Race Recap for Motiva Motor Speedway Dirt Track 4-5-2014
Posted by Bob & Ray Ingram on April 6, 2014, 6:51 pm
Motiva Motor Speedway Dirt Track 4-5-2014 Bob & Ray Ingram
On a very windy day a great group of hardy fans came out to see the second show of the season at Motiva Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Car count was still down a bit as several cars are not yet ready but the cars on hand gave the fans a great show and were on their way home by a shade after 7:00 P.M. The new clay that was put down during the off season held up extremely well under far less than ideal conditions and was fast and smooth from the first green flag to the last checkered flag.
The X-Mods brought out a very nice field of 21 cars for their first show of the season. Look for this division to have 30 cars with B-Mains in the next couple of weeks. Heat #1 saw Mychal Lucero in his black #1 take off from his pole position start and lead the entire way. Although Lucero led the whole way he was hounded by the #63 of Justin Weber and the #62 of Tom Melloy who were never more that a car length or two behind. In the end Melloy held off Weber to finish in second and third. Heat #2 was another close one as the #00 of Steve Bonesteel and the #28 of Skimmer Leathem came through the field from the back row to take the top two spots with the #73 of Gerald Haste finishing in the 3rd spot. Heat #3 saw the #54 of Perry Held ( driving the Tim Hooper car ) battle the #15 of Dee Yates the entire race with Held holding on for the win and Yates taking the 2nd spot. Rookie driver Kevin Hibdon in his beautiful #18 stayed close to the leaders to take the 3rd position. There was a single yellow flag in each heat race due to minor spins with no damaged race cars, allowing all 21 cars on hand to make the call for a very exciting A-Main. As in the first heat race the #1 of Mychal Lucero jumped out to the early lead and fought off several challenges by 5 or 6 drivers to lead the entire distance for the win. There were half a dozen drivers fighting to overtake Lucero, with none of them more than a few car lengths behind. As the drivers were on the final lap they encountered 2 cars that were about to be lapped that allowed the top 6 or 7 drivers to get nose to tail in turns 3 and 4. At the checkered it was Lucero holding off the #00 of Steve Bonesteel in 2nd, the #28 of Skimmer Leathem, the #15 of Dee Yates and the #29 of Mike O'Neal holding down the fifth position. Lucero, Leathem, O'Neal and Tom Melloy had come out last weekend and mixed it up with the A-Mods and did a great job with Lucero taking the 3 spot ahead of 3 or 4 of the A-Mods. This year should see a great battle for the X-Mod Championship but Lucero certainly looks like a strong contender for this honor.
The 305 Winged Sprint cars made their first show of the season with a short field of 7 cars to put on a very good heat race and main-event. There are several more cars in the Albuquerque area being readied and some more southern cars who should be out for the next show so that we should be seeing 10-15 cars in the near future. The heat race saw the #77 of Colt Treharn jump out to the lead and hold off the very hard charging #148 of El Paso racer Don Grable and the #12 of Jerry Mosher. The Main-Event saw the #148 of Grable take off from outside the front row and never look back as he took the win over the #77 of Treharn with the #21X of another El Paso racer Brandon Schure coming home in the 3rd spot. Grable in his #148 came up last week to run with the NMMRA Non-Wing Sprints to win the B-Main and start deep in the A-Main in 17th spot and work his way through some very competitive racers to finishing a more than respectable 2nd. Grable is one of the few Sprint Car drivers to show up in a pick-up truck and an open trailer with the wing riding along in the bed of the pickup. Maybe if we had more of these rigs we would see some new fans following them to the track???????
The Street Stocks are still down a bit on car count but the drivers who did show up put on a great show for the fans. The heat race saw the #53 of youngster R.C. Combs in his beautiful #53 take another win over the #15 of first year Street Stock driver Cheyenna Yates in her pretty black and green #15 with the #73 of Ric Valdes taking the 3rd spot. The Main-Event saw the #53 of Combs jump out to the early lead with Yates, Valdes and the #99 of Joel Duke hot on his heels. As the race wore on Yates was able to get up beside Combs on a couple of occasions but never make the pass. On the final lap Yates spun coming out of the 2nd turn and finished last of the remaining cars. Chasing Combs to the stripe were the #73 of Ric Valdes and the #99 of Joel Duke. We can look forward to a heated battle for the championship this year among these 4 drivers and possibly a couple of more drivers who are still working on their cars.
The Cruisers again had 9 cars to run a single heat race and their Main-Event. The heat race saw regular winner Devin Gates in his #33 take the win over a very hard charging #X1 being driven by Rick Boelter with the #18 of newcomer Jim Kosinski taking the 3rd spot. The Main-Event had the beautiful #76 of young lady driver Madison Conrad lead the first half of the race with the rest of the field trying to run her down. As the laps wound down the #33 of Gates worked his way through the field to overtake Conrad and hold on for the win over Conrad and the #20 of John Morningstar. Morningstar runs one of the largest cars in the Cruiser class with a 1978 Chrysler Cordoba and runs near the front most of the time. Morningstar salutes the fan with a honk of his horn at the end of every race.
The Mini-Sprints had a very good field of 15 cars to run two heat races and a very exciting Main-Event. Heat #1 saw the #17 of last years champion Jacob Johnston take the win over the #9X of Eric Smith and the #72 of Mike Barnes. Heat #2 saw the very fast #4S of Spencer Hill take the win over the #5F of Brianna Franchitti and the #07 of Patrick Hurtado. The Main-Event was a thriller with 14 of the 15 cars making the green flag, only the #22 of Robert Turner who pulled onto the track the had mechanical problems and had to pull off before the start. As the green flag feel the fight was on as the top 10 cars were in a wad trying to win on the first lap. With only a few laps down the #69X of T. J. McHugh tangled with a couple of cars on the frontstretch and did a few very hard rolls that heavily damaged his car but fortunately T.J. Was able to walk away from the crash. As the race got back under way there was still a heated battle for the lead. With the laps winding down the #4S of Spencer Hill was making a pass on 2 cars when he ran out of racing room and rolled his car along the top of the backstretch wall. As with the McHugh incident the Hill car was heavily damaged but Hill was able to walk away uninjured. As the dust settled the #17 of Johnston was able to take his second win of the night followed by the #07 of Hurtado and the #5F of Franchitti very close to his rear bumper.
As was the case last week the Hornets again had only 4 cars to run a heat race and a main-event. The heat race saw the #99 of Lena Duke take the win over the #29 of Larry Johnson and the #97B of Justin Morgan. With only 4 cars these drivers put on a very entertaining race as there were several spins by the leaders that mixed up the running order on several occasions. The Main-Event saw a good battle for the win with the #97B of Justin Morgan taking the victory over the #99 of Duke and the #29 of Johnson.
We would like to thank Steve Cunningham for doing an excellent job as Race Director in running a fast and efficient show and to Vicky Goss and her crew of scorers who do a fantastic job at the HARDEST job at the race track. Here are the UNOFFICIAL RESULTS as we think we saw them. Anything from about 5th on back in the X-Mod Main and the Mini-Sprint main is a guess at best on our part. We apologize for any errors.
