Motiva Motor Speedway Dirt Track 8-16-2014
Bob & Ray Ingram

What started off as a great night of dirt track racing came to a screeching halt as high winds and heavy lightning knocked out the lights and brought the racing to a halt for the night. The track was a little wet to start the show but the Winged Sprints did a good job of packing it in for the beginning of the show. There were a good number of cars in all divisions and some great racing in all of the heats. The drivers did a fantastic job in all divisions as there was not a single yellow flag in the 11 heat races, the X-Mod Dash for Cash or the Hornet main-event, then there were a few in the Cruiser main and a couple in the Street Stock main. The track would have been ideal for the Winged Mini-Sprints, 305 Winged Sprints and the X-Mods if the lights and the weather hadn't brought the racing to an end for the night.

The X-Mods again brought out a very nice field of 21 cars. With all heat races run from green to checkered with no yellows the racing was fast and furious the entire race. The #62 of Tom Melloy took the early lead with everyone else close behind. As the laps wound down the #54D of Shawn Dutcher made the pass for the lead and hung on for the win with Melloy taking second and the #15 of Dee Yates holding down the third spot. Heat #2 saw the #1 of Mychal Lucero take off from the outside front row and never look back, taking the win by a wide margin over the #63 of Justin Weber in second and the #7 of Shorty Steven Bertetto coming home in third place. Heat #3 was the family duel as the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel took a very close win over his dad Steve Bonesteel in the #00 with the #34S of Donald Scott taking third position. The Dash for Cash that pays the winner $100.00 and second place $50.00 had the senior Bonesteel ( Steve #00 ) take the win over the #63 of Justin Weber. The Main-Event was not run on Saturday night due to the power outage but was run Sunday at 11:00 and saw 17 of the original 21 on hand to do battle on a dry slick track. The #1 of Mychal Lucero again took of to the early lead and held that spot until 3 or 4 laps to go when the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel took over the top spot and held on for the win in front of Lucero and the #63 of Justin Weber.

The 305 Winged Sprints had 5 cars on had to run only a single heat race as the power outage happened before their main event and they did not run on Sunday as the X-Mods did. The track was as close to perfect as is possible when the Sprints took to the track for their heat and these guys all were hammer down the entire way around the track every lap. It sure doesn't take long for these cars to run 8 laps. There was a first timer in the field with the #56 of Chirs Douglas from Amarillo joining our local guys. I talked with Chris after the race and he said he had a blast and would try to come back and bring some of the other Amarillo drivers with him. The #12 of Jerry Moser took off from the pole and held off a very fast and determined Douglas with the #77 of Colt Treharn coming home in third spot.

When the Cruisers came out for their heat races the track was still a bit slick but these drivers did a great job and ran both heats without a yellow flag. Heat #1 saw the #00 Camaro of Leo Dennison start from the pole and lead the entire way with everyone else fighting for the second position, at the checkered it was Dennison with the win, the #42 of Mike Baca taking a nice second place in front of the #33 of Devon Gates coming home in third place. Heat #2 again went all the way without a yellow flag to slow the action. Cody Sanchez in the very large Land Yacht #26 led every lap with the little Mustang of Todd Hendrickson a very close second and the #7 of Rob Moseley right on his bumper for 3rd place. The Cruiser main event didn't go quite as smooth as the heats as there were 4 yellow flags and a red flag for the #18 of Jim Kosinski who got upside down going into turn 3 on the first lap. Kosinski waked away from the crash without injury. After a race of slipping, sliding and banging the #7 of Rob Moseley took the win in front of the #58 of Frank Payne with the #43 of Art Hurley coming home in third place.

The Winged Mini-Sprints ran on the big track for the first time this year and they were flying. The mini's also ran their two heats without a yellow flag. Heat #1 had a great battle for the win with the #24K of Cody Dons holding off a hard charging Patrick Hurtado in the MR07 coming home in 2nd place and a very good drive by young lady driver Callie Justus in the #16 taking a very close 3rd place. Heat #2 saw the #4S of Spencer Hill come from the second row and pretty much run away with the win but the #9X of Eric Smith did a great job of keeping Hill in site to finish second with the #84X of Jordan Matson who was visiting from South Dakota taking home the 3rd position. The main-event looked like it was going to be a thriller as all 12 cars on hand were able to make the call. Unfortunately mother-nature had other ideas. There were high winds and LOTS of lightning very near the track when the Mini-Sprints took the green flag and as the racers were flying down the backstretch on lap 4 or 5 all of the track lights went out leaving the cars in near total darkness. Fortunately all of the drivers were able to get their cars stopped without hitting anything very hard, though there were a couple of minor bumps, all in all a great job by these drivers to avoid a possible disaster. Unlike the X-Mods who came out on Sunday to run their main event the Mini-Sprints were done and were paid the full purse based on the running order of the last completed lap.

