Press Release
Santa Maria, CA - October 11, 2008...

Bandit Sprint Cars, Mini Stocks, and VRA Dwarf Cars wrapped up the 2008 racing season Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway with the running of the "1st Annual No Entry Fee Nationals".

Multiple red flag periods slowed the progress of the 40-lap Bandit feature event. The most spectacular incident being an end-over-end flip by T.J. Smith, of Fresno, down the front chute. When the checkers finally flew Wes Gutierrez, of San Martin, was in victory circle with his second career victory in as many weeks. Richard VanderWeerd, of Visalia, was second and Rusty Carlile, of Bakersfield, third. Fresno's Kevin Barnes and Hollister's Tyler Schmidt filled out the top-five. Smith, Tipton's Dan Faria, Jr., Taft's Jason May, and Santa Maria's Mike Knopf won 8-lap heat races, and Jace VanderWeerd, of Visalia, set fast time of 13.680 seconds.

The 20-lap Mini Stock main event was ended on the sixteenth circuit after their event was slowed by numerous on track incidents, culminating in a three-car pile-up on the front chute near the starter's cage. Mike Pilatti, of Bakersfield, was declared the winner when Springville's Tate Loftis was disqualified after a compression check. Matt Sotomayor, of Corralitos, was second followed by Gary Rayburn, Jr., of Grover Beach, Korban Ensign, of Nipomo, and Daylan Coffey of Santa Maria. Eight-lap heat races were won by Sotomayor, Rayburn, and Jeremy Heroux of Nipomo.

Kent Benson, Sr., of Valencia, scored a 20-lap feature victory as-well-as winning an 8-lap heat race in the VRA Senior Dwarf Car division. Ventura drivers Ed Niedzwiecki and Dave Hume placed second and third and Hume won the other heat race. Kevin Alverson, of Newbury Park, and Tom Bellinger, of Cypress, were fourth and fifth.

The 20-lap VRA Pro Dwarf Car main event was shortened to fifteen laps when they too had problems keeping their 21-car field in motion around the 1/3-mile oval. Simi Valley's Jeff Shelton captured the victory with Brent Stevens, of Thousand Oaks, second and Brian Saxton, of Mentone, third. Fourth and fifth were Eric Alton, of Simi Valley, and Chris Olson of Chino Hills. Shelton, Olson, and Ryan Diatte, of Salinas, won 8-lap heat races.

RACE SUMMARIES
Bandit Sprint Cars: Fast Time - Jace VanderWeerd, 13.680.
Heat 1 - T.J. Smith, Richard VanderWeerd, J. VanderWeerd, Troy Rutherford, Rick Eberhardt, Ryan Guy.
Heat 2 - Dan Faria, Jr., Steve DeMott, Kevin Barnes, Tyler Schmidt, Hobie Conway, Davey Knopf.
Heat 3 - Jason May, Justyne Hamblin, Albert Pombo, Don Gansen, Bill Jones.
Heat 4 - Mike Knopf, Rusty Carlile, Wes Gutierrez, Jared Little, Brandon Thomson.
Main Event - Gutierrez, R. VanderWeerd, Carlile, Barnes, Schmidt, J. VanderWeerd, Hamblin, DeMott, Thomson, Conway, Jones, Little, May, Smith, Pombo, Faria, Rutherford, Gansen, Knott, Eberhardt, Knopf, Guy.

Mini Stocks:
Heat 1 - Matt Sotomayor, Jared Schweitzer, Mike Pilatti, Junior Valdez, Michele Smith, Tate Loftis (DQ), Jeff Wilson (DQ).
Heat 2 - Gary Rayburn, Jr., Andrew Greiman, Ben Caswell, Daylan Coffey, Bill Jewell, Cody Greiman, Kenny Smith, Justin Klucker, Aaron Cervantes.
Heat 3 - Jeremy Heroux, Matt Sweeney, Jeff Biggs, Josh Vogt, Korban Ensign, Greg Noah, R.J. Shoemaker, Phillip Sewell, Chris Larsen.
Main Event - Pilatti, Sotomayor, Rayburn, Ensign, Coffey, Vogt, Sweeney, Biggs, Caswell, Schweitzer, K. Smith, Jewell, Cervantes, Sewell, Noah, C. Greiman, A. Greiman, Klucker, Valdez, Heroux, Larsen, Shoemaker, M.Smith, Loftis (DQ), Wilson (DQ).

VRA Senior Dwarf Cars:
Heat 1 - Dave Hume, Mike Neal, Bill Van Praag, Kevin Alverson, Glen Monk, Roy Coe.
Heat 2 - Kent Benson, Sr., Ed Niedzwiecki, Mike Bailey, Tom Bellinger, Ron Capodieci, Mark Davis.
Main Event - Benson, Niedzwiecki, Hume, Alverson, Bellinger, Van Praag, Bailey, Coe, Capodieci, Monk, Neal, Davis.

VRA Pro Dwarf Cars:
Heat 1 - Chris Olson, Jose Guevarra, Thomas Velasques, Lee Majors II, Tom Stephens, Rob Kranig, Ray Estrada.
Heat 2 - Jeff Shelton, Steven Benson II, Brian Saxton, Eric Alton, Kevin Linson, Mike Lewis, Sara Coe.
Heat 3 - Ryan Diatte, Brent Stevens, Jeff Fillingame, Lars Wolfe, Mike Del Monte, Dillon Hume, Eric Moore.
Main Event - Shelton, Stevens, Saxton, Alton, Olson, Wolfe, Fillingame, Hume, Guevarra, Benson, Velasquez, Majors, Linson, Kranig, Stephens, Moore, Lewis, Coe, Diatte, Del Monte, Estrada.

POINT STANDINGS
SMS Bandit Sprint Cars (Final Driver Standings):
1. Peter Murphy, 599 2. Albert Pombo, 547 3. Justyne Hamblin, 539 4. Rusty Carlile, 510 5. Jason May, 466