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Kevin Kovac
CHICO, Calif. (August 16) - Bobby Hogge IV made his already spectacular season even better last Saturday night (Aug. 16).
The 31-year-old standout from Salinas, Calif., pulled off his sixth Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series victory of 2008, powering to the checkered flag in the tour's first-ever event at John Padjen's Silver Dollar Speedway.
Racing at a high-banked, quarter-mile oval well-known as a haven for 410 Sprint Car racing, Hogge inherited the lead on lap 14 of the 30-lap A-Main when local favorite Richard Papenhausen of Chico, Calif., bounced in the air and dominated the remainder of the distance.
"I know this is a Sprint Car racetrack," Hogge told the crowd following his $3,000 triumph on a night that drew 23 dirt Late Models from California, Nevada and Oregon to Silver Dollar Speedway. "But hopefully you fans enjoyed us and we can come back next year to put on another show."
The event marked the first dirt Late Model program at Silver Dollar since 2000. It was also the first competitive appearance at the track for Hogge, whose only previous visit to the facility four hours north of his home came in the early '90s when he watched his father race there.
Hogge didn't take long to find the fast way around Silver Dollar Speedway, advancing his family-owned Victory Circle Chassis mount to second behind Papenhausen early in the feature. After surviving a run-in with a lapped car on the backstretch, he took advantage of Papenhausen's wild ride on lap 14 to assume command for good.
"I had just gotten back up to Richard after getting tangled up with the lapper (slower car) when he caught a rut in turn four," said Hogge, whose car carries a Pro Power engine that his team bought used from fellow Californian and former World of Outlaws Late Model Series traveler Eric Jacobsen. "He bounced up in the air and just about turned it over. For a second I thought I might be swept up with him, but his car stayed up high and I got by.
"I hate to take the lead like that, but I like to think that we would've been able to get around him," he added. "We had a pretty good car and I feel like we were a little bit faster. He was running up there through the ruts in the fast part of the track and I was staying on the bottom, but I was catching him and catching him every lap."
Hogge crossed the finish line well ahead of Marysville, Calif.'s Ryan McDaniel, a four-time dirt Modified champion at Silver Dollar. Jeff Decker of Morgan Hill, Calif., placed third, Jerry Bartlett of Yuba City, Calif., was fourth and fifth went to Papenhausen, the defending Silver Dollar dirt Modified champion who rallied from the rear of the field after his near-flip while leading caused him to stop and bring out a caution flag.
Rounding out the top 10 was John Duty of Portland, Ore., Paul Guglielmoni of Vacaville, Calif., Leroy Perry of Marysville, Calif., Nevada's Reldon Hatch and Matt Micheli of Yuba City, Calif.
Hogge's triumph was his sixth in 15 Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series events this season and padded his points lead. He's eyeing a first career championship with the three-year-old tour to top off what he's calling his "best year ever in a Late Model."
"The Western Allstars (Series) hands-down has the best drivers on the West Coast - period," asserted Hogge, who has been driving a dirt Late Model since 2004 and owns back-to-back titles (2005-2006) with the defunct Western Dirt Late Model Tour. "We didn't really start the season planning to go after the championship, but it would mean a lot to us if we could win it."
Now ranked atop the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series alltime win list with 10 career victories, Hogge has established himself as a true dirt Late Model star on the West Coast. He's hoping that the profile of dirt Late Model racing in his home region will continue to expand, providing him more opportunities to strut his considerable talent.
"We want Late Model racing to grow out here, so we want to do everything we can to support the Western Allstars," said Hogge. "Hopefully with DIRTcar (Racing) now running the series it will take off and blossom."
For more information on the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series, visit www.westernallstars.com.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar Racing is available by logging on to www.DIRTcar.com.
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