FLAG TO FLAG WIN FOR #7 JESSE BAKER

Albuquerque, New Mexico 8-3-13. For the first time all year the weather was great with no rain, no wind & no dust. Charlie Fegan and crew had the track in great shape and there were 102 cars checked to put on some great 2 & 3 wide racing in all 7 divisions. There were several photo finishes for wins and other positions, some cars crossing the finish line sideways and one very scary flip in the Sprints. Also a controversial call on a finish in the Cruiser Class and an entertaining and unusual event in the Hornets.

The NMMRA Sprinters brought out their best field of the year with 24 cars to run 3 heat races and a Main Event. At one point it was considered to run a Semi-Main to eliminate 4 cars so that only a 20-car field would start the Main, which is normal NMMRA rules but it was finally decided to let all 24 cars start the Main-Event. All 3-heat races were great with only a single yellow flag for a minor incident. Heat #1 had 8 very strong competitors fighting for the win. Youngster Cody Mansfield in the #4X took off from his outside front row and held off a serious challenge from the #6 of Michael Marfia and the #24M of Robert Marfia. Robert Marfia had been running the family owned #6 but gave up that ride to his son Michael to take over the Russell Gossett owned #24. The Marfia’s seemed to have made some good decisions as they were surely going to be contenders for the Main Event win tonight. Heat #2 also saw a family deal as the #22B of Bo Baker held of his son #7 Jesse Baker with Peoria Arizona racer Mike Colgrove in the #17M hot on their heals the entire way. Heat #3 had the #45 of Farmington N.M. driver Jason Grady who has won the last two shows at NAPA shoot out from his outside front row start and take a half straightaway win over the #5J of Jeff Brumfield Jr. and the #55 of David Dykes. The Main Event for the Sprinters was one of the fastest races ever at NAPA even though there were a couple of yellow flags and a single red flag. At the drop of the green flag the #7 of Jesse Baker in the Bill Richard’s owned car jumped out to the lead as he was throwing his car sideways at the flagstand. Not to be outdone by Baker the next 8-10 cars fought side-by-side and hot on Baker’s tail, a little bobble by Baker would have produced a new leader, but that never happened as Baker ran a nearly flawless race. There was one very scary moment as the #52 of Santa Fe’s David Burns bounced off the front straight wall and got upside down. It looked as though there was no room to clear the Burns car between him and the wall but two cars did make and two more were able to get by on the inside. This could have been a very bad crash if any of the drivers had slammed into the disabled Burns car, but everyone did a masterful job of missing the damaged ride of David Burns ( GREAT JOB GUYS ). At the end there were 5 cars very close but Jesse Baker never gave up an inch and took the win followed by #4X Cody Mansfield, #17M Mike Colgrove, #45 Jason Grady and the #62 of Bill Mitchell. The finish of this race tells you how close the racing is with the NMMRA as Mitchell took the first 3 wins and Grady took the last 2 wins but relegated to 4th and 5th place tonight.

Once again the A-Mods had the smallest field of the night with only 6 cars. These cars are WAY-FAST but need a few more cars to keep the excitement level up. The heat race again saw the 3J of Josh Cain take the win over the #31 of Gallup N.M. racer Doug Goodenough very close to his rear bumper and the #58 of Los Alamos N.M. driver Clint Miller right on Goodenough’s tail. Both Goodenough and Miller have been getting closer and closer to Cain all year but have not been able to pull off the win yet. The Main Event was yet another victory for the hard charging Cain in the #3J with #58 Miller and #31 Goodenough again a close 2nd and 3rd.

The X-Mod field was down from last weeks high of 31 cars but still had a very respectable field of 22 cars. There was a new driver from Aztec Speedway who towed down to battle the local hero’s and did a very good job. The bounty on J.R. Bonesteel is still going as only a couple of drivers elected to try for the bounty and J.R. had mechanical problems that ended his night early after moving up from his back row start to about 6th spot. The X-Mods ran 3 heat races without a single yellow flag, showing that these guys know how to drive the wheels off their cars without crashing. Heat #1 had the #14C of Bennie Chavez take the win over the #K3 of Kevin McDonald and the #00 of Steve Bonesteel. Heat #2 saw one of the fan favorites Tom Melloy take the win over the #86 of Charlie Duffy and the #34S of Donald Scott. Heat #3 may have been the closest of the heats as the #1 of Mychal Lucero held off a very persistent Brandon Tenski in the #5 and the #37 of Rob Haaland. The Main Event saw 21 of the 22 cars on hand take the green flag as only the #02 of Dale Snelling was not able to make the call. Aztec Speedway visitor Brandon Tenski in the #5 took off from his outside front row start and led every lap, but not without having to fight off some serious challenges from several other drivers. The bounty of J. R. Bonesteel seemed to be reasonably safe as only a couple of drivers elected to start at the back with J. R. Bonesteel was able to move up to about 6th spot when it looked like his clutch or transmission started to go away and J.R. started moving to the rear and eventually had to leave the race early. There were a few caution flags that kept the field bunched up the entire race. In the end the #5 of Brandon Tenski held on to his wire to wire win with the #37 of Rob Haaland, #1 Mychal Lucero, #00 Steve Bonesteel and the #62 of Tom Melloy chasing him home.

