POINTS RACE #5 AT CHOWCHILLA SPEEDWAY MAY 5, 2007 |
| It
was Cinco de Mayo and 24 dwarf cars were ready for battle. We were
joined by one visitor (Tommy Astone III, #5T), one NORCAL member (Brett
Barstow, #7N) and one driver with dual citizenship, NORCAL/BAD (Doug
Martin, #85). There were very strong winds all day. The cars didn't seem to get blown around but the track got dry and dusty. Winners of three heat races were, Doug MARTIN (HEAT 1), Ryan AMELN (HEAT 2) and Brett BARSTOW (HEAT 3). In Heat 1, an early crash took out two cars. From what I heard, someone made a bonzai move and hit Chris Weaver who then hit Martin Whittingham. Martin got the worst of it, hitting the backstretch wall hard and doing major damage. He thought his car was junk but a group of about 10 fellow racers and good sams swarmed the broken 56B and made temporary repairs - enough to get Martin lined up for the B Main. It was amazing to watch and heartening to see such BAD camaraderie. Thanks to Mark Chaves and Mark Jr, Rich Wilson and son Jeff, Jerry Mesloh, John Wear, Don Daniel, Danny Zuger and probably others. Doug Martin took the lead early and finishred about 12 car lengths ahead of the next finisher. Ernie Davila finished 2nd but was penalized for a re-start jump and scored 4th. Second place went to Jose Guevara. John Pipkin Jr was 3rd and John Phillips was 5th. In Heat 2, Ryan started on the pole. led every lap and won by a wide margin over 2nd place finisher, Bill Martinez. Doug Penny and Ryan Diatte went off early and Duane Daniel moved up for a 3rd place finish. Dave Mosier started last and finished 4th. Tommy Astone was 5th. In Heat 3, Punky Pires led briefly but was overtaken by 5th place starter, Brett Barstow. Brett won by a straightaway over Punky. Chris Dorto finished 3rd, followed by Rich Wilson and John Wear. Gilbert Toste started outside row 1 in Dan Gregory's 32B but his motor went sour and he dropped out. TROPHY DASH. Start = Pires, Pipkin, Guevara, Barstow, Ameln and Martin; finish = BARSTOW, Ameln, Pires, Pipkin, Guevara and Martin. Barstow was quick to take the lead. Pires and Martin were running 2nd and 3rd when they had contact on lap 4; Pires fell back to 3rd and Martin fell back to last. B MAIN. In the semi, Gilbert Toste drove John Pipkin's 31B; lining up deep, leading from lap 2 and taking the win. Ryan Diatte started 6th, was 4th by lap 5 and finished 2nd. Polesitter, Danny Zuger, drove a very good race, holding 2nd until late in the race and finishing 3rd. Doug Penny, showing much improvement, finished 4th. Travis Sugden was 5th and Chris Weaver was 6th for the final transfer spot. A MAIN. This race started with a crash. As the cars were coming to the green flag, the 7N of Brett Barstow appeared (from the backstretch perch) to be all over the 22B of Bill Martinez; pushing, hitting and sending him up the frontstretch wall and into a hard end-over-end flip. Damage to Bill's car was extensive, front and back, and he was out before the race even started. Brett was able to continue and score a 6th place finish. This was an excellent race for Punky Pires. He ran strong and steady, leading until lap 14 when he gave up the lead to Doug Martin. Punky had a charging system problem; lost ground and dropped out on lap 17. Doug took over for the win. Dave Mosier, who started 11th, was 6th by lap 2, 4th by lap 8 and 2nd by lap 16; finished 2nd. Gilbert Toste, driving the 31B, came from a 16th place start for the 3rd place finish. Duane Daniel finished 4th, about 10 car lengths behind Gilbert. Ryan Ameln started 5th and finished 5th. The rest of the top ten finishers were, Brett Barstow, John Wear, Chris Weaver, Chris Dorto and John Phillips, in that order. Unfortunately, Ryan Diatte was another victim in the lap 1 melee; had suspension damage and could not continue. CONGRATULATIONS TO DOUG MARTIN, HEAT WINNERS, DASH WINNER (BRETT BARSTOW) AND TOP FINISHERS. THANKS TO ALL DRIVERS WHO MADE THE SHOW. There was a school bus race this night. The call for drivers was answered by Mark Chaves, Kyle Johnson, 'G' and Matt Sargent. And, there was the ringer - suspicious looking local guy with his own #28 bus. Matt started on the pole, with Mark outside row 2. The #28 was quick to take the lead; pulling away and winning by half a lap. Mark was second. Matt was last and probably should make no plans for a career in bus racing. It was good fun for everybody. Notes: ...Over-aggressive driving was costly to several drivers this night. Maybe tech inspection in the future should include tests for DH-testosterone and Turn Left*. *www.turnleftenergy.com/ |