X-MODS
Heat #1 - #1 Mychal Lucero, #62 Tom Melloy, #63 Justin Weber, #29 Mike O'Neal, #95 Andrew Fowner, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #34 Donald Scott
Heat #2 - #00 Steve Bonesteel, #28 Skimmer Leathem, #73 Gerald Haste, #54D Shawn Dutcher, #31 Dan Parks, #55 Christopher Ward, #60 Tanner Higdon
Heat #3 - #54 Perry Held, #15 Dee Yates, #18 Kevin Hibdon, #14C Bennie Chavez, #33 Wild Bill Lynch, #3XX Bry Bunny, #43 Dan Glass DNF
Main-Event - #1 Mychal Lucero, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #28 Skimmer Leathem, #15 Dee Yates, #29 Mike O'Neal, #62 Tom Melloy, #34 Donald Scott, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #55 Christopher Ward, #95 Andrew Fowner, #14C Bennie Chavez, #3XX Bry Bunny, #73 Gerald Haste DNF, #60 Tanner Higdon DNF, #54D Shawn Dutcher DNF, #54 Perry Held DNF, #43 Dan Glass DNF, #31 Dan Parks DNF, #33 Wild Bill Lynch DNF, #18 Kevin Hibdon DNF, #63 Justin Weber DNF
305 Winged Sprints
Heat #1 and only - #77 Colt Treharn, #148 Don Grable, #12 Jerry Mosher, #40X Jerill Higgenbotham, #21X Brandon Schure, #99 Chuck Jackson, #52NM James Hatch DNF
Main-Event - #148 Don Grable, #77 Colt Treharn, #21X Brandon Schure, #99 Chuck Jackson, #12 Jerry Mosher, #40X Jerill Higgenbotham, #52NM James Hatch DNS
Street Stock
Heat 1 and only - #53 R.C. Combs, #15 Cheyenna Yates, #73 Ric Valdes, #54 Shawn Dutcher Jr., #48 John Glass, #99 Joel Duke DNF, #143 Danny Gross Jr. DNF, #43 Dan Gross Sr. DNF, #11X Casey Gossett DNS
Main-Event - #53 R.C. Combs, #73 Ric Valdes, #99 Joel Duke, #43 Dan Gross Sr., #54 Shawn Dutcher Jr., #15 Cheyenna Yates, #48 John Glass DNF, #143 Danny Gross Jr. DNS, #11X Casey Gossett DNS
Cruisers
Heat #1 and only - #33 Devin Gates, #X1 Rick Boelter, #18 Jim Kosinski, #20 John Morningstar, #00 Leo Dennison, #76 Madison Conrad, #58 Frank Payne, #52 Stephanie Sanchez, #49 Brandon Caldwell DNF.
Main-Event- #33 Devin Gates, #76 Madison Conrad, #20 John Morningstar, #58 Frank Payne, #00 Leo Dennison, #18 Jim Kosinski, #X1 Rick Boelter DNF, #49 Brandon Caldwell DNF, #42 Mike Baca DNF
Mini-Sprints
Heat #1 - #17 Jacob Johnston #9X Eric Smith, #72 Mike Barnes, #29 Don Kruse, #11X Tyler James Congelton, #69X T.J. McHugh, #14 Alex Robinson #88 Doug Stokes
Heat #2 - #4S Spencer Hill, #5F Brianna Franchitti, #07 Patrick Hurtado, #24K Kaylee Dons, #5JR Tyler Grier, #74 Ike Thompson #22 Robert Turner DNF
Main-Event - #17 Jacob Johnston, #07 Patrick Hurtado, #5F Brianna Franchitti, #24K Kaylee Dons, #29 Don Kruse, #72 Mike Barnes, #9X Eric Smith, #11X Tyler James Congelton #88 Doug Stokes, #14 Alex Robinson, #74 Ike Thompson, #5JR Tyler Grier, #4S Spencer Hill DNF, #69X T.J. McHugh DNF, #22 Robert Turner DNS
Hornets
Heat #1 and only - #99 Lena Duke, #29 Larry Johnson, #97B Justin Morgan, #98Y Coulter Morgan
Main-Event - #97B Justin Morgan, #99 Lena Duke, #29 Larry Johnson, #98Y Coulter Morgan
Have A Great Day God Bless Everybody
Re: Race Recap for Motiva Motor Speedway Dirt Track 4-5-2014
Thanks Bob nice to put some names with the cars on the track yesterday. Some pretty close and exciting races saw some fans cheering and getting excited about the close racing.I thought the track was in great shape, its a fast little bowl going to provide some great racing. The El Paso sprint car drivers liked it alot.
on April 6, 2014, 6:51 pm