Not to be outdone by the other divisions the Street Stocks also ran their heat races without a caution period and put on 2 very good races. Heat #1 saw the #53 of R.C. Combs take the win over the #54 of Shawn Dutcher Jr. with the #143 of Danny Gross Jr. taking 3rd place. Heat #2 saw lady driver Cheyenna Yates in her #15 take the win in front of the #99 of Joel Duke in second and the #82 of Gerald Haste taking home 3rd place. Gerald Haste is one of the very few drivers doing quadruple duty as he also drives a dirt A-Mod as well as running both Street Stocks and Mods on the asphalt track, Gerald is definitely a busy man. The Street Stock main event had a couple of yellow flags for relatively minor incidents and again saw the nearly unbeatable #53 of R.C. Combs take the win in front of the #99 of Joel Duke with the #18 of Don Goss taking 3rd.

The Hornets had their best field of the year with 7 cars to run a single heat and their main event, also without any yellow flags all night. The heat race had a very good battle among the top 4 cars the entire race with the winner not decided until the last lap. Taking the win was the #14 of Andy Fowner followed by the #06 of Jolene Fowner in second and the #97B of Justin Morgan in third. The main event also had a very good race long battle with the #97B of Justin Morgan making a late race pass on the #06 of Jolene Fowner in second and the #29 of Larry Johnson taking the 3rd position. This was the last race at Motiva Motor Speedway for the #29 of Larry Johnson as he is moving to Mobile Alabama. Good Luck in Mobile Larry, you will be missed.

Here are the UNOFFICIAL results for all races. We apologize for any errors.

X-Mods
Heat #1 #54D Shawn Dutcher, #62 Tom Melloy, #15 Dee Yates, #54 Perry Held, #26 Derek Dietz, #25 Ryan Dietz, #31 Dan Parks

Heat #2 #1 Mychal Lucero, #63 Justin Weber, #7 Steven Bertetto, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #95 Andrew Fowner, #60 Tanner Higdon, #41 Ralph Dutcher

Heat #3 #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #34S Donald Scott, #29 Mike O'Neal, #18 Kevin Hibdon, #33 Wild Bill Lynch

Dash for Cash #00 Steve Bonesteel, #63 Justin Weber, #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #7 Steven Bertetto, #26 Derek Dietz, #15 Dee Yates DNF

Main-Event #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #1 Mychal Lucero, #63 Justin Weber, #7 Steven Bertetto, #15 Dee Yates, #62 Tom Melloy, #29 Mike O'Neal, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #95 Andrew Fowner, #41 Ralph Dutcher, #31 Dan Parks, #54D Shawn Dutcher, #60 Tanner Higdon DNF, #18 Kevin Hibdon DNF, #19 Patricia Gallegos DNF, #54 Perry Held DNF, #28 Skimmer Leathem DNF

305 Winged Sprints
Heat Race only as main event was canceled due to weather #12 Jerry Moser, #56 Chris Douglas, #77 Colt Treharn, #52X James Hatch, #99 Chuck Jackson

Cruisers
Heat #1 #00 Leo Dennis on, #42 Mike Baca, #33 Devon Gates, #18 Jim Kosinski, #20 John Morningstar, #43 Art Hurley, #76 Madison Conrad DNF

Heat #2 #26 Cody Sanchez, #50 Todd Hendrickson, #7 Rob Moseley, #1 Phil York, #02 Suezanna Bonesteel, #58 Frank Payne DNF

Main-Event #7 Rob Moseley, #58 Frank Payne, #43 Art Hurley, #1 Phil York ( DQ'd ), #50 Todd Hendrickson DNF, #20 John Morningstar DNF, #42 Stephanie Sanchez DNF, #33 Devon Gates DNF, #26 Cody Sanchez DNF, #76 Madison Conrad DNF, #18 Jim Kosinski DNF, #00 Leo Dennis on DNF, #02 Suezanna Bonesteel DNS

Winged Mini-Sprints
Heat #1 #24K Cody Dons, #MR07 Patrick Hurtado, #16 Callie Justus, #29 Don Kruse, #5JR Tyler Grier, #4L Todd Matson

Heat #2 #4S Spencer Hill, #9X Eric Smith, #84X Jordan Matson, #22 Robert Turner, #72 Mike Barnes

Main-Event stopped on lap 5 due to weather, drivers awarded positions based on last completed lap- Sorry, do not have that information.

Street Stocks
Heat #1 #53 R.C. Combs, #54 Shawn Dutcher Jr., #143 Danny Gross Jr., #18 Don Goss, #48 Dan Glass DNF

Heat #2 #15 Cheyenna Yates, #99 Joel Duke, #82 Gerald Haste, #43 Dan Gross Sr. DNF

Main-Event #53 R.C. Combs, #99 Joel Duke, #18 Don Goss, #82 Gerald Haste, #48 Dan Glass, #15 Cheyenna Yates DNF, #143 Danny Gross Jr. DNF, #54 Shawn Dutcher Jr. DNF, #43 Dan Gross Sr. DNS

Hornets
Heat #1 and only #14 Andy Fowner, #06 Jolene Fowner, #97B Justin Morgan, #29 Larry Johnson, #99 Lena Duke, #98Y Coulter Morgan

Main-Event #97B Justin Morgan, #06 Jolene Fowner, #29 Larry Johnson, #99 Lena Duke, #48 Sean Hearne, #98Y Coulter Morgan, #14 Andy Fowner DNF

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody