Visiting Kurt Nelson Finds Petaluma Adobe To His Liking
Petaluma, CA – Shirt-sleeve weather and near perfect track conditions awarded the fans and competitors Saturday Night, June 8th at Petaluma Speedway. The Pit Stop USA Winged 360 class saw point leader Bradley Terrell click off a rapid 13.307 during time trials. Heat races were captured by rapidly improving Zack Lynskey and visiting south bay veteran Wayne Katen. With the track smooth, hooked up, and with a distinct second groove the main event saw Roberto Kelly win the drag race to turn one from the pole position only to drift high in turn two and hand the lead to Ocean Speedway veteran Kurt Nelson. On lap three a brief caution sent Terrell in his family’s familiar #43 into the pits to un-pack his left rear wheel of mud. Terrell restarting in 13th position on the return to green started putting a passing clinic on for the fans. Lap 5 saw Alissa Geving overtake Trevor Schmid for second and by lap 8 Terrell was up to 7th. The second caution on lap 21 set up a 4-lap dash to the finish. Terrell in fifth went low to pass Billy Butler and high to displace Schmid. A last lap slide job on Geving halted his progress as Nelson who had been upside down the previous night at Watsonville led all 25 laps for his first Petaluma and Pit Stop USA Series triumphs. Following Nelson to the twin checkers were Geving with her best performance of 2013, Terrell, Schmid, and Butler to round out the top-five.
The Carr Racing Chassis Modifieds saw Norman Boeck win the 8-lap heat race and start the main event off in fine shape with the early lead. Michelle Byron put an outside pass on Boeck exiting turn two on lap 4 and charge to an almost straightaway lead. Great side-by-side action between Oreste Gonnella, Chris Sieweke, Michael Paul Jr., and Boeck were the order of the day for the next 8 laps. Lap 12 saw the Cinderella run for the heartbroken Byron end with a broken steering box. Returning to green with Paul Jr. inheriting the lead again saw lots of passing behind him with Sieweke briefly up to third. Lap 17 saw a caution for a flat on Gonnella’s mount. With the problem tire replaced and rejoining the rear of the field Gonnella seemed to find a higher gear and worked his way forward. At the 25-lap finish Paul Jr. nabbed his second feature win of the early season over a quickly closing Gonnella, Boeck, Sieweke, and Mark Hass.
The Larsen Racing Products Late Models featured Paul Guglielmoni winning the heat race. The 20-lap feature saw wily veteran Rod Arnold in his trusty #66 dice with Dean DeVolder and Mike Learn competing in his open-comp super stock put on a thrilling low groove battle. Learn, surprisingly with only a two-barrel carburetor got as high as second and was pressuring Arnold for the lead. At the conclusion of the 20-lapper it was a popular win for the long-time veteran Arnold over DeVolder, Learn, Guglielmoni, and Dennis Souza.
The ever expanding Petaluma Mini Stock saw a dozen cars compete. Rookie Pete Langley and defending track champion Big John Veeninga won the two heat races and Eden McCormick won the four-lap dash for cash. The feature event saw an early duel between Langley and McCormick. On lap three Veeninga was tagged in the side by a spinning car and rode out a hard flip, but exited his car under his own power. Returning to action the saw Langley getting passed by McCormick on lap five with Josh Williams within striking distance. Two brief cautions for a pair of Snazzy Duckworth spins slowed the action temporarily and at the checkers it was McCormick bringing home the win over Langley, Williams, visiting Ryan DeForest, and Oscar Duckworth.
Petaluma Speedway will return to action on June 15th featuring the Pit Stop USA Spec Sprints Series, USAC vs. BCRA Midgets, Lumberjack Restaurant Super Stocks, and BPT Carburetor Vintage Hard Tops. For more information please go to www.petaluma-speedway.com.
