Pleasanton, Tx., (May 15th, 2009) Action resumed on Pleasanton’s I-37 Speedway Friday night, with the Outlaw Modifieds back on the racing card. Also in action on the ¼ mile semi-banked dirt oval were the IMCA Southern Sportmods, Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Front-Runners

As the green waved on the 20-lap IMCA Southern Sportmod A-main the two heat winners raced into turn 1 with James Myers getting the advantage. Aaron Lunsford and Butcher got by Dennis Hilla for fourth and fifth on lap 1. Butcher then got under Lunsford for fifth on lap 2. Continuing his charge, Butcher passed Wesley Malcher on lap 4 for fourth, with Lunsford following in his wake.

Lunsford got back around Butcher on lap 8, with the duo wheel to wheel on lap 9 for the fourth spot. At the crossed flags it was Myers, Livingston, Mark McGahey, Lunsford and Butcher in the top five. Butcher then changed his line going from the bottom to the top way around. The car responded and Butcher went back past Lunsford.

Staying up top, Butcher then blew by McGahey for third on lap 11 and dusted off Livingston for second on lap 13. Quickly moving in to challenge Myers, Butcher had just made the pass for the lead when yellow waved for a spin by Livingston in turn 4. Butcher wasted little time on the restart blowing by Myers for the lead, while Larry Jernigan got around McGahey for third.

Lunsford pounded the turn 1 tire wall to bring out a red on lap 15 after a small fire was spotted. Once back to green, Butcher got a jump on Myers, who was now being pressured by Jernigan for second. The battle ended quickly when Jernigan looped it in turn 4 and brought out a yellow.

As Butcher and Myers got away on green, McGahey, Malcher and defending track champ, Johnny Torres were trying to go three wide for third. Torres got the spot, while Malcher went around on lap 18. When green waved again, Butcher eased ahead of Myers and Torres with Jernigan getting by McGahey for fourth. Butcher, in the Access Ford, Showtime Signs, WW Bodies, Majek powered, Rush Chassis, easily took the checkers ahead of Myers, who didn’t stop on the front stretch and was disqualified.

“If you want to win, you can’t follow them,” replied Butcher. “I was running fifth and the top four were all on the bottom, so I jumped up there. I had seen Stevie(Whiteaker) run the high side a little bit in his feature. So I went up there and it worked out. I was in my car and could see his spoiler over the fence so I knew he was high”

“I figured I was only going finish fifth running the bottom. It doesn’t pay good for fifth, it just pays good to win. I just try to be patient and run where they’re not. I like this track. I have fun at this track. I’d rather run where there’s more cars like Corpus(South Texas Spwy.) With Stevie’s knowledge and his dad’s knowledge we just seem to run good here. You can’t put a price on that knowledge and seat time. Diving as much as possible and getting used to the car.”

IMCA Southern Sportmods
90 Dustin Butcher
66 Johnny Torres
18 Larry Jernigan
88 Mark McGahey
89 Doug Livingston
2x Dennis Hilla
771 Wesley Malcher
16 Eric Madden
888 Aaron Lunsford
11 Chris McLendon
47 James Myers-DQ(did not stop on track)

Corpus Connection Conquers Both Modified Classes
Two Corpus Christi teammates once again found their way the I-37′s Winner’s Circle, but in different fashions. Steve Whiteaker jr., a USMTS Southern Series regular and points contender took the easier of the two routes building a huge lead early in the Outlaw Modified main and rebuilding his lead after a late race caution.

Dustin Butcher, who doubles as Whiteaker’s USMTS head crew member, had it a bit more difficult in the IMCA Southern Sportmod feature. Butcher started near the back and worked his way up to fifth before bogging down. A mid-race line change saw Butcher quickly pick off spots again as he found his way to the lead.

At the start of the 20-lap Outlaw Modified main, defending track champion Greg Dinsmore and Whiteaker stayed wheel to wheel into turn 1. Dinsmore got loose on the coming off turn 2 giving up second to Danny Brown. As Whiteaker set sail out front, Dinsmore and Brown had a good fight going for second.

Dinsmore would get under and along side Brown on laps 4 and 7, but not be able to get a bite off the bottom coming off the corners. Dinsmore again took a shot low on Brown as they split a lapped car, nearly going three wide, on lap 12. A spin by Bob Leinweber on lap 15 would erase Whiteaker’s ¾ track lead on Brown and Dinsmore.

When green waved for the final five laps, Dinsmore again had trouble getting off turn 2 giving up third to Bruce Barber. Dinsmore retook third from Barber on lap 16, as Whiteaker was stretching out his lead on Brown. With three laps to go Dinsmore was finally able to complete a pass on Brown for second, but Whiteaker was long gone on his way to the victory in the WW Bodies, Showtime Signs, Jana Schurry/Remax Realty, Youngs Auto Repair, T Roberts Optical, Hughes Chassis.

“It may have looked easy, but I haven’ been in a race yet that has been easy,” commented Whiteaker. “The car was good. I guess you could say it was better than the others. This Hughes Chassis is trying a new rear suspension set up, it’s something new we’re trying to figure out. It worked good on a heavy track like this. I could carry the momentum around the top.”

“You’re always looking for the moisture, it’s faster than the dry. If I can find that I can run the car wide open. Whoever can find it is usually going to win. If there’s nothing out there, then the best handling car is going to win.”

“I ran hard for five laps, but slowed down a little to avoid making mistakes. When I saw Danny(Brown) about a half straightaway ahead of me, I knew his motor wasn’t running good so I picked it back up. If I can lap him then that’s bragging rights at the shop.”

“I don’t ever think about what might break when I get a big lead like that. I know there are guys, like Clint Bowyer who thought everything was going to vibrate loose when he won his first NASCAR race. With Dustin and my dad working on my car all the time I know there’s not going to be any maintenance errors. There may be something mechanical break like the motor, or rear end, but I’m sure nothing’s going to fall off the car.”

Modifieds
89 Steve Whiteaker jr.
8g Greg Dinsmore
55 Danny Brown
17b Bruce Barber
174x Max Helms
12 Bob Leinweber
87 Lawrence Mikulencak—DNS(blew motor in heat)

Modified heat winner, 8g Greg Dinsmore

IMCA SSM heat winners, 47 James Myers, 89 Doug Livingston

Richard Bartosh beat polesitter Andrew Hesler into turn 1 as green waved on the 15-lap Limited Late Model feature, with Moe VanKirk in tow. VanKirk got by Bartosh to lead lap 2 while Wesley Skains and Howie Marcx got past Hesler for third and fourth. Sonny Mares got the fifth position from Hesler on lap 4. VanKirk built a decent margin as the top 4 evenly gapped out at halfway. Skains gave up third to Marcx when he did a ½ spin on lap 11. Up front it was VanKirk adding another win to his total by a comfortable margin over Bartosh.

Limited Late Model
58 Moe VanKirk
7 Richard Bartosh
13 Howie Marcx
3 Sonny Mares
14 Andrew Hesler
60 Harlin Covert
25 Wesley Skains–DQ(did not tech)

Limited Late Model heat winners, 25 Wesley Skains,

The 17-car, 20-lap Street Stock feature was a slam-bang affair with three different leaders in the final two laps. It started innocently enough with Chris Brock leading into turn1, but Dwayne Markgraf went for a harmless spin. On the next start, Shawn Moore tried the high side of Brock in turn 1, but fell back into second. Moore would then pull off on lap 1 with problems. A J Wernette moved to challenge Brock and got the point on lap 3.

Dw. Markgraf would loop it again, this time with a flat tire on lap 3. Once back under green, Brock, Eric Knudtson and Justin Henley were three wide for second with Knudtson getting the spot. Wade Jones picked off a couple spots taking fourth. Henley had just made a pass on Knudtson for second when Frankie O’Krulick spun on lap 4 to bring out a yellow.

Once back to green Henley completed the pass on Knudtson for second as the top four broke away from the field with Randy Guzman taking over fifth from Brock. Knudtson brought out the yellow on lap 6 when he spun out of turn 2. As the field was lining up for the restart, Brian Holland went around keeping the yellow out.

Finally back to green flag racing, Henley was along side Wernette for the lead, taking the top spot on lap 7 as the duo stayed door to door. Jones and Guzman were running side by side for third when Jones did a ½ spin and fell back to seventh. Henley began to put some distance on Wernette, Guzman and Danny Markgraf as the top four distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

Wernette and Guzman began a battle for second that saw them go three wide around a lapped car. Da. Markgraf did a 360% on lap 14, but kept going without losing any positions. Henley increased his lead over Wernette and Guzman, with Jones working his way back up to fifth getting by Chico Cox.

Knudtson brought out a second caution when he went around in turn 4 on lap 18. This set up a wild two lap shootout to the finish. When green waved Wernette looked inside Henley coming out of turn 4 to the white flag. A little further back Jones made contact with Da. Markgraf nearly sending him into the back stretch tullies in the fight for fourth.

Wernette inched ahead at the line, but the lead duo went side by side into turn 1 on the final lap. Coming out of turn 2 they got together with both getting out-of-shape. Guzman, who said he anticipated the incident, steered clear of both, snuck by and grabbed the win over Henley who recovered for second, while Wernette fell to fourth. Frederick Gierisch capped off the wild finish expiring a motor in a cloud of smoke coming to the line.

Street Stocks
021 Randy Guzman
86 Justin Henley
21 Chico Cox
37 A J Wernette
27 Eric Knudtson
82 Danny Markgraf
88 Chris Brock
44 Danny Schroat
33 Frederick Gierisch
77 Brain Holland
55 Cody Clark
41 Wade Jones
51 Donald Lewis
99 Frankie O’Krulick
5 Dwayne Markgraf
18 Shawn Moore
42 Tommy Casey

Street Stock heat winners, 18 Shawn Moore, 27 Eric Knudtson, 37 A J Wernette

The first try for a start of the 15-car, 20-lap Pure Stock feature saw Albert Mares get a big jump on Marc Roy, who had trouble getting going due to a slipping transmission. Mares again got the lead on the second try, with three wide racing in mid-pack. Philip Haywood and Mike Harrison ran side by side for second with Haywood getting the spot. Haywood then got past Mares, who began to fade, on lap 2 for the lead, while Jason Kelly and Lynn Hardy made their way up to third and fourth.

Kelly then got around William Saunders for second and snagged the lead from Haywood on lap 4. Haywood would then loose second to Saunders. Hardy and Dennis Jasik got third and forth from Haywood on lap 5, as the pack pin-balled down the front straight-away three wide. Saunders pulled off from second on lap 7 with a flat handing the spot to Hardy. Harrison and JoJo Horne spun on lap 9 to bring out the caution.

Kelly and Hardy got away clean on the restart while Jasik pushed up too high in turn 2 giving up spots to Mares, Mike Brown and Ty Coad sr. before pitting with a flat. Debris off Hardy’s car brought out a yellow on lap 11 and sent Hardy to the rear. On the restart Kelly eased away from Mares and Brown while Hardy picked up a couple spots, unfortunately, before the restart cone and got black flagged. Lap 15 saw caution wave for a spin by Coad who gave up fourth.

As green waved again Mares tried to hang on to Kelly as they pulled away from Brown, Sean Terry and James Watson. Mares took a look inside Kelly on lap 16 but nearly spun in turn 4. Mares would find himself going around a lap later in turn 2 to bring out the final caution. On the green, white, checkered restart Kelly got a good jump on Brown and Terry. Charging from the back, Mares was able to make it to fourth while up front Kelly was grabbing the win with a healthy margin.

Pure Stock
57 Jason Kelly
01 Mike Brown
23 Sean Terry
3 Albert Mares
44 James Watson
15 William Cavender
25 JoJo Horne
98 William Saunders
31 Lynn Hardy
72 Ty Coad sr.
8 Dennis Jasik
71 Mike Harrison
9 Philip Haywood
24 Marc Roy
8jr Janel Hilla
67 Joe Horne—DNS

Pure Stock heat winners, 01 Mike Brown, 3 Albert Mares, 57 Jason Kelly

James Samford got out early at the start of the 12-lap Front-Runner feature pulling away from Jared Payton who held an advantage over Les Bettis, Alec Jasik and Jim Knudtson battling for third. In the latter stages Payton started to close the gap and got a break when a caution for a spin by Taylor Horne on lap 10 closed up the field. On the restart, Samford got the jump on Payton and Bettis, but coming to one(lap) to go Samford spun handing the lead over to Payton who held off Bettis for the win.

Front Runners
9 Jared Payton
57 Les Bettis
I-37 Jim Knudtson
35 James Samford
41 Amber Helton
20 Taylor Horne
8jr Alec Jasik

Front Runner heat winners, 8jr Alec Jasik

Pleasanton, Tx.,(April 10th, 2009) It was a wild night of racing at Pleasanton’s I-37 Raceway Friday night on the 1/4 mile semi-banked dirt track. Under a full moon, on a dry slick track, there were unfortunately a series of several roll-overs, airborne crashes and fires. Fortunately all drivers were able to walk away without serious injury, but there will a lot of work going on this week for many.

In the Modified class, an anonymous donor threw some extra money in the pot, making a $1,000 payday for the winner. The added money caught the attention of several drivers from the Corpus, Austin and Killeen areas. This IMCA SportMod purse was also increased with the winner scoring $350.

Whiteaker wears ‘em out in Modified main
Corpus young gun, Steve Whiteaker jr. has always been a contender at the south Texas tracks, and with the added USMTS experience has taken his game up another notch this year with good finishes in the touring series. Despite a crash in his heat, Whiteaker worked his way to the lead early the main, then pulled away to big margin to pick up the big payday along with an added hard charger bonus put up by 3-D Landscaping’s, Ray Doyon.

Johnny Torres led the field into turn 1 as the green waved on the 20-lap main event. In the pack David Smith jr. got turned around, but kept going falling nearly a full lap down. Whiteaker got past defending IMCA Modified, track champion Greg Dinsmore for second on lap 1. Whiteaker wasted little time running down Torres on lap 2 as Dinsmore was now challenged by veteran Lawrence Mikulencak.

Whiteaker got around Torres for the lead on lap 3, with Mikulencak taking third from Dinsmore. Dinsmore, who found the wall twice in heat race action and thrashed during intermission on the car, faded and pulled off. Mikulencak caught Torres and took over second on lap 6. At halfway it was Whiteaker, Mikulencak, Torres, Elias Anderson and Mike McCarthy in the top five.

Anderson worked his way around Torres on lap 11 for third. Coming from the back, Smith was flying around the top picking off fifth from McCarthy on lap 15. Continuing to work the high side, Smith who was as fast or faster than the leader at the end, grabbed fourth from Torres on lap 18. Up front Whiteaker was holding a big lead over Mikulencak and easily took the checkers in the WW Bodies, Showtime Signs, Jana Schurry/ReMax Realty, Youngs Auto Repair, Hughes Chassis.

“I kind of got lucky,” said Whiteaker. “ Someone got sideways on the first lap and Lawrence(Mikulencak) had to check up and I was able to get by him. Once I got the lead I didn’t really know how far anyone was behind me or how big of a lead I had. You just hope someone isn’t behind you waiting for the last lap to make a move.”

“I was fast tonight. The track was really decent. It didn’t start off that great, but it was really good, real racey, slick and nice and slow. It turned out to be a good night after all. After the incident with Lawrence in the heat I didn’t think we were done for the night, but knew we had a lot of work to do. We able to get it back together, that’s what it’s all about.”

“Running with the USMTS series definitely helps my driving. You’re only as fast as who you race with. That’s how you learn to get faster. I’ll go out of town and be faster when I come back, then everyone will catch up to me.”

Modifieds
89 Steve Whiteaker jr
87 Lawrence Mikulencak
31 Elias Anderson
703 David Smith jr
66 Johnny Torres
20 Mike McCarthy
68 Mike Rothmiller
8g Greg Dinsmore
125 Jason Borlace
c31 Marlin Samford—DNS
55 Danny Brown(rolled in heat)

Modified heat winners, 87 Lawrence Mikulencak, 703 David Smith jr.

Butcher slices up the IMCA Sportmod field
As stablemate of Whiteaker, Dustin Butcher has learned the ropes quickly and made it a Team Whiteaker sweep in the two modified classes. Butcher escaped an early brush with tire wall, worked his way up through traffic and got the point just before halfway. A late race caution rebunched the field, but Butcher held off the wounded car of Chris Swenson for the victory.

At the start of the 20-lap IMCA SSM main, Larry Jernigan and Wesley Malcher stayed wheel to wheel through turns 1-2. Malcher eased out front going into turn 3 to get the lead. In the pack Chris McLendon got sideways and collected Robert Williams, As Williams car dug in it broke the rear end up sending him airborne with a hard landing on three wheels. The next start saw Jernigan jump into the lead, but Butcher found the tire wall in turn 1.

The third time was a charm with Jernigan again leading into turn 1, but Doug Livingston came from row two sneaking under Jernigan for lead coming out of turn 2. Malcher and Mark McGahey followed for second and third. On lap 1 Swenson got around Jernigan for fourth and made contact with McGahey knocking the toe-in by several inches. Swenson went around on lap 2, but kept going, with Dennis Hilla spinning behind him to bring out a caution.

On the restart, Malcher got inside Livingston in turns 1-2, while Butcher made his way into the top five. As Livingston and Malcher battled through turns 3-4, Malcher pushed up in 4 making contact with Livingston. Livingston wheel hopped Malcher sending him airborne and head-on into the wall hard. Ironically, teammate McGahey, inherited the lead for the restart that saw Aaron Lunsford get by Jernigan for fourth.

Butcher had just made a move on Swenson for second, when McGahey spun from the lead collecting Jernigan. With Swenson’s wounded ride now on point, Butcher took advantage on the restart and got along side for lead. Butcher grabbed the top spot on lap 6, with Joe Spillman and Hilla side by side for fourth. Hilla and Spillman swapped the spot coming to halfway with Butcher, Swenson, Lunsford, Spillman and Hilla the top five at the crossed flags.

Eric Madden spun on lap 11 to bring out the yellow. Once back to green, Butcher got a good jump on Swenson getting clear of the field. Lunsford then moved on Swenson pressuring him for second. As the Spillman/Hilla battle continued, both went around in turn 2, with Hilla stalling to bring out a caution on lap 13.

Butcher again got a good jump on Swenson, who was doing all he could to hold off Lunsford. Spillman was able to work his way back up getting by Malcher for fifth. In the waning laps, Spillman caught Jernigan for fourth and got the spot. Up front it was Butcher in the Access Ford, WW Bodies, Majek powered, Rush Chassis cruising unchallenged to the win.

“I was able to stay near the infield where the moisture was at,” replied Butcher. “After watching Danny Brown hit the same tires, in the same spot as soon as I hit them I thought ‘Oh no I’m going to go over to’. I was able to stay on all fours and the car was alright, so I kept on going.”

“When I finally got to Chris(Swenson) under caution I saw his front end was toed-in about three inches. I knew he was going to have a problem steering, but he’s still pretty hard to pass. I still have to work on him and drive my race. My car was good so I wasn’t real worried.”

“The dry track was a little tough(on cars). I just think it was everyone getting used to being on the track again at the beginning of the year. There’s a lot of people working the bugs out. I’m sure they’ll get better.”

IMCA Southern Sportmods
90 Dustin Butcher
48 Chris Swenson
888 Aaron Lunsford
44 Joe Spillman
88 Mark McGahey
18 Larry Jernigan
771 Wesley Malcher
16 Eric Madden
2x Dennis Hilla
89 Doug Livingston
00 Robert Skye
11 Chris McLendon
60 Robert Williams
09 David Routen–DNS(motor)

IMCA SSM heat winners, 48 Chris Swenson, 11 Chris McLendon

In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Jerry Neal got out front to lead lap 1, with Richard Bartosh, defending champ, Moe VanKirk, multi-time champ, Gary Hunter and Howie Marcx falling in line. Patrick Kelly worked his way around Marcx for fifth on lap 1. Bartosh, in a new car this year, got past Neal to grab the lead on lap 3, with VanKirk taking second on lap 4.

Kelly, using the high groove, began to pressure Hunter for third on lap 7 and with persistence finally got the spot on lap 12. Andy Van Blarcum brought the yellow on lap 12 when he had a tire/wheel break off. On the restart, Kelly finally secured the pass on Hunter, while VanKirk was looking under Bartosh for the lead. The two stayed side by side on lap 13, while Marcx got past Hunter for fourth. Kelly, still running the rim, snagged third from Neal on lap 16.

After losing a little ground to Bartosh, VanKirk closed back in on the leader getting along again on lap 17. The two continued to run door to door, while Marcx snared fourth from Neal. VanKirk threw everything, but the front bumper, at Bartosh as the two scrapped it out for the win. At the checkers it was Bartosh fending off VanKirk to take the hard earned win.

Limited Late Models
7 Richard Bartosh
58 Moe VanKirk
84 Patrick Kelly
13 Howie Marcx
50 Jerry Neal
33 Barry Major
14 Gary Hunter
21 Chris Snocker
33m Andy Van Blarcum
55 John Farquer—DNS

Limited Late Model heat winners, 58 Moe VanKirk, 13 Howie Marcx

The scheduled 20-lap Street Stock feature saw Chris Brock lead into turn 1 but get passed by Frank Garrish, while Cody Clark and 2008 Pure Stock champ, Justin Henley spun but continued without caution. AJ Wernette get turned around on lap 1 and got clipped by Brock who brought out the caution. On the restart Rene Mares got sideways in turn 1 with Wernette, who had nowhere to go, sending him the rest of the way around.

Once back to green the two 2008 championship contenders, Donald Lewis and Wade Jones, ran side by side for third. Wernette got under Garrish for the lead on lap 3 followed by Jones to second, with Tommy Casey getting by Lewis then Garrish for third. Garrish had just worked back around Casey, when Jones spun from second on lap 4. On the restart Garrish spun and collected Lewis.

As Wernette inched away on green, Eric Knudtson and Casey ran side by side for second. The two stayed door to door on lap 6 with Knudtson getting the spot on lap 7. Casey would spin from third, but keep going without caution. Knudtson caught Wernette for the lead on lap 10 and got the top spot on lap 11. In the pack, Mares and Henley had their own personal fight for fourth swapping the spot in the final laps. Wernette tried to hang with Knudtson, but got hung behind a lapped car giving Knudtson an easy run to the checkers.

Street Stocks
27 Eric Knudtson
37 AJ Wernette
51 Donald Lewis
08 Rene Mares
96 Justin Henley
41 Wade Jones
44 Danny Schroat
33 Frank Garrish
42 Tommy Casey
99 Frank O’ Krulik
55 Cody Clark
88 Chris Brock
77 Wesley Werts–DNS(rolled in heat)

Street Stock heat winners, 08 Rene Mares, 96 Justin Henley

William Saunders lead the field of a dozen Pure Stocks into turn 1 for the early lead, with Philip Haywood, Mike Brown, Janel Hilla and William Cavender in tow. Brandon Eury got by Cavender for fifth, with Jason Kelly tracking him for sixth. Brown began to challenge Haywood for second while Eury looked low on Hilla for fourth. As Hilla, Eury and Kelly scrambled for fourth, Eury and Kelly hooked bumpers briefly but broke themselves free.

Brown gave away his top three spot on lap 6 when he spun in front of the pack sending everyone into evasive mode. On the restart, Sean Terry spun in turn to bring the yellow back out. Leader, Saunders, was forced to pit with a flat tire. This handed the lead over to Haywood on the restart. Once back to green Brian Holland got into the turn 1 tires and rolled to bring out the red.

Once back under green again, Kelly got by Eury for second and was quickly on Haywood for the lead. Kelly took the point on lap 8, with Eury and Haywood side by side for second and Hilla beside Brown for fourth. Hilla got the spot on lap 11 but did a half spin giving the spot back to Brown. Brown was then able to get past Haywood for third on lap 12. Out front it was Kelly stretching his advantage out to a full straightaway, motoring on to the easy win.

Pure Stocks
57Jason Kelly
4 Brandon Eury
01 Mike Brown
7x Janel Hilla
23 Sean Terry
29 Jay Harley
98 William Saunders
9 Philip Haywood
15 William Cavender
24 Marc Roy
77 Brian Holland
8 Dennis Jasik

Pure Stock heat winners, 98 William Saunders, 8 Dennis Jasik

In the new Front Runner class, Alec Jasik got the early lead with Jared Payton in his wake. The two pulled away from James Samford in third. Payton got the lead from Jasik on lap 3 after Jasik got slowed by Jim Knudtson as they put him a lap down. Jasik fought back retaking the lead on lap 4 only to lose it back to Payton as they lapped Amber Helton. From there Payton was able to pull away from Jasik, who gave up second to Samford in the final laps, to sweep the Front Runner events.

Front Runners
9 Jared Payton
35 James Samford
8 Alec Jasik
14 Jessica Mares
I-37 Jim Knudtson
14 Amber Helton

Front Runner heat winner, 9 Jared Payton

Pleasanton, Tx.,(Sept. 26th, 2008) As the night kicked off at Pleasanton’s I-37 Raceway, all but one points battle was still up for grabs. The local class championships were all still on the line for the Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks while in the IMCA Modified class Greg Dinsmore held a comfortable lead over Bill Pittaway.

Lake Hills’ Johnny Torres clinched his first IMCA Southern Sportmod track championship the previous weekend in convincing fashion, winning the 20 lap main event. Torres locked up his second track championship for the year when South Texas Speedway(Corpus Christi) was forced to cancel it’s Saturday night race with Torres leading, and IMCA points ending.

In the IMCA Modified class, Kerrville’s Dinsmore needed only to show up Friday night, and turn one lap to pick up the points he heeded to secure his second IMCA Modified track title. Not being satisfied with a one and done, Dinsmore went out in heat and blistered the field, securing his track title.

Another Kerrville driver, Moe VanKirk led the Super Stock class into action with a scant nine points lead over Somerset’s Howie Marcx. VanKirk tallied ten points for his heat race win, with Marcx finishing second to A J Dancer in heat two for nine points. To seal the championship Marcx would need to finish 11 places ahead of VanKirk in the 15-car feature.

Street Stocks were even closer, as San Antonio’s Craig Crawley and Austin’s Donald Lewis took the track with only three points separating the two. Lewis took the heat win adding ten points, while Crawley finished 4th in the same race. In the feature the two would start tied for the lead.

In Pure Stocks the race couldn’t be any closer with young Somerset hotshoe Justin Henley and Kerrville’s Sonny Jones tied for the points lead. Henley, has wracked up an impressive wins total for his points, while Jones has used consistency throughout the year to amass his total. Henley and Jones both took heat wins to keep the points chase deadlocked going into the night’s 20-lap feature.

Who needs NASCAR’s silly “Chase” format to end the season with any more excitement and drama than this?

Dinsmore Dazzling on way to Track Championship
With his points title secured already you might think a driver would go out, be easy on his equipment and just take what he could get. But not Dinsmore. In regal fashion, Dinsmore blasted to the lead with bold passes, building a substantial lead. Even a mid-race caution to bunch the field didn’t stop Dinsmore as he again bolted off to comfortable margin to take the victory and all the hardware.

Derrick Flora was first into turn 1 at the start of the 20-lap IMCA Modified main event, but it was Mickey Helms getting the lead on lap 1. Dinsmore and STS Track Champion, Brian Rye surrounded Flora going three wide for second. That duo then inhaled Helms for lead, again going three wide. Dinsmore, using the high side, came out on top leading the second circuit. It was pretty much all she wrote from there.

As Dinsmore increased his lead on Rye and Helms, Bill Pittaway and Chris Swenson worked around Jeff Nix, then began their own battle for fifth. Just before halfway, Rye spun in turn 4 giving up his second spot. Once back to green, Dinsmore got a good jump, while Flora looked inside Helms for second. Flora lost ground and gave up third to Swenson, who quickly got by Helms for second. But Dinsmore was already in the wind.

At halfway it was Dinsmore, Swenson, Helms, Flora and Pittaway, with Dinsmore a half straightaway ahead. Pittaway then got inside Flora for fourth and under Helms for third briefly. Helms fought back retaking the spot as the two continued to go at it. This gave Rye the chance to work his way back up, sneaking by Pittaway for fourth on lap 14.

As the race settled in to the final five laps Dinsmore was continuing to put distance on Swenson, with Helms, Rye, Pittaway and Flora some distance behind Swenson. As the white flag waved, Dinsmore was a full straight ahead of Swenson easily going on to take the checkers in the Sundowner RV, Team Brain Freeze, Azul Margaritas, Lowery Plumbing, Big Worm Motorsports, racetechinfo.com, Jeff’s Performance powered, Harris Chassis.

“One for the money, the rest for the show,” stated Dinsmore. “This was for all for my fans. I thought about just going out there and making laps, but the fans don’t come here to watch that. They want to see a show. Then there’s my pride and the challenge of making the car go. The car just wants to go, the thing practically drives itself.”

“The three wide passes make for some exciting racing and it’s all about putting on a show for the fans. Plus it’s kind of an adrenaline rush and I’m an adrenaline junky.”

Look for Dinsmore and Team Brain Freeze at Kennedale Speedway Park for the KSP Showdown, then Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge coming up in October.

“We might also do the Fall Classic in Waco(Heart o’ Texas Speedway).’ added Dinsmore. ” We’ll see what happens and if we have all our ducks in a row. I’m not going to run the USMTS show in Edna(Texana Raceway Park). I want to stick more to what I’m trying to help promote, IMCA racing. What I race is IMCA, and I’m proud to be an IMCA racer!”

MCA Modifieds
1. 8g Greg Dinsmore
2. 48 Chris Swenson
3. 20 Brian Rye
4. 29 Mickey Helms
5. 39T Derrick Flora
6. 37 Bill Pittaway
7. 84 Patrick Kelly
8. 85 Jeff Nix
9. 12 Bob Leinweber
10. 53x Matt Fox
66 Randy Yount—DNS(Rolled in hot laps)
52 A J Dancer

IMCA Modified heat winners, 8g Greg Dinsmore, 20 Brian Rye

Godfredson Back on Track with Sportmod Victory
After two disappointing weekends back to back, former Sprint Car ace, Chip Godfredson wasn’t ready to end his season on sour note. Godfredson’s crew had a week long thrash on the car after last weekends wreck that left it with a broken axle, bent housing and frame. The gambit paid off as Godfredson worked his way through the field getting by early leader, J J Jennings. From there Godfredson inched away while Jennings and track champion, Johnny Torres battled for second.

Even with the track points settled, the IMCA Southern Sportmod Rookie of the Year points are still up in the air. This brought Hobbs, New Mexico’s Caleb Stone some 500 miles across the state to battle with points rival Kris Rye. Only a few points separate the two in second and third with Rye 2 points behind leader, Dean Abbey and four points ahead of Stone.

As green waved on 13-car, 20-lap IMCA SSM main, Jennings got a good jump on the field, with Bill Pittaway working his way quickly to second. Rye would spin on lap 1 to bring out a caution and find himself now behind Stone. Once back to green, Pittaway took a quick look inside Jennings who held the spot, while Torres got around Pat Lyon for sixth. In the pack Rye was able to get by Stone on lap 2 for ninth, as Chris McLendon slipped giving Godfredson an opening to get third.

Chris Swenson and Aaron Lunsford made contact as Swenson tried to dive under Lunsford for fourth giving Torres the chance to close on both. Torres grabbed both positions on lap 6 for fourth. E J Gilpin then moved around both for fifth on lap 8. Godfredson began to put the heat on Pittaway for second and got the spot coming to halfway. At the crossed flags it was Jennings, Godfredson, Pittaway, Torres and Gilpin in the top five.

Lunsford brought out the yellow on lap 12 when he spun in turn 2. On the restart Jennings got a car length on Godfredson, who closed right back up in turn 1. Godfredson got the nose under Jennings and along side down the back stretch taking over the top spot on lap 13. Meanwhile, Torres was getting by Pittaway for third, with Rye and Stone battling for sixth.

Torres got under Jennings on lap 15 in turns 1-2, but Jennings fought back to retake second on the back straight. Behind that fight, Gilpin and Pittaway were side by side for fourth. As Torres and Jennings continued to scrap it out for second, Godfredson was able to inch away and grab the checkers by a half straightaway in the Parr Performance, Cornerstone Natural Countertops, Skye Trucking, Burlington Performance powered Smiley’s Chassis.

“We just weren’t going to end our season that way,” replied Godfredson. “After the crash the week before, I was ready to give up(for the season). Then I called Derry(Burlington) on Sunday and told him we needed to get the car fixed. I wasn’t going to wait until October to race at the Southern Challenge. My crew is to thank for all the hard work they put it getting it ready.”

“We also made some set up changes while all the repairs were being done. It was fast. Derry does all the motor work on it. For some reason he won’t even let me touch that. The guys probably put 40 hours into getting everything right and straight. I truly appreciate all they did.”

IMCA Southern Sportmods
1. 11b Chip Godfredson
2. 66 Johnny Torres
3. 21 E J Gilpin
4. 37 Bill Pittaway
5. 4$ Kris Rye
6. 6 Caleb Stone
7. 11 Chris McLendon
8. 60 Pat Lyon
9. 0 Robert Skye
10.48 Chris Swenson
11. 888 Aaron Lunsford
12. 09 David Routen jr.
26g J J Jennings—DQ(refused tech) originally second
IMCA SSM heat winners, 26g J J Jennings, 11b Chip Godfredson

Richard Bartosh took the lead on lap 1 of the 15-lap Super Stock feature with points contenders Marcx second, and VanKirk fifth. VanKirk then got by Allen Jenkins and A J Dancer on lap 1 for third. Just as the two points rivals were door to door for second, yellow waved for a spin by Jerry Neal. On the restart, Marcx got by Bartosh for the lead on lap 3, with VanKirk in hot pursuit.

VanKirk got along side Marcx again, then by on lap 4 for the top spot, while Dancer was taking fourth from Bartosh. On lap 9 VanKirk slipped coming off turn 2 giving Marcx the chance to reel him in, but yellow waved when Jenkins spun clipping Chico Cox on his way past. As green waved again, Marcx tried the high side of VanKirk, but VanKirk powered off the bottom to hold the point.

Jenkins spun again on lap 11 setting up a four lap shootout to the finish. The top four got away clean on the restart with Marcx again looking up top on VanKirk. Harlin Covert slowed from fifth giving up the spot to Robert Danielson as he pulled off. Steven Doty then began a challenge on Dancer for third. Marcx gave VanKirk his bet shot on lap 14, but lost ground giving VanKirk clear sailing to the win and track championship.

“I knew we had a decent points margin on Howie(Marcx),” replied VanKirk. “I wasn’t about to go out there and just run for points. I came here to win the race.”

Super Stocks
1. 58 Moe VanKirk
2. 13 Howie Marcx
3. 52 A J Dancer
4. 9 Steven Doty
5. 49 Robert Danielson
6. 7 Richard Bartosh
7. 14 Gary Hunter
8. 21 Chico Cox
9. 57 Jerry Neal
10. 1 Dennis Hilla
11. 60 Harlin Covert
12. 97 Allen Jenkins
13. 6 Ellis ???
33 Leland Waddell—DNS

Super Stock heat winners, 58 Moe VanKirk, 52 A J Dancer

Last weeks surprise winner, Alton Fambro got the lead in Street Stock feature on lap 1, with Crawley getting past Lewis for fourth, and the points lead. Crawley and Wade Jones then ran side by side third with Jones getting the spot. Jones then snagged second from A J Wernette on lap 4, with Randy Guzman taking fourth from Crawley, while Lewis struggled at the back of the pack.

Guzman then picked off third from Wernette, as Jones began challenging Fambro for the lead. After a brief door to door battle, Jones got the top spot on lap 7. Guzman then caught Fambro for second and as those two battled, Jones ran away. In the final laps Fambro and Guzman ran side by side, while Crawley and Lewis ran fifth and sixth, respectively. Jones would take the win after filing an earlier protest on Crawley’s motor. Crawley would refuse to tear down at the track, thus being DQ’ed giving the championship to Lewis.

“I don’t want to win it(the championship) this way,” commented the soft-spoken Lewis. “I didn’t earn it or deserve it. We ran a terrible race.”

“I’m planning on appealing the protest and disqualification,” added Crawley. “There are some issues in the rules here. I offered to go to any shop and pull the motor and tear it apart. I just didn’t want to have to do it in the dirt, but they(protesters) said no. I wasn’t refusing to tear down, just not wanting it to be in all the dirt and dust. I’d end up having to totally rebuild it.”

So…until the appeal process is finalized, the 2008 Street Stock track championship may still be undecided.
Street Stocks
1. 41 Wade Jones
2. 08 Alton Fambro
3. 021 Randy Guzman
4. 37 A J Wernette
5. 51 Donald Lewis
6. 18 Shawn Moore
7. 96 Justin Henley
77 Wes Wurtz—DNS
6 Craig Crawley—DQ(Refused protest) originally fifth

Street Stock heat winners, 51 Donald Lewis, A J Wernette

The 20-lap Pure Stock feature saw polesitter, Mark Pivarnik get out front in turn 1, with Justin Henley making an early charge to sixth, with Jones languishing near the back. The young Henley kept on the march getting past William Saunders and Jo Jo Horne for fourth on lap 4, with Dennis Jasik on his tail following to fifth. Two laps later J. Henley sailed around his dad, Charley for third then Jason Kelly for second on lap 9.

At halfway J. Henley snared the lead from Pivarnik, with Jones still mired in the field. Danny Kasperwicz moved into the top five on lap 10 getting by Jasik. C. Henley then snatched third from Kelly, while Jasik retook fifth from Kasperwicz. Pivarnik got hung up by a lapped car on lap 15, with C. Henley snagging second. Philip Haywood and Brian Terry sr. spun on lap 18 to bring out a yellow and set up a green, white, checker finish.

As green waved on J. Henley, Jones was still back in ninth. With J. Henley pulling away from his dad, Kelly, Jasik, Kasperwicz Adam Torres and Sean Terry were swapping paint and positions in the scramble for fourth. Kelly spun from that battle on lap 19, shaking up the final running order. Up front it was J. Henley adding to his young career wins total, and taking the track title.

Pure Stocks
1. 96 Justin Henley
2. 14 Mark Pivarnik
3. 23 Sean Terry
4. 66 Adam Torres
5. 8 Dennis Jasik
6. 74k Danny Kasperwicz
7. 555 Sonny Jones
8. 3 Albert Mares
9. 57 Jason Kelly
10. 98 William Saunders
11. 9 Philip Haywood
12. 15 William Cavender
13. 23T Brian Terry sr.
14. 7x Janel Hilla
15. 25 Jo Jo Horne
16. 4 Brandon Eure
67 Joe Horne—DNS
55 Charlie Henley—DQ(Tires) originally second
Pure Stock heat winners, 14 Mark Pivarnik, 96 Justin Henley, 555 Sonny Jones

Chris took his first ever I-37 Raceway IMCA SSM checkers early in the evening grabbing the lead on lap 2 and never looking back. National points contender, Johnny Torres closed in after a couple cautions, but could never mount a serious challenge. Chris inched away in the final five laps to a comfortable margin and the win.

In the IMCA Modified main, Brian worked his way to battle with early leaders, Darin Leonard and Bruce Barber. Once in the lead more challenge lied ahead, a final charge by Greg Dinsmore in last two laps. Brian held steady on the bottom forcing Dinsmore to try high, where the traction was gone. Brian bagged his second I-37 trophy, ending Dinsmore’s hot streak at eight in a row.

The start of the 20-lap IMCA Southern Sportmod main saw Pat Lyon, Chris McLendon and Doug Livingston three wide for the lead at the drop of the green. Lyon eased out front while Chris Rye moved up to second. Rye snuck by Lyon on the bottom to get the top spot on lap 2, with Aaron Lunsford moving into third. Yellow waved for a tangle between Brian McDevit and Mark McGahey on the front stretch.

Once back to green, Lunsford pressured Lyon for second getting the spot on lap 3 as Rye inched away. Lap 7 had two separate spins by Livingston and Lunsford bring out the yellow. On the restart, Lunsford got too good of a jump bringing the caution quickly back out. When racing resumed, Rye and Johnny Torres pulled ahead of the field. At halfway the top five were Rye, J. Torres, Lyon, Livingston and McLendon.

McDevit brought a caution on lap 11 when he looped his newly bought ride in turn 2. Again Rye and J. Torres worked away from the pack while Lunsford worked his way back up getting by McLendon and Livingston for fourth. Livingston would spin again on lap 14 with McDevit sliding to halt short of T-boning him. Back to racing, Rye was creeping away from J. Torres while Lunsford and Lyon battled for third. Coming to the checkers it Rye driving the JR Viola Cleaners, SBG Racing, Mike Wansers Air Conditioning, Vato Chassis by Tim Clonch, snatching his inaugural win while Lunsford and Lyon fought it out. Lunsford got by Lyon, but got tagged by Lyon sending him around. Lyon would fail to stop on the front stretch and be disqualified.

“I just tried to bide my time on the first lap.” said C. Rye. “This is my first win here, third win ever in IMCA Sportmods. It was pretty dry slick out there so I was looking for an opening to get low. I found my opening, got the lead early and just tried to turn good laps from there. I want to thank Bobby and Susan Grobe for letting me drive their car and Al, Leonard and the rest of the guys that help at the shop”

“I was just trying to hit my marks, run smooth laps. I wasn’t worried about anyone coming. I knew if just ran good laps there wouldn’t be anyone trying to pass me with track having no top line.”
“I just told Brian to be patient in his feature. Try to roll turns 1-2 on the bottom. The bottom had a lot of grip coming off. If you did that and survived in turns 3-4 you’d be pretty good.”

IMCA Southern Sportmods1. 4$ Chris Rye2. 66 Johnny Torres3. 888 Aaron Lunsford4. 175 Brian McDevit 5. 11 Chris McLendon6. 89 Doug Livingston7. 88 Mark McGahey8. 37 Bill Pittaway94 Allen Torres—DNS(Clutch)60 Pat Lyon—DQ(Did not stop originally 3rd)IMCA SSM heat winners, 37 Bill Pittaway, 4$ Chris Rye

On the initial start of the 20-lap IMCA Modified main, Bill Pittaway got the lead going into turn 1, but Bruce Barber, Patrick Kelly and Mickey Helms tangled in between turns 1-2. On the second try, Barber outraced Pittaway out of turn 2 for the lead. Darin Leonard moved along side Barber and the two raced side by side around the tricky, dry slick 1/4 mile. Leonard got the bumper out front on lap 2, while Brian Rye, Pittaway and Greg Dinsmore were three wide for third.

Barber fought back to get the lead on lap 3, when Pittaway spun after contact with Dinsmore. Pittaway got his spot back, with Dinsmore sent to the tail. Once back to green, Leonard continued to put the heat on Barber snatching the lead back on lap 5 leaving Barber challenged now by Rye. Rye would ease by Barber on lap 7 for second. Kelly took a wild ride over turn 4 hill and tire barrier, but luckily landed on all fours, and was actually able to rejoin the field after the red.

When racing resumed, Dinsmore was charging his way back to the front getting by Pittaway on the restart, then Barber on lap 8. At the crossed flags it was Leonard, Rye, Dinsmore, Barber and Pittaway in the top five. Rye began to hunt inside Leonard for a way around, while Helms worked his way into the top five. Rye found his spot and took over the point on lap 12, with the top three running nose to tail.

Rye edged out to a couple car length lead as Dinsmore pressured Leonard for second. Dinsmore finally got past Leonard and caught Rye with two laps to go. Dinsmore, whose win streak was in jeopardy, tried to dive in low, but Rye kept that door closed. On the final lap, Dinsmore tried the high side, but found nothing to get a bite on leaving Rye to go on to the victory in the SBG Racing, RPM, Viola Cleaners, Willie Cotton Race Engines, K-Mod Chassis,

“I just stayed on the bottom all night,” commented B. Rye. “That was the place to be. I never got off the bottom all night, even in the heat race. It was awesome for both of us to win on the same night. That’s as good as it gets as far as I’m concerned”

“I knew Greg(Dinsmore) would be coming. I was wondering where he was all race. Once I got out front I just slowed down to stay on the bottom. I looked for him once on the high side, but I wasn’t going to let him get under me. Darin(Leonard) was running good and I didn’t think I was going to get him. He slipped up off of turn 2 and that was all I needed.”
“I think Chris got that advice he gave me from watching me in the heat race. I let him have it. He told me that after he won his feature.”

“There was just one lane out there tonight,” replied runner-up Dinsmore who saw his winning streak end. “It was just honk, honk, beep, beep can I get past on the bottom. I didn’t mean to get into Bill(Pittaway) there. He got in a little loose and I tapped him with the right front tire. It was so light it didn’t even bend the wheel. That’s going to happen on a one lane, dry slick track sometimes.”

IMCA Modifieds1. 20 Brian Rye2. 8g Greg Dinsmore3. 26 Darin Leonard
4. 29 Mickey Helms5. 17b Bruce Barber6. 37 Bill Pittaway7. 66 Randy Yount 8. 84 Patrick Kelly9. 85 Jeff NixBob Leinweber—DNS Broke clutchIMCA Modified heat winners, 37 Bill Pittaway, 26 Darin Leonard

Richard Bartosh grabbed the early lead in the 15-lap Super Stock feature while Howie Marcx and Moe VanKirk ran door to door for third. That duo caught Gary Hunter and just as Vankirk had made the pass for second, yellow waved for Allen Jenkins stopped on the track’s edge in turn 2.

As green waved again, Hunter looked inside Bartosh for the lead, but VanKirk blasted by three wide to take the top spot on lap 4. Hunter got past Bartosh for second, as Bartosh fell into the grasp of Marcx. Marcx worked his way by Bartosh for third then took second from Hunter on lap 7. By now VanKirk had build a good lead over his competitors. The field spread out in the final laps leaving VanKirk unchallenged on his way to yet another checkers.

Super Stocks1. 58 Moe VanKirk2. 13 Howie Marcx3. 14 Gary Hunter4. 7 Richard Bartosh5. 22 Doug Lesturgeon6. 97 Allen JenkinsSuper Stock heat winner, 58 Moe VanKirk

The 15-lap Street Stock feature saw A J Wernette take the point as green waved, while Wade Jones moved up to second. Craig Crawley worked his way to third and was looking a way past Jones for second. Wernette got sideways in turn 4, narrowly missing Jones who snuck by for the lead on lap 6.

Just as the field separated out, Wernette spun in turn 2 to bring out caution on lap 11. Coming to the restart, Crawley tried the high groove, but ended up spinning himself out of the spot. Once back to green, Jones pulled away from Donald Lewis going on to take the victory by a comfortable margin.

Street Stocks1. 41 Wade Jones2. 51 Donald Lewis3. 08 Alton Fambro4. 37 A J Wernette5. 6 Craig Crawley18 Shawn Moore—DNS(driveshaft)Street Stock Heat winner, 37 A J Wernette

Coming out of turn 2 at the start of the 20-lap, 14-car Pure Stock feature, Shaunette Gillespie, Mark Pivarnik and William Cavender were three wide for the lead. Pivarnik came out with the lead, as Jo Jo Horne snuck up to second, with two and three racing in the pack. Justin Henley charged out of that pack getting sixth from his dad, Charlie, then fifth from Sonny Jones on lap 2. J. Henley then zipped three wide past Albert Mares and Cavender for third.

On lap 5 J. Henley got by J J Horne, but by now Pivarnik had built a half straightaway lead. In the pack, C. Henley and Jones battled side by side for several laps in the fight for fourth. Pivarnik hit slower traffic on lap 9, with J. Henley closing up on lap 10. On lap 11 it was three wide for the top spot as the lead duet went by a lapped car with J. Henley grabbing the point on lap 12. Another lapped car nearly took out Pivarnik on lap 12 as Wesley Works spun.

Once back to green, J. Henley increased his margin over Pivarnik while C. Henley battled with J J Horne for third. J J Horne would spin on lap 15 losing his top five spot and bringing out a yellow. On the restart, J. Henley again crept ahead, while Chico Cox, Janel Hilla and Jones swapped fourth. J. Henley, who has dominated the class, rolled on to take another checkers.

Pure Stocks1. 96 Justin Henley2. 55 Charlie Henley3. 555 Sonny Jones4. 15 William Cavender5. 7xJanel Hilla6. 9 Philip Haywood7. 87 Shaunette Gillespie
8. 70 Wesley Works9. 8 Chico Cox10. 25 Jo Jo Horne11. 3 Albert Mares12. 98 William Saunders 13. 67 Joe Horne14 Mark Pivarnik—DQ(Weight)Pure Stock heat winners, 555 Sonny Jones, 96 Justin Henley, 7x Janel Hilla

After an unscheduled week off when Dolly dumped six inches of rain in the area, I-37 Raceway’s 1/4 mile dirt track roared back to life Friday night with a full slate of racing. A night of surprises and excitement began when track manager, Jim Knudtson in son Eric’s Street Stock, rolled over after contact with the outside tire barriers in the heat race. Feature races would provide the fans even more excitement, with two features determined on the last lap, two first time winners and a four wide battle for the runner-up spot in the IMCA Modified main.

To say Kerrville’s Greg Dinsmore is on a roll would perhaps be an understatement. Once again Dinsmore quickly worked his way to the front, grabbed the lead and left the field in his dust, literally. The win was Dinsmore’s eighth in a row and nine out of the last ten race with his car hooked up and running on a string. Dinsmore hopes to parlay his success into a good run at Boone Speedway’s IMCA Super Nationals coming up in September.

The front row of Patrick Kelly and Bill Pittaway stayed wheel to wheel at the start of the 20-lap IMCA Modified main event. Kelly was able to beat Pittaway to the line to lead lap 1. Dinsmore split the middle of Chip Godfredson and Darin Leonard on lap 1 to move into third. Dinsmore then moved by Pittaway and was side by side with Kelly on lap 2, while Pittaway was looking to get by both. Dinsmore was able to secure the top spot on lap 3.

In the pack Godfredson and Leonard continued to battle side by side and as the two made a little contact, Randy Yount shot past for fourth. By lap 5 Dinsmore had built a comfortable lead over Kelly and Pittaway who had their own fight for second going on. Coming to halfway, with Dinsmore holding a straightaway lead, Kelly, Pittaway, Yount and Leonard had separated out.

Those gaps began to close up with Pittaway reeling Kelly back in by lap 13. As the two battled, Yount was about to close in, with Leonard on his heels. Yount gave up fourth to Leonard on lap 15 after sliding too high in turn 2. With Dinsmore out front on cruise control, the scramble for second came down to the last laps.

Yount briefly got by Leonard on lap 18 and got inside Pittaway, but Leonard fought back for the spot. As the white flag waved it was still anyone’s race for second. As the quartet dove into turn 3 it was nearly four wide, with no one giving. It was still almost three wide as they crossed line with Kelly holding the others off. Dinsmore in the Sundowner RV Repair, Big Worm Motorsports, Team Brain Freeze, Azul Margaritas, Lowery Plumbing, racetechinfo.com, Southern Spirits, Jeff’s Performance, Harris Chassis had enough lead to watch the battle for second as he slowed on the backstretch after taking the checkers.

“The car is just awesome here,” replied Dinsmore. “The track surface is becoming more predictable. Even after all the rain from the hurricane, it still went dry slick. There was one rut out there, but it was one you could use to get the car to shoot you off like rocket. The car would just hold like glue. It was just good to go.”

“I tried the bottom early, but moved back up top. The car would work either place. The car is just fast. The car is where it need to be to race here. I’d hate to have to get a new car. I think about anyone could get in it and be just as fast. It’s that driveable.”

“On the three wide passes I’m just hoping the guys will hold their line. I’m hoping they’ll respect me, as much as I respect them. If I feel them rub, I’ll lift and back out of it. I know if they feel me they’ll lift, move up or down. Whenever I feel someone, I’ll either move up or move out.”

“The competition here is always getting better, Darin Leonard has been coming on, Randy(Yount) is getting better every week. There are others that are stepping up their game and trying to figure out their spots. I try to help as many people as I can figure out their car. I like the competition. I’ll let anyone look at the back of my car. I’ve just found that sweet spot with this car, and it likes it.”

“We really put on a heck of a show for second through fifth,” said Pittaway. “I think we were three or four wide there on the last lap. You can’t take your foot out it. You just try to keep from getting the nose or tail clipped. I was a good show for the fans out here.”

“No one was backing off,” commented Leonard. “We all went in(to the corner) and we didn’t wreck.”

“I worked from fifth to second and back to fifth in two corners,” added Yount. “I drove it in there and saw nobody was lifting. It was a great race.”

IMCA Modifieds1. 8g Greg Dinsmore2. 84 Patrick Kelly3. 37 Bill Pittaway4. 26 Darin Leonard5. 66 Randy Yount6. 17b Bruce Barber7. 85 Jeff Nix8 11k Chip GodfredsonIMCA Modified heat winner, 8g Greg Dinsmore

Pittaway Picks up First I-37 Sportmod Checkers
A patient, but persistent, Bill Pittaway got the lead from early leader Rene Mares on lap 5. The Corpus Christi pilot then inched away from the field and went on to take his first ever I-37 IMCA Southern Sportmod victory, with only one other this year in Corpus Christi(South Texas Speedway).

Mares was first out of turn 2 with the lead at the start of the 20-lap IMCA SSM main, with Chris McLendon, Allen Torres and Pittaway falling in line behind. A. Torres looked inside McLendon for second, while Chip Godfredson was using the high side to get by Pittaway. Pittaway retook the spot while McLendon was inside Mares. McLendon got the bumper ahead to lead lap 4 as Pittaway got by A. Torres for third. Mares got back by McLendon, but it was Pittaway snagging the top spot away on lap 5.

Jason Stanley brought out caution on lap 6 when he spun in turn 4. On the restart Pittaway and Mares got away clean while Chris Swenson got by A. Torres for third. Swenson then got under Mares for second with the two making contact sending Mares sliding through the infield. Mares cut across the infield coming back on the track and into Swenson bringing out a caution. Mares was sent to the tail, Swenson was forced to pit with damage.

Once back to green, Godfredson was inside A. Torres, while Stanley worked his way back up to challenge Johnny Torres for fourth. At the crossed flags it was Pittaway, A. Torres, Godfredson, J. Torres and Stanley running in the top five with Pittaway now creeping away from the field.

Godfredson and A. Torres then ran side by side for second on lap 12, with J. Torres jumping inside Godfredson for third. Godfredson was now wheel to wheel with J. Torres on lap 13. A. Torres’ top five run ended on lap 15 when he broke and stopped off track on the pit entry road. In the final laps Godfredson only was able to close slightly on Pittaway who easily went on to the win in the C/D Electric, Mid Point Bearings, Wells Racing Engines, HOT Chassis.

“This was my first feature win here at this track,” replied a jubilant Pittaway. “I tried the bottom and got past a few cars early and the bottom groove went away. I had to go up top and just tried to hold it open as much as I could. The track was slick on the bottom, a little rough in the center, so the top was the place to be. I wasn’t able to tell where anyone was behind me, but I understand there were a few nipping on my tail for a while.”
“Running both cars helps me more in my Modified. Since I run the Sportmod first, I know what it’s going to need. I knew there wasn’t anything on the bottom for the Modified feature. Even though I started on the second row inside, I knew I needed to jump up top right away.”IMCA Southern Sportmods1. 37 Bill Pittaway2. 11b Chip Godfredson3. 66 Johnny Torres4. 92 Jason Stanley5. 22 Rene Mares6. 11 Chris McLendon7. 60 Pat Lyon8. 48 Chris Swenson9. 94 Allen Torres10. 88 Mark McGahey11. 771 Barry CodlingIMCA SSM heat winners, 37 Bill Pittaway, 94 Allen Torres

At the start of the 15-lap Super Stock feature, Howie Marcx, Gary Hunter and Richard Bartosh charged three wide into turn 1 for the lead. Marcx came out with top spot, while Moe VanKirk worked his way to second. VanKirk caught Marcx for the lead on lap 5, while Jed Rollins pressured the multi-time track champ, Hunter for third.

On lap 6 the lead duo caught the slower car of Allen Jenkins with Marcx and Jenkins making contact. Jenkins was sent into the turn 4 tire barrier, VanKirk got collected with Marcx who pulled off with a broken right front suspension. VanKirk was able to continue and inherited the lead as the race resumed.

