I apologize for being so late getting this posted and for it being as short as it is. With all of the excellent racing in 8 divisions and 115 cars in the pits it would take 5 or 6 pages to do real justice to everyone involved.

GRADY MAKES IT 2 IN A ROW, BONESTEEL JUST MISSES BOUNTY
Bob & Ray Ingram

Albuquerque, New Mexico - The Dirt Track @ NAPA Speedway dodged a big bullet as a heavy downpour hit the track about 1 hour before race time and dumped puddles of rain. Charlie Fegan and crew did not cancel and 18 NMMRA Non-Wing Sprinters took to the very wet track and did a fantastic job of drying it out. After the Sprinters rolled in the track, the racing got underway about 1 1/2 hours late but it was probably the best racing surface yet at NAPA. There were 115 cars on hand in 8 divisions with lots of side-by-side ground pounding excitement.

The NMMRA Sprints brought out 19 cars to put on some great racing. Heat #1 saw the #6 of Robert Marfia jump out to a comfortable lead and never look back as he took the win over the #73 of Nick Rael with the #24C of youngster Cody Dons coming home in 3rd. Heat #2 had Farmington driver Jason Grady in the #45 take off from his pole start and take a sizeable lead and the win over the #22 of Bo Baker with the #41 of James Hatch chasing them to the checker flag. Heat #3 was the closest of the heats as the top spot changed several times with the winner not decided until the very end. Jesse Baker in the #7 took the win over the #62 of Bill Mitchell and the #52NM of David Burns. The 25 lap Main Event was a thriller as 15 of the 18 starters finished the race on a very fast track. Bo Baker in the Jackson Equipment #22 took the early lead and fought off several challengers for a few laps. Robert Marfia in the #6 came up from his outside 3rd row start to take over the lead and appeared to be running away but several others drivers had other ideas and came up to challenge Marfia. Marfia was running the extreme high groove and got just a little out of shape with 2 laps to go and the #45 of Jason Grady took advantage of the small error and slipped by on the inside to take his 2nd win in a row at NAPA Speedway. Chasing Grady home was Marfia and the #62 of Bill Mitchell who is never very far from the front.

The A-Mods had a nice field of 12 cars as the Hatten Racing team of Dwayne Hatten, Ryan Hovland, D.J. Hovland and Loren Hovland came in from Grants along with the X-Mod of Las Cruces driver Gregory Gorham . Heat #1 had the #58 of Clint Miller take the win over the #87 of Ryan Hovland and #85H Loren Hovland. Heat #2 saw the #31 of Gallup racer Doug Goodenough hold of the hard charging #3J of Josh Cain with the #09 of Bill Waltman coming home in 3rd place. The Main Event had only 10 of the 12 cars on hand take the green flag as the #88 of D.J. Hovland and the #3 of Kenneth Payne did not make the call. The Main Event looked much the same as it has all year with the #3J of Josh Cain taking yet another win, however the #13 of Luigi Truden stayed on Cain’s rear bumper the entire way and the X-Mod of #93 Gregory Gorham was not very far behind Truden.

The big show of the night was a 31-car field of X-Mods going after a large Bounty purse to beat J. R. Bonesteel in the #0. There were 4 heat races with the top 3 going straight to the A-Main and everyone else going to the 19-car B-Main. It has been a LONG time since we have had a B-Main in any division here in Albuquerque. Of the 4 heat races, 3 were won on a last lap pass and 3 were run without a single yellow flag and the 1 and only yellow flag was for mechanical failure not a wreck. Heat #1 had the #K3 of Kevin McDonald take the win over the #78 of Gary Guinn and the #21 of Tommy Barela. Heat #2 saw the #0 of J. R. Bonesteel pass his dad Steve Bonesteel in the #00 on the last lap to take the win with the #54 of Tim Hooper taking the 3rd spot. Heat #3 was another last lap pass for the win as the #5X of Rick Boelter squeezed by the #63 of Justin Weber for the win with the #21III of Avie Chavez coming home in 3rd spot. Heat #3 had the Las Cruces boys of Dickie & Gregory Gorham battling for the win with Dickie in the #3 making another last lap pass to nip the #93 of Gregory with the #29 of Mike O’Neal taking the 3rd position. The B-Main had 19 starters with 12 transferring to the A-Main. Several cars were in the hunt for the win but it was Skimmer Leathem in the #28 who took the checkered with another of the Cruces boys #00G of Stevie Ray Gutierrez coming home 2nd and the #92 of Mark DeBerry taking the 3rd. spot. The Bounty on #0 J.R. Bonesteel required all of the bounty hunters to start at the back with J.R. taking the 24th and final spot. It was surely going to be a tough job for J.R. with all of the fast company on the track tonight. On the first lap J.R. passed 7 cars on the outside and was looking for more when the first of several yellow flags came out. Once the racing resumed J.R. and others were working their way toward the front. This race probably saw more passing a changing of positions than any race at NAPA before. Justin Weber in the #63 who has been running on the Asphalt side of NAPA and was making his first start of the year on the dirt took off from his pole position start and was able to hold off several challengers. J.R. Bonesteel was able to work his way up to 3rd place when a yellow flag came out and bunch up the field. On the restart Bonesteel got caught up in a tussle with 2 or 3 other cars and sustained front suspension damaged that ended his night and a chance at the extra bounty money. After all was said and done the #63 of Weber was able to hang on for a nice win with the #93 of Gregory Gorham coming up from his 8th row outside start to take 2nd with the #28 of Leathem making a good run to finish second. Unfortunately for Weber he was not one of the Bounty Hunters and did not collect the extra money.

