Western Allstars/Bakersfield notes & winners 9-1

Sep 04 2007 -- Western Allstars 9/1 Bakersfield News & Notes
Well, what an awesome way to finish the points season for the Western Allstars. The main event was one of the best Late Model races I have ever seen. We gave the Victory Circle complete roller away, the Steel Co 1200 sq ft. race shop and the CJ Rayburn Chassis. The racers and Shawna Sivesind even had a suprise for me. Lets start with the Victory Circle complete roller. 15 racers were eligible for the Victory Circle by attending atleast all but one of the WAS events. The lucky winner was AJ Kirkpatrick, who happened to attend every Western Allstars event. The Steel Co. Race shop went to Jim Biggs, owner of Steve Drakes car. The CJ Rayburn Chassis went to Marcus Aue. Before the giveaways though, Shawna Sivesind who is a friend, car owner and employee of Victory Circle and all of the racers that support the Western Allstars presented all of my officials and myself plaques, to thank us for all the work we put in with the Western Allstars. Then I was handed a thank you card, which I expected to have a gift certificate for dinner or something like that in it. Instead, it had $2,700 !!!!!!. I was absolutely blown away. I just couldn't believe it. I still can't. Now to the race. Professor Mike Johnson, who would have started 3rd in the A-Main, was offered a challenge by the owner of Bakersfield Speedway, to start dead last in the A-Main for an extra $500. After thinking about it for a second, he said "well we are here for the fans, so lets do it" What a show he put on. Started 21st and was in 3rd by lap 13 and leading by lap 22. There were 8 lead changes during the A-Main and I must say I was actually rooting for Donnie Hampl, who I believe had the fastest car but got stuck behind lapped traffic and finished 3rd. Mike Johnson got 2nd and Steve Drake who led 3 times got the win. Anytime you aren't sure who is going to win the race coming out of turn 4 on the last lap, you know you have just seen a good one. It has been a great season, and I very appreciative of the drivers that support the Western Allstars. They are THE SHOW and without them there is no Western Allstars. And as always thank you to all of the WAS officials and the Bakersfield Speedway officials, who as usual all make me look good on Saturday night. Thank you all very much.
Here are all the winners from 9-1 at Bakersfield Speedway.
Drum of race fuel sponsored by www.InSureItForLess.com -Jay Marks
INDIANA TRUCK SALVAGE $100 Fast Time- Andy Obertello (13.757) Great job Andy !!!
Hoosier Tire giveaway for the first non-transfer in each heat race- John Piker, Dino Napier, Carla Laney, John Lowery.
Case of oil for last place in each heat race and B-Main- Phillip Priddy, Kevin Hockings, Mike Hixon, Chet Buckley, Marcus Aue, Jay Ellenberger
PIONEER MERCANTILE FAST DASH1) Chris Shannon $1002) Donnie Hampl $753) Mike Johnson $504) Steve Drake $25
$3000 A-Main Event Winner- Steve Drake
VICTORY CIRCLE Complete Dirt Late Model roller- AJ Kirkpatrick
STEEL CO 1200sq. ft. Race Shop- Jim Biggs
CJ RAYBURN Chassis- Marcus Aue
LITTLE DARLINS CHILD CARE $100 Hard Charger Award- Mike Johnson (19 spots) Largest gain ever
www.PhotoFinishPhotos.com $100 Hard Luck Award- Danny Bohard
Thank you once again to all of the Fans, Sponsors, Racers, Race Tracks and Officials for one of the most successful seasons of Dirt Late Model racing ever on the West Coast ( I know I am Biased)
See you all Nov 8-10 at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix AZ. $3000/WIN - $500/START Nov. 8th$5000/WIN - $500/START Nov. 10th

