Terrell, Schank, While, Mosier, & Beck Triumph
By Devin Mayo
Petaluma, CA – April 16th
A warm weathered weekend brought the Winged 360’s, Spec Sprints, Super Stocks, Dwarfs, and 600’s to the Adobe 3/8th’s mile at Petaluma Speedway. The Pit Stop USA Winged 360’s fielded 16 cars. Brett Rollag went straight to the top of the charts in qualifying with a time of 13.071. This would set up a 2 heat race format, with “Mr. Excitement” Andy Forsberg and David Lindt picking up heat race victories. The 30 lap A Main would not disappoint. Bradley Terrell and Geoff Ensign would lead the field to the green with Geoff taking the lead. A couple of early yellows would restack the field with Forsberg coming to the front after starting mid pack. Forsberg would eventually make the pass for the lead on lap 13 but Ensign wasn’t done yet. On lap 15, Ensign would make the pass on Forsberg going into 3 but Forsberg’s night would come to an end after going through the whoops in turns 3 and 4 and end up into the outside wall. 10 laps remained in the winged 360 race and the race kept getting better and better. With 3 to go, Terrell would make the winning pass on Ensign to on and go back to back at Petaluma with Ensign, Rollag, Trent Canales, and Shane Myre rounding out the top 5.
A dozen Pit Stop USA Spec Sprints signed into the pits with Klint Simpson on top of the charts after qualifying. Terry Schank Jr. and Simpson picked up heat race victories. This would set up a great spec sprint main event. Shank would take the lead early on in the main event. Joe Stornetta would start to climb through the field. Mid way through the race, Stornetta would put a slide job on Schank to take the lead but 2 laps later, motor problems would have Stornetta pull into the infield and would end his night. Shank would pull away from the field and he would also go back to back at Petaluma with Simpson, Brett Barney, Cody Fendley, and Shayna Silvia making up the top 5.
The Lumberjack Restaurant Super Stocks made another visit the the Petaluma 3/8th’s with 14 cars making the call. Shawn McCoy and Matt While picked up both heat races and would both start mid pack for the A Main. A couple of early cautions in the feature would help While get closer and closer to the lead. While would make an early pass for the lead and would hold at bay. While would go on to win his 2nd feature of the year at Petaluma, followed by Woody Woodward, Steve Studebaker, Dean Stocker, and Roger Miller in the top 5.
The General Hydroponic Dwarf cars made an appearance Saturday night with a stellar 22 car field. 3 heat races saw Travis Dutra, Matt Hagemann, and always fast Dave Mosier take the heat races. The A Main would have Mosier and Dutra, who week in and week out are the ones to beat. Those 2 would duke it out for the win but in the end, Mosier would hold on for the win with Dutra in a close second. Jack Haverty, Carroll Mendenhall, and John Peters finished in the top 5.
The Santa Rosa Auto Body 600’s made their second appearance of the young season. Jim Beck and Jared Morrison won the 2 heat race format and looked to keep the momentum going into the A Main. George Nielson and Robert Bernard led the field to green but it would be Nielson taking the early lead. Morrison would take the lead on lap 3 but just 2 laps later, Morrison would have issues and hand over the lead to David Engstrom. A couple of yellows would allow Jim Beck an opportunity to take the lead and he would take the lead at the midpoint of the race. Late race contact between Beck and Engstrom would create some high drama for the 600 main event. Engstrom would not be able to continue after a violent flip going into turn 1. Beck would continue on with a flat left rear and would hold off the charge from Nielson to pick up a huge win. Jenna Perkins would finish third, Stasha Mcintosh with her career best 4th place finish and Rick Alonso in 5th.
Petaluma Speedway returns to action this Saturday Night for Petaluma Auto Parts NAPA Night, with Winged 360’s, Spec Sprints, Modifieds, Dwarfs, and Mini Stocks. For more information, please visithttp://www.petaluma-speedway.com
