Matson, Simpson, Teves Find the Right Gear on Transman Transmission Night
By Devin Mayo and Rick Faeth
A cool, cold breeze on a usually hot fall month brought racers and their loyal fans to the north bay’s 3/8th Adobe Clay oval Saturday night on Transman Transmission Night at Petaluma Speedway. The Pit Stop USA Winged 360’s returned to action after a couple of weeks off. Right off the bat, Colby Wiesz turned a solid 13.005 lap in time trials on the heavy surface. During heat race action, Jake Haulot and first timer at Petaluma Kaleb Montgomery picked up the 8-lappers. Klint Simpson and Riley Matson would lead the field to green with Matson getting the jump on Simpson and would pull away. As lap traffic came into play, Simpson was able to close down throughout the race but soon a late race yellow would come out and let Simpson have another chance. Matson would pull away from Simpson and end up claiming his first winged 360 victory at Petaluma Speedway with Simpson finishing 2nd, veteran Northern California pilot Colby Weisz was third, with Kaleb Montgomery fourth, and point leader Bradley Terrell fifth.
The Pit Stop USA Spec Sprints made their return, getting ready for the Joe Hunt Magneto race that arrives this coming weekend. Fan favorite Shayna Silvia and Jason McIntosh notched their respective heat races. Silvia and McIntosh would lead the field to green with McIntosh pulling out to the early lead with Simpson making the pass for 2nd on Shayna Silvia. An early yellow set up a restart and about 3 laps later, McIntosh’s rear axle would snap between turns 1 & 2 vaulting the familiar family #33 into the trees outside the track. McIntosh would walk away from uninjured. Simpson would take over the lead and never looked back as he again picked up another victory at Petaluma Speedway with Sylvia in 2nd and Adam Christian in 3rd. Bruno Bianchi and Denis Furia Jr. would round out the top five.
It was a big weekend for the General Hydroponic Dwarf cars as they welcomed the South Bay Dwarf Car Association competitors for the annual took Twin 25 event. Scooter Gomes, Matt Hagemann, and Nick Squatritto picked up their heat early in the evening. In the first 25 laps, David Teves would lead the field but under a red flag early in the main, would run into trouble and would have to take the car into the work area as Squatritto would take over the lead. Squatritto would lead at the half and would lead the field to green for the second half of the race. Squatritto and Mark Biscardi would battle for the lead as Teves would start making moves to get to the lead. Biscardi would take the lead and Squatritto would run into trouble later in the main. Neves would make a winning pass on Biscardi as his night would come to an end early. A late race yellow saw Teves hold on for the win as his motor was over heating and would go on to win the Twin 25 main event for the 2nd year in a row with Punky Pires in 2nd and Gomes in 3r, followed by 18 year old sensation Miranda Chappa, and Kyle Jones.
The Jakes Performance Mini Stocks appeared with a nice field of 10 cars. John Veeninga and Samone Chrisman were victorious in the preliminary heats. Chrisman and Snazzy Duckworth started on the front row for the main event. A wild start of the race would see Veeninga move into the lead as William Fatu made a charge into 2nd. The pair would battle for the lead until the first caution. Fatu ran into trouble under the yellow and had to get a push back to the pits to make repairs, but would make a return and finish 7th. Austin Ohlinger and Sid Hess would have a battle for 2nd all the way to the checkered flag but it would be Veeninga picking up the victory, Hess finished a career best second and Ohlinger was 3rd, Duckworth and Tom Curley rounded out the top five.
Petaluma Speedway is back this Saturday, Sept 17th for championship night featuring the Joe Hunt Magneto vs Pit Stop USA Spec Sprints, McLea’s Tire & Automotive IMCA Modifieds, Lumberjack Restaurant Super Stocks, General Hydroponics Dwarfs, and Jake’s Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks. For more information, please got http://www.petaluma-speedway.com/
