Jason Grady, Josh Cain & J. R. Bonesteel Take Big Wins
Bob & Ray Ingram 6-29-13

The Dirt Track @ NAPA Speedway, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Just when you think the weather may finally give us a break the wind and dust kicks up just before start time and makes life a little bit miserable. Once the wind and dust died down the fans were treated to some of the best dirt track racing seen in a long time. Charlie Fegan and crew did a fantastic job of track prep during the week and the track was in near perfect conditions from the drop of the first green flag until the final checkered fell on Jason Grady. With 92 cars checked into the pits there was plenty of action in all divisions to keep fans on the edge of their seats the entire night. One of the coolest things done tonight was the 3 wide salute by most of the divisions.

The NMMRA Sprints brought out a great field of 22 cars to run 3 heat races and a 25 lap main event. The track was damp, smooth and FAST for the heats that saw action from the front of the field to the back. All 3 heats were run without a single yellow flag (pretty darn impressive). Heat #1 had a race long battle for the win with the #7 of Jesse Baker fighting off a determined challenge from the #4X of Cody Mansfield. Racing through turns 3 & 4 heading for the white flag Mansfield went high and diamond the corner and shot by Baker to take over the top spot and the win. Chasing Mansfield and Baker to the stripe was the #41 of James Hatch. Heat #2 had a three way battle at the front with the #73 of Nick Rael, #62 Bill Mitchell and the #45 of Jason Grady. These three drivers swapped position several times with Grady taking the win followed by Mitchell and Rael. Heat #3 saw the #6 of Robert Marfia shoot out from his pole position start and pretty much run away and hide from the rest of the field. At the checkered flag it was Marfia followed by #29 Randy Smith and the #5J of Jeff Brumfield Jr. Holy Cow!!! What a main event, as 20 of the 22 cars on hand made the call to start the race and the action was furious from front to back. There were 4 yellow flags and 2 red flags to slow the action from time to time. The first yellow came out as the #29 of Randy Smith who started on the pole broke on the backstretch on the first lap ending his night. The second yellow came out as the #19 of Ronnie Smith and the #22B of Bo Baker hooked wheels and came to a stop on the backstretch. A tough night for the father and son Smiths. Baker and Smith were both able to restart but at the back of a very tough field. Between the caution periods there was a fierce battle at the front between 6-8 cars. At about the halfway point the #22B of Baker and the #56 of Dillon Tanner when flying off of turn 1, bringing out the first red flag. We were not able to see if either or both of these cars got upside down but neither was able to continue racing after the incident. Once the racing resumed the #45 of Farmington driver Jason Grady tried to check out but the #6 of Robert Marfia just kept hounding him lap after lap. With the laps winding down the #62 of Bill Mitchell who had won the first 3 shows this year had moved into 3rd place and was attempting to make a pass on Marfia for 2nd when he got into turn 3 a little too hot and took a tumble ending his chance to go 4 for 4 on the year. With 4 laps to go Grady was able to take a moderate lead and the win with Marfia coming home 2nd and the #4X of Cody Mansfield taking the last podium spot.

The A-Mods once again had a short field of only 5 cars but 7 X-Mods joined them for the main event. The heat race was one of the closest, fastest races of the year in this division. For most of the race you could have thrown a blanket over the top 4 cars. At the checkered flag it was the #58 of Clint Miller taking a hard won victory over the #3J of Josh Cain and the #31 of Doug Goodenough. The main event had 12 starters as 7 X-Mods lined up in front of the A-Mods. Unfortunately there were a lot of mechanical problems that kept the X-Mods from performing as well as they might have. In the end the #3J of Josh Cain who has won almost every race this year took the win over the #31 of Doug Goodenough who keeps getting closer and closer to the back bumper of Cain. Chasing Cain & Goodenough home was the very fast #13 of Luigi Truden.

