Racing resumes at Redwood Acres Raceway

Racing resumes at Redwood Acres Raceway

By Matthew J. Sullivan

After nearly a month off, thanks in part to Mother Nature, racing returned to Redwood Acres Raceway Saturday night. The previous event at the 3/8-mile paved oval was June 16th while the race scheduled for June 30th was cancelled thanks to rain. The long break seemed to bring out more cars and drivers as there were strong car counts in all four local divisions. In all there were 10 sportsman, 14 thunder roadsters, 18 roadrunners and 10 real stock cars. Unfortunately the night was highlighted by several wrecked that decimated the car count in all four of the divisions.

Nick Green won the four-lap trophy dash in the real stock division over Jim Redd and Casey Mitchell. The first heat race was taken by Dax Kinsey while the second went to Ryan Walters. Tyler Avelar led the early going of the main event before losing the lead to Donnie Hyman. Hyman held the lead for several laps before being overtaken by Mitchell. There were to major incidents in the feature event. The first came when William Sand lost control going into turn three and hit the wall. The second was contact between Green and Bob Lima that caused Green’s bumper to come off and his left rear tire to fail. Mitchell proved to be the class of the field in the event but might have had a stronger challenge for the victory from Walters who had a lengthy but clean battle with Hyman for the second position. At the checkered flag, it was Mitchell first, half a straightaway ahead of Walters in second followed by Hyman in third.

Tim Abeyta took the roadrunner trophy dash over Thomas Halvorsen. The first heat race was won by Jerry Toledo while the second heat was won by Halvorsen. Due to the number of cars, a rare B-main event was held for the division. The normally quick Toledo had issues in qualifying which forced him to start the B-main but he was able to take the first transfer position. The second spot was held down by Johnny Daniels before he was forced to the pits. With Daniels out, a tight race between Jennifer Barrett, Kayla Foster and Ryun Leazer ensued. Barrett was able to hold off the two challengers to take the second transfer position.

One of the drivers who was not able to start the feature was points leader, Brett Murrell. Murrell qualified his regular car but it suffered problems in the pit afterward. Murrell was forced to use a backup car which knocked him out of the trophy dash and forced him to have to run the B-main event. Murrell’s closest competitor in the points, Michael Lawrence benefitted from Murrell’s woes. Lawrence qualified the car normally driven by his father and when Murrell’s car had problems after qualified, it opened up a spot for Lawrence to fill in the feature.

Lawrence started the feature on the pole but was quickly overtaken by Ken Barrett and Steve Paiment. The lone caution of the event came early when Jordan Paiment spun Jarrett Mayo. On the restart, the two fast cars of Abeyta and Halvorsen quickly maneuvered their way through traffic. Halvorsen was the first to get to and by Barrett while Abeyta had to work a little harder and longer to take second. The best racing proved to be at the very front between Halvorsen and Abeyta as the two ran nose-to-tail for the lead. With two laps remaining, Abeyta found the low line under Halvorsen to take the lead. On the white flag, Halvorsen drove his car deep into the first turn, putting Abeyta behind the slower car of Jennifer Barrett for the lead and the eventual race win. Abeyta held on for second while Toledo placed third.

Tommy Payne held off Paul Peeples, Jr. to take the thunder roadster trophy dash. Belinda Ward won the slower heat race while the faster heat race was won by Peeples. Chris Sarvinski briefly held the lead in the feature but was overhauled by the fast trio of Peeples, David Henderson and Payne. It was tight racing amongst the three with Henderson all over Peeples bumper. Henderson dogged Peeples until he was finally able to get under for the lead. It was brief though as Peeples was able to get back under Henderson to regain the spot. Peeples stretched his lead while Henderson and Payne fought for second for a few laps. Henderson regained the position firmly and looked to be closing back in on Peeples until he got loose of turn two and hit the wall, ending his night. Peeples was able to withstand a brief challenge by Payne to take the feature win with Bruce Ziemer coming in a strong third place.

Out of town racer, Kevin Estep returned to Redwood Acres to take the sportsman trophy dash victory. Unfortunately for Estep, his night would be a short one. In the heat race, Jerry Peterson and Estep got together in the third turn with both drivers hitting the wall. Peterson was able to continue racing while Estep was finished for the evening. Roger Sanderson made his second start of the year after a long hiatus away from racing and took the heat race win over Brandon Barnwell. The duo of Sanderson and Barnwell would be the stars of the feature event that was slowed first from a spin by Craig Baker, then by contact and a spin by Dennis DelBiaggio and Kenny Demello and finally another spin by Baker that caught Ken Hallis in the right rear and send him head on into the back stretch wall. Barnwell was on Sanderson’s bumper all night and did everything he could to force Sanderson into making a mistake but it never happened. Sanderson took the feature win over Barnwell with DelBiaggio placing third.

Racing returns to Redwood Acres Raceway this Saturday June 21st. Joining the four local divisions will be the Airport Auto Brokers Late Model touring series which will be making its second visit to the track. Drivers expected to race include series points leader, Jeremy Doss, West Coast racing legend, Jim Walker, Randy Houston who won the season opening event at the Acres earlier this year and other top west coast competition.

Bayless wins controversial late model race

Bayless wins controversial late model race

By Matthew J. Sullivan

Something must have been in the air on the Sunday night of August 24. In Bristol, Tennessee in the NASCAR Winston Cup race, there were several controversies involving several drivers. Hundreds of miles away in Eureka, California, there was no exception. While the prize money was less, the track was shorter and the incident was between two drivers, the controversy couldn’t have gotten any more incensed than it did in the late model main event between Oregonians Larry Bayless and David Miller. Using the “bump and run,” Bayless took the victory away from Miller on the last lap of the race.

In mini stock action, Jason Chand took the trophy home in the dash over rival Phil Wood. When the heat race action ended, Chand again beat Wood to the line to take the victory. These races were only a small dose of what was seen in the great main event race. Brian Murrell took the early lead in the race but unfortunately for him, it wasn’t long as Chand took the lead away within a few laps. Wood followed suite two laps later.

While racing for position, Chad Grammer and Joe Papa made contact but there was no resulting caution. This was great news for Chand who pulled out to a good lead over Wood. The lead would last for very few laps though as Wood reeled in Chand. Wood made an outside passing attempt on Chand but got loose and lost track position.

Behind the two, Murrell spun off of turn four on lap 12 but again, no caution was thrown. On lap 14, Wood got to the outside of Chand and challenged him for the lead. As the duo came to lap Ralph Miller, Miller moved up high to let the leaders go by on the inside. It wasn’t high enough however, as Miller and Wood made contact resulting in Miller spinning and a caution flag thrown on lap 19.

The great race between Chand and Wood would not continue after the restart because as the field took the green, Chand’s car lost power and pulled into the infield. Wood took the lead and never looked back taking the victory over Dan Brown, Jason Rhodes, Matt Wolfe and Grammer.

Long time Acres veteran, Angelo Marcelli took home trophy dash honors over David Henderson, Roger Sanderson and title rival, Pat Walsh. Marcelli’s luck would sour on him though as in the heat race, rookie Joe McDonald spun coming off of turn four. Marcelli, with no where to go, ran into McDonald. Both cars were essentially done for the evening as both only made a few laps in the main event for points. Sanderson took the heat win over Jim Norris, Walsh and Henderson.

Sanderson took advantage of the cars being grouped up for the main event as he took the early lead in the race; a lead he would not relinquish. Henderson moved in behind him and tried to apply pressure to Sanderson’s rear bumper. He could never get a good run on Sanderson and when the race concluded Sanderson took the win over Henderson, Walsh and Norris.

The real stock division once again showed their strength with 27 cars clocking in for qualifications. In the fast trophy dash, points leader Rick Fox took the victory over Mike Peters, Donnie Hyman and Travis Maytanes. In the slow dash, frequent victory lane visitor, Gary Adams won over Tony Rodriguez, James Henry and Craig Huffman. Adams won again in the first of the three heat races over Huffman, Bill Middleton and Troy Wood. In the second heat, Donald Brown held off a furious charge by Lissa Uselton, followed by Ryan Thomson and Steve Kimberling. Fox took the dash-heat sweep with the heat win over Hyman, Aaron Byers and Peters.

Adams made it three for three by taking the victory in the ‘B’ main event over Chad Trump. Both drivers transferred into the ‘A’ main event. Chad Gurney and Kimberling brought the field to the green flag. Gurney used the pole position to his advantage and stretched out to the early lead. Within a few laps, the caution was thrown when Jimmy Thornbury and Maytanes hooked bumpers and spun into the infield. On the restart, Mike Peeples took advantage of cool tires and a tightened field. On lap 8 he passed Brown and on lap 9 he passed Gurney for the lead. That lap, Thomson spun while on the same lap Brown spun resulting in another caution flag.

On the restart, Byers tried to do what Peeples had done the restart before making a move on Gurney on the outside. On lap 12, Marty Walsh spun off of turn four undamaged. Unfortunately, he would not go without damage as Brown, with nowhere to go, collided into the driver’s side of Walsh resulting in a red flag. Both drivers were all right but the same couldn’t be said for their cars. When the green flag came out Peters began to show his hand. On lap 14 he was up to second and within two laps he was challenging Peeples for the lead. On lap 16, Doug Way spun off of turn four but no caution flag was thrown. That very lap Peters took the lead away from Peeples. A few laps later, the two quick cars of Fox and Hyman moved into second and third. Peters’ lead was insurmountable as he took the main event win over Fox, Hyman, Byers and Gurney.

The all ways quick late model cars provided a great racing action. Larry Bayless took the trophy dash win over Rick Spencer. In the heat, David Miller won over local favorites Larry Pries and Jimmy Walker. The main event was bumper to bumper between most of the field. Miller led over Bayless, Pries and Preston O’Dell. About halfway through the race, O’Dell’s rear end locked up going into the third turn. His car turned backwards and spun in front of several cars including Pries, Walker and Spencer. Pries and Spencer spun and lost a lap while Walker barely made it through the mêlée.

Miller got a jump on the restart and pulled out to a good lead over Bayless and Walker. Both drivers caught up to Miller within five laps however. Bayless had the stronger car as he made several moves on Miller trying to get him to make a mistake. On the last lap going into turn three, Bayless gave Miller a bump moving him to the outside lane. Bayless went past Miller along with Walker and took home the victory. Miller was furious at Bayless and repaid the favor on the cool down lap on the backstretch. The win stood with the officials however with Bayless winning over Walker, Miller and Spencer.