Cajon Speedway results 2004-05-15

EL CAJON, CA (05/15/04). It was a night Bob Wickey will long remember. He earned his first victory in the late model sportsman class at Cajon Speedway. Had not racing luck gone against him in the second main event run Saturday night, it could have been a most unforgettable evening for the racing veteran.

Wickey stormed from 12th starting position in the first of the two KGB Dodge features on the 3/8-mile paved oval. He dipped under pacesetting Billy Hoagland following a lap 25 caution flag to gain the number one spot. Five rounds later the three-time former bomber stock champ found himself in victory lane at Cajon for the 48th time. But it was his initial victory in a NASCAR Dodge Weekly series machine. Hoagland maintained second place, his best finish to date as well in a late model sportsman. Defending champion David Beat ran third ahead of John Manke and Ron Overman. Wickey's move from the middle of the pack also earned him the Sid's Auto Body Hard Charger $200 check for earning the most passing points.

Wickey was quick to credit Sterling Marlin among others for his good fortune. Two weeks earlier, Marlin had borrowed Wickey's Monte Carlo for the KGB Dodge Race of Champions run at Cajon. Marlin bested fellow Nextel Cup stars Bill Elliott, Jimmy Spencer, and Kevin Harvick in a pair of 10-lappers.

"They told me Sterling won two races," Wickey chuckled after extracting himself from his red and black Kiley's Towing car. "The crew has been working hard on it. It's a team effort. Somebody lit a fire under my butt, I guess. It was sweet. This is something I have dreamed about since I've been out here. They say that when you win in this (the sportsman), you've proved something. This was a sportsman main event won from the back and I beat the best."

It was a well deserved victory.

In the second 30-lapper, Beat got the jump on the start from his outside front row starting position and was never headed. Polesitter Manke followed him the entire way. Overman took third. Steve Teets was fourth and fast qualifier Stephen Peace came from ninth to finish fifth. Wickey had a strong third place run going until he ran over some debris that flattened his left rear tire. He had to pit on lap 24. He was able to make it back out onto the track, but was only able to work his way back up to tenth.

"In the first race we had a spark plug wire fall off and we got a third. Now we have a left front flat," a very relieved David Beat explained after his third victory of the year. "It's real low; it's not all the way on the rim. (It started going down) somewhere around lap 10. I told them (on the radio) that this thing went wicked loose going into the corner and it's not fun to drive right now. We just barely hung on."

Wickey, who was uncharacteristically almost at a loss for words following his triumph, was his usual more talkative self after the second race. "I guess we ran over something out there. It put a big hole in the tire," he noted while keeping a big smile on his face. "I thought I broke a shock actually. I thought something happened in the right rear just about the time the 2 car (Overman) caught me (about lap 18). Then we had a yellow (on lap 24). I kept moving the car back and forth. It felt funny, but the tire didn' t feel flat. But as soon as they gave us the one to go, I turned the wheel and the car just skidded. I said we're in trouble."

"It was still a good night," Wickey concluded. "It could have been a nicer night however."

In the companion main events, John Luecht repelled a persistent Danny Gay to become the fourth driver in as many races to prevail in the Grand American modifieds. Ty Tipton sat ninth on the starting grid and was out front of the pony stock field in just over two circuits. The former divisional champ led the rest of the way as that ponys returned to action after a five-week layoff. The factory stocks finally got their season underway. Pat Bradley led wire-to-wire in their 20-lapper and picked up his first career main event trophy.

The initial sportsman feature was a series of short sprints interspersed with slowdowns. The yellow flag had to be used seven times during the 30-laps. To speed up the race, five of the caution laps were actually counted as race laps. None of the incidents was serious. Jack Lee and Hoagland led before Wickey worked his way to number one. In the second race, Beat had only to fight off that left front tire that gradually lost air.

The Grand American modifieds had their featured shorted by 6 laps due to a series of late-race incidents. Luecht and Gay put on a spirited battle for the win. Point leader and defending champion Mike Jackson placed third after what turned out to be a 19-lap affair. Jimmy Dickerson, who took home the title in 1998, was fourth. Fifth place went to Scott Brown, the 2002 title holder who making his first start of the year. Luecht's run moved him to the number one spot in the Carpets Galore Hard Charger season long chase; that $1000 award is given to the Grand American modified competitor who grosses the most passing points during the year.

