This was the first BAD race of the 2008 season at Ocean Speedway. Whether OUT-of-it or out-of-IT, I thought I'd be doing other things this season. But, I wanted to see the opener, at least. Now, I've got myself involved again.

It was great to see such a good turnout for the first race; 28 cars, 7 with rookie drivers. Dave Mosier, 2007 Champion, was there with his new paint scheme and the coveted Number 1. Ryan Diatte, 2007 Rookie-of-the-Year, was there with his new car and his sibling rival. Camron Diatte, my newly-adopted grandson (just kidding, Sandi), was making his dwarf car debut. I was high in the grandstand, wondering what I was missing in the pits.

HEAT RACES
Winners of four heats were Dave MOSIER (HEAT 1), Camron DIATTE (HEAT 2), Ryan DIATTE (HEAT 3) and, Troy WAGNER (HEAT 4).

In Heat 1, Dave started outside row 1, took the lead at the flag and led the entire race. Gilbert Toste started 4th, ran 2nd from lap 2 and finished about eight car lengths behind Mosier and far ahead of the next finishers. Jose Guevara started 3rd and finished 3rd. Joel Osias started on the pole and finished 4th. Daniel Youngblood (rookie) was 5th. Ernie Davila and Greg Penny had problems and neither one finished the race .

In Heat 2, Camron, as a rookie, was placed last in the lineup; steadily moved up, taking 3rd by mid-race and leading from lap 7. Doug Penny started 2nd, took the lead when John Wear, pole sitter and early leader, spun out; ran very well but was overtaken late in the race by Diatte. Danny Zuger started 3rd and finished 3rd. Mike DelMonte started 6th and finished 4th but was unscored (car not WSDCA legal), moving Mike Weaver up to 4th. Mark Tillinger and John Wear, neither one running right, had to settle for 5th and 6th.

In Heat 3, Ryan started on the pole, pulled away and led the entire race. Punky Pires, in his first race with his new car, started 4th, was 2nd by mid-race and finished only 0.797 sec behind Diatte - impressive. Mark Biscardi, another rookie and motorcycle racer, started 7th and finished 3rd. Mike Bejovich started outside row 1 and finished 4th. Rookie, Marty Weisler, started 6th and finished 5th. Ryan Ameln was way off his normal pace, dropping back from a 3rd place start for a 6th place finish and going to the B Main - unusual. John White Jr, rookie, brought out two yellows and completed only 4 laps.

In Heat 4, Troy moved out from outside row 1 at the flag and held the lead for the win. Steve Oliveira ran one of his best races; moved up from 4th to 2nd on lap 1, pursued and challenged but, with Wagner using the whole track, could not find room for a pass; finished 2nd. Duane Daniel, Martin Whittingham and Robert Mesloh raced hard for the front; Duane finishing 3rd and Martin finishing 5th after a last lap pass by Robert Mesloh for 4th. Chris Weaver and rookie, Mike Collins, were 6th and 7th.

Four cars from each heat transferred to the A Main.

TROPHY DASH
The finishing order was the same as the starting order: Mosier, Ryan Diatte, Wagner and Camron Diatte.

B MAIN
Twelve cars ran in the semi for the remaining six transfer spots. Pole sitter, Ernie Davila, led several laps but had problems, fell back and ended his night as a DNF. Mark TILLINGER took over the lead from 2nd place and held it for the win. Ryan Ameln, John Wear and Martin Whittingham were in the lead pack, finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Making the final two transfers were Marty Weisler and Chris Weaver. Another rookie transferred to the A Main.

A MAIN
Twenty two cars were called for the feature, with the #57 and #75 DIATTE cars side-by-side on the front row. Rookies usually do not start at the front but Camron had proven himself by winning his heat race and running the trophy dash. Last season, Ryan started his first feature in 18th position (finishing 5th) and, from that night, his progress was remarkable. Camron led eight laps of his first feature before a broken A arm ended his moment and limited him to a 13 lap DNF. Ryan was right there in his brother's shadow, ready to take charge and score his first win of the season. It was a full tilt race, with heavy pursuit by Gilbert Toste, Dave Mosier, Duane Daniel and Robert Mesloh who finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Dave started 3rd, took 2nd on lap 11 and ran there until overtaken on lap 16 by Gilbert who started 5th. Duane, from 12th, and Robert, from 16th, moved up to join the lead pack and the action was very intense through the final laps. Those five cars bunched up in the turns and did not spread out much on the straights; all finishing within 1.7 seconds! That was racing at its best; close and clean. Rounding out the top ten finishers were, Troy Wagner, Mark Biscardi, Ryan Ameln, Steve Oliveira and Chris Weaver. It was more than disappointing that Ryan's trophy was just pushed into his window with a handshake but no interview (***ATTENTION, JP***). It was also disappointing that Punky Pires, who clocked the fastest lap of this event (16.074 sec, Heat 3) in his brand new DG Racin' sedan, was late for the green (repairing rock-shattered battery connection) and got the black (DNS).

CONGRATULATIONS TO RYAN DIATTE, HEAT WINNERS (MOSIER, C DIATTE, R DIATTE AND WAGNER), DASH WINNER (MOSIER) AND TOP FINISHERS. THANKS TO ALL DRIVERS WHO MADE THE SHOW.

NOTE:
Fast times...
Heat #1 16.453, Mosier
Heat #2 16.125, Wear
Heat #3 16.074, Pires
Heat #4 16.295, Mesloh
Dash 16.352, Mosier
B Main 16.324, Wear
A Main 16.097, Toste