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Jim Pluhar
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (May 9) - The Dirt Car Western Late Model Series rolled into Santa Maria Speedway Saturday night with a whopping 29 cars, including guest driver, and NHRA Funny Car point leader, Ron Capps. Papich Construction IMCA Modifieds out did the Series, showing up with 36 cars. Toste Grading and Paving Mini Stocks had 18 cars of their own.
Dino Napier, of Corona, set fast time of 14.609 seconds and won his 10-lap heat race, but went out of the 30-lap "A" main event with mechanical problems on lap 4. Matt Micheli, of Live Oak, led the first 14 laps of the feature event before giving way to Nick Bartels of El Segundo. Bartels held the point until 8 laps from the finish when eventual winner Bobby Hogge, of Salinas, drove by and went on to victory. That, coupled with his 8-lap trophy dash win made it a pretty good night for Hogge. Bartels held on for second place, followed by Bakersfield's Rob Sanders, Marina Del Rey's Bill Bartels and Arroyo Grande's Devin Crockett. Crockett transferred into the "A" main by winning the 12-lap "B" main and then working his way from the back of the 21-car field to a top-five finish. Capps came home 14th. The second of the three generations of Bartels in the event, Ron, won one of the heat races and third generation Nick did the same. The other heat went to Sanders.
IMCA Modifieds needed five heat races and a "C" and a "B" main event before Cody Burke could go on to the 25-lap "A" main event victory. Larry Hood, of Bakersfield, was second, Santa Maria's Jake Jones Third, Tulare's Greg Mancebo fourth, and Arroyo Grande's Chad Weber fifth. Ryan Larimer, of Merced, captured the 10-lap "C" feature and Hood, the runner-up in the "A", took the 12-lap "B" feature. Eight-lap heat races were raked in by: Jason Papich, Arroyo Grande; Bryan Clark, Bakersfield; Joey Claborn, Santa Maria; Johnny White, Bakersfield; and, Clay Daly, Watsonville.
Mini Stocks had one of their rare chances to qualify in order to set the field for the "Last Man Standing" trophy dash. Tom Grzincic, of Atascadero, set fast time of 19.710 seconds but was edged out of a $300.00 payoff, made possible by Greg's Beer Concession, by Jeremy Heroux of Nipomo. Rob Gilbertson, of Santa Maria, won his first career 20-lap Mini Stock main event, just holding off Heroux and Grzincic for the win. Frank Nyback, of Santa Maria, and Kurt Larsen, Jr., of Nipomo, were fourth and fifth. Grzincic, Bill Jewell, of Santa Maria, and Korban Ensign, of Nipomo, captured 8-lap heat races.
Next Saturday night will feature Super Late Models, Papich Construction IMCA Modifieds, California Lightning Sprints and Toste Grading and Paving Mini Stocks. Ticket prices will be $16.00 for adults, $14.00 for seniors and military, and $6.00 for children six to twelve. Kids five and under are free. Gates open at 3:00 p.m., with qualifying at 5:00 p.m. and racing at 6:00 p.m. The Speedway is located 1/4-mile north of the US 101/166 interchange on Hutton Road.
RACE SUMMARIES:
Dirt Car Western Late Model Series:
Fast Time - Dino Napier, 14.609.
Trophy Dash - Bobby Hogge IV, Matt Micheli, Brad Pounds, Napier, Nick Bartels, Rob Sanders, Ron Bartels, Bill Bartels.
Heat 1 - N. Bartels, B. Bartels, Steve Drake, Donnie Hampl, Alex Stanford, Dana Beattie, Phillip Priddy, Jerry Stewart.
Heat 2 - R. Bartels, Pounds, Mike Johnson, Johnny Malcolm, Andy Obertello, Tom Malcolm, Anthony Barkett, Ron German.
Heat 3 - Napier, M. Micheli, Jeff Decker, Ron Capps, Ken Micheli, John Lowrey.
Heat 4 - Sanders, Hogge, Billy Griffin, Chris Shannon, Devin Crockett, Logan Drake.
B Main Event - Crockett, Obertello, T. Malcolm, Beattie, K. Micheli, L. Drake, Priddy, Stanford, Barkett.
A Main Event - Hogge, N. Bartels, Sanders, B. Bartels, Crockett, Griffin, R. Bartels, M. Micheli, S. Drake, Obertello, J. Malcolm, Johnson, T. Malcolm, Capps, Hampl, K. Micheli, Decker, Beattie, Pounds, Shannon, Napier.
Feature
1 1 2 Bobby Hogge Salinas, CA $2,000
2 5 27 Nick Bartels El Segundo, CA 1,000
3 6 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA 800
4 8 77 Bill Bartels Marina Del Rey, CA 700
5 17 21 Devin Crockett Arroyo Grande, CA 600
6 12 7 Billy Griffin Buena Park, CA 575
7 7 12 Ron Bartels El Segundo, CA 550
8 2 96M Matt Micheli Yuba City, CA 540
9 9 11X Steve Drake San Luis Obispo, CA 535
10 18 29 Andy Obertello Hollister, CA 530
11 14 3 Johnny Malcolm Corona, CA 525
12 19 75 Tommy Malcolm Corona, CA 520
13 10 2J Mike Johnson Lompoc, CA 515
14 15 1 Ron Capps Carlsbad, CA 510
15 13 30 Donnie Hampel Atascadero, CA 500
16 21 96 Ken Micheli Yuba City, CA 400
17 11 84 Jeff Decker Morgan Hill, CA 400
18 3 15B Brad Pounds Bakersfield, CA 400
19 20 57 Dana Beattie Santa Maria, CA 400
20 16 32S Chris Shannon Merced, CA 400
21 4 5X Dino Napier Corona, CA 400
IMCA Modifieds:
Heat 1 - Jason Papich, Paul Terrones, Paul Stone, David Addamo, Larry Hood, Tony Toste, Justin Crockett, Chris McKeller.
Heat 2 - Bryan Clark, Mike Johnson, Josh Vogt, Ron Wiley, Kenny Kirkpatrick, Andrew Odgers, Ryan Larimer.
Heat 3 - Joey Claborn, Greg Mancebo, Jake Jones, Danny Lauer, Brad Pounds, Garrett Steitz, David Mayhew.
Heat 4 - Johnny White, Ian Hunter, Chad Weber, Jimmy Reeves, Joey Yantis, Ricky Childress, Jr., Christopher Crompe.
Heat 5 - Clay Daly, Cody Burke, Joel Chavez, Ken Kehs, Jimmy Justice, Daylan Coffey, Doug Thornton.
C Main Event - Larimer, Steitz, Mayhew, Coffey, Crockett, McKeller, Crompe, Childress, Thornton.
B Main Event - Hood, Reeves, Wiley, Pounds, Kirkpatrick, Steitz, Larimer, Kehs, Odgers, Toste, Mayhew, Lauer, Addamo, Yantis, Justice.
A Main Event - Burke, Hood, Jones, Mancebo, Weber, Reeves, Steitz, Wiley, Kirkpatrick, Kehs, Larimer, White, Terrones, Papich, Hunter, Daly, Clark, Vogt, Chavez, Johnson, Stone, Pounds, Claborn (DNS).
Mini Stocks:
Fast Time - Tom Grzincic, 19.710.
Trophy Dash - Jeremy Heroux, Tom Grzincic, Rob Gilbertson, Frank Nyback.
Heat 1 - Bill Jewell, Aaron Cervantes, Hardy Ensign, Nyback, Dustin Ensign, Phillip Sewell.
Heat 2 - Grzincic, Gilbertson, Kurt Larsen, Jr., Jeff Dye, Jeff Biggs, Taelor James.
Heat 3 - Korban Ensign, Ben Caswell, Heroux, Zack Miller, Robby Cervantes, Ed Rains.
Main Event - Gilbertson, Heroux, Grzincic, Nyback, Larsen, D. Ensign, Jewell, H. Ensign, Biggs, Caswell, Miller, Rains, Dye, Sewell, James, A. Cervantes, K. Ensign.
POINT STANDINGS:
IMCA Modifieds: 1. Greg Mancebo/Chad Weber - 71 3. Mike Johnson - 60 4. Brad Pounds/Ron Wiley - 59.
Mini Stocks: 1. Rob Gilbertson/Tom Grzincic - 91 3. Jeremy Heroux - 87 4. Frank Nyback - 84 5. Jeff Biggs/Hardy Ensign - 73.
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