Forty-six cars timed in in the factory stocks. Since only the fastest 16 were automatically placed in the main event, that meant a 30-car semi. Jim Tucker ended up first after the first and second place runners (Mike Rumbaugh and Mike Ellis) both spun out in the final corner. The factory stock finale was the only main event all night run non-stop. Bradley and his teammate Jacob Schneider ran one-two the whole twenty laps. Matt Arnold, the 2002 and 2003 points champion, kicked off his campaign with a third place run. J.R. Trent was fourth. Fast qualified David Liedike moved up from 15th starting position to take fifth.

PIT NOTES: Ironically both factory stock heat races and the main event saw no yellow flags. Of course, the same could not be said for that huge semi feature.

NASCAR DODGE WEEKLY SERIES RESULTS

LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN
Fast Time - Stephen Peace, El Cajon; Time - :16.270.

Main (30 laps) - 1. Bob Wickey, San Marcos; 2. Billy Hoagland, Santee; 3. David Beat, El Cajon; 4. John Manke, Ramona; 5. Ron Overman, Lakeside; 6. Scott Moses, Chula Vista; 7. Steve Teets, Ramona; 8. Jack Lee, Vista; 9. Dee Cable, Santee; 10. Alex Robertson, San Diego; 11. Gary Rodriguez, Chula Vista; 12. Stephen Peace, El Cajon; 13. Bob Caron, Fallbrook; 14. Claude Bell, El Cajon; 15. Rick Chavez, Lakeside; 16. Ben Carver, El Cajon; 17. Bill Parenteau Jr., Santee; 18. Mike Daniel, Alpine; 19. Ray Neveau, San Clemente; Time - 31:21.75.

Main (30 laps) - 1. David Beat, El Cajon; 2. John Manke, Ramona; 3. Ron Overman, Lakeside; 4. Steve Teets, Ramona; 5. Stephen Peace, El Cajon; 6. Billy Hoagland, Santee; 7. Scott Moses, Chula Vista; 8. Claude Bell, El Cajon; 9. Rick Chavez, Lakeside; 10. Bob Wickey, San Marcos; 11. Bob Caron, Fallbrook; 12. Jack Lee, Vista; 13. Dee Cable, Santee; 14. Bill Parenteau Jr., Santee; 15. Ben Carver, El Cajon; 16. Gary Rodriguez, Chula Vista; 17. Alex Robertson, San Diego; Time - 17:09.35.

GRAND AMERICAN MODIFIEDS
Fast Time - Danny Gay, Lakeside; Time - :16.322.

1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Bobby Roland Jr., Jamul; 2. Douglas Carpenter, La Mesa; 3. Richard Townsend, Lakeside; 4. James Scheel, Lakeside; 5. Hector Leon, Santee; 6. Andy Papp, La Mesa; 7. Jeff Thompson, Lakeside; 8. Travis Brozowski, Lakeside; Time - 7:39.37.

2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. John Luecht, Chula Vista; 2. Danny Gay, Lakeside; 3. Jimmy Dickerson, El Cajon; 4. Scott Brown, Spring Valley; 5. Mike Salm, Fallbrook; 6. Mike Jackson, Bonita; 7. Dan Hildebrand, El Cajon; 8. Marc McGowan, Santee; Time - 2:16.36.

Main (19 laps) - 1. John Luecht, Chula Vista; 2. Danny Gay, Lakeside; 3. Mike Jackson, Bonita; 4. Jimmy Dickerson, El Cajon; 5. Scott Brown, Spring Valley; 6. Bobby Roland Jr., Jamul; 7. Mike Salm, Fallbrook; 8. Lou Tompkins, San Diego; 9. Douglas Carpenter, La Mesa; 10. Andy Papp, La Mesa; 11. Hector Leon, Santee; 12. James Scheel, Lakeside; 13. Dan Hildebrand, El Cajon; 14. Marc McGowan, Santee; 15. Travis Brozowski, Lakeside; 16. Richard Townsend, Lakeside; 17. Jeff Thompson, Lakeside; Time - 17:00.39.

PONY STOCK
Fast Time - Douglas Wright Jr., Santee; Time - :18.311.

