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Hanford, Ca....June 8......Kurt
Nelson scored a narrow win over Ricci Faria in the 30 lap Rebel winged 360
sprint car feature Saturday night at Kings Speedway. Last year's Bandit unwinged
360 sprint car champion Jerome Warmerdam got a late start on his 2002 season,
but raced to a second straight 25 lap feature win in that class with visitor Tom
Stansberry from Bakersfield second. Stansberry usually races at Ventura Raceway
and was a recent feature winner there. Tom Stidham outran Porterville car
builder Steve Smothermon and track point leader Brian Cass to win the 20 lap
IMCA Modified feature. Stidham led wire to wire and is the uncle of winged
sprint car star Craig Stidham.
The Rebel action drew a 16 car
field and Luke Bebereia was easily the fast timer with a 14.188 as R Faria had a
14.373 effort. Nelson timed third quick at 14.395 and Tim Worth had a 14.421.
Danny Faria Jr won the first heat race over Worth and Erik Folger. Mark Barroso
won heat 2 with R Faria second over Rick Martin. Andy Ferris edged out Nelson
and Davey Key in heat 3. Nelson scored the narrow win over R Faria in the 30 lap
feature with a last lap pass as Key a strong third and D Faria Jr closing fast
for fourth. Ron Myska finished fifth ahead of Martin, Ferris and Folger. Despite
a rough night, Bebereia leads the point standings with just an 8 point margin
over Worth as Nelson climbed into third, just 25 points behind the point leader.
The unwinged Bandit action had a
great 25 car turnout, but Matt Day's night ended in hot laps. Impressive
modified midget graduate Aaron Altaffer was fast timer at 16.610 seconds on the
3/8 mile clay oval with Gene Manhire just a tick back at 16.656. Davey Pombo Jr
had a 16.694 and New Zealand transplant Greg Keegan ranked fourth at 16.701.
Santa Maria Speedway star Jimmy Thompson was fifth at 16.716. Thompson won the
first heat race over Altaffer and Greg Porte. Richard Harvey Jr won heat 2 with
teammate Manhire second over Derrick Hearron. Dave Knott took heat 3 with Jason
Yount second ahead of Pombo. Stansberry won heat 3 with John Burnett second over
Warmerdam. Stansberry was on the pole for the feature and he paced the first 11
laps before Warmerdam made his winning pass in turn 4. Thompson was running 3rd
on lap 4 when Jonathan Logan spun in turn 4. Thompson slowed to avoid contact
and was hit from behind by Richard Harvey Jr. Thompson flipped in the incident
and it marked the fourth time in the past five races that he has been upsidedown.
The ten minute downtime allowed the team to make repairs and he continued in the
race. The race was checkered a lap early when Dave Knott ran over a wheel and
flipped in turn 3. Warmerdam won ahead of Stansberry, Derrick Hearron, Manhire,
Yount, A J Burgin, Burnett, Bobby Elliott, Keegan and Porte. Thompson finished
14th. The very tight season championship fight sees Manhire the leader with just
a five point margin on Burgin. Despite his recent crashes, Thompson is third, 50
points out of the lead and just 4 in front of Sherman May.
The 20 IMCA Modifieds
were divided into a three heat format, but Chad Patterson was done after hot
laps. Smothermon won heat 1 over Rodney Freitas and Marcus Aue. Cass beat track
title rival Tim Clark and Stidham in heat 2 and Lonnie Lacy Jr captured heat 3
over Eddie Stewart and Mark Hamblin. Stidham was never headed in the 20 lap
feature with Smothermon second and Cass coming through the pack for third.
Freitas stayed in strong title contention with a fourth over Mark Hamblin, Paul
Stone, Joe Chapman, Aue and Bob Dias. Cass ended the night with a 3 point
lead on Freitas, but built his margin to 17 points over Clark and 26 ahead of
Stone. Aue is fifth in points, 31 behind the point leader.
Summary
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1-Steve Smothermon, Rodney Freitas, Marcus Aue, Joe Chapman, Paul
Stone.
Heat 2-Brian Cass, Tim Clark, Tom Stidham, Jimmy Reeves, Ed Nichols.
Heat 3-Lonnie Lacy Jr, Eddie Stewart, Mark Hamblin, Bob Dias, Scott Swanson.
Main-Stidham, Smothermon, Cass, Freitas, Hamblin, Stone, Chapman, Aue, Dias,
Gerald Russell, Reeves, Bryan Burnes, Stewart, Clark, Lacy, Swanson, Jimmy Lust,
Nichols, Art Deavult.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Fast Time-Aaron Altaffer 16.610
Heat 1-Jimmy Thompson, Altaffer, Greg Porte, Sherman May, Josh Davis.
Heat 2-Richard Harvey Jr, Gene Manhire, Derrick Hearron, Bobby Elliott, Jonathan
Logan.
Heat 3-Dave Knott, Jason Yount, Davey Pombo Jr, Steve DeMott, Patrick
Frisco.
Heat 4-Tom Stansberry, John Burnett, Jerome Warmerdam, Greg Keegan, Brian
Schuler.
Main-Warmerdam, Stansberry, Hearron, Manhire, Yount, A J Burgin, Burnett,
Elliott, Keegan, Porte, May, Harvey, Dick Stevens, Thompson, Davis, Knott, Buck
Cox, Logan, Schuler, Frisco, Ray Knight, Pombo, Altaffer, DeMott.
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Fast Time-Luke Bebereia 14.166
Heat 1-Danny FAria Jr, Tim Worth, Eric Folger, Gary Caldwell, Bebereia.
Heat 2-Mark Barroso, Ricci Faria, Rick Martin, Jeff Botelho, Stan
Greenberg.
Heat 3-Andy Ferris, Kurt Nelson, Davey Key, Lawrence Edlund, Jerry Pelayo.
Main-Nelson, R Faria, Key, D Faria Jr, Ron Myska, Martin, Ferris, Folger, Worth,
Barroso, Greenberg, Pelayo, Botelho, Caldwell, Bebereia, Edlund.
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