The X-Mods had a great field of 20 cars and ran all 3 of their heat races with only 1 yellow flag, and that one was caused by debris on the track not a crash or mechanical problems. And even more impressive was that 19 of the 20 cars on hand made the call for the main event and ran Green to Checkered without a single yellow flag for any reason. Heat #1 had the #87 of Eric Ford take off from his pole start and lead every lap and take the win over the #00 of Steve Bonesteel with Ronnie Bell in the #8 taking 3rd position. Heat #2 was possibly the best of the heats as the battle for the win virtually involved all 7 cars in the field. At the checkered flag it was the #5X of Rick Boelter taking the win in front of the #28 of Skimmer Leathem and the #54 of Tim Hooper. Heat #3 was also a barnburner as the #0 of J. R. Bonesteel came up from his back row start to battle with #62 Tom Melloy and the #29 of Mike O’Neal. In the end, Bonesteel was able to slip by Melloy and take the win with O’Neal taking 3rd. The main event in this division was one of the best races we have ever seen as J. R. Bonesteel took off from his outside front row start with the #5X of Rick Boelter, the #62 of Tom Melloy and the #87 of Eric Ford hot on his heels. It was not long before the frontrunners encountered lapped traffic and the excitement was on. All of the front-runners weaved their way through traffic like master and never hit another car along the way. In the end J.R. Bonesteel took home another victory with Boelter and Melloy filling out the podium positions. Bonesteel has been nearly unstoppable this year and is on the hunt for a championship.

The Street Stocks ran 2 heats and a main event. This division had to run during the worst part of the wind & dust storm and did a great job of keep their cars under control in far less than ideal conditions. Heat #1 had the #8X of Mario Truden Jr. take the win over #20 Brittany Bell with the #54 of Shawn Dutcher Jr. coming home in 3rd spot. Heat #2 saw a great race between the NAPA sponsored cars of Joel Duke in the #99 and the #98 of Toy Fisher. At the finish it was Duke holding off Fisher with the #3 of Mario Truden Sr. a close 3rd. Truden had been involved in a very hard crash a few weeks ago but didn’t seem to be even a little slower in his rebuilt car. The main event saw all cars on hand make the call and put on a very good race. Several cars battled for the lead with the #8X of Truden Jr. making a pass on the #99 of Duke on the last lap to take the win. Chasing down Truden and Duke was the #73 of Ric Valdes who was never far from the hunt the entire race.

The Cruisers were divided into 2 heats and their main event. Heat #1 had Cheyenna Yates in last year’s car take the win over the #0 of Gary Smith and the #20 of John Morningstar. Heat #2 had the Firebird of #33 Devon Gates take yet another win over the #49 of Brandon Caldwell and the #00 of Leo Dennison. The main event had some drama as the #0 of Smith led several laps holding off the #33 of Gates. Gates was able to make the pass on the outside after several attempts but Smith made a dive underneath that took Gates around and caused Smith to be black flagged, ending his night. You would have thought that there was a full moon tonight as the bizarre was the norm for the night as there were exploding tires, wheels falling off and even a fuel cell falling out, all in the main event, leaving only 3 of the original 12 starters still on the track at the checkered flag. The #14X of Bobby Sandy was able avoid all of the chaos and take the win over the #20 of Morningstar and the #80 of Ernie Sandoval.

The Hornets also ran 2 heats and their main event. Heat #1 had the #7 of Daysha Boelter ( driven tonight by hubby Rick ) take the win over the #99 of Lena Duke and the #58 of Frank Payne. Heat #2 had this years big winner #06 Patricia Gallegos take the win over the #95 of Andrew Fowner and the #13X of Benny Pena who towed up from Las Cruces to run with us tonight. The main event saw the #06 of Gallegos take off to a nice lead only to see smoke billowing from her exhaust pipes which eventually led to Gallegos having to pull off the track. Lena Duke in the #99 who has really been coming on strong lately took over the lead never to look back as she took the win with #7 Boelter and #97B Justin Morgan take the next 2 spots.

The Mini-Sprints had 10 cars to run 2 heats and a main event. The mini’s ran their heats without wings on and the main event with their wings on, which was pretty neat. Running on the small inside track the mini-sprints never get very far away from each other which lead to lots of exciting racing. In the first heat the #07 of Patrick Hurtado took the win over the #17 of Jacob Johnston and the #4S of Spencer Hill. Heat #2 saw Robert Turner in the #22 have a race long battle with the #29 of Don Kruse. At the flag it was Turner barely holding off Kruse with the #24K of Kaylee Dons not far behind for 3rd place. The main event had a terrific battle for the win among the top 6-8 drivers. There was lots of passing back and forth with the #07 of Hurtado and the #17 of Johnston crossing the finish line in a Photo Finish with Hurtado taking the win by maybe 6 inches. Coming home in 3rd was the #22 of Robert Turner who was never far from the hunt for the win.

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody