Wofford, Bonesteel, Combs, Yates and Johnston take wins at Sandia Speedway
4-25-2015
Bob & Ray Ingram

Albuquerque, New Mexico. Another very good night of dirt track racing at Sandia Speedway sponsored this week by Mosher Enterprises Inc. With threatening weather in the area there were a good number of cars on hand to put on a great show for a very good crowd of dedicated fans.

The 305 Winged Sprints had 7 very fast cars on hand to run a single heat and their main-event. Wes Wofford in his #19 who usually races at El Paso Speedway Park and Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces joined our local drivers and took home the money. The heat race saw Wofford jump out to the lead at the drop of the green flag and pretty much just pull away from the field. The #40X of Jesse Baker driving the Butch Box sprinter stayed close enough to Wofford to keep him honest. The main-event was a nearly identical replay of the heat race.

As has been the case the last couple of years the X-Mods had the largest field of cars and put on some extremely good racing. One of the highlights of the night was at intermission when the “Ironman” J.R. Bonesteel #0 signed and gave out “Hero Cards” to all of the youngsters ( and a few oldsters ) in the stands. Heat #1 had a race long battle among the top 4 drivers for the win. In the end the #23 of Andy Gensen Jr. was able to hold off the determined efforts of #7 Steven Bertetto taking 2nd and the #29 of Mike O'Neal coming home in 3rd. Heat #2 was the closest of the heat races with the #00 of Steve Bonesteel holding off his son #0 J.R. Bonesteel with the #98 of Toy Fisher not far behind in the 3rd position. Heat #3 was another thriller with the top 4 drivers fighting for the win. At the checkered flag it was the #41 of Ralph Dutcher taking the win over the #15 of Dee Yates in 2nd and the #1 of Mychal Lucero taking the 3rd spot. The track sponsored Dash for Cash had 5 of the top drivers going for the extra $100.00. All five drivers were never more than a few car lengths apart the entire race. At the finish it was the #7 of Steven Bertetto taking the money in front of the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel and the #1 of Mychal Lucero. The main-event saw all 20 cars on hand make the call for a very exciting race. The first 10 laps went caution free and saw some great 2 and 3 wide racing through the entire field. There were no major crashes in this race but a few caution periods for mechanical issues. This division has 10 – 15 cars with a legitimate chance to win on any given night. Tonight the top 7 finishers were all more that capable of taking the win. As the laps were winding down there was a furious battle between the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel and the #7 of Steven Bertetto as these drivers ran no more than a few feet apart ( sometimes only inches ) and often running side by side. In the end Bertetto became the meat in a Bonesteel sandwich as the #0 of J.R. Took the win over Bertetto with Steve Bonesteel #00 making a strong finish in 3rd spot.

The Street Stocks don't always have the most cars but they always seem to put on some of the best racing. Heat #1 saw youngster Rob Moseley #74M take the win over the #54 of hard charging Shawn Dutcher with the #99 of Joel Duke finishing 3rd right on their bumpers. Heat #2 had a very good battle among the top 3 drivers with the #5X of Rick Boelter taking the win over the #53 of R.C. Combs in 2nd and the #1 of Ronnie Bell who was making his first start of the year in this class. Bell did race two weeks ago in the Cruiser / Hornet class. The main-event saw the #53 of Combs take the lead early and never look back, but the battle for 2nd was possibly the best show of the night as the #1 of Bell and the #5X of Boelter fought side by side, lap after lap without ever touching each other. At the checkered flag Bell was able to off Boelter by inches to take the 2nd spot. There apparently was a bit of an issue in the pits after this race and the #53 of Combs was disqualified due to actions of someone in his pit crew. After cooler head prevailed and there was a meeting between all involved parties and track staff the DQ was rescinded and Combs maintained his win.

The combined Cruiser / Hornet class had one of their best fields with 19 cars on hand. The combination of the V8 rear wheel drive cars and the smaller 4 cyl. Front wheel drive cars has been a great success with the little 4cyl cars more than holding their own against the V8's. Heat #1 saw last years Hornet champion #97B Justin Morgan take the win in front of the #7 of Daysha Boelter with the #5.0 of Dan Baca coming home in 3rd. Heat #2 saw the #80 of Ernie Sandoval come from his back row start to take the win in front of the #1 of Phil York and the #28 of Gary Smith in the little station wagon that could. Heat #3 saw the #15 of Cheyenna Yates who usually races in the Street Stock class come from the back row to take the win in front of the #18 of Jim Kosinski in 2nd with the #99 of Lena Duke in another of the Hornet cars taking the 3rd position. As was the case with the X-Mods, the Cruiser / Hornet class also see all 19 of their cars survive the heat races to make the call for their main-event. With 3 caution periods for mechanical problems and no crashes this main was very fast. The #15 of Yates took off from the outside front row and steadily pulled away for a big win over the #1 of Phil York with the #18 of Jim Kosinski making one of his best runs ever coming home a close 3rd.

The Winged Mini-Sprints had 7 cars to run their 2 heat races and a main-event. Heat #1 had all of the veteran drivers in it with the #17J of Jacob Johnston taking the win in front of the #5F of Brianna Franchini who was making her first start of the year and looking very racy. Chasing Johnston and Franchini to the stripe was the #72 of Mike Barnes. Heat #2 was a race for the new rookies in this class. The #38 of Travis Oldfield and the #84 of Katie Seals did a very good job of keeping their cars under control and gaining speed on every lap. In the end it was Oldfield taking the win over Seals. The main-event saw all 7 cars make the start and run caution free the entire race with the #17J of Jacob Johnston taking a commanding lead until the final two laps when lapped traffic came into play and allowed 2nd and 3rd place to close the gap, however Johnston was more than up to the challenge as he held off the #72 of Barnes with #5F Franchini taking the last podium position.

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody

Here are the full UNOFFICIAL results. We apologize for any errors.

305 Winged Sprints
Heat #1 and only #19 Wes Wofford, #40X Jesse Baker, #24C Cody Dons, #49 Chuck Jackson, #52NM Dave Burns, #50X Jerry Higgenbotham DNF, #21P Paul White DNF

Main-Event #19 Wes Wofford, #40X Jesse Baker, #49 Chuck Jackson, #52NM Dave Burns, #50X Jerry Higgenbotham DNF, #21P Paul Whitehead DNF, #24C Cody Dons DNF

X-Mods
Heat #1 #23 Andy Gensen Jr., #7 Steven Bertetto, #29 Mike O'Neal, #54D Shawn Dutcher, #95 Andrew Fowner, #62 Tom Melloy, #31 Dan Parks

Heat #2 #00 Steve Bonesteel, #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #98 Toy Fisher, #28 Skimmer Leathem, #18 Kevin Hibdon, #22 Juan Dorcas

Heat #3 #41 Ralph Dutcher, #15 Dee Yates, #1 Mychal Lucero, #54 Tim Hooper, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #25 Derek Dietz, #60 Tanner Higdon

Dash for Cash #7 Steven Bertetto, #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #1 Mychal Lucero, #98 Toy Fisher, #29 Mike O'Neal

Main-Event #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #7 Steven Bertetto, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #41 Ralph Dutcher, #15 Dee Yates, #29 Mike O'Neal, #1 Mychal Lucero, #25 Derek Dietz, #95 Andrew Fowner, #62 Tom Melloy, #31 Dan Parks, #28 Skimmer Leathem, #23 Andy Gensen Jr. DNF, #19 Patricia Gallegos DNF, #22 Juan Dorcas DNF, #98 Toy Fisher DNF, #18 Kevin Hibdon DNF, #54D Shawn Dutcher DNF, #60 Tanner Higdon DNF, #54 Tim Hooper DNF

Street Stocks
Heat #1 #74M Rob Moseley, #54 Shawn Dutcher Jr., #99 Joel Duke, #82 Gerald Haste, #88 Andrew Fanning DNF

Heat #2 #5X Rick Boelter, #53 R.C. Combs, #1 Ronnie Bell, #48 Dan Glass

Main-Event #53 R.C. Combs, #1 Ronnie Bell, #5X Rick Boelter, #99 Joel Duke, #74M Rob Moseley, #82 Gerald Haste, #48 Dan Glass, #54 Shawn Dutcher Jr. DNF, #88 Andrew Fanning DNS

Cruisers / Hornets
Heat #1 #97B Justin Morgan, #7 Daysha Boelter, #5.0 Dan Baca, #75 Jared Hensley, #58 Frank Payne, #43 Art Hurley, #79 Thomas Travis-Bateman

Heat #2 #80 Ernie Sandoval, #1 Phil York, #28 Gary Smith, #44 Art Hurley III, #5.7 Derek Sturgeon, #78 Anthony Sandoval DNF

Heat #3 #15 Cheyenna Yates, #18 Jim Kosinski, #99 Lena Duke, #7J Josh Thornburg, #98Y Coulter Morgan, #02 Ariel Bonesteel

Main-Event #15 Cheyenna Yates, #1 Phil York, #18 Jim Kosinski, #28 Gary Smith, #44 Art Hurley III, #99 Lena Duke, #79 Thomas Travis-Bateman, #43 Art Hurley, #58 Frank Payne, #98Y Coulter Morgan, #80 Ernie Sandoval DNF, #7 Daysha Boelter DNF, #5.7 Derek Sturgeon DNF, #02 Ariel Bonesteel DNF, #5.0 Dan Baca DNF, #7J Josh Thornburg DNF, #75 Jared Hensley DNF, #78 Anthony Sandoval DNF, #97B Justin Morgan DNF.

Winged Mini- Sprints
Heat #1 #17J Jacob Johnston, #5F Brianna Franchini, #72 Mike Barnes, #69X T.J. McHugh DNF, #9X Eric Smith DNF, #619 Lalo Saenz DNS

Heat #2 ( Rookie Race ) #38 Travis Oldfield, #84 Katie Seals

Main-Event #17J Jacob Johnston, #72 Mike Barnes, #5F Brianna Franchini, #9X Eric Smith, #38 Travis Oldfield, #84 Katie Seals, #619 Lalo Saenz DNF