Wofford, Bonesteel, Boelter and Barnes Take Wins @ Sandia Speedway
Bob & Ray Ingram
9-26-2015

On the final night of the regular season on the Dirt Track @ Sandia Speedway, there were good car counts in all divisions on a nearly perfect night for racing. A very good crowd of enthusiastic fans saw some great action in all divisions. Next week the Dirt Track @ Sandia Speedway will have the Modified Madness show with A-Mods, X-Mods and Street Stocks on the schedule for some excellent racing as this is a points race and there are several battles for position throughout the field. Then the final night of racing on the Dirt Track @ Sandia Speedway will be Oct. 10 with the Sprint Car Stampede featuring 305 Winged Sprints, 360 Non Winged Sprints, Winged Mini-Sprints, Non Winged Mini-Sprints along with the Cruiser / Hornet class. Both of these show are afternoon events with racing starting at 3:30 P.M.

The 305 Winged Sprints had a shorter field than expected as some of the southern drivers elected to race in Amarillo, but the 8 drivers on hand put on a very good show. Heat #1 saw Las Cruces driver #9 Robert Herrera shoot out in the lead from outside the front row and take the win by a long distance in front of Alamogordo driver #19 Wes Wofford with local favorite #49 Chuck Jackson coming home in 3rd place. Heat #2 had the father of heat #1 winner #18 Lorne Wofford take the win in front of #40X Jesse Baker from Grants with the #21P of Paul Whitehead finishing in third spot. The main-event saw the two Alamogordo drivers and the Las Cruces driver start inside of rows 1, 2 and 3 and jump out in front in those positions. Lorne Woffords #18 took the lead from the very start and led every lap although he did have a scare late in the race as he got high in turn two and slide along the wall the entire length of the backstretch, however Wofford had a big enough lead that he was able to gather the car up and hang on for the win. There was a good battle for second place between Lorne's son Wes in his #19 with the #9 of Robert Herrera swapping positions several times during the race. Staying close behind the Wofford/Herrera battle was the #40X of Jesse Baker who was close enough that a slip up by Wofford and Herrera would have opened the door for Baker to pass both drivers. At the checkered flag it was #18 Lorne Wofford with the win, #19 Wes Wofford holding off the #9 of Robert Herrera for second and Herrera coming home in a very close third place.

The X-Mods ran three very good heat races with only a single yellow flag and that was caused by a blown motor in the #28 of Skimmer Leatham in heat #2 as he was leading the race. Heat #1 saw a very fast race with the #1X of Todd Budlong taking the lead at the drop of the green flag and pulling away from the field. The father and son duo of Steve and J.R. Bonesteel battled each other for the runner up spot. At the checkered flag it was #1X Todd Budlong with the win and the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel taking second and dad #00 Steve Bonesteel in third spot. Heat #2 saw the #95 of Andrew Fowner have one of his best races of the year as he jumped out from his pole position start and lead every lap and take a comfortable win. Chasing Fowner to the stripe was his daughter #19 Patricia Gallegos who was also having one of her best night of the year. Behind Fowner and Gallegos was the #41 of Ralph Dutcher taking third spot. Heat #3 was the closest race of the night in any division as the #50 of Squeaky Mendoza and the #54D of Shawn Dutcher ran nose to tail the entire race until the final turn as Dutcher got up alongside of Mendoza and took the win by about 1 foot or less. This was as close to a dead heat as possible. Chasing Dutcher and Mendoza was the #4 of Henry Alvidres who was making only his second start of the year. The main-event had only 13 starters due to the #28 of Skimmer Leatham and the #1M of Mychal Lucero not making the call due to mechanical problems in their heat races. The was a wild and wooly affair with many changes in positions throughout the field the entire race. Once again the #95 of Andrew Fowner jumped out to the early lead and was looking very good until he got too high coming out of turn 2 and slammed the end of the backstretch wall very hard. Thankfully Andrew was not injured but his car was done for the night. On the restart the #1X of Todd Budlong shot out into the lead and was pulling away from the field when he suddenly looped his car coming out of turn four and had to restart at the rear of the field. At this point there was a battle among the top 8 drivers for the top spot. As the laps wound down the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel took control and pulled away for the win with the very fast #15 of Dee Yates close behind and the #1X of Todd Budlong doing a great job of coming back from the earlier spin and starting at the rear of the field taking the final podium position.

The Street Stocks ran two very good heat races and an excellent main-event. Heat #1 saw this years points leader #5X Rick Boelter take off in the lead and never be challenged the entire race, however the fight for the runner-up spot was great with the next four drivers never more than a few car lengths apart. In the end it was Boelter with the win being chased home by the #43 of Dan Gross in second and the #74M of Rob Moesley taking third. Heat #2 was a closer race with the top four drivers changing positions over and over the entire race. At the finish it was the #143 of Danny Gross Jr. coming from inside the 3rd row taking the win in front of the #M77 of Cameron Martin in second and the #33 of Devon Gates in third place. The main-event saw the #33 of Devon Gates take off from outside the front row and lead several laps before the #5X of Rick Boelter again took over the lead and was never really challenged the rest of the race. The battle for second place among the next 5 drivers was more than worth the price of admissions as these drivers were never more than a few feet apart and usually were two and three wide the entire race. There was one scary moment as the #16 of Francisco Baca got turned sideways in the middle of the backstretch and barrel rolled several times coming to rest in the exit road to the hot pit area. Once again thankfully Francisco was uninjured but his car was heavily damaged. As Boelter was cruising toward the win the battle for 2 threw 6 continued. On the final lap of the race there were 4 drivers knotted up in about room for only two cars. Coming out of the final turn the beautiful red #76 of Madison Conrad made a bold move on the inside to nudge out the #143 of Danny Gross Jr. by less than a full car length. Miss Conrad has been getting faster and faster every week and could be a threat to win during the Modified Madness show next Saturday afternoon.

The Cruiser / Hornets had their best field of the year with 21 cars to run 3 heats and a main-event. Heat #1 saw the little Mustang #50 of Todd Hendrickson come from the 7th starting spot take the win in front of the #16 of Francisco Baca in second and the #98Y of Coulter Morgan in third spot. Kudos to these drivers as the track was still very wet when their race started and these drivers went the entire way without a caution flag ( GREAT JOB GUYS ). Heat #2 also went nearly caution free but for a short caution for debris on the track. The #97B of Justin Morgan came from the back row in his front wheel drive 4 cylinder car to take the win in front of the #43 of Art Hurley in second and the #11 of Rhi Rhi Hall taking third. Hall has been doing a very good job of running at the front of her races with only 3 or 4 weeks of experience. Heat #3 saw seasoned veteran #1 Phil York take a hard earned win in front of the #7 of Rick Boelter and the #80 of Ernie Sandoval right on his heels at the checkered flag. The main-event had 19 starters as the #26N of Justin Neff and the #75 of Jared Hensley were not able to make the call. The #7 of Rick Boelter driving his wife Dasha's car took off in the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looked back. However there was plenty of action throughout the rest of the field. In the early laps the #98Y of Coulter got hooked up with another car and did several flips down the backstretch, at one point landing on top of the #28 of Gary Smith. Again the safety equipment did its job and Morgan was uninjured, however his little Hornet is probably done for ever????? Once things settled down it was the #06 of Andy Fowner taking second behind the #7 of Rick Boelter with the #97B of Justin Morgan taking home 3rd place. Fowner in the #06 was driving the same car he ran Friday night on the asphalt track.

The Winged Mini-Sprints had a short field of only 6 cars but put on a very good heat race and main-event. As with the Cruiser/Hornet division the smaller infield track that the Mini-Sprints run on was very wet but these drivers had their act together and ran the entire race without a caution flag ( GREAT JOB GUYS and GALS ). The heat race saw the #72 of Mike Barnes jump out to the lead with the very determined #5F of Brianna Francini nipping at his heels trying to make the pass first high then low. With only a couple of laps to go Francini was able to make the pass on the outside going down the backstretch and hold on for the win in front of Barnes with the #619 of Lalo Saenz taking home third place. The main-event again saw the #72 of Mike Barnes take the lead at the drop of the green, but this time it was the #24K of Cody Dons nipping at his heels while the #5F of Brianna Francini got stuck behind a couple of slower cars and lost a lot of ground before she could get clear and do battle at the front. At the checkered flag it was the #72 of Mike Barnes taking the clean sweep on the night with the #24K of Cody Dons in second and the #5F of Brianna Francini taking a very close third. As in the heat race this group of drivers went flag to flag with not caution periods. Job Well Done.

