took fourth away from Ziemer. On lap 24, Peeples moved inside and by Banfill for the second spot. On lap 28, Peeples moved inside of Elliott, while Bahner wrecked off the second turn bringing the yellow out for the final time. On the restart, Peeples moved outside of Elliott to take the lead bringing Henderson with him. Henderson mounted a charge to the inside of Peeples, but Peeples slammed the door. In the end, Peeples was able to hold off Henderson to win. Banfill moved by Elliott to take third while Mark Arroyo rounded out the top five.

Brandon Barnwell set quick time for the sportsman cars with a 16.349 time. Lissa Uselton won the dash ahead of Barnwell, Aaron Byers and Larry Pries. Barnwell won the first heat over Rick Fox, Ken Hallis, Uselton and Frank Billy. Jerry Peterson took the second over Angelo Marcelli, Byers, Pries and Marty Walsh. Hallis and Fox lead the field to the green in the 30 lap main event with Fox taking the lead from the start. On lap two, Barnwell moved outside of Uselton for fifth taking the spot on lap three. While Fox pulled away, Barnwell continued his march to the front getting by Pries for fourth on lap six. On lap seven, Byers moved by Hallis for second bringing Barnwell and Peterson with him. On lap eight, Barnwell moved by Byers for second. Peterson was able to get by Byers for third on lap 11 just as Billy spun in turn two bringing out the yellow flag.

On the restart it was Fox leading Barnwell, Peterson, Byers and Pries. On lap 14, Pries moved inside and by Byers for fourth. On lap 15, Walsh moved his way into fifth passing Byers for the position. On lap 17, Barnwell powered by Fox to take the lead. Peterson got loose on lap 18 allowing Pries to take third away from him. The field began to really spread out by lap 24 when Walsh took fourth away from Peterson. On lap 27, Pries moved inside and passed Fox for the second position. Pries was able to close in on Barnwell in the remaining three laps but ran out of time as Barnwell took the victory with Pries second, Fox third, Walsh fourth and Peterson fifth.

Racing returns to the Acres on August 28th with Back To School Night being the theme for the evening.