The Street Stocks had 13 cars to run 2 heats and a main event. Heat #1 saw youngster R. C. Combs in the #53 lead the entire race and take the win, followed by #43 Dan Gross Sr. and the #99 of Joel Duke. Unfortunately young Mr. Combs exploded his engine right at the flagstand ending his chances for making a clean sweep on the night. When Combs car stays together all night he is almost unbeatable. Heat #2 had a great 2 & 3 wide battle for the lead among the top 4 drivers. In the end the #73 of Ric Valdes was able to hold off hard charging Mario Truden Jr. and #98 Toy Fisher. There was a new driver in this class with one of our Active Duty Air Force guys from KAFB coming from Plainfield Indiana to join the fun at NAPA. Welcome #23 Jerry Hepworth ( Thanks for your service ). The main event saw the #8X of Mario Truden Jr. jump out to a huge lead from his pole position start and take the win going away. However the battle for 2nd was a thriller as first one then another took their turn at the runner up spot. After running door handle to door handle the entire race the #73 of Rick Valdes finally nailed down 2nd with the #99 of Joel Duke settling for the 3rd spot. All in all a VERY good race.

The Cruisers ran 2 heats and their main event with a few changes in store for the folks tonight. Heat #1 had the #33 of Devin Gates who has been winning almost everything this year take the win over the #80 of Ernie Sandoval and the #4M of Rob Moseley. Heat #2 had another of this years big winners in the #15 of Cheyenna Yates winning over the #49 of Brandon Caldwell who has really been hot on the heels of Gates and Yates and is do for a big win soon. Chasing Yates and Caldwell home was the #14X of Bobby Sandy. Now for the change in this division, Bobby Sandy in the #14X took the win over the #76 that is usually driven by Madison Conrad being driver tonight by brother Steve Conrad Jr. with the #33 of Gates coming home in 3rd.

The Hornets had their smallest field of the year with only 7 cars on hand. Maybe some of these drivers are moving up a class or two, which would account for the higher numbers in other divisions. These little 4 bangers can really get wound up and put on a good show. The heat race was won by the ever fast #06 Patricia Gallegos with the #97B of Justin Morgan and the #29 of Larry Johnson coming home 2nd and 3rd. As with the Cruiser class there was a different winner for a change as the usual winner #06 Patricia Gallegos was relegated to 3rd place as the #58 of Frank Payne ran a very smooth and fast race to take the win over the #29 of Larry Johnson. It is kind of weird that the least costly of racecars had the smallest amount of cars. “GO FIGURE”.

The Mini-Sprints ran on the big track tonight, as the smaller track in the infield would have required an outboard motor boat to make the laps. And boy did these little 600cc motorcycle engine powered cars turn up the wick and FLY around the track. Not only did they run on the big track but they also ran with the wings on, which seems to help keep them firmly planted on the track. Heat #1 had the #17 of Jacob Johnston take the win over the #29 of Don Kruse and the #22 of Robert Turner. Heat #2 had the 4S of Spencer Hill take the win over the #5 of Brianna Franchini and the #24K of Kaylee Dons. These two young ladies can really drive the wheels off these cars. Brianna Franchini got out to a good start and led several laps before a flat tire ended her night. One Franchini left the track the battle was on between the #4S of Spencer Hill and the #07 of Patrick Hurtado. These two drivers rubbed wheels for several laps before Hill was able to take command and get the win with Hurtado very close behind and the #2 of David Gay coming home in 3rd position.

The Dwarfs had a larger field of 10 cars tonight to run 1 heat and their main event. These little cars with mini bodies that look like cars and trucks from the 30’s & 40’s can really haul the mail. This is a good class to get started in racing as you can get into a race ready or nearly race ready car for less than $5000.00 to even as low as about $2500.00. If anyone is interested in getting into this division, see David Hand at the #66 car in the pits after the races. David can hook you up with all of the info you need and even help you run down a car or two. All 10 cars ran their heat race with the #21 of Ryan Gilleland taking the win over the #17X of J.C. Gilleland and the #33 Clayton Guymon. The main event saw the same cast of characters at the front as the heat race saw. We don’t know what the Gillelands do but they must feed their cars some extra Wheaties or something as these two cars pretty much run away from the field. Chasing the Gillelands to the checkered flag was the #31 of Brett Rice.

This was probably the absolute best night of dirt track racing yet at NAPA Speedway, so come out on the 3rd of August when we do it all over again.

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody