Last lap contact gives Hall the win

Last lap contact gives Hall the win

By Matthew J. Sullivan

Racing action returned to Redwood Acres Raceway this past Saturday for what proved to be an intense night of thrills and spills. In addition to the exciting racing at Eureka, California’s 3/8-mile paved oval, it was Driver Appreciation Night. After all the heat races in the five local divisions, fans met drivers on the front stretch for a meet-and greet session. Every driver in every division greeted fans young and old, signed autographs and handed out goodies of all sort.

Ken Barrett was victorious in the trophy dash for the Humboldt Hydroponics roadrunners. Andrew Pementel won the first heat race while Gary Klinetobe won the second heat. Barrett led the first few laps of the 25-lap feature before giving way to Grey Ethridge. After a lap three restart, Dylan Ford and Chad Grammer moved into the first and second positions. Those two would be the dominant forces in the feature as they were able to pull away from the rest of the field. Grammer did all he could to stick with Ford but Ford proved to have the upper hand as he was able to take the victory. Grammer finished second followed by Ryan Ahrens who was driving Steve Kimberling’s car. Eugene Palmer took fourth while Klinetobe crossed the line fifth.

The John’s Used Cars and Auto Wreckers bomber trophy dash win was taken by James Moore. The heat race was won by Leonard Ward. The 25 lap feature began with Ward leading but Tyler Avelar looked to have the car to beat as he was able to take the lead from Ward and moved to a somewhat comfortable lead. Unfortunately, Avelar’s car began to suffer issues in the final few laps which allowed Ward to move back to the lead and take the win. Matt Simon placed second ahead of Rick Jelton, Moore and Avelar.

Rick Estes won the trophy dash in the mini stock division while Brian Murrell, Jr. won the heat race over Estes in a thrilling last lap duel. Murrell, Jr. was the dominant car in the feature event which was slowed several times. On what proved to be the final restart, Estes was able to get by Murrell from the outside starting position to take the lead and the eventual race victory. Murrell finished a hard fought second followed by Chelsea Champagne, Gary Klinetobe who was making his first start in the mini stock division and Cole Peterson.

The Bear River Hotel and Casino Thunder Roadster trophy dash victory went to Paul Peeples, Jr. The heat race proved to be the biggest incident of the night. Going into the third turn on lap one, Scott Baker looked to have trouble as he locked up his front brakes. Several cars were collected in the melee including Mike Ward, Thomas Payne, Peeples, Jr. and Reno, Nevada visitor, Jack Randall. Both Payne and Baker’s cars looked to be complete write offs while Randall suffered major damage to his car. Ward and Peeples were able to start the main. None of the drivers were injured in the scary incident.

The 30-lap main featured another unfortunate incident between Chris Sarvinski and Peeples. The two drivers made contact in turn three with Peeples hitting the wall in turn four and ending his night prematurely. David Henderson led from start to finish taking the main event victory. Sarvinski finished second followed by Robbie Nelson, Belinda Ward and Chris Lawrence.

Luke Hall won the trophy dash for the Mid City Motor World late model cars. Kenny Demello took the victory in the first heat race. The second heat saw an incident between Kevin Estep and Dennis DelBiaggio. The two made contact while racing into turn three and both cars went in the wall. Neither driver was able to make it out for the feature. Late model touring series veteran, Junior Roddy made a surprise visit to the Acres for the weekend and won the second heat.

As has been the case for the entire 2014 season at Redwood Acres Raceway, the 35-lap late model main event featured some of the most intense action on the night. Hall drove to the lead early and pulled out a sizeable gap over the field. A spin by Ken Hallis on lap six bunched the field and forced a restart. Hall again pulled out to a substantial lead while Mic Moulton and Roddy slid into the first and second positions. Moulton slowly but surely began to reel in the gap on Hall as the race progressed.

On lap 19, Moulton got sideways off turn four and went through the infield to save his car. Roddy moved into second while Moulton was able to safely get back on track into third. Hall looked to have a clear path to victory until Donnie Brown and Demello spun in turns one and two forcing a restart on lap 27. The top three of Hall, Roddy and Moulton raced closely nose-to-tail until the final two laps.

Roddy got under Hall coming off turn four with two laps remaining. The two raced door-handle to door-handle down the back stretch until Roddy was able to get the advantage going into turn three. Hall got inside of Roddy coming to the white flag and going into turn one the two came together sending Roddy spinning out of the lead. Hall was able to hold off Moulton’s fight to the line to take what proved to be a controversial victory. Todd Lands from Cloverdale took third ahead of Demello and Brown.

The next action on the oval will be Mid City Motor World championship night, Saturday September 13^th. Before that, Redwood Acres Raceway will host monster truck action Friday August 29^th, Saturday August 30^th and Sunday August 31^st. Also don’t forget that the annual Fall Spectacular has been moved to its traditional weekend on Friday September 26^th, Saturday September 27^th and Sunday September 28^th. Along with super late models, modifieds, Thunder Roadsters, bombers, mini stocks and roadrunners, there will be another boat race after the races on Sunday afternoon. Information for all upcoming events can be found at Redwood Acres Raceway’s official website, www.racingtheacres.com.