The Street Stocks had one of their best fields of the year with 16 cars on hand. These drivers ran their two, 8 car heats without a single caution flag ( good going guys ). Heat #1 saw the #3 of Mario Truden Sr. take off to a big lead and never look back with the #53 of youngster R. C. Combs and the #28 of Cooter Frazier coming home 2nd and 3rd. Heat #2 saw a lot of bumping and banging but no wrecks with the #143 of Danny Gross Jr. taking the win over the #73 of Ric Valdes and the #8X of Mario Truden Jr. In the Main Event the #8X of Mario Truden Jr. jumped out to a LARGE lead with everyone else fighting for position behind him. At about the halfway point as Truden Jr. was coming out of turn 2 a car that was about to be lapped spun around and nailed Truden Jr. head-on. The scorers and judges allowed Truden Jr. in his heavily damaged car return to the point. At the drop of the green flag, Truden Jr. again took of a tried to hide from the rest of the field. The battle for 2nd on back was furious as first one then another driver took the runner-up spot. The fight for 2nd in this race was one of the best battles of the night. In the end the #8X of Mario Truden Jr. took the well deserved win over the #28 of hard charging Cooter Frazier in #28 and the #98 of Toy Fisher who battled side by side with Frazier nearly the entire race.

The Mini-Sprints had their best showing of the year with 16 cars on hand. There were 3 drivers from Muleshoe Texas who came over to join the fray at NAPA Speedway and did a very good job. Heat #1 saw the MR07 of Patrick Hurtado take the win over the #72 of Mike Barnes with the #27 Jerrod Vinson from Muleshoe coming home in 3rd. Heat #2 had the #4S of Spencer Hill taking the win over the #5 of Briana Franchini and the #88 of John Young, another of the Muleshoe drivers taking the 3rd position. The Main Event had 15 of the 16 cars on hand take the green flag as only the #2 of David Gay who had problems in his heat race not make the call. With 15 of these little pocket rockets running on the small ¼ mile infield track the excitement begins on the first lap and never lets up. The #88 of John Young from Muleshoe took off from his outside front row start to lead every lap. The battle behind Young was very exciting as the #17 of Jacob Johnston was driving like a full size sprint car as he was throwing his car sideways in every turn. In the end Young was able to hold off a very close Johnston with the #27 of another Muleshoe driver Jerrod Vinson taking the last podium spot.

Somewhat surprisingly the Cruisers had only 11 cars to run 2 heats and their Main Event. Heat #1 saw front row starters #49 Brandon Caldwell and #33 Devon Gates have a race long battle for the win. At the wire it was Caldwell holding off Gates with the #00 of Leo Dennisson taking 3 spot. Heat #2 had the #80 of Ernie Sandoval take the win over the #14X of Bobby Sandy and the #4M of Rob Moseley. The Main Event was a battle between front row starters #4M Rob Moseley and the #15 of Cheyenna Yates. As these two drivers fought for the lead the #33 of Devon Gates was working his way up from deep in the field. At the checkered flag the #15 of Yates got into the rear quarter panel of Moseley at turned him around about a foot short of the checkered flat. At first it looked like the win would go to Yates with Gates coming in 3rd and Moseley getting back underway and finishing 3rd. After a review by the scorers and race director it was decided to revert back to the last completed lap, which gave the win to Moseley with Yates and Gates taking 2nd and 3rd. This was possibly the first time we have ever seen this type of finish.

For only having a field of 7 cars the Hornets didn’t want to let the Cruisers have the only controversy of the night. The one and only heat went off without a hitch with the #99 of Lena Duke taking the win over the #06 of Patricia Gallegos and the #97B Justin Morgan. The Main Event was a whole-nother story as the controversy and antics were abundant. All 7 cars on hand took the green flag and all but one finished. Rick Boelter in the #7 took off from the pole to lead several laps before the #06 of Patricia Gallegos came up from deeper in the field to challenge for the lead. As these two drivers got side by side with Gallegos on the high side and Boelter on the low side they came together and flew off turn 3 and came to a stop. It was apparent that these two were not really happy with each other. But there may have been another driver who was even more unhappy as the #95 of Andrew Fowner came in at full speed and ran into the rear of the #7 of Boelter. After the cars were separated the Boelter and Gallegos cars were able to continue but the Fowner car was done for the night with major front-end damage. As the remaining cars circled under the yellow flag, Fowner threw a dirt clod at Boelter and the next time by Fowner decided to throw his helmet at Boelter. Announcer Jim Myers said the helmet throw looking like a NASCAR style toss. Once the racing resumed the #06 was on a mission from the back row to take the lead in only 1 lap and continue on for the win with the #7 of Boelter and the #99 of Lena Duke taking 2nd and 3rd. All in all this was one of the most entertaining races of the year.

Please come out and play in the dirt with us next Saturday 8-10-13 as we do it all again, with a full field of cars in all classes. Will there be a winner of the bounty on J. R. Bonesteel, another new winner in the NMMRA Sprints, a rematch of the Yates and Moseley finish or a re-newel of the Boelter, Gallegos and Fowner controversy?

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody