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| #19 Brandon White won round one of the Super Six Challenge Series |
Eureka, California (April 30, 2017) – You couldn’t ask for a nicer afternoon this past Saturday night at Redwood Acres Raceway. A packed house enjoyed the first race of the season at the 3/8-mile paved oval in what proved to be a thrilling night of action across all six local divisions.
Rookie, Daniel Whitley set fast time for the Legends division presented by Nor-Cal Automotive with a 18.346. Unfortunately, Whitley’s night was cut short in the trophy dash when he spun in turn four and backed into the wall. Brent Mack took the trophy dash win then went on to take the heat race win. Tyler Peach took the lead at the start of the 25-lap feature and made a good account for himself in spite of his inexperience in a Legends car. Peach held off the more experienced Mack for the first 17 laps before a spin by Dominic Vogelsang bunched the field. The restart proved to be to Mack’s advantage and he was able to take over the lead. Mack was able to hold on the rest of the way to take the victory over Peach, Vogelsand, M’Kinzy Uselton and James McBride.
Qualifying was paced by Jim Redd in the Fortuna Wheel & Brake bomber division. Redd’s time was 18.664. John Lally took the trophy dash win and was able to follow it up with a win in the heat race. The 25-lap main event was paced by Kolby Jackson in the opening stages. Redd took the lead away and had his hands full the rest of the race with Lally and Jackson filling his rear-view mirror. Lally made a late race charge on Redd but spun in turns three and four. Redd was able to hang on to take the victory. Lally recovered to place second followed by Jackson, Bethany Rapp and Kim Sorrels.
Fast time for the Humboldt Hydroponics mini stock division was set by Brian Murrell, Sr. with a 19.136. Troy Lee took the trophy dash victory while heat race wins went to Rick Estes and Murrell. Estes led the first lap of the 25-lap main until he spun in turns one and two. Rookie driver, Scott Taylor inherited the lead and showed surprising speed in his first race as he led the majority of the way. On lap 15, Ed Robinson took the lead and appeared to be on his way to his first-ever main event victory before spinning out of the lead off turn four. Murrell took the lead from that point and was able to take the victory after holding off a late charge by Eugene Palmer. Tayler placed third followed by Troy Lee and Trevor Eacret.
Ronnie O’Neil set fast time in the Thunder Roadster division presented by Lone Star Junction with a 17.179. Tommy Payne was the winner of the four-lap trophy dash while Paul Peeples, Jr. took the heat race victory. Payne shot into the lead from the start of the 30-lap main. All race long the 2016 champion had his mirror full with either Peeples or O’Neil right on his bumper. O’Neil’s spin in turns one and two on lap 25 took him out of having a chance at the victory. Payne was able to withstand Peeples’ final charge to take the win. Chris Sarvinski was third while Aaron Byers and Chris Lawrence rounded out the top five finishers.
Daniel Buell was quick time in the California State And Federal Employees Credit Union roadrunner division. Buell’s time was 20.456. Tim Ratzlaff was the winner of the trophy dash while heat race honors went to Nick Ford. The first 10 laps of the 20-lap roadrunner main were ran in the familiar counter-clockwise format. Ford briefly held the lead before giving way to Ratzlaff. When the field was turned backwards in the clockwise format, Ratzlaff appeared to have the upper-hand. Ratzlaff was able to lead the final stages and take the victory over Ford, Buell, Jake Keeling and Natya Hanson.
The first leg Super 6 Late Model Challenge Series took place on the night. The Super 6 Series will feature four more races at Redwood Acres Raceway in 2017 and one at Ukiah Speedway on July 15th and is presented by Danielson Construction, Mid-City Motor World and North Coast Lighting & Electric.
Mic Moulton set quick time with a 15.854. In all, 16 cars qualified for the event. Leonard Ward III was not one of them however as he had an incident prior to qualifying which took him out for the night. The heat races determined the starting positions for the 75-lap main event. Riley Watson won the first heat which gave him the ninth starting spot. Eddie Kline took the second heat and pole position for the feature.
Home-town favorite, Brandon White took the lead from the start. It was a position he would never relinquish. The big story of the race was the trouble that drivers in second place encountered in the final stages of the main event. Marty Walsh was a strong second the majority of the night before he seemed to encounter issues which knocked him out of the spot. Tim Crenshaw moved to second before his car broke. Watson was having a strong run and took second after Crenshaw’s problems but he too succumbed to issues and was forced to the pits. Up front, White encountered no issues and was able to take the victory. Kenny Demello had a stellar run with a second place finish. Moulton placed third over Eric Gannon and Walsh.
The second race of the season on the pavement at the Acres takes place May 13th. On May 12th, the Acres will host the season-opening event for the outlaw karts. For more information regarding all the racing action at Redwood Acres Raceway, please visit the track’s official website www.RacingTheAcres.com