8/3/2020
Redwood Acres Raceway
Nissen Wins Wild Legends Main, Powers Comes Through In Bomber Feature
Race number two for the 2020 season at Redwood Acres Raceway was held this past Saturday. It was another beautiful summer afternoon at the 3/8-mile paved oval. While fans were again not permitted to view the action in person due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, they were able to watch the event live via live stream on Redwood Acres Raceway’s Facebook page. North Coast Lighting And Electric was the presenting sponsor for the afternoon’s races. Four Star Mini Storage and Vern’s Furniture joined in by adding an additional $1,500 to the Legends’ division purse and $1,000 to the bombers and late model division purses.
Bryan Brandt was fastest in qualifying for the roadrunners with a 20.150. Heat race number one was won by Acres veteran LeRoy Marsh, Jr. Daniel Buell took the victory in the second heat. Nick Ford led the opening lap of the 20-circuit feature. Jeremiah Martin led lap two but was quickly passed by Brandt for the lead. Brandt was able to stretch his lead and the caution-free event played right into his hands as he was able to pull away from Martin and the rest of the field. Brandt’s margin of victory over Martin was 3.8 seconds. Buell placed third over Ford and Joseph Brown.
Fast time for the bomber division was Brandon White at 17.782. White followed up his quick time in qualifying with the victory in the heat race. Unfortunately for White, his good day came to a premature end as he was unable to make the start of the 30-lap main event. Donnie Brown led the opening two circuits before Charlie Tour took over the top position. Lauren Powers, Jr. moved by Brown into second on lap four. The front pair was able to stretch out over the rest of the field and staged a fantastic tight but clean race for the lead.
There were several single car spins which necessitated caution periods but there were no serious incidents in the race. Rookie Bridget Steeves spin in turns one and two brought out the race’s first yellow on lap five. Defending division champion Raquel Krupa had a pair of solo spins on lap 12 and lap 13.The race ran clean from that point on as Tour and Powers were again able to pull away from the pack. After riding in Tour’s mirror for several laps, Powers was able to turn under Tour coming off turn four on lap 19 and completed the pass going into turn one. Tour did all he could to stay close to Powers in the remaining laps but it appeared as though Powers had the slight edge. At the finish it was Powers winning over Tour. Sam Brown took third with Donnie Brown finishing fourth and Jordan Krupa fifth.
Qualifying for the mini stock division was paced by Jarrett Mayo who timed in with an 18.946. Mayo was the heat race winner. C.J. Dalton took the initial lead in the 25-lap main event but contact from Gannon Cyphers nearly sent him spinning off turn four. Dalton was able to hang on while Cyphers moved to the lead. Cyphers led until lap four when he got sideways off turn four which allowed Mayo to get outside and past him for the position. The race was clean and green and nobody had anything for Mayo as he was in a class of his own. Gary Klinetobe closed the gap slightly in the final few laps but time ran out for him as Mayo was able to take the win. Cyphers beat out Murrell for third while Bubba Klinetobe placed fifth.
The fastest driver in late model qualifying was Luke Hall with a 16.659 time. Dustin Walters took the win in the heat race. Hall took the lead at the start of the 25-lap main while Walters settled into second. On lap nine, Walters tried to make a move on Hall going into the third turn but drove in too hard sending him spinning. Racing resumed with Hall leading and Walters quickly getting to second. On lap 14, Walters ran over debris that apparently came from Hall’s car which took him out of the race. Hall led the field on the restart and ran the rest of the race unchallenged as he was able to take the win. Rookie drivers Eugene Palmer and Ed Rasmussen placed second and third while Walters was credited with fourth.
The Legends division took center stage on the day with a stellar 15 car turnout. Chris Lawrence was the standard bearer in qualifying with a time of 17.901. Scott Taylor won the first heat while Derek Copeland won the second. Andrew Thornton jumped out to the lead of the 35-lap main event and led the opening five circuits. Tyler Krupa led the next four laps before Copeland took over. Lawrence moved to second on lap 13 and began to close in on Copeland. A spin off turn two by Ethan Imperatrice on lap 20 brought out the caution and bunched the field.
Copeland got a big jump on the restart but Lawrence was able to quickly close in after a few laps. Lap 25 proved to be the key turning point of the race. Coming off turn two, Lawrence tried to cut under Copeland but the two touched bumpers for a period. Going into turn three, Lawrence drove in hard and ran into the back of Copeland. Both cars spun resulting in a yellow flag. Under caution, Copeland ran into the back of Lawrence in the second turn and both drivers drove into the pits.
Dane Nissen inherited the lead but Buddy Cox got a superb restart and was able to go from third to first going into turn one. Nissen fell back to fourth as James Nichols and Chris Sarvinski were able to pull into second and third. Sarvinski moved under and by Nichols on lap 29 but spun off turn two. Nichols also spun resulting in another caution period. Cox regained his lead on the restart but lost it on lap 30 when Nissen powered by coming off the fourth turn. Krupa followed into second and Jordon Paiment tried to follow into third. Going into turn three, Cox tried to move to the low line but Paiment was already there and the two came together. Cox was able to return to action but Paiment suffered race-ending suspension damage on his right front.
Nissen got the advantage on the restart and was able to withstand Krupa’s late race pressure to earn the victory. Behind them, Imperatrice spun off turn four collecting Maleesa Miles. Both drivers were unharmed. Sarvinski recovered to finish third while Nichols was fourth and Scott Taylor was fifth.
The next race on the schedule at Redwood Acres Raceway is Saturday August 15. The Upstate Bomber Series will be joining the regular action in the first of their special two-race series held at RAR and Ukiah Speedway. Stay up to date with everything going on at the Acres by visiting www.RacinTheAcres.com or by visiting RAR on Facebook. You can also find RAR on Twitter @RacinTheAcres.
Submitted By: Matthew Sullivan