Rollins got by Hunter on lap 8 using the high groove and ran down VanKirk for the lead. VanKirk and Rollins then ran side by side for two laps before Rollins snagged the point on lap 13. VanKirk, whose car was slightly wounded in the earlier incident, pulled off on the last lap giving Rollins an unchallenged run to the checkers.Super Stocks1. 57 Jed Rollins2. 14 Gary Hunter3. 7 Richard Bartosh4. 58 Moe VanKirk5. 13 Howie Marcx6. 97 Allen JenkinsSuper Stock heat winner, 58 Moe VanKirk

When green waved on the 15-lap Street Stock feature, the inside row got the jump on the field headed by A J Wernette. Tommy Casey got along side Wernette who led lap 1 by mere inches. Casey then got by in turn 2, while Wade Jones got past Craig Crawley for third. Jones got by Wernette for second on lap 4 and went in search of Casey.

Jones began to reel in Casey, but lost ground after getting loose on lap 7 allowing Wernette and Crawley to close back up on his bumper. Once righted, Jones again began to cut into Casey’s lead catching him on the final lap. As the two dove into turn 3, Jones drilled Casey in the quarter panel with two getting hung together. As they struggled to break free coming to finish line, Wernette and Crawly blew by both with Wernette stealing his first ever Street Stock victory.Street Stocks1. 37 A J Wernette2. 6 Craig Crawley3. 42 Tommy Casey4. 41 Wade Jones5. 5 Donald Lewis6. 08 Alton Fambro7. 107.5 Billy Kinneman18 Shawn Moore—DNS(Broke driveshaft)27 Jim Knudtson—DNS(rolled in heat)Street Stock heat winners, 6 Craig Crawley, 41 Wade Jones

The 20-lap, 18-car Pure Stock feature saw Albert Mares first into turn 2, but it was Danny Schroat coming out of turn 2 with the point. In the pack, Justin Henley was cutting through the field catching Schroat on lap 3. J. Henley wasted little time getting by Schroat for the lead on lap 4. Former track champ, Janel Hilla suffered a flat after a four wide battle for fifth. As Hilla pushed up coming out of turn 4 she collected Mark Pivarnik and Jo Jo Horne to bring out a caution.

On the restart, J. Henley set sail while Danny Kasperwicz worked his way around Sean Terry sr. for third. Kasperwicz got by Schroat for second on lap 5, while Sonny Jones, Sean Terry jr. and Adam Torres were three wide for fifth. That battle continued and ran down Schroat. Henley caught traffic on lap 10 with Kasperwicz cutting the lead in half.

Schroat brought out a yellow on lap 12 when he spun in turn 2, a caution J. Henley didn’t want to see. The restart saw the top five lined up nose to tail as the green waved again. J. Henley was able to put a little distance back on Kasperwicz until he caught lapped traffic with two to go. J. Henley’s eight car length margin quickly shrunk as the white flag waved. J. Henley got hung behind a slower car going into turn 3 and Kasperwicz jumped on the chance diving under J. Henley in turn 4 and out racing him to the line for the checkers.Pure Stocks1. 74K Danny Kasperwicz2. 96 Justin Henley3. 23 Sean Terry4. 66 Adam Torres5. 14 Mark Pivarnik6. 555 Sonny Jones7. 25 Jo Jo Horne8. 7x Janel Hilla9. 9 Philip Haywood10. 3 Albert Mares11. 98 Eric Jenkins12. 15 William Cavender13. 87 Shaunette Gillispie14. 7 Danny Schroat15. 23t Sean Terry16. 22 Brian Terry17. 67 Joe Horne18. 55 Charlie HenleyPure Stock heat winners, 74k Danny Kasperwicz, 67 Joe Horne, 96 Justin Henley

Dinsmore Does it Again
Kerrville’s Greg Dinsmore once again made his way to the Winners Circle in the IMCA Modified main event but had stuff competition on the way there. Over the past few days a friendly, but heated discussion and internet rivalry had started brewing between Dinsmore and some of the Corpus drivers wanting to revert back to open rules for modified’s. Dinsmore is stout IMCA supporter.

Making his way up from the coast was Danny Brown, one of outlaws. In the feature Dinsmore worked his way to the front with Brown and Brian Rye in tow. Grabbing the lead on lap 7, Dinsmore was then challenged by Brown first until his motor let go on lap 13. Rye, another IMCA backer, took up the charge and gave Dinsmore all he could handle in the final laps as they battled down to the checkers.

Patrick Kelly grabbed the early lead at the start of the IMCA Modified main event. In the pack it was two and three wide as Dinsmore, Brown and Rye worked their way forward. Dinsmore led the way through the field, getting by Rye, Jason Borlace, then Randy Yount for third by lap 2, with Brown on his heels. Up front Chip Godfredson was putting the pressure on Kelly for the lead.

I-37 Raceway, 6/7/08
By J M Hallas

Lap 4 saw the yellow wave after Brown got turned around battling in traffic with Rye. Brown got his spot back, Rye sent to the tail. On the restart Godfredson ducked inside Kelly to grab the lead on lap 5 with Dinsmore following into second. As Brown moved up third, Rye was charging back from the tail to fourth. Dinsmore got along Godfredson on lap 6, and grabbed the point on lap 7.

Brown got by Godfredson for second, with Rye getting third a lap later. At the crossed flags it was Dinsmore, Brown, Rye, Godfredson, and Kelly rounding out the top five. The top three were easily motoring away as the separated out by two car lengths each. Lap 13 was Brown’s unlucky one as he popped the motor and spun on the back stretch. Under caution, Godfredson gave up his top five spot pulling to the pits.

On the restart, Bill Pittaway got past Yount for fourth, while Rye continued to keep the heat on Dinsmore for the lead. Rye would show Dinsmore the nose in the corners, but Dinsmore had the pull off the corner. Rye moved back to the top and drifted too high on lap 18 nearly hitting the front stretch wall and loosing ground. Pittaway and Yount were busy with their own personal fight for fourth in the pack. At the checker it was Dinsmore, by several car lengths in the Sundowner RV Repair, Azul Margaritas, racetechinfo.com, Tailor Made Counter Tops, Big Worm Motorsports, Jeff’s Performance, Harris Chassis taking his fifth in in the last six races.

“I knew Danny(Brown) was back there,” commented Dinsmore. “ Between all the guys we’ve got out there, he was on my mind because of our little grudge. I wanted to beat him, and wanted to beat him clean. I could hear his motor back there as we worked through the pack. You know he’s going to be coming, you know he’s going to be there. I just kept my momentum up, my speed up, my mind on the game and kept on rolling.”

“When I saw him sitting dead in turn 3 I kind of breathed a little sigh of relief. But with competition out there, which I think some people under-estimate, everybody’s coming on and getting stronger. You’ve got (Brian)Rye, and Randy(Yount) and (Bill) Pittaway who keep on coming on. They’re always changing their set ups or trying something new. The competition is really good. It’s not USMTS or anything like that, but it’s good clean, hard racing.”

“I saw his(Rye’s) bumper a couple times and thought I’d better start pouring it on. I need to start taking a little risk, because I can’t let him get around me. When I got around him initially I put some distance on him. My car was better at the beginning. When I saw his bumper I knew I had to start going. He’s always there, and he’s always tough competition. It was good to not hear his motor right there the last couple laps.”

“We took round 1 tonight. I’m just looking for a good run tomorrow down on his home turf. I try not to push the car too hard or use the bumper on anyone. It’s a give/take thing down there. You try not to be an outsider coming in and pushing people around. So I hope Danny can get his car back together. He’s a good racer and his views on modified rules is different than mine. You know he’s going to be tough and honestly some days he’s better than me and some days I’m better than him. If he hadn’t throw a rod, I know it would have been he, Rye and I at the finish.”

IMCA Modifieds
1. 8g Greg Dinsmore
2. 20 Brian Rye
3. 84 Patrick Kelly
4. 66 Randy Yount
5. 137 Bill Pittaway
6. 12 Bob Leinweber
7. 55 Danny Brown
8. 11k Chip Godfredson
9. 125 Jason Borlace

IMCA Modified heat winners, 8g Greg Dinsmore, 20 Brian Rye

J. Torres Takes Top Sportmod Honors
Track points leader and nationals points chaser, Johnny Torres added another win to his resume in the IMCA SSM main. Torres, who likes the dry slick, had his work cut for him as newcomer, Chip Godfredson continues to improve and adapt to modifieds. Torres caught the former sprint racer Godfredson, but had to wait patiently for a mistake. Torres got that break on lap 16 jumping to the high side and getting the lead on lap 17. From there Torres inched away to add to his wins total.

As green waved on the 20-lap IMCA SSM main Rene Mares grabbed the top spot in turn 1, as the pack battled three wide for second in his wake. Mares threw away the lead on lap 1 when he spun causing Godfredson and Mark McGahey to spin trying to avoid him. This placed Chris McLendon out front for the restart, that saw Godfredson get by Pat Lyon for second, then by a slowing McLendon for the lead on lap 2. McLendon rolled silently to the infield not bringing out a caution.

Torres grabbed second from Lyon on lap 4, with Steve Grantz looking inside Lyon for third. Torres slowly reeled in Godfredson, while Grantz took third on lap 8. Coming to halfway, Torres was on Godfredson’s bumper, with Grantz, Bill Pittaway and Lyon in the top five. The lead duo ran up a slower cars giving Torres a chance to take looks at the lead.

Godfredson bobbled slightly on lap 16 and Torres seized the opportunity jumping to the high side and getting along side Godfredson. Torres was able sneak by for the point on lap 17. In the final laps Torres was able to inch away in the 24/7 Towing, Pro Image Signs and Graphics, Cen-Tex Motorsports, Moser Chassis.

“Chip (Godfredson) is pretty fast,” said Torres. “When I heard he was bringing out a Sportmod I knew he would be tough to beat. I saw he was lacking a little bit in the middle(of the corners) and would have to jam on the brakes. It was kind of hurting me trying to get by him on the top groove. The top was the best and I’d have to jam on my brakes behind him and he’d get a run off the corner. He started going lower and lower and I knew if I stuck to the top I could get by him.”

“The track was pretty dry slick, but the top was good. It made the motor work up there, but I don’t mind it being that slick.”

“I’m leading in the points here pretty good, but in Corpus(South Texas Speedway) we’ve had a few DNF’s and only have a five point lead. We’ll try to stretch it out tomorrow night.

IMCA Southern Sportmods
1. 66 Johnny Torres
2. 11b Chip Godfredson
3. 21g Steve Grantz
4. 137 Bill Pittaway
5. 60 Pat Lyon
6. 89 Doug Livingston
7. 88 Mark McGahey
8. 22 Rene Mares
9. 771 Barry Codling
10. 11 Chris McLendon

IMCA Modified heat winners, 11b Chip Godfredson, 11 Chris McLendon

In the Super Stock feature, multi-time track champ, Gary Hunter got the lead in turn 1, but Moe VanKirk charged from row 2 and led lap 1. Jed Rollins took second from Hunter on lap, with Howie Marcx getting third a lap later. Wesley Skains brought out yellow on lap 2 when he spun and got the front bumper ripped off by Chico Cox. On the restart, the three hottest cars in the class, VanKirk, Rollins and Marcx took off, while Harlin Covert battled along side Hunter for fourth.

By lap 7, VanKirk and Rollins had lost Marcx, who was now being reeled in by Covert. Just as the top four had began to separate, Cox brought out caution with a spin to rebunch the field. Once back to green VanKirk and Rollins got away clean as they fought it out for lead. Rollins tried to go to the bottom in turns 1-2 but came up short as VanKirk was able to hold on for the win.

Super Stocks
1. 58 Moe VanKirk
2. 57 Jed Rollins
3. 13 Howie Marcx
4. 60 Harlin Covert
5. 14 Gary Hunter
6. 25 Wesley Skains
7. 7 Richard Bartosh
8. 21 Chico Cox

Super Stock heat winners, 58 Moe VanKirk, 13 Howie Marcx

After having his win streak put on hold for the past few races, Wade Jones, who was best in class early in the season, found his way to the Winners Circle. A J Wernette got out front at the start of the Street Stock feature, with Jones quickly working from seventh starting spot to third. Jones then got by Shawn Moore for second with he and Wernette creeping away from Moore, Alton Fambro and Tommy Casey.

Wernette spun himself from the lead on lap 4, handing it over to Jones on lap 5. Casey and Craig Crawley worked their way to second and third, leaving Moore battling with Donald Lewis for fourth. Out front, Jones was on cruise control while Moore and Lewis swapped fourth and traded paint in the final laps. As the duo slugged it out, Wernette snuck by both while Jones was running off for the win.

Street Stocks
1. 41 Wade Jones
2. 42 Tommy Casey
3. 6 Craig Crawley
4. 37 A J Wernette
5. 18 Shawn Moore
6. 51 Donald Lewis
7. 08 Alton Fambro

Street Stock heat winner, 37 A J Wernette

Justin Henley continued his domination in the Pure Stock class taking yet another victory. Henley, Sonny Jones and Dennis Jasik ran three wide for the lead on lap 1, with Henley coming out with top spot. Jasik was given the spot back after Chance Skains found the tire barrier to bring out a yellow. Henley quickly got back around Jasik on the restart, with Janel Hilla and Jones three wide splitting Jasik.

Jones spun on lap 2 and got T-boned by William Cavender to bring out yellow. Once back to green, Henley and Hilla pulled away while Jones tried to work his way back up. By halfway Henley was putting distance on Hilla when caution came out after Cecil Zimmerman got into and spun Jasik. As racing resumed Henley again stretched out his lead, with Mark Pivarnik closing in to battle with Hilla for second. Pivarnik got the spot on lap 17, with Jones getting third from Hilla who was running on a flat. Up front it was Henley easily motoring to the victory.

Pure Stocks
1. 96 Justin Henley
2. 14 Mark Pivarnik
3. 555 Sonny Jones
4. 7x Janel Hilla
5. 36z Cecil Zimmerman
6. 8 Dennis Jasik
7. 15 William Cavender
8. 25 Chance Skains
64k Pat Kelly—DNS.
9 Phillip—-DNS

Pure Stock heat winners, 96 Justin Henley, 555 Sonny Jones

Three Wide Pass for the Lead Gives Dinsmore Another Win
Despite a short field of cars, this weeks IMCA Modified main put on a show that had the crowd on their feet as three past winners fought it out for the win. Coming down to five laps to go Bill Pittaway and Brian Rye went wheel to wheel for the lead, but it was Greg Dinsmore making a bold three wide charge on the outside grabbing the point and inching away for the victory.

As green waved for the 20-lap main event Randy Yount and Pittaway stayed side by side through turns 1-2 with Yount leading the first circuit by a bumper. The duo stayed side by side until Pittaway secured the spot on lap 2, with Rye moving into second. Yount got loose on lap 2 with Dinsmore and Chip Godfredson getting by for third and fourth. Yount got back past Godfredson on lap 4, while Chuck Perry looked inside.

Rye caught Pittaway for the lead on lap 5, while Perry and Godfredson ran wheel to wheel for fourth. Dinsmore ran down the lead duet and tried the high side on Rye, but slid too high and lost third to Yount. Rye began a serious challenge on Pittaway starting on lap 8, as Dinsmore retook third from Yount. Coming to halfway it was Pittaway, Rye, Dinsmore, with Yount and Perry side by side for fourth. Perry picked up the spot on lap 10.

At the head of the class, Pittaway, Rye and Dinsmore were now running nose to tail for the top spot. Rye tried the high side on lap 13 and got along side Pittaway, while Dinsmore waited for an opening. As Pittaway and Rye ran continued to run side by side, Dinsmore decided it was time to make his own opening. Coming out of turn 4, Dinsmore moved up another lane and as they came to the flagstand it was three abreast, as the crowd jumped to their feet.

Dinsmore beat Rye and Pittaway into turn 1 to grab the point, while Rye finally wrestled second from Pittaway. In the final laps, last weeks winner Rye, tried to hang on to Dinsmore, but Dinsmore was able to inch away lap by lap. At the checkers it was Dinsmore in the Team Brain Freeze, Azul Margarita’s, Sundowner RV Repair, Southern Spirits, Big Worm Motorsports, Tailor Made Counter Tops, racetechinfo.com, Jeff’s Performance powered, Harris Chassis taking the win.
“When I saw those two battling, I decided to go in on the top,” commented Dinsmore. “They were battling with each other and I figured they’d be too busy to pay attention to me on the outside. So I thought if the car was going to hold, let’s just go. I was watching the wall, the car in the middle and hoping they’d be focusing on each other.”

“Once I got by I didn’t know I had some breathing room. I thought once they got sorted out they would go with me. (Brain) Rye has been coming on real strong with his 4-bar car lately and (Bill)Pittaway is always good competition. Those two have been getting after it. I really didn’t think I’d get away from them.”

“We just threw something at it we probably shouldn’t have,” added Dinsmore who had handling trouble in the heat race. “There’s something still wrong with it after going over the wall last week. We still don’t know what it is. Something must be bent. We had to Z-link the rear end instead of running on the 4-link which I don’t like to do. The car still wasn’t quite right. It doesn’t have a lot of bite. It tried real hard though. The car was fast at times, but other times it wasn’t. When I was behind them on the bottom, the car wouldn’t get up on the bar. It’s just not wanting to work right.”

IMCA Modifieds1. 8g Greg Dinsmore2. 20 Brian Rye3. 137 Bill Pittaway4. 13 Chuck Perry5. 66 Randy Yount6. 11k Chip Godfredson7. 125 Jason BorlaceIMCA Modified heat winner, 20 Brian Rye

J. Torres Adds to Sportmod Win Total
IMCA SSM points chaser, Johnny Torres added to his total taking another win. J. Torres patiently worked his way up getting by brother Allen, then taking the lead away from last weeks winner, Steve Grantz at halfway. The final half saw J. Torres increase his margin on the field and grab another I-37 Raceway trophy.

Pat Lyon and Grantz paced the 15-car, 20-lap IMCA SSM main to green with Grantz beating Lyon out of turn 1 for the lead, and A. Torres taking second. J. Torres then got third from Lyon on lap 1, followed by Chris McLendon to fourth on lap 2. Chris Rye then put Lyon in his wake taking fifth, then fourth from McLendon. Chip Godfredson, debuting a new car, moved up to fifth getting by James Lee and McLendon on lap 4.

On lap 5 the top three were now nose to tail as J. Torres looked inside brother Allen for second. J. Torres got the spot on lap 6 and was quickly on Grantz for the lead. J. Torres got inside Grantz in turn 1, and they ran side by side down the back stretch into turns 3-4. J. Torres came out with the top on lap 9 and at the crossed flags it was J. Torres, Grantz, A. Torres, Rye and Godfredson in the top five.

A. Torres then put the heat on Grantz for second, while Rye closed in. As A. Torres and Grantz continued to battle, Rye snuck past A. Torres for third on lap 12. Rye then got past Grantz for second on lap 13, while J. Torres had built a half straightaway lead. As the leader began to catch traffic, A. Torres was now wheel to wheel with Grantz for third.

While Grantz and A. Torres slugged it out, Godfredson was able to reel them in. Up front, J. Torres had cleared traffic, maintaining his advantage over Rye, who was now into traffic. A. Torres kept the pressure on Grantz the final few laps, with Godfredson in tow. As the checkers waved it was J. Torres in the 24/7 Towing, Pro Image Graphics, Cen-tex Motorsports powered, Moser Chassis taking the victory.
“We’ve been changing the car up and it’s working pretty good,” replied J. Torres. “It was fast in the beginning, but we started having carburetor problems with five to go. That kind of scared me, but we pulled it out. I want to thank Greg and Candace(Dinsmore) for helping me out at the track. Dan Finn from Performance Specialists helps us out a bunch too.”
“Lots of lapped traffic out there tonight, I think that helped me a little bit. I was just trying to go as fast as I could without tearing up the car. Saving the car is number 1, going fast is number 2.”
“We’re going to be headed to Corpus(South Texas Speedway) for points instead of Edna(Texana Raceway Park) for the bonus money. Owen(Pittman) runs a pretty good show. I love racing their. So we’re going to stick with Corpus all year.”IMCA Southern Sportmods1. 66 Johnny Torres2. 4$ Chris Rye3. 21g Steve Grantz4. 94 Allen Torres5. 11b Chip Godfredson6. 11 Chris McLendon7. 1c Keith Cockrell8. 60 Pat Lyon9. 56 James Lee10. 11F Mike Finkel11. 22 Rene Mares12. 89 Doug Livingston13. 39 Miguel Mendoza14. 88 Mark McGahey 137 Bill Pittaway—DNS(broke in heat)IMCA SSM heat winners, 4$ Chris Rye, 94 Allen Torres, 21g Steve Grantz

Super Stock
In the Super Stock feature, Richard Bartosh got the lead on lap 1 with Moe VanKirk and Jed Rollins moving to second and third. On lap 1, VanKirk got inside Bartosh, with Rollins on his bumper. The two made slight contact getting VanKirk loose and giving Rollins the lead on lap 2. VanKirk recovered and got back by Bartosh for second as Howie Marcx took over third.
VanKirk began reeling in Rollins but spun on lap 5 to bring out a caution. On the restart, VanKirk quickly got by Chico Cox and Gary Hunter to get back to fourth. Bartosh got sideways on lap 6 giving VanKirk and Hunter the opening to get third and fourth. VanKirk then ran down Marcx for second and in the final two laps swapped the position several times. Out front it was Rollins with a comfortable lead grabbing his first I-37 Raceway win in only his second attempt.Super Stock1. 57 Jed Rollins2. 13 Howie Marcx3. 58 Moe VanKirk4. 14 Gary Hunter5. 7 Richard Bartosh6. 21 Chico CoxSuper Stock heat winner, 58 Moe VanKirk

Street Stock
A J Wernette got the early lead in the 15-lap Street Stock feature with Tommy Casey moving to second as Wade Jones and Craig Crawley ran side by side for fourth. Crawley got inside Casey and Shawn Moore to grab second on lap 2. Crawley continued his charge to the front getting past Wernette on lap 3 followed by Casey to second. Wernette would then spin to bring out a yellow.

Once back to green the top three began pulling away while Donald Lewis and Jones got by Alton Fambro for fourth and fifth. Casey would then spin himself from second handing the spot back to Moore who was being run down by Lewis. Jones brought out yellow on lap 9 with a solo spin, erasing Crawley’s big lead. On the restart Casey and Wernette made contact blowing out the tire of Wernette on the back stretch.

After a quick yellow for debris, Lewis was trying the high side of Moore for second, when Jones and Fambro got together. Back to racing, Crawley was again putting distance on the field, while Moore, Lewis and Jones played bumper tag for second. Jones finally moved to the high groove getting by both Lewis and Moore for second, but Crawley had a full straightaway lead. As Crawley was cruising to the victory, Lewis and Moore continued to fight for third, with Moore edging out Lewis by a bumper.Street Stock1. 6 Craig Crawley2. 41 Wade Jones3. 18 Shawn Moore4. 51 Donald Lewis5. 08 Alton Fambro6. 37 A J Wernette7. 42 Tommy CaseyStreet Stock heat winner, 08 Alton Fambro

Pure Stock
The 20-lap Pure Stock saw William Cavender, Sonny Jones and Joe Horne try to go three wide for lead on lap 1. Cavender and Jones made contact sending Cavender into the infield and Jones to the pits with damage. Horne led the field back to green, but Janel Hilla jumped the start, overtook Horne, then spun in front of the pack scattering the field. Officials threw the yellow for a bad start putting Horne back out front.

On the restart, Justin Henley wasted little time getting past Horne for the lead on lap 2. Jo Jo Horne brought a yellow on lap 4 when he spun in turn 2. Once back to green, Henley quickly pulled ahead, while Sean Terry and Hilla got by Horne for second and third. Danny Kasperwicz and Adam Stehle took fourth and fifth from Horne on lap 5. While Hilla battled with S. Terry for second, Kasperwicz closed in with Hilla and Kasperwicz getting around S. Terry.

Hilla and Kasperwicz then ran side by side with Kasperwicz getting the spot on lap 9. By lap 10 Henley had built a full straightaway lead over the Kasperwicz/Hilla battle. In the final laps Kasperwicz and Hilla split a lapped car three wide as they continued to scrap for second. At the checkers it was Henley putting another notch in his belt and trophy in his case as he took the win by 3/4 of a lap.Pure Stock1. 96 Justin Henley2. 74k Danny Kasperwicz3. 7x Janel Hilla4. 23 Sean Terry5. 93A Adam Stehle6. 25 Jo Jo Horne7. 23T Brian Terry sr.8. 8 Dennis Jansky9. 15 William Cavender10. 67 Joe Horne11. 57x Jason Kelly12. 55 Sonny Jones36z Cecil Zimmerman—DNS(broke in heat)98 Charley Henley—DNS(broke in heat)Pure Stock heat winners, 96 Justin Henley, 93A Adam Stehle, 55 Sonny Jones

Powder Puff
Candace Dinsmore showed her racing prowess as she completed the night’s feature sweep taking the win in the combined Modified/Sportmod Powder Puff. As husband Greg nervously looked on, Dinsmore got out front on lap 1 and lead every lap. Jessica Lambert and Heather Finkel put on a good side by side run until yellow was thrown(called for by her husband) to try to get Finkel to shift out of low gear.
Modified/SportModified
!. Candace Dinsmore
2. Jessica Lambert
3. Heather Finkel
Street Stock/Pure Stock
1. 93A Jill Stehle
2. 08 Shanna Sowder
3. 13 Kathy Huschke

Pleasanton, Tx.,(June 13th, 2008) A Friday the thirteenth night of racing for all the triskaidekaphobic’s, with B&A Foreign Car Specialists adding $100 to each purse going to the winner. You would have thought it was full moon during hot laps on top of being the 13th. In IMCA Southern Sportmods, Steve Grantz tried to knock down the turn 4 fence after having bolts break in the steering wheel hub.

Then in IMCA Modifieds, Greg Dinsmore did his best “Flying Walinda” impression after sailing his car over the turn 3 tire barrier, going airborne, landing on the nose, doing a half twist before landing back on all fours. Fortunately both drivers escaped uninjured and miraculously both cars were ready for heat race action.

Rye Races to Win One
Rookie Corpus Christi area driver, Brian Rye finally picked up his first ever IMCA Modified win Friday night. Rye got by early leader, Ken Hobbs and held charges from Bill Pittaway and Greg Dinsmore until pulling away the last half of the race for an unchallenged victory.

Hobbs got the jump on Marlin Sanford at the start of the 20-lap IMCA Modified main event. Coming out of turn 2 it was Rye, Pittaway and Sanford three wide for second. Rye took a look low on Hobbs, while former Sprint Car pilot, Chip Godfredson and Dinsmore got past Sanford. Pittaway reeled in Rye and Hobbs on lap 3 just as Hobbs spun in turn 3.

On the restart, Dinsmore jumped inside Pittaway and was looking under Rye. Pittaway fought back as he and Dinsmore ran side by side. Godfredson joined that battle, getting along side Pittaway for third when yellow waved after Sanford and Patrick Kelly got together in turn 2.

Once back to green, Dinsmore quickly tried to duck inside Rye for the lead in turns 1-2, but Rye was able to hold him off. With the top four pulling away at halfway it was Rye, Dinsmore, Pittaway, Godfredson and Hobbs in the top five. Godfredson got around Pittaway for third and was putting the heat on Dinsmore, with an ill sounding motor, for second.

Godfredson and Dinsmore were wheel to wheel for second lap 11, with Godfredson getting the spot as Dinsmore slowed. Dinsmore pulled off a lap later after breaking the ceramics on the plugs. In the final laps the field spread out with Rye holding a half-straightaway lead and running off to his first checkers in the SBG Racing, JR Voila Cleaners, Willie Cotton powered, K-Mod Chassis.

“The track was good for us,” replied Rye. “I just up on top and rolled through the top. We really didn’t get challenged too hard. I just tried to stay smooth and out front. We switched to this (#20) car, it’s about 10 years newer, with a four bar rear suspension. We were struggling with the three link, swing arm in the #25r car so we put it in the shop. This four bar car works much better on the dry slick. Everyone’s been telling us we need to get away from that three link. Bobby(Grobe) has been running this car a few times since it’s his car. I want to thank Bobby and Susan Grobe, my crew(brother Chris, Dewey, Leonard and Al) and my mom for all the help”

“This is my first modified win for my rookie season. We ran a few races last year. The main reason we come up here is so we can run for IMCA Rookie of the Year points. I’m second in points down in Corpus, but Danny Brown keeps winning. I can’t catch him that way. I guess I need to keep getting wins here, maybe pick up a couple there too.”

IMCA Modifieds1. 20/25r Brian Rye2. 11k Chip Godfredson 3. 137 Bill Pittaway4. 13 Ken Hobbs5. 12 Bob Lienweber6. 84 Patrick Kelly7. 2 Marlin Sanford8. 8g Greg Dinsmore66 Randy Yount—-DNS(motor)IMCA Modified heat winners, 20/25r Brian Rye, 137 Bill Pittaway

Shrimp Scores Sportmod Checkers
After trying to knock down the fence in hot laps, most drivers would have probably packed it in. Determined to get back on the horse that threw him, Steve “The Shrimper” Grantz mounted that horse and rode it to victory. Grantz got past recent graduate, Allen Torres just past halfway then fended off challenges from Johnny Torres and Chris Swenson for his first I-37 Raceway win.

At the start of the 12-car, 20-lap IMCA SSM main, polesitter Pat Lyon pushed high coming out of turn 4 giving A. Torres an opening to shoot into the lead. J. Torres grabbed fifth Chris Rye on lap 1. As the Torres brothers ran side by side, Swenson was looking for a mistake by either. J. Torres, Grantz and Chris McLendon tried three wide in turn 1 with McLendon getting pinched in the middle and spinning to bring out a caution.

Once back to green, Grantz and J. Torres got by Lyon for second and third, with Swenson following to fourth. Swenson then moved in on J. Torres as the duo battled side by side for two laps before Swenson secured the spot on lap 8. At the crossed flags it was A. Torres, Grantz, Swenson, J. Torres and J J Jennings running in the top five. Grantz, using the high side, got along side A. Torres and took the point on lap 11.

While fighting for second, A. Torres and Swenson hooked bumpers, giving J. Torres the chance to grab second. Mark McGahey spun in turn 2 to bring out yellow, just as A. Torres had his car spit out water on the track. This was a break for Swenson who was put back in second, while A. Torres pitted. Back under green Grantz, Swenson and J. Torres put some distance on the battle between Jennings and Rye for fourth.

With three to go, J. Torres was looking low on Swenson for second, as Jennings closed on the lead trio. Swenson and J. Torres were back to racing wheel to wheel as the white flag waved, but still pressuring Grantz for the lead. Coming out of turn 4 at the run to the checkers it was nearly three wide. Swenson and J. Torres made contact in the corner, giving Grantz breathing room at the line in the Chris’s Marine, Tecate Light, Andrews Distributing, KO Graphics, Jeff’s Performance, Smileys Chassis.

“The car was real good,” said Grantz. “I found in the heat race that the high line was pretty fast. So I just stuck with that. I started on the outside and it was slick in turns 1-2. I felt I was better in turns 3-4. I just started picking them off slowly. The cushion kept moving up and I followed it up, pretty close to those tire magnets. Once we got out front I knew I was the only one that could mess it up for myself. I knew Chris Swenson and Johnny(Torres) were back there and knew they’d take advantage if I made a mistake. On the last lap I saw Swenson’s bumper and knew Torres was there too. I used more brake trying to keep the car under me. Once I could give it the gas, I was on it and on my way to the checkered flag.”

“This is my first win here. They’re doing a good job prepping the track now. Hopefully the car count comes back up. It’s a good place to come race on a Friday night. I want thank the track management for giving us a good track to race on.”

“The car was really fast in hot laps until the steering coupler broke.” he added on his early incident. “After we went head-on into the wall, I was sitting there thinking, if the (frame) horns are bent, I’m going to cry. The tire barrier lifted the car enough that nothing was bent, other than a spindle and a tie rod. So we reset the toe, riveted the body back on and we were ready for the heat race. I want to thank my wife, son and daughter for all the time they put in to get the car back out there.”

IMCA Southern SportMod1. 21g Steve Grantz 2. 66 Johnny Torres3. 48 Chris Swenson4. 4$ Chris Rye5. 26 J J Jennings6. 60 Pat Lyon7. 11 Chris McLendon8. 88 Mark McGahey9. 89 Doug Livingston10. 22 Rene Mares11. 37 Bill Pittaway12. 94 Allen TorresIMCA SSM heat winners, 11 Chris McLendon, 66 Johnny Torres

Super Stock
Moe VanKirk was able to outrun Richard Bartosh into turn 1 for the lead of the 15-lap Super Stock feature with Harlin Covert taking second. Jed Rollins got by Covert for second on lap 1, followed by Howie Marcx for third a lap later. Rollins had reeled in VanKirk for the lead when Covert spun and narrowly escaped being tagged by several cars.

Once back to green, Rollins kept the pressure on Vankirk for the lead. Rollins got the nose inside VanKirk, who had a bad push in the corners, but VanKirk would power back out on the straightaway. As the flagman showed two to go, Marcx had joined the lead duet as they ran nose to tail. At the checkers it was VanKirk, who’s had an up and down season taking the win.

Super Stock1. 58 Moe VanKirk2. 57 Jed Rollins3. 13 Howie Marcx4. 7 Richard Bartosh5. 21 Chico Cox6. 29 David Boudreau7. 60 Harlin Covert8. 14 Gary Hunter

Super Stock heat winners, 7 Richard Bartosh, 58 Moe VanKirk

Street Stock
The Street Stock feature saw A J Wernette get the lead in turns 1-2, but Tommy Casey made a dive bomb move in turn 3. The two made contact with Casey getting the top spot on lap 1. Barry Codling, in Craig Crawley’s car spun on lap 1 for a quick yellow. Back under green Wade Jones got by Wernette for second. On lap 4 Casey got loose in turn 4, giving Jones the chance to get along side.

Casey and Jones ran side by side on lap 5, while Randy Guzman and Donald Lewis were door to door for third. With the top two still fighting for the point, Codling caught Lewis and Guzman getting by Lewis for fourth. Jones saw his chance at another win end when he looped it on lap 11. Casey stretched his lead in the final laps as Guzman and Codling battled for second. Coming to the checkers it was Casey with the victory while Guzman and Codling made contact with Codling doing a half spin through the infield.

Street Stock1. 42 Tommy Casey2. 021 Randy Guzman3. 51 Donald Lewis4. 6 Barry Codling5. 08 Alton Fambro6. 37 A J Wernette7. 41 Wade Jones29p Daniel Pierce–DNSStreet Stock heat winners, 41 Wade Jones, 08 Alton Fambro

Pure Stock
The Pure Stock feature started out a rock ‘em, sock ‘em affair that saw the scheduled 20-lap feature cut to fifteen after an early crash eliminated half the field. Cecil Zimmerman got the lead on lap 1, while young hotshoe Justin Henley quickly made his way up to second. On lap 2 it all broke loose when Zimmerman spun taking out Henley. As the rest of the field tried to scatter, several cars made contact with Zimmerman as well as themselves. When the dust settled, Zimmerman, Henley, Sonny Jones, Albert Mares and Joe Horne were done for the night, while Charlie Earnhardt got pulled out of the back stretch weeds.

Jo Jo Horne inherited the lead, but was quickly passed by Pat Kelly on the restart, with Danny Kasperwicz taking second. After a brief side by side battle, Kasperwicz took over the top spot on lap 6 and began inching away. J J Horne brought out the yellow on lap 14 when he spun in front of the leader. As the green and white waved together, Kasperwicz got a good jump on Kelly, while Earnhardt used the high side to grab third from Janel Hilla. At the checkers it was Kasperwicz getting the win.

Pure Stock1. 74 Danny Kasperwicz2. 64 Pat Kelly3. 8x Charlie Earnhardt4. 7x Janel Hilla5. 15 William Cavender6. 25 Jo Jo Horne7. 57z Cecil Zimmerman8. 96 Justin Henley9. 555 Sonny Jones10. 67 Joe Horne11. 3 Albert Mares66 Adam Torres—DNSPure Stock heat winners, 555 Sonny Jones, 96 Justin Henley

Dinsmore Does Double-take for IMCA Modified WinGreg Dinsmore backed up last weeks main event win, with a similar run. Dinsmore quickly moved to front early, got by leader Bill Pittaway, then was able to stretch out his advantage, leaving the rest of the field in his wake.Pittaway grabbed the top spot when green was shown for the 20-lap main event, with Dinsmore, on the bottom, getting up to second. After a brief side by side run in turns 1-2, Dinsmore got the lead on lap 2. Rick Green got fourth from Patrick Kelly, who would bring out a caution after breaking something in the drive lineand stopping in turn 2. On the restart, Dinsmore got a good jump when green waved, while Danny Brown got by Green and Randy Yount for third. Brown then snagged second from Pittaway as Green and Yount ran wheel to wheel for fourth. At the crossed flags it was Dinsmore with a full straight lead over Brown, with Pittaway, Yount, Green and Curt Clegg running nose to tail.Clegg took fifth from Green on lap 11. Pittaway fell several spots losing third to Yount on lap 14, fourth to Clegg on lap 15, then fifth to Green on lap 16. In the final laps Yount and Clegg battled side by side for third with Green lurking in fifth. Dinsmore caught that trio in the final laps, but still maintained a big advantage over Brown. As the checkers waved in was Dinsmore, in the Team Brain Freeze, Azul Margaritas, Big Worm Motorsports, Racetechinfo.com, Southern Spirits, Jeff’s Performance powered, Team Harris Chassis, taking his second win in a row. “The track had a good cushion up on top tonight,” replied Dinsmore. “The track was pretty fast. It was a good race. It was kind of heel to toe at first, but once we got out front the car was really fast. It was awesome. The car just loves this track. I’m hoping we can go to Corpus tomorrow and have another top five finish. There’s good competition at both tracks.”“It would be nice to pull some more cars here. A good 16-20 car field would be awesome here. It’s a matter of time.”“I look at the line up and decide what I think I need to do. I knew Danny(Brown) was back there, and he’s going to be charging, he always does. Randy(Yount) has stepped up his program and pulled away in the heat race. Curt Clegg is always a good finisher.

Rick Green is a competitor. This Harris Chassis just likes this track. There’s something about it. It’s fast, easy to drive.”“ The chassis help I get from Racetechinfo is one my biggest keys. Bob Harris and John Logue have been a tremendous help. They’ve kind of taken me under their wing. It’s been a great experience with them. I can talk to them, take notes and it woks out. My advice to anyone starting out is buy a name brand chassis where you can always get help from someone”IMCA Modified1. 8g Greg Dinsmore2. 55 Danny Brown3. 66 Randy Yount4. 35 Curt Clegg5. 37 Bill Pittaway6. 82 Rick Green7. 84 Patrick KellyIMCA Modified heat winner, 66 Randy YountMares Motors to first ever SportMod Main WinIn an increasingly competitive class, Abraham Mares added his name to list of first time winners for the 2008 season.

A. Mares got around early leader Chris McLendon then motored away to a full straightaway advantage on route to his first ever checkered flag.McLendon grabbed the point as green waved on the 12-car field, while A. Mares got by Rene Mares for second. The top five sorted out, while Bill Pittaway, Johnny Torres and Chris Swenson battled for sixth. Yellow waved on lap 5 when Andy Van Blarcum got into Allen Torres getting him sideways. J. Torres and Pittaway got a piece of that action, while other scattered to avoid the melee. On the restart, McLendon got a three car advantage over A. Mares, while Dustin Butcher took sixth from Swenson. A. Mares quickly caught back up with McLendon and got the lead on lap 7. In the pack, Butcher got hung up with J. Torres exchanging some paint, allowing Swenson to ge by both. At halfway the top five were A. Mares, McLendon, R. Mares, Pittaway and Swenson.Butcher and J. Torres joined Swenson and Pittaway in a good battle for fourth, while R. Mares was getting second from McLendon. Swenson, debuting his newest creation, then began his march to the front going around Pittaway, then McLendon for third. With five to go, A. Mares had built a straightaway lead over R. Mares who was being pressured by Swenson.Swenson got the position on lap 16, as J. Torres was taking fourth from McLendon. Butcher then got by McLendon for fifth and caught J. Torres for fourth. Push came to shove as Butcher and J. Torres exchanged some more paint, a little sheet metal and bent a few bumpers as they scrapped it out in the final laps. Up front A. Mares was cruising away, as Swenson was only able to put a small dent in his huge lead. As the checkers waved in was A. Mares getting the first SportMod victory in his career with the Mares Race Team, Texas National Towing, Acme Brick, Dons Automotive, Sheppard s Machine shop powered, Villarreal Chassis.“It was right foot on the gas, and a lot of sponsors help,” Commented Mares on his first IMCA SSM win. “We switched from a 4412 to a quadrajet, thanks to Donald Lewis. Don sponsors my carbs, and he’s never let us down. I never doubt the man.”“This is just eight races for us with this car. I had gotten it for my 15 year old boy, but he didn’t like it. So we switched cars. I’m building him a Street Stock, which was going to be my car, but he’ll be driving it and I’ll keep this one.”“My only thought when I got out front was don’t let off the gas, because the vultures are coming. They’re coming and they’re coming hard. The track really came in for the main event. It was totally different. It was greasy during the heats, but it really came in for the main event.” “I really want to thank my wife, my mom and dad, grandfather. We, the Mares Race Team, are one big family that’s been racing for a long time. That’s what it’s all about.
”IMCA Southern SportMod
1. 4 Abraham Mares2. 48 Chris Swenson3. 22 Rene Mares4. 66 Johnny Torres5. 11 Chris McLendon6. 48T Mitch Tierney7. 37 Bill Pittaway8. 15 Andy Van Blarcum9. 90 Dustin Butcher10. 89 Doug Livingston11. 92 Jason Stanley12. 94 Allen TorresIMCA SSM heat winners, 22 Rene Mares, 94 Allen Torres

