Franklin, Whitaker, Borror Grab
Siskiyou Motor Speedway Wins
Yreka, CA...The fans enjoyed a great night of racing Saturday night at Siskiyou Motor Speedway. Four divisions competed on the quarter-mile dirt oval, and Doug Franklin scored the victory in the O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. "Magic" Mike Whitaker shook off his early season bad luck and drove to his first 20 lap McDonald's Mini Stock feature win of the season. Steve Borror won a battle with Rocky Nash to gain the Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stock 20 lap Main Event win. Visitor Chris Olexicwicz was victorious in the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature.
The IMCA Sport Modified Main Event saw three of it's "heavy hitters" all battling for their second win of the season. Doug Franklin is the reigning SCMA champion in this division, and he had his hands full battling Colton Cheffey and Jimmy Lipke, who stayed in the hunt to the end. However, Franklin would win just ahead of Cheffey and Lipke. Reigning IMCA champion Colter Boswell was fourth as point leader Garrett Hamilton, Chris Jorgensen and Trevor Tiffee followed on the lead lap. Tiffee had his car back together after a hard crash two weeks ago. Jack Walden, Randy Wright and D.J. Bottoms filled up the remainder of the Top 10. Walden beat Wright for his first eight lap heat race win of the season, while Cheffey out ran Lipke to win the other heat. Lipke bested Cheffey to win the four lap Trophy Dash.
"Magic" Mike Whitaker is the 2014 McDonald's Mini Stock champion and point runnerup last year, but his luck so far this season has been terrible. Everybody knew he would turn it around eventually. Whitaker ran a good race and won by about a straightaway ahead of the truck of talented teen sensation Ethan Killingsworth, who is in the hunt for his first win. "Big Mac" Marylin Yawnick just beat point leader Terry Kendrick back to the line in a drag race for third. Don Borror and Mike Frost followed on the lead lap as Dennis Jogensen and Mike Coleson rounded out the finish. Coleson won the four lap Trophy Dash ahead of Jorgensen, but he was out of the feature early. Killingsworth beat Coleson for his heat win, while Jorgensen finished ahead of Borror in his eight lapper.
It was another Borror winning the 20 lap Pro Stock Main Event. Point leader Steve Borror has been the dominant force all season long, but Rocky Nash has returned to make things interesting. Nash is a past winner on the NASCAR West circuit, and he battled Borror up front. Borror collected his fourth win of the season with Nash a close second. Miles Deubert finished just ahead of title contender Scott Flowers for third as Scott's son James Flowers rounded out the Top 5. Matt Harlow finished sixth ahead of two time champion Ken Irving, rookie Julia Flowers, John David Duffie and Mike Prill. Borror won his eight lap heat by a half lap over Irving, while Duffie won his heat over Nash. Duffie added a four lap Trophy Dash win ahead of Nash to make it a double win night in the Arlen Heath owned entry.
Chris Olexicwicz is a past champion up at Susanville, and he made a surprise visit to Yreka with his IMCA Modified. He was glad that he did as he dove to victory in the 20 lap Main Event. Second generation racer Ray Kniffen Jr. made his first start of the season and finished a close second. Past Yreka champion Lenny Toolanen wasn't far off the pace in third as title contender Duane Orsburn and Greg Foster rounded out the Top 5. Olexicwicz won the eight lap heat race ahead of Steve Boucher, but Boucher hurt his motor to end his night. Kniffen beat Olexicwicz in the four lap Trophy Dash to prevent the sweep.
Next up for Siskiyou Motor Speedway is the Fireworks Extravaganza on Sunday, July 3rd. Fans will be treated to a Fireworks Display as well as a racing program of O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds, McDonald's Mini Stocks, SODCA Dwarf Cars and IMCA Modifieds. The Sport Modifieds will run a 40 lap race for $550 to win. For further information, go to the all new web page at www.siskiyoumotorspeedway.com.
Langenderfer, Chilton New Orland Raceway Winners
Racing Again This Saturday Night
Orland, CA...This Saturday night, racing returns to Orland Raceway for the fourth event of the season. Five divisions of racing took their turns on the newly resurfaced one-fifth mile clay oval last Saturday night. It was a night for new winners to shine as Donovan Chilton (Mini Stocks) and Jeremy Langenderfer (Pure Stocks) won their respective Main Events for the first time this season. Olin Crane won his second Mini Truck feature while Skyler Richter won the combined 600/250 Micro Sprint race as the top 600. Andrew Love was the top 250 finisher.
Donovan Chilton had three Top 3 finishes in four visits last season, including one win. He was making his first Mini Stock start as the field nearly doubled last week. Past champion Tom Davis has been on a roll with back to back feature wins, and both Chilton and Davis were heat race winners. Davis figured to be a good bet for Win #3, but Chilton would prevail in the 20 lap feature, forcing Davis to settle for second. Jeff Bennett earned his third Top 3 finish in third after a second place finish to Davis in his heat race. Dustin Hills was fourth in his Hornet ahead of past champion John Kirkpatrick, Steven Spears, Jack Pendergrass, Josh Tucker and Robert Hunt.
Top 5 Chico competitor Jeremy Langenderfer has had two disappointing outings, but they say three is a charm. On Saturday night, he and Chris Bennett teamed up to keep past champion Steve Martin out of the Pure Stock winner's circle all night. Bennett got it started with a heat race win, and it was Langenderfer getting the feature victory. Martin made him work for it as he finished second ahead of Bennett, Earl Adams and Mel Byers. There are three different winners in three races.
Olin Crane opened the season with a win in the Mini Truck feature, but he suffered a DNF in the next race. "Rollin" Olin rebounded in a big way as he won the heat race and the Main Event. Merced Speedway competitor Tony Peffer brought his truck to the only California track with its own Mini Truck division and chased Crane across the line for a second place heat race finish. Division veteran Dan Webster was hoping for two in a row in the Main Event, and he made Crane work for the win as Webster settled for second in the 20 lap race. Peffer grabbed the final podium spot in third as Brent Allinger, William Fogle and reigning champion Keith Ross rounded out the finish. Ross has yet to get a Top 3 finish this year.
As the runnerup driver in 600 Micro Sprint points last year, Skyler Richter had five second place finishes, but no wins. On Saturday night, Richter finally found the winner's circle as he won the combined 600/250 Main Event ahead of fellow division competitor Tony Alosi and Dean Slinkard, who finished fifth overall. Alosi won the heat race. Andrew Love won the 250 heat race and was the top driver in his group in the feature. Dave Mckinnon Jr. was the second 250 as Rusty Hensley and reigning champion Jess Garland rounded out the finish.
The same five divisions will be a part of this Saturday night's show. General admission is $7.00, Children 7-12 and Seniors are $5.00 and children 6 and under are free. First race starts at 7:00 p.m. sharp. For further information, go to www.orlandraceway.org.
PHRA/SODCA Dwarf Car Shoot Out In Coos Bay
Goes Well For SODCA Regulars
Coos Bay, Oregon...June 24-25...The Pacific Hardtop Racing Association and Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association had a two day event at Coos Bay last weekend that was hosted by the PHRA. When the checkered flag flew on both Main Events, the SODCA drivers had swept the podium in both races. Camden Robustelli won the Friday night Dwarf Car race, while Brock Peters grabbed the checkered flag on Saturday. The track included many of their regular classes, and the Winged Sprint Car Main Event win on Saturday went to Erin Lyons.
The show put on by the Dwarf Cars alone was worth the price of admission. The SODCA drivers battled fiercely for the 20 lap Main Event win on Friday. Robustelli won by inches ahead of point leader Kalvin Morton and Ryan Smith was right behind them. Reigning SODCA champion Josh King was fourth as Harry Cornin III was the only PHRA driver in the Top 9. John Chrisman was sixth, followed by Chad Cardoza, Brock Peters, Dylan Chrisman and Clay Goben. All of the Top 10 were lead lap finishers. Some of the drivers needed to run a 12 lap B Main to punch their tickets into the Main Event, and PHRA's Brett James won that ahead of SODCA President Randy Slater and Jim Fisher. B. Peters outdueled teammate Kalvin Morton to win the A Dash, while SODCA's Rob Gergel won the B Dash ahead of Jeremiah Hester. Peters, Smith, Morton and King made it a SODCA sweep of the heat races.
On Saturday night, SODCA competitors had another close race up front, but it was B. Peters prevailing just ahead of Robustelli and King. Jeremiah Hester was the top PHRA competitor in fourth, An unidentified driver in the #80 car finished fifth, followed by Henry Cornin III, Dylan Chrisman, George Fisher, Jess Taylor and Cody Peters. Michael Hester won the 15 lap B Main ahead of Dylan Chrisman and Casey Sheeler. B. Peters won the A Dash ahead of Bret James. Robustelli won the B Dash ahead of J. Hester. The heat win for B Peters made it a clean sweep for him as other heat wins went to Chad Cardoza, James and Clay Goben.
The Winged Sprint Cars were part of Saturday night's program. Erin Lyons grabbed her first win ahead of point leader Dave May. Duke Johnson was third ahead of previous Main Event winner Scott Fox and Lawrence Van Hoof. Ken Fox grabbed the checkered flag in sixth as Nick Kyukendall, Ryan Kingrey and John Black rounded out the finish. S. Fox set the fast time with a 14.864 lap as Johnson was a close second at 14.877. May won the four lap Trophy Dash ahead of Kingrey and then won his eight lap heat race in front of Johnson. The other heat win went to Van Hoof in front of S. Fox.