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody

Here are the full results of all races, these results are UNOFFICIAL and we apologize for any errors.

305 Winged Sprints
Heat #1 #9 Robert Herrera, #19 Wes Wofford, #49 Chuck Jackson, #12 Jerry Mosher

Heat #2 #18 Lorne Wofford, #40X Jesse Baker, #21P Paul Whitehead, #50X Jerry Higgenbotham DNF

Main-Event #18 Lorne Wofford, #19 Wes Wofford, #9 Robert Herrera, #40X Jesse Baker, #49 Chuck Jackson, #21P Paul Whitehead, #12 Jerry Mosher, #50X Jerry Higginbotham DNF

X-Mods
Heat #1 1X Todd Budlong, #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #15 Dee Yates, #54 Tim Hooper

Heat #2 #95 Andrew Fowner, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #41 Ralph Dutcher, #29 Mike O'Neal, #28 Skimmer Leatham DNF

Heat #3 #54D Shawn Dutcher, #50 Squeaky Mendoza, #4 Henry Alvidres, #62 Tom Melloy, #1M Mychal Lucero DNS

Main-Event #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #15 Dee Yates, #1X Todd Budlong, #29 Mike O'Neal, #50 Squeaky Mendoza, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #41 Ralph Dutcher, #4 Henry Alvidres, #54 Tim Hooper, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #62 Tom Melloy, #95 Andrew Fowner DNF, #54 Shawn Dutcher DNF, #1M Mychal DNS, #28 Skimmer Leatham DNS

Street Stocks
Heat #1 #5X Rick Boelter, #43 Dan Gross, #74M Rob Moesley, #76 Madison Conrad, #99 Joel Duke, #16 Francisco Baca DNS

Heat #2 #143 Danny Gross Jr., #M77 Cameron Martin, #33 Devon Gates, #22R Ralph Garcia, #18J Jim Kosinski, #18 Don Goss DNF

Main-Event #5X Rick Boelter, #76 Madison Conrad, #143 Danny Gross Jr., #M77 Cameron Martin, #22R Ralph Garcia, #99 Joel Duke, #74M Rob Moesley DNF, #18 Don Goss DNF, #33 Devon Gates DNF, #18J Jim Kosinski DNF, #43 Dan Gross DNF, #16 Francisco Baca DNF

Cruisers / Hornets
Heat #1 #50 Todd Hendrickson, #16 Francisco Baca, #98Y Coulter Morgan, #58 Frank Payne, #06 Andy Fowner, #26N Justin Neff DNF, #75 Jared Hensley DNF

Heat #2 #97B Justin Morgan, #43 Art Hurley, #11 Rhi Rhi Hall, #44 Art Hurley III, #28 Gary Smith, #02 Suzanne Bonesteel, #79 Thomas Travis-Bateman

Heat #3 #1 Phil York, #7 Rick Boelter, #80 Ernie Sandoval, #2 Perry Held, #46 John Glass, #99 Lena Duke, #29 Vanessa Frazier DNF

Main-Event #7 Rick Boelter, #06 Andy Fowner, #97B Justin Morgan, #50 Todd Hendrickson, #58 Frank Payne, #1 Phil York, #43 Art Hurley, #02 Suzanne Bonesteel, #99 Lena Duke, #29 Vanessa Frazier, #46 John Glass, #44 Art Hurley III, #80 Ernie Sandoval DNF, #2 Perry Held DNF, #79 Thomas Travis-Bateman DNF, #16 Francisco Baca DNF, #11 Rhi Rhi Hall DNF, #28 Gary Smith DNF, #98Y Coulter Morgan DNF, #75 Jared Hensley DNS, #26N Justin Neff DNS

Winged Mini-Sprints

Heat #1 and only #5F Brianna Francini, #72 Mike Barnes, #619 Lalo Saenz, #24K Cody Dons, #1st Bob Harrington, #84 Katie Seals

Main-Event #72 Mike Barnes, #24K Cody Dons, #5F Brianna Francini, #619 Lalo Saenz, #84 Katie Seals, #1st Bob Harrington