Dash (4 laps) - 1. Earl Downing, Spring Valley; 2. Douglas Wright Jr., Santee; 3. Ed Hale, El Cajon; 4. Mike Weimann, Temecula; Time - 1:27.31.

1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Pete Franke, Lakeside; 2. Jeff Josephson, San Diego; 3. Rick Lyon, San Diego; 4. Robert Minnick, El Cajon; 5. Len Cartwright, Lemon Grove; 6. Bill Parenteau Sr., El Cajon; 7. Shealynn Longwell, El Cajon; 8. Jason Hollingsworth, El Cajon; 9. Amber Lee, San Clemente; 10. Rob Dinsmore, Ramona; Time - 5:49.03.

2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. Ty Tipton, Spring Valley; 2. George Behlman, Santee; 3. Tim Beeney, Escondido; 4. Ed Hale, El Cajon; 5. Douglas Wright Jr., Santee; 6. Darrell McKee Jr., San Diego; 7. Marty Schmidt, El Cajon; 8. Russ Gregson, Santee; 9. Earl Downing, Spring Valley; 10. Debi Chapman, Lakeside; Time - 2:30.18.

Main (20 laps) - 1. Ty Tipton, Spring Valley; 2. Douglas Wright Jr., Santee; 3. Ed Hale, El Cajon; 4. George Behlman, Santee; 5. Mike Weimann, Temecula; 6. Tim Beeney, Escondido; 7. Darrell McKee Jr., San Diego; 8. Pete Franke, Lakeside; 9. Russ Gregson, Santee; 10. Rob Dinsmore, Ramona; 11. Len Cartwright, Lemon Grove; 12. Debi Chapman, Lakeside; 13. Jeff Josephson, San Diego; 14. Phil Griffin, Santee; 15. Robert Minnick, El Cajon; 16. Bill Parenteau Sr., El Cajon; 17. Jason Hollingsworth, El Cajon; 18. Earl Downing, Spring Valley; 19. Rick Lyon, San Diego; 20. Amber Lee, San Clemente; 21. Marty Schmidt, El Cajon; Time - 10:24.44.

FACTORY STOCK
Fast Time - David Liedike, El Cajon; Time - :21.585.

1st Heat (8 laps) - 1. Jacob Schneider, Escondido; 2. Pat Bradley, San Marcos; 3. Tony Cortes, El Cajon; 4. Glen Davis, La Mesa; 5. Ed Valenzuela, Santee; 6. Keith Krueger, Fallbrook; 7. Paul Bethel, San Diego; 8. Curtis Reiter, El Cajon; Time - 2:57.19.

2nd Heat (8 laps) - 1. J.R. Trent, Jamul; 2. Ryan Gay, El Cajon; 3. Charles Nevin, El Cajon; 4. Matt Arnold, San Diego; 5. Lee Harbin, El Cajon; 6. John Robinson, Ramona; 7. David Liedike, El Cajon; 8. Martin Kepler, El Cajon; Time - 2:53.13.

Semi (20 laps) - 1. Jim Tucker, Spring Valley; 2. Rich Crutchfield, Santee; 3. Josh Nicholas, El Cajon; 4. Robert Baker, El Cajon; 5. Mike Rumbaugh, Poway; 6. Blaine Sharp, Jamul; Time - 15:58.59.

Main (20 laps) - 1. Pat Bradley, San Marcos; 2. Jacob Schneider, Escondido; 3. Matt Arnold, San Diego; 4. J.R. Trent, Jamul; 5. David Liedike, El Cajon; 6. Charles Nevin, El Cajon; 7. Martin Kepler, El Cajon; 8. Lee Harbin, El Cajon; 9. Ed Valenzuela, Santee; 10. Paul Bethel, San Diego; 11. John Robinson, Ramona; 12. Tony Cortes, El Cajon; 13. Keith Krueger, Fallbrook; 14. Rich Crutchfield, Santee; 15. Jim Tucker, Spring Valley; 16. Curtis Reiter, El Cajon; 17. Mike Rumbaugh, Poway; 18. Blaine Sharp, Jamul; 19. Ryan Gay, El Cajon; 20. Josh Nicholas, El Cajon; Time - 7:24.59.

DESTRUCTION DERBY -- 1. Ryan Ramsey, Lakeside; 2. John Higgins, Chula Vista; 3. Paul Seibert, Lakeside

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