9/24/2019
Redwood Acres Raceway
Champions Crowned As Fall Spectacular Concludes 2019 Season At Redwood Acres Raceway
Another year of racing at Redwood Acres Raceway came to an end Saturday night as the annual Fall Spectacular closed the 2019 season at the 3/8-mile paved oval. Blue Lake Casino and Sequoia Springs Senior Living presented all of the night’s action as champions were crowned in local divisions while the North State Modified Series potentially saw their championship determined in the series’ penultimate race of the season.
Aiden Kimberling was fast time for the Anderson Logging Bandoleros with a 21.235. Maleesa Miles won the trophy dash while Kadence Mace won the heat race. Mace led the 15-lap main from the drop of the green flag but had her mirror filled with the likes of Kimberling and Miles throughout the event. Miles and Kimberling battled side-by-side for most of the race until lap 12 when Miles took the position for good. Mace was able to withstand Miles’ charge in the closing laps to take her first main event win ever. Miles finished second and won the Bandolero championship. Kimberling was third with Christian Sanchez and T.J. Sorrels competing the top five.
Daniel Buell’s time of 20.578 gave him fast time for the Compass Community Credit Union roadrunners. Buell won the trophy dash. The heat race saw the roadrunner championship determined as Tim Ratzlaff’s car was unable to start the event allowing JR Brant to gain enough points to secure the division title. Buell was the heat race winner. Joe Brown dropped the hammer at the start of the 15-lap feature event and looked to be in prime position for his first-ever win. On lap nine, Buell drove to second and rapidly closed on Brown. Three laps later, Buell got passed Brown for the lead. Buell gapped Brown and the rest of the field to take the victory by over 2.5 seconds. Brown held off champion Brandt while Shannon Palmer was fourth and Bryan Brandt fifth.
The Compass Community Credit Union mini stock championship was decided before the green flag even dropped in the trophy dash as Brett Murrell didn’t race on the night handing the track championship to Gary Klinetobe. Jordon Paiment was fast time with a 18.838. Klinetobe won the trophy dash while Paiment took the heat. Calvin Dalton led the opening lap of the 15-circuit feature before giving way to Brian Murrell, Jr. Paiment was behind the wheel of Brian Murrell, Sr.’s car and he was clearly the man to beat. After passing Jarrett Mayo for second on lap five, Paiment was able to pass Murrell, Jr. for the lead on lap seven. Paiment walked away from the field and at the checkered flag his advantage over second place Murrell, Jr. was almost four seconds. Klinetobe moved by Mayo late to take third with Nick Ford rounding out the top five finishers.
Fast time for the North Coast Lighting And Electric Legends was Leonard Ward with an 18.155. James Nichols took the trophy dash win. The heat race featured an incident that knocked out two of the top contenders for the rest of the evening in Chris Lawrence and Brandon White. Tyler Peach took the heat race win. By starting the 20-lap main, Ward was able to clinch the championship for the Legends division. Peach maneuvered to the lead on lap one. The caution flew on lap four and Ward was able to take advantage on the restart as he moved from third to first. Carlee Austin secured second over Peach and the remainder of the race featured a nip-and-tuck duel between her and Ward. Austin looked to have the run she needed to pass Ward on several occasions but she never had enough to stick her nose inside. Ward was able to fight off all of Austin’s advances to win. Peach took third while James Nichols was fourth and Dave Allen was fifth.
The North State Modified Series returned to RAR for the third time in 2019 with Cameron Austin setting the pace in qualifying with a time of 16.511. Keith Bloom, Jr. won the Lucas Oil Dash For Cash. There was major drama before the start of the 60-lap main event as Austin was unable to make the initial lineup. Bloom, Jr. fell out of the race before the start of the race while Austin pulled out of the pits with issues. The race started with Austin running one lap and pulling off the track. Randy Houston moved to the lead early but Darrin Knight showed strength and was able to take the spot. Scott Winters passed Houston a few laps later and appeared to have a car that rivaled Knight’s.
The race was clean and green from start to finish and with Knight and Winters not having a major speed advantage, the win would be determined by how each driver was able to maneuver through traffic. Winters was able to close within half a second on Knight but Knight never had to fight too hard while lapping cars as the North State drivers were on top of things and were courteous to the race leaders. Winters was unable to get close enough to potentially rub Knight’s bumper and at the finish it was Knight taking the win over Winters. Houston was the last car on the lead lap in third. Terry Deal took fourth with Jeremy Nowlin fifth.
David Miller was fast time for the Mid City Motor World late models with a 15.949. Shawn Andrews won the first heat race with David Henderson taking pole position for the feature with the victory in the second heat. Less than 10 points separated championship leader Henderson and second place Miller going into the scheduled 100-lap main event. Luke Hall got a better start than Henderson and moved to the lead. An incident on lap eight involving Keith Nelson and Chris Sarvinski knocked both drivers out of the race. With the field narrowed down to less than 10 cars, officials decided to reduce the number of laps to 60.
Racing resumed with Hall leading Miller. Miller dogged Hall lap after lap. On lap 38, Miller was able to move under and past Hall for the lead. Miller slowly pulled away as Hall had his hands full with Henderson. Henderson was able to get under Hall and the two had a great battle for second. Hall was able to utilize the high line to his advantage as he was able to pinch off Henderson’s car off the corner and retain the position. Hall was able to close on Miller when the leader caught Scott Baker and Sierra Furia who were racing side-by-side for position but not enough to get to Miller’s bumper. Miller held on to take the win over Hall. Henderson’s third place was enough for him to win the late model championship. Dennis DelBiaggio had a solid fourth place finish while Ryan Walters started his first late model race of 2019 and had a fifth-place effort.
Redwood Acres Raceway would like to thank all of our sponsors, drivers and crew members for a great 2019 season. Thank you to all of our race officials, food, beer, ticket and souvenir vendors and everyone that works behind the scenes. RAR could not put together the kind of program weekly without the hard work of these people at the track and beyond.
Visit www.RacinTheAcres.com for full race results and points. You can also find Redwood Acres Raceway on Facebook or on Twitter @RacinTheAcres.
Submitted By: Matthew Sullivan