Posted by Bob & Ray Ingram on July 4, 2015, 10:29 am
If the first night of their two day show is any indication, Saturday should be wild. They ran four divisions, X Mods, Pro Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Cubs.
Hobby heat saw #17 of Sheriff Mase in the winners circle, with a very competitive #22a of Anne Martinez in second and Pat Forkney #35 final podium position.
Pro Stocks had three cars and the Street Stocks had three cars so they combined them to present one Heat. It was Donnie Carey #42d showing a strong run. Jason Bodley in his #44 second and Dan Gross Sr #43 third.
The X Mods had enough cars to have three heats. In the first heat (which was on a still wet slick track) Was won by J R Bonesteel #0 from his pole start, Mychal Lucero in #1 ran a close second and Skimmer Leatham #28 looking like he would be a force in the main, bringing in third place.
Second X Mod heat had Todd Budlong 1X in the Lucero backup car take the win, again from his pole start as the track was just starting to come in. Andrew Fowner #95 second and the rest of that heat were DNF's.
Final X Mod heat had Grants favorite Kimbry Ward in #55 win with Shortie Rodriguez driving his newly acquired #44 of Joey Trujillo. Clay Gossett 11x third.
The Hobby Stock main had 10 cars take the track. George Basden #69 had moved from the Street Stock to the Hobby class. I couldn't tell the difference. He was fast and was slinging the car into the turns as hard as ever. Jason Bodley #24 who was doing double duty in Hobby and Pro Stock was leading when George tried to do a low side slide and bounced into Bodley causing a flat on #24 and a hot pit. The flagman put ole George to the rear so even with a mad dash to the finish George only got back to fourth. Francisco Baca was driving Ernie Sandovals #80 and ran strong second, Sherrif Mase #17 was third, Anne Martinez #22a was a front runner looking like a contender until a mid race dust up with another driver put her to the back.
The Pro Stock main was all Donnie Carey #42d he is always a threat to win and tonight he looked especially fast and his car set-up looked perfect. Jason Bodley #44 was second (he had a spin) or it might have been a different race. Dan Gross Sr #43 was third, and Springerville, AZ driver Duane Noffz #28 fourth, remainder of the field were DNF's.
The race of the night were the X Mods. A wild start took four restarts to get the first full lap in. In the first of the yellow flags was for #15 of Jo Lee Ward since he was starting mid pack there was quite a scramble to miss him. The second yellow saw #95 Fowner and #55 Kimbry Ward come together in turn two, Todd Budlong 1x had no place to go and slid it sideways into the fray. It looked like the end of the night for Budlong and Ward, but alas only Fowner went off on the hook. After a couple of more false starts the race was on for real. By now the track was heavy and very fast. It was a charge to the front for Budlong and the two Bonesteels, J.R. and Steve. They put on quite a duel with first one then the other looking fastest. With all the cautions only six of the thirteen starters finished but those drives gave the fans a show worth the admission price. The final finish had Todd Budlong #1x bring in the checkered, followed 2-3 car lengths behind by J R Bonesteel, Dad Steve Bonesteel was a close third and even after a couple of hot pits, and yellows Kimby Ward #55 brought in a good fourth place with #20 L. J. Pera and #29 Mike O'Neal the final finishers in the X Mods.
Tonight should bring out more drivers. We spoke to both R. .C Combs and Cheyenna Yates who said they were bringing out their cars. Show Low Az. raining out last night and a 80% chance of rain tonight we may see some of their cars show up. Bring the family and a friend for some hot dirt track action tonight.
on July 4, 2015, 10:29 am