Acres season just getting started

By Matthew J. Sullivan

After a week off, racing returns this Saturday evening for the annual Mother’s Day weekend races at Redwood Acres Raceway.  Two races have already been put in the books, the most recent occurring on April 27^th.

Ryan Walters won the most recent feature event for the real stock division over Nick Green, Michael Lawrence, Matt Simon and Harvey Holm.  Ryan and his brother Dustin hold the points lead for the class over Lawrence and William Sand.  They are the only three drivers who started both main events thus far this season.

Young Jordon Paiment held off Ken Barrett in the roadrunner main event on the 27^th, his first ever main event victory.  Things are tight in the battle for the track title in the division as Jarrett Mayo holds a slim three point advantage over Tim Abeyta while Kolby Jackson, Barrett and Paiment aren’t too far behind.

Chris Sarvinski was another first-time main event winner in the most previous race, taking home the checkered flag in the Thunder Roadster division.  The win gave Sarvinski the early season point edge by six markers over David Henderson.  Thomas Payne, Belinda Ward and Jim Rich round out the top five drivers in the roadsters.

Brandon Barnwell’s main event victory on the 27th closed the points gap between he and Angelo Marcelli.  Marcelli leads Barnwell by only three markers followed by Kenny Demello, Jerry Peterson and Al Acuna.

As previously noted, racing returns to Redwood Acres Raceway this Saturday May 11^th.

Redwood Acres Raceway Points Standings (As of 5/9/13)

Real Stocks

Dustin/Ryan Walters 130, Michael Lawrence 116, William Sand 112, Tyler Avelar 79, Leonard Ward 66, Nick Green 65, Matt Simon 60, Harvey Holm 54, Chris Naughton 54

Roadrunners

Jarrett Mayo 134, Tim Abeyta 131, Kolby Jackson 123, Ken Barrett 122, Jordon Paiment 120, Gary Klinetobe 114, Gray Etheridge 110, Ryun Leazer 104, Brett Murrell 101, Kayla Foster 74, Paul Leazer 59, Eugene Palmer 53, Tony Miles 46, Steve Paiment 44, Brian Murrell, Jr. 42, Barbara Paiment 38

Thunder Roadsters

Chris Sarvinski 139 David Henderson 133, Thomas Payne 129, Belinda Ward 117, Jim Rich 110, Les Barnwell 102, Robbie Nelson 101, Paul Peeples, Jr. 77, Allen Olson 73, Lonnie Tamboury 68

Sportsman

Angelo Marcelli 132, Brandon Barnwell 129, Kenny Demello 119, Jerry Peterson 118, Al Acuna 114.

Marcelli, Peeples, Mayo and Avelar win on opening night

The 2013 season kicked off this past Saturday evening at Redwood Acres Raceway with all four local classes in action. A great crowd was on hand to see real stocks, roadrunners, Thunder Roadsters and sportsman cars put on a fantastic show.

The real stock trophy dash was won by Tyler Avelar while Leonard Ward took the heat race victory. The feature event saw a three car incident in the early going between Ryan Walters, Chris Naughton and division rookie and 2012 Redwood Acres Raceway roadrunner champ, Michael Lawrence.  Unfortunately, Lawrence was the only car that was unable to continue.

William Sand held the lead briefly before smacking the wall allowing Avelar and Ward to get by.  Ward made his way to the lead for several laps but could not hold off the faster Avelar who took the lead late in the going and held on to win over Ward, Sand, Naughton and Walters.

Jarrett Mayo took the victory in the roadrunner trophy dash while the heat races were won by Ryun Leazer and Ken Barrett.  The roadrunner main event featured a scary incident involving Barb Paiment.  Paiment was starting her first ever race and moved high in turn one to allow the leaders to pass her safely.  Unfortunately, Paiment got too high off the second turn and hit the wall at the pit road entrance head-on. The race was halted and delayed while rescue crews extracted Paiment from her car. Paiment broke her left arm, her left ankle and her right foot in the incident.

The remainder of the race showcased a thrilling duel for the lead and the victory between Mayo and Tim Abeyta.  Abeyta did all he could to pressure Mayo into making a mistake and coming off turn four it looked as though he had a chance to steal the victory.  Unfortunately, he came up short in his effort as Mayo beat him to the checkered flag.  Kolby Jackson, Gary Kinetob and Barrett rounded out the top five.

David Henderson narrowly defeated Paul Peeples, Jr. in the Thunder Roadster trophy dash while Peeples held off Henderson for the win in the heat race. A rocky start that saw Jim Rich get loose in front of the field in turn three on the first lap gave Peeples the advantage he needed while Henderson lost precious track position to avoid wrecking.

Lonnie Tamboury held the lead in the early stages but could not hold off Peeples who took the lead.  Chris Sarvinski, who looked to be very strong on the night, followed Peeples into second and road right on his tail for the majority of the race.  Meanwhile, Henderson had to work hard to get by the likes of Thomas Payne, Allen Olson and Tamboury then had a tough battle for second with Sarvinski which he eventually won.  Henderson was in Peeples’ mirror the rest of the way but was unable to make the challenge necessary to take the lead.  At the line it was Peeples winning over Henderson, Sarvinski, Payne and Olson.

The sportsman dash was won by Brandon Barnwell while the heat race was taken by Angelo Marcelli.  Jerry Peterson took the lead from pole position in the main event and fought off Barnwell until Marcelli moved into second.  Marcelli took the lead from Peterson and looked to be home free the rest of the event.  Peterson was able to close in on the final laps and made a serious challenge on Marcelli coming off the fourth turn on the last lap.  Marcelli was able to withstand it and crossed the line first over Peterson, Kenny Demello, Barnwell and Al Acuna.

Racing resumes this Saturday night, April 27^th for Pepsi Night at the Acres.

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.