The Sportsman and Street Stocks ran their Main Event together both nights. The Friday program saw Sportsman point leader Wayne Butler continue his season long domination of the action with a half lap victory ahead of Russ Blean in the 20 lap Main Event. Jeff Krossman finished third, just ahead of rookie Dylan Siewell. Steve Dubisar and Jeff Kralicek made up the remainder of the lead lap finishers with Street Stock racer Jeff Thurman topping his group in seventh ahead of Tom Williams and Street Stock racers Rhett Eastman and Daniel Land. The Sportsman division ran one eight lap heat race with Butler beating rival Williams by a straightaway. Krossman won a close battle with Williams for the win in the four lap Trophy Dash. Point leader Land won the Street Stock eight lap heat race, just ahead of Jeff Thurman.
The Saturday night action saw a rare bad night for Butler finally happen in the 25 lap Main Event. Butler's race was over after eight laps. This meant the battle was on for the victory, and Steve Dubisar won a duel with Williams to finish first. Justin Krossman was a solid third, and Street Stock point leader Land topped his group in fourth. Jeff Krossman was fifth ahead of Siewell and Josh Kalichek, the final lead lap finisher. The rest of the Top 10 was made up of Street Stock drivers as Stacy Robinson was eighth ahead of Rhett Eastman and Eric Bailey. Dubisar won his Sportsman heat ahead of Jeff Krossman, while Justin Krossman won the other eight lapper ahead of Williams. Siewell was the Trophy Dash winner ahead of Williams. Robinson impressed by holding off Land in a close battle for the Street Stock heat race win, but Land beat her to win the Trophy Dash.
On Friday, the Mini Outlaws and the Hornets ran separately, but they were combined the next night. Ryder Johnson had a good night in the Mini Outlaws as he won the 12 lap Main Event in a duel with John Henry. Jamie Daniels and Sam Talon rounded out the order. Talon was out early in the Main Event with mechanical issues, but he won the heat race ahead of Henry. Johnson beat Henry in a close battle in the Trophy Dash. Hornet point leader Jeremiah Rieber was challenged by Tom Perry all night. He beat Perry in the heat race, but Perry held him off for a trophy Dash victory. Rieber won yet another Main Event, but Perry was about a half straightaway behind him. Only second ranked Jeremy Beard managed to stay on the lead lap of the 20 lap race as William Hitner, Sam Taylor and Robert Vandreer rounded out the field.
On Saturday, the Mini Outlaws ran a Main Event with the Hornets. Rob Lauver was back with his fast VW Beetle, and he won the 25 lap race as the top Mini Outlaw. Hornet point leader Rieber was second, over a half lap behind, while Ryan Siewell was third. New Mini Outlaw point leader John Henry was fourth as the final lead lap finisher. Hornets followed throughout most of the Top 10 as Jeremy Beard was fifth ahead of Paul Benson, Hannah Robinson and Sam Taylor. The Mini Outlaw of Jamie Daniels was ninth as the Hornet of Wesley Wilkinson rounded out the Top 10. Lauver won the Mini Outlaw Trophy Dash by a wide margin over Daniels, and Lauver also won the heat race ahead of Henry. Wilkinson won the Hornet Trophy Dash ahead of Rieber, and Rieber won his heat race with Beard second. The other eight lap heat went to Hitner ahead of Siewell.
Nieman, Longacre Share Susanville Winner's Circle
Susanville, CA...June 17...Despite the rainy weather claiming other races in Northern California, the show still went on Friday night at Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville. In the IMCA Modified division, Chris Nieman collected the victory in the 20 lap Main Event, while defending champions Richard Longacre (Strictly Stocks) and Kyle Belli (Mini Stocks) won their features.
The competitive IMCA Modified division had three different winners going into Round #4 as Duane Cleveland, Shawn Natenstedt and point leader Matt Murphy claimed the wins. Murphy carried a 5 point lead over Nieman into this race. Nieman is also second in points to brother Chase Nieman at Quincy, Chris Nieman would drive to victory in this race and became the fourth different winner. He had to battle past Susanville champion Jeff Chew to get it. Chew settled for second ahead of Steve Bejeck and Larry McCracken. Matt Murphy will maintain his point lead as he finished fifth ahead Wade DeBerg, Mitch Murphy, Dustin Sell, Joe Blackwell and Tyler Patzke.
Reigning Strictly Stock champion Richard Longacre has two second place finishes as the Main Event action so far has been dominated by three time winner Victor Richey. Longacre and Jason Emmot were the two heat race winners on the night. Longacre finally broke through for his first win of the season. Emmot settled for his second runnerup finish of the year as Nathan Howard was third for the third time in four starts. Chris Annas was fourth as Richey came back down to earth with his fifth place effort. Shayna Robertson, Fred Kresge and Steve Goss rounded out the finish.
Reigning Mini Stock champion Kyle Belli was a double winner as he won his heat race and the Main Event. The win was Belli's third of the season. Past champion Larry Whitebird was second in both races and now has three second place feature finishes and one win this season. Larry Foster and Billy Gibson rounded out the field.
Racing will return on Monday, July 4th as all three divisions will compete along with a Fireworks show. For further information, check out https://lassencountyfair.org/interim-events/diamond-mountain-speedway/.