Exciting racing thrills spectacular crowd

Exciting racing thrills spectacular crowd

By Matthew J. Sullivan

After a week off, racing returned to Redwood Acres Raceway this past Saturday night for the eighth race of the 2014 season. The grandstands were packed for the night with what looked to be the biggest crowd of the year thus far. The fans got their money’s worth with exciting racing in the roadrunners, bombers, mini stocks, Thunder Roadsters and late models as well as the evening’s special attraction, the boat race.

The Humboldt Hydroponics roadrunner trophy dash victory was taken by Steve Kimberling. The first heat race was won on a last lap pass by Kimberling over Grey Ethridge while the second heat went to Gary Klinetobe. The 25-lap feature was highlighted by a spectacular fight up front between Kimberling, Klinetobe, Eugene Palmer and Dillon Ford among others. The event was slowed on a couple of occasions, most notably a wreck in turn two on lap four that took Briana Stone and Kayla Foster out of action.

In the final handful of laps, Klinetobe and Palmer pulled away from the field and continued their season-long duel battle for the race lead and the eventual victory. Going into turn one on the white flag lap, Palmer got inside of Klinetobe. The two raced down the back stretch into turn three. Klinetobe tried to cut under Palmer off turn four but ran into Palmer’s bumper killing his momentum and giving the victory to Palmer. Kimberling finished third over Ford and Chad Grammer.

Out of town visitor, David Dillinger took the wins in the trophy dash and heat races for the John’s Used Cars and Wreckers bomber division. Dillinger looked to have the car to beat in the 25-lap main event but incidents with James Moore and Leonard Ward forced him to start in the back twice for his role in each event. With five laps remaining, Dillinger took the lead away from Tyler Avelar. At the same time, Dillinger’s car began smoking heavily. Officials black flagged Dillinger who was putting fluid on the track. Avelar regained the lead and won his second main event in a row ahead of Rick Jelton. Dillinger was credited with third while Moore was fourth and Ward fifth.

With both Brian Murrell, Jr. and Brett Murrell unable to race due to issues with their vehicles, the rest of the field looked to try to close the gap in the Maxwell’s Custom Automobiles mini stock division. Rick Estes won the trophy dash while young Cole Peterson claimed his first ever victory of any kind at the Acres in the heat race. The main event proved to have the most spectacular finish of the night. Kenny Demello, who was driving the car normally piloted by Chelsea Champagne, held the lead for the majority of the race. On the last lap going into turn three, Demello went high allowing Estes to make a move under him. The two came in contact off turn four and became entangled. Estes crossed the finish line first while Demello took second and stopped at the gate to the entrance of the track. The finish delighted the packed house as fans roared in approval. Peterson was third, Brian Murrell, Sr. fourth and Ryan Ahrens fifth.

Robbie Nelson took his first win of 2014 in the Bear River Hotel and Casino Thunder Roadster division. Paul Peeples, Jr. took the win in the heat race. Thomas Payne took the lead in the 30-lap main event from his outside front row starting position but was quickly challenged by the faster car of Peeples. Payne did all he could but could not hold Peeples off.

The race was slowed near the midway point when Belinda Ward spun in turn four and the restart proved to be bad for Payne as he was dropped back to fifth place. As he has done for the majority of 2014, Peeples dominated the feature but in the closing stages it was Nelson who showed surprising strength. Nelson reeled Peeples in and was on his bumper in the final few laps but didn’t have the muscle to mount a serious challenge. In the end it was Peeples crossing the finish line first over Nelson, Henderson, Chris Sarvinski and Payne.

The Mid City Motor World late model trophy dash win went to Luke Hall. The heat race saw an unfortunate accident when Al Acuna and Kenny Demello got together in turn one. Acuna’s car hit the wall and was out for the rest of the night while Demello was able to continue racing. Hall led from the start of the 35-lap main and was able to put a gap on second place, Mic Moulton. Jed Ambrosini spun and hit the turn three wall on lap eight which proved to be the turning point of the race.

The restart proved to be exactly what Moulton needed. After falling into second behind Hall, found a way to the inside to take the lead on lap 13. From that point on, Moulton was able to pull out to a sizable gap and was able to win comfortably over Hall, Demello and Ambrosini.

The night was capped off with the thrilling boat race. There were well over 10 competitors in the event which had the fans on their feet and cheering from the very start. At the end it was Jonathan Zaugg, Jr. taking the $600 first prize. Dave Watson was awarded the $400 second prize while Bryan Crawford and Matt Taylor earned the $200 third prize.

Of note, bomber racer Donnie Hyman returned home after suffering an injury to his back. A fund raiser has been put together for Donnie to help him as he recovers from his injuries. Also Redwood Acres Raceway has revised the schedule for the rest of the 2014 season. Mid City Motor World championship night has been moved to Saturday September 13th. In addition, the season finale Fall Spectacular event has been moved to the weekend of Friday September 26th, Saturday September 27th and Sunday September 28th. For more information concerning Hyman and the schedule change, please visit www.racingtheacres.com.

Racing takes a break for a week before returning Saturday August 16th. All five local classes will be at it again and it should be another fantastic night of racing. Grandstands open at 5:00 PM while racing begins at 6:30 PM.