Terrell, DeCarlo, & Learn Pick Up Tabs on Lumberjack Restaurant Night
PETALUMA, CA, June30— It took 24 and 7/8’s laps for Bradley Terrell to forge to the lead in round #6 of the Pit Stop USA.com Winged 360 Series Event Saturday Night, but his perseverance was well received by the full grandstand crowd. Eighteen Winged Warriors timed in on what was described by many as the best Petaluma track surface in years. Terrell the young, veteran, Sebastopol native had his familiar family owned #43 sprinter dialed in on both the low groove and free enough to run the cushion when necessary. On lap two former track champion Art McCarthy Jr. rode a wheel exiting turn four and found himself bouncing off the catch fence in a violent red flag shunt. This was the second flip of the night for the tough luck #19 team. Local rim-riding and fan favorite Dave Lindt shot out to a lap 3 lead over Richie Bailey in the historic black and yellow #01 Bailey Brothers mount and stretched his lead to a dozen car lengths. Early on the real action was the dicing from 4th to 8th which included Chase Johnson, Terrell, Geoff Ensign, and Billy Butler. Laps 15-20 saw an epic battle of multiple back and forth slide-jobs and cross-over passes between Terrell and Bailey. On lap 23 Lindt noticeably lost momentum allowing Terrell to gain ground. Terrell ultimately made up seven car lengths on the last lap and saved the money pass for the last turn motoring beneath a disappointed Lindt who was combating an arm-restraint issue that restricted him the last few laps of the race. Chasing Terrell and Lindt to the line was Napa’s Bailey, Penngrove’s Chase Johnson notching his best finish of the season, and Sebastopol’s Geoff Ensign.
The Carr Racing Chassis Modified Division put on a spectacular show from start to finish. With only one quick yellow for a Joel Myers spin; the action was fast and clean. Watsonville regular Nick DeCarlo found the heavy adobe cushion to his liking, displacing first the #23 of Oreste Gonello, then the #50 of Michael Paul Jr., DeCarlo then entered a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle with the most recent modified winner Chris Sieweke. DeCarlo was the rim rider, with Sieweke dialed in right around the middle groove. On lap 17 DeCarlo took advantage of a Sieweke bobble and started to stretch his margin. Meanwhile the crowd’s focus shifted to what was sizing up to be a fantastic dice between Gonello, Paul Jr., and Sieweke. The white flag lap saw all three enter turn 1 where a blanket could have easily covered the trio. Coming out of turn 4 Gonello made his move, with Paul Jr. reacting, wheels touched with the resulting action seeing Paul Jr.’s front end do a monster wheelie and stalling Gonello’s progress. This allowed Sieweke to snatch runner-up honors moving from 4th to 2nd in the final portion of the front stretch in the run to the checkers.
The Lumberjack Restaurant Super Stock Series saw point leader Mike Learn starting 8th in the 14 car field. Anthony Matthias paced the field over veteran Larry Drew, Kevin Aguirre, and Steve Studebaker. Learn jumped to fifth on lap three, Studebaker displaying good speed all night suddenly pitted with mechanical gremlins. Several early cautions for single and dual car spins stalled the action. By the 7th lap Learn had Matthias in his sights and displaced him with a textbook pass entering turn 1 on the next circuit. Cautions again were displayed on laps 10, 12, & 14 with several competitors being black-flagged for violating the tracks multiple spin rules. Hard luck David Spriggs exited the track early for a flat then came back only to lose his entire exhaust system. Time expired on the race with 20 laps in the books under yellow checker netting Learn his 6th victory of the year in the potent #11h, 2nd was steady Kevin Aguirre, over Iron Man Shawn McCoy, and veteran Larry Drew.
The BPT Carburetor Mini Stocks entertained the Petaluma Speedway fans with young rookie Bradley Clark stepping away from the field to guide the way for the first ten circuits. Journeyman John Veeninga with two wins on the season focused on first catching Clark and by lap 15 he looked outside exiting turn four. Simultaneously Clark stepped out very slightly which was enough for Veeninga to make the winning pass. Clark held on for season best runner up finish over birthday boy Josh Williams, and Kimberly Ramirez.
The Northern California Vintage Hard Tops made their first of two 2012 visits to Petaluma Speedway with great turnout of 15 racers. Two heat races and a 15 lap main event provided a look down memory lane for the Petaluma faithful.
This Saturday, July 7, Petaluma Speedway will feature it’s 2nd of 3 scheduled California State Civil War Sprint Car Series Races. Rohnert Park’s Brett Rollag copped the first Civil War event at Petaluma Speedway on April 28. Also on tap will be the Pit Stop USA.com Spec Sprint Car Series.