The Super Stock 20-lap feature saw Chico Cox go into turn 1 first, but it was Richard Bartosh with the lead coming out of turn 2. Moe VanKirk saw his chance of a three-peat end after making contact with Cox and cutting down a tire. Wesley Skains, moved into second on lap 2 getting by Eric Knudtson, who then lost third to Howie Marcx. Skains got inside Bartosh for the lead on lap 6, but was showing some smoke from a tire rub on the right rear.Marcx took over second from Bartosh on lap 7. Skains saw his chance at picking up a victory end on lap 10 when the right rear finally blew out. Marcx assumed the point and quickly ran off from the field. Knudtson lost several spots on the final laps, as he too was bitten by the flat tire bug, while Marcx was taking the checkers by nearly a half track. Super Stock1. 13 Howie Marcx2. 7 Richard Bartosh3. 14 Gary Hunter4. 29 David Boudreau5. 27 Eric Knudtson6. 41 Wade Jones7. 25 Wesley Skains8. 21 Chico Cox9. 58 Moe VanKirkSuper Stock heat winners, 13 Howie Marcx, 29 David Boudreau A J Wernette out gunned polesitter, Alton Fambro for the early lead in the Street Stock feature. Fambro fought back getting the top spot back on lap 3. Craig Crawley got sideways coming out of turn 2, starting a chain reaction that involved, Tommy Casey, Shawn Moore and Wade Jones, with Crawley getting spun on the back stretch.Once back to green, Jones methodically began to pick off positions one by one until he grabbed the lead from Fambro on lap 8. Fambro and Casey then battled in the final laps, while Jones was pulling away. Casey snuck past Fambro on the final lap for second, while Jones was motoring off to another feature win.Street Stock1. 41 Wade Jones2. 42 Tommy Casey3. 6 Craig Crawley4. 08 Alton Fambro5. 51 Donald Lewis6. 37 A J Wernette7. 18 Shawn MooreStreet Stock heat winner, 41 Wade Jones

As green dropped on the Pure Stock feature, it was nearly three wide coning into turn 1. Jared Ganze came out of that scramble with the top spot on lap 1. Sonny Jones and Ty Coad sr. made contact in turn 2, with both going around, but continuing without caution. Justin Henley, was quickly on the move getting by Sean Terry on lap 3 for second. Seven Hawkins brought out the races only yellow when he stalled and stopped on the track’s edge. On the restart, Henley got past J. Ganze who slowed with a flat tire. The Terry’s, Sean and Brain had a brief battle for second, while Curtis King moved in to challenge. King took third from B. Terry on lap 6. Jones was working his way back up after the early spin going past Mark Pivarnik on lap 8 for fifth, then B. Terry on lap 11 for fourth. Up front it was all Henley as he pulled away, picked his way through traffic and never missed a beat and thought he had added another win to his young career. Unfortunately on the tech pad, chief inspector, Barry Codling found Henley’s car illegal(tires). This would have handed the win to S. Terry, but his car failed tech for vacuum, giving the victory to third place, KingPure Stock1. 56 Curtis King2. 555 Sonny Jones3. 55 Mark Pivarnik4. 22 Brian Terry5. 7x Janel Hilla6. 55x Ty Coad sr.7. J8 Jared Ganze8. 13 Steven Hawkins9. 64K Patrick Kelly96 Justin Henley—DQ(Tires)23 Sean Terry—DQ(Vacuum)8g2 Paige Ganze—DNSPure Stock heat winners, 96 Justin Henley, 23 Sean Terry

I want give a special “Thank You” to Greg and Candace Dinsmore for giving a chance to do something great..hot lap an IMCA Modified. It was an awesome experience, I surprised myself and only scared myself twice. Not sure how many times I scared Greg. LOL After praying all night that the car would survive, Greg took his second feature win in a row without incident. After doing the interview with Abraham Mares, the SportMod winner, I went to do the one with Greg. When I got to the pits, Candace hit me with a choice of drivers suits. My heart rate increased. Greg brougt the car back from tech and asked if I was ready…born ready. I climbed in, strapped in and finished getting into the helmet, neck brace and driving gloves. Greg gave me a crash course(poor choice of words) on his backwards clutch set up, gear position and we fired it up. Backed out and rolled to the entry lane, without killing it, but having trouble with the shift. There was someone else on the track, so I had to sit and wait. Greg reschooled me on the shift, and the track was clear. I rolled her down the entry chute, made my shift and headed to the track.Once I hit the track on the backstretch, I cracked the throtle, and the car launched hard. I eased into turn 3 and through turn 4. I was surprised how easy it was to steer, and the quickness of the throtle response. Knowing that poor Greg, Candace, my friends and peers were watching, I tried NOT to screw up, or look like I was out just putting around. Had some slight trouble in the seat, Greg being bigger and stouter, I sloshed around a bit, and the side was a little high and dug into my armpit when turning. So after being slid all the way to one side, I pulled my arm inside the seat side, and got comfortable. I turned some surpringly good laps, for me anyway, as the car was set up and hooked up. My two scares were coming out turn 2, were the track had a little washboard effect that chattered the car high coming out, headed towards the weeds. The last place I wanted to end up. After ten laps, that went by too fast, I pulled back in, the car in one piece and returned it the rightful owner.So thanks Greg, Candace, Team Brain Freeze, Azul Margaritas, Team Harris Racing, Big Worm Motorsports and Jeffs Performance, for giving me the opportunity, and such an easy handling car, that even a novice could drive, at speed, and do surprisingly well in.

When asked which is scarier, being in a 24 car main at one of the faster tracks, like Cowtown or TMS Dirt Track or watching me hot lap his car, Greg added, “I’ll admit, in the beginning, I was pretty freaked out. You actually got out there and did a pretty good job. You kept the car under control and everyone was shocked. We were pretty surprised and I started relaxing there towards the end. You were rolling the car in pretty hard and getting on it. No doubt about it. You need to quit this reporter stuff and go dirt mod racing.”

Pleasanton, Tx., (May 2nd, 2008)
Action resumed on Pleasanton’s I-37 Raceway after taking a scheduled week off. Several new drivers made their inaugural visit to the semi-banked 1/4 dirt track, south of San Antonio. Missing were some of the regular faces, including past winners looking to score repeat wins.

The track was smooth and tacky throughout the entire night making for fast paced, high speed action.

Dinsmore Finally Does it
After several second place finishes or suffering mechanical woes while running up front, Greg Dinsmore finally found his way to I-37 Raceway winner’s circle. Dinsmore, who started second row inside, got past early leader Randy Yount and pulled away from the field in the caution-free 20 lapper.

The start of the IMCA Modified main saw Yount grab the lead from the pole, with Dinsmore moving second, and Jason Borlace third. Dinsmore was quick to challenge Yount getting along side on lap 2 down the back stretch and by in turn 3. Borlace, Brian Rye and Chris Swenson all chased Yount running nose to tail for third.

On lap 8, Borlace was putting pressure on Yount, while Swenson got around Rye for fourth. At he crossed flags it was Dinsmore by a full straightaway over Yount, Borlace, Swenson, and Rye. During lap 10, Borlace and Swenson both slipped by Yount, leaving him side by side with Rye for fifth. Rye was finally able to wrestle the spot away on lap 15.

Up front Dinsmore was stretching out his advantage to half track as he approached the back of he field. Swenson was turning up the heat on Borlace for second, while Yount got fourth back from Rye who slid too high. As the white flag waved, Dinsmore was easily cruising along in the Team Brain Freeze, Azul Margaritas, Sundowner RV Repair, Big Worm Motorsports, Pro Tech, Tailor Made Cabinets, Jeff’s Performance Racing Engines, Harris Chassis. Swenson made a last lap pass to snatch second away from Borlace.

“It took a little effort,” commented Dinsmore. “The car is finally coming around and working well for us. The track was awesome tonight. They’ve been working the track really well. It was real racey top to bottom. It had a couple slick spots where you had to work your car.”

“After the luck I’ve had lately, you start to think, something’s got to give, something’s got to break. You’re always thinking in the back of your mind, what bolt did you miss, what’s going to break next. But the track was really nice tonight
and he competition is good. Hopefully we’ll pull some more cars out here.”

“I really didn’t know I had such a big lead. I thought I could feel the motor noises out there. I put mufflers on the car to try to hear more of what was going on around me. When I got in lapped traffic, I figured I was running pretty good and started pedaling the car. I didn’t want to overdrive it, or maybe take out some lapped cars.”

“My wife(Candace) said I was doomed to follow, hopefully tonight I broke that!”

IMCA Modifieds
1. 8g Greg Dinsmore
2. 48 Chris Swenson
3. 125 Jason Borlace
4. 66 Randy Yount
5. 25 Brian Rye
6. 137 Bill Pittaway
7. 26 Darin Leonard
8. 2 Marlon Sanford

IMCA Modified heat winners, 8g Greg Dinsmore, 137 Bill Pittaway

Torres Takes Top Honors After Tech
Johnny Torres wasn’t first to finish line, but ended up taking home the hardware after winner Adan Perks failed to pass tech inspection. Torres worked his way through the field and took over second in the finals laps and was awarded the victory when Perks car was found with illegal(non-stamped) tires.

Rene Mares and Chris McLendon led the field to the initial green with McLendon getting the advantage. R. Mares got tagged in a three wide battle for and spun in turn 2. On the second start in was nearly three wide for lead going into turn 1, with McLendon again coming out with the top spot.

In the pack, Mark McGahey got forced high coming out of turn 4 where he smacked the tire barrier and rolled over. McGahey climbed out uninjured. Once back to green, Allen Torres and R. Mares ran side by for third, while Chris Rye looked for an opening. Perks, using the high side, was on the charge getting by Rye for fifth on lap 5, then A. Torres for fourth a lap later.

At the head of the pack, Bill Pittaway was looking for a way around McLendon for the lead. Pittaway got the spot on lap 8, leaving McLendon battling with Abraham Mares for second. That duo made contact, sending A. Mares into and over an infield tire, moving Perks up second. At halfway it Pittaway, Perks, A. Torres, J. Torres and Rye in the top five.

Perks continued sailing around the top getting past Pittaway for the lead on lap 11. Once out front, Perks began to distance himself from the field, while A. Torres pulled off. This left brother, Johnny, battling with Pittaway for second. As Perks was running off to the win, J. Torres took second away from Pittaway in the final laps. When the checkers waved it was Perks, the apparent winner, J. Torres second and Rye sneaking past Pittaway. After tech inspection J. Torres in the 24/7 Towing, Pro Image Signs & Graphics, Cen-Tex Motorsports powered, Moser Chassis walking away with the win.

“I got a few breaks working my way up,” replied Torres. “The track was heavy and a lot of cars were pushing real bad. Mine seemed to be working pretty good on the bottom. I just stayed on the bottom, got lucky and watched them push.”

“I don’t like a tacky track too much. It was definitely a lot smoother tonight. It was a good racey surface, just not my preference. It was a nice, safe track.”

“He(Perks) was a lot faster. I hoped he’d get caught up in traffic but he didn’t. Luckily he got caught up in tech.”

IMCA Southern Sportmods
1. 66 Johnny Torres
2. 137 Bill Pittaway
3. 4$ Chris Rye
4. 89 Doug Livingston
5. 11 Chris McLendon
6.11F Mike Finkel
7. 4 Abraham Mares
8. 94 Adam Torres
9. 751 Mark McGahey
12 Adan Perks—DQ(Tires)
22 Rene Mares—DQ(Tires)
5 Jordan Lueck—DNS(motor)

IMCA SSM heat winners, 22 Rene Mares, 12 Adan Perks

Howie Marcx charged into the lead of the Super Stock feature from the second row, with Richard Bartosh second, Moe VanKirk third and Robert Williams fourth. Gary Hunter took fifth from Chico Cox on the first lap. Bartosh suffered a flat on lap 4 moving VanKirk to second, who began closing on Marcx. The races only yellow waved on lap 8 when Williams car had the hood fly off.

Marcx got a huge jump on the restart, with Harlin Covert getting by Hunter for fourth. VanKirk cut Marcx’ lead in half, then down to a couple car lengths. On the final lap VanKirk was on the bumper of Marcx looking for a final lap pass. Coming out of turn 2, Marcx car slowed, with VanKirk shooting by for the lead and the win. Marcx car rolled to a stop in turns 3-4, giving up more positions in the final run down.

Super Stock
1. 58 Moe VanKirk
2. 48 Robert Williams
3. 60 Harlin Covert
4. 14 Gary Hunter
5. 27 Eric Knudtson
6. 21 Chico Cox
7. 13 Howie Marcx
8. 7 Richard Bartosh
9. 25 Wesley Skains
33a Walt Clark—DNS

Super Stock heat winners, 14 Gary Hunter, 13 Howie Marcx

The front row of Shawn Moore and Alton Fambro stayed door to door through turns 1-2, while Wade Jones charged through the middle of the pack. Moore got the point on lap 1, but Tommy Casey took it away on lap 2 going down the back stretch. Moore and Jone then traded some paint as they fought for second, with Jones getting the spot on lap 4.

At halfway, Casey had a a straightaway lead over Jones, Donald Lewis, Moore and Craig Crawley. Casey spun himself from the lead on lap 11, handing it to Jones. Caution for debris on lap 13 rebunched the field, but Jones got away clean on the restart. Crawley caught Lewis for second and began to challenge, taking the spot on lap 17. Up front it was Jones snagging another win for he season.

Street Stock
1. 41 Wade Jones
2. 6 Craig Crawley
3. 51 Donald Lewis
4. 18 Shawn Moore
5. 08 Alton Fambro
6. 37 A J Wernette
7. 42 Tommy Casey
8. 3x Larry Hilla
9. 14 Mark Pivarnik
29p Daniel Pierce—DNS

Street Stock heat winners, 42 Tommy Casey, 41 Wade Jones

Justin Henley wasted little time coming from the second row to the head of the Pure Stock feature on lap 1. Sonny Jones and Dennis Hilla fell into second and third. By lap 5, Henley had pulled away from Jones and D. Hilla, while a seven-car wolf pack scrapped it for fourth on back. D. Hilla gave up third on lap 6 when he was forced to pit with a flat tire.

Racing action came to a halt when Paige Gantz went for a wild ride of turn 2 ending up in tullies, literally. Once back to green, Henley and Jones broke away from Jared Ganss, Ty Coad sr. and Trevor Hilla. Henley quickly put distance on Jones and caught the tail of the field with a few laps to go. Henley picked his way through, while maintaining his lead and easily taking the win.

Pure Stock
1. 96 Justin Henley
2. 555 Sonny Jones
3. J8 Jared Ganss
4. 55 Sammy Payne
5. 57z Cecil Zimmerman
6. 55x Ty Coad sr.
7. 3x Trevor Hilla
8. 15 William Cavender
9. 7x Dennis Hilla
10. 25jr Chance Skains
11. 8g2 Paige Gantz

Pure Stock heat winners, 555 Sonny Jones, 96 Justin Henley