Western Allstars/Bakersfield Speedway winners & notes 5-18

Well I think we had one of our best races of the season last night. I truly thought with Mike Johnson starting 12th, we were about to see a new winner at Bakersfield Speedway, and with Ron Bartels marching from 9th to the lead by lap 12, I figured it would be him. But even with a 6th row starting spot Mike Johnson put on a show and took another Western Allstars win. Ron Meyer had one heck of an up and down night. First he was passed at the checkered for the last transfer spot in the B-Main. Then he won the Non-Qualifier and elected to give up the $600 check and start 21st in the A-Main. On a very racy track, he advanced 15 spots to finish 6th at the end. After last night, no one can deny the fact that Bakersfield Speedway is an awesome track for Super Dirt Late Models. A couple of side notes is that Chet Buckley finally finished a Western Allstars Main event with a very strong 2nd place and Chris Shannon who has drawn 7,8,8,8 for the last 4 trophy dashes, let his son DJ draw for him and DJ drew the #1 As usual the Bakersfield Speedway staff and Western Allstars officials did a great job of running the show. Things were smooth all night long and I believe we concluded the A-Main just after 10pm. By looking at how much guys advanced during the main, it is obvious that it was an AWESOME race track. I would like to say that I feel very fortunate to have some of the greatest racers supporting the Western Allstars and I am not just talking about racing. We have some really great people racing/crewing with us and I really enjoy just hanging out with everyone before, during and after the races. It is cool for me to consider the racers and crews my friends. I also feel pretty fortunate to have the officials that I do working with the Allstars. Everyone with the Western Allstars has the same passion for Dirt Late Models, likes to have fun, and has the same feelings that I do about treating the racers like customers. I think it is great that they all hang out and mingle with the racers and crews after the races. Here are the winners from Bakersfield on 8-18 Drum of fuel sponsored by www.inSureItForLess.com Phillip Priddy IDIANA TRUCK SALVAGE $100 Fast Time Award: Chris Shannon (12.959) Hoosier Tire to the first non transfer in heat race sponsored by WESTERN ALLSTARS: Zack Forster, John Piker, Jeff Dunham, Ron Meyer Case of oil to last place in each Heat race and B-Main sponsored by WESTERN ALLSTARS: David Childress, Doug Thompson, Marcus Aue, Bill Bartels, Terry Hershberger (2) PIONEER MERCANTILE Fast Dash: 1) Chris Shannon $100 2) Chet Buckley $75 3) Dick Shephard $50 4) Billy Griffin $25 $2000 A-MAIN WINNER: Mike Johnson LITTLE DARLINS CHILDCARE $100 Hard Charger: Ron Meyer (16 spots) www.PhotoFinishPhotos.com $100 Hard Luck Award: John Piker See you all Sept 1st @ Bakersfield Speedway for the final points race of the season $3000/win $500/start. We will be giving away the Victory Circle Dirt Late Model, the Steel Co. 1200 square foot race shop and the CJ Rayburn Chassis at intermission on the front staight away.

Western Allstars/Manzanita Speedway Nov 8-10th

The Western Allstars and Manzanita Speedway will be teaming up for one of the Premier Dirt Late Model Events in the Western United States. On Nascar weekend, November 8th & 10th the Western Allstars Super Dirt Late Model Series will be part of Manzanita Speedways Western World Championship. Thursday Nov 8th will be Super Late Models racing for $3000 to win and $500 to start the A-Main along with modifieds. On Friday Nov. 9th the late model racers will have a day off to work on their cars and enjoy a night of USAC Sprint Car racing. Then on Saturday Nov. 10th The Western Allstars and USAC will both run their “World Championship: with the Late Models racing for $5000 to win and $500 to start. Manzanita Speedway will be paying out over $40,000 just to the Late Models for 2 days of competition. According to WAS series promoter Chris Kearns, “New Manzanita Speedway owner Bobby Martin and GM Steve Dunn are very excited to make Super Dirt Late Models part of their Western World Championship.” Stated Kearns,” The Western World has been an elite event for 38 years and to have Dirt Late Models be part of it on Nascar weekend, in Phoenix, is huge exposure for the Western Allstars and Dirt Late Model Racing.” Kearns added, “I see this turning into one of the if not the largest Dirt Late Model event in the West. The new owners are very impressed with Dirt Late Model Racing and they seem to have big plans.”

The WAS series promoter also stated that,” I have seen Late Models at Knoxville, Eldora, Bristol and the 5/8 Golden Isles and I am not sure I have ever seen one go faster down a straight away than at Manzanita Speedway. This is going to be one heck of a race.”

Western Allstars-Great Basin Raceway notes

What started out rough, turned out to be a great weekend of racing at Jim Hicks Great Basin Raceway in Ely, NV. A total of 32 racers made the long tow for 2 seperate nights of racing. Friday the racers were real troopers as it took a little longer (ok about 3 hours) to pack the track in. Once it was ready though, it was as they say back east "BAD FAST". The Friday racing was awesome with one of the best heat races I have seen in a long time between Chris Shannon, Marcus Aue, Dean Moore and Chet Buckley putting on one hell of a show. The Main event was hooked up and fast with Kellen Chadwick showing some muscle against some of the best drivers in the Western States. Saturdays racing was on a much different track with the same results. Track was still very fast, racing was great and Kellen Chadwick did it again for a $7000 weekend. I would like to thank all of the racers who made the long tow for this event, especially the Western Allstars regulars who are not used to traveling. Alot of them were on hand for the first time ever in Ely, NV. My only advise to them was don't drive home at night (animals on the road) and stay out of any bar that has "Ranch" in the name. I know I thank them every week, but this time I owe a huge thank you to all of the Western Allstars Officials. This was the first time ever that they ran the show 100% on their own with no communication or help from track officials. Scoring, line up, flagging, race directing, etc. was all handled by them. Friday nights event was about 2 hours and 45 minutes from the start of qualifying to the end of the main event. Saturday nights event was 3:45 from the start of qualifying to the end of the 50 lapper with an intermission. So Thank you to Lorinda Kearns, Blade Kearns, Jennifer Biggs, Jason Vance, Melissa Bohard, Darren Jackson, Deanna Macht, Ray McCann. Deanna was a great unexpected help on Friday and Ray filled in for her on Saturday. After Fridays event Deanna had to drive 500 miles back to work at Bakersfield Speedway, which wouldn't be bad, but she had to ride with Tom. A special thanks to Jill McCann for kicking butt selling T-Shirts and handling the Bike giveaways, and to Ray for giving Latemodelracer.com the live updates. Also thank you to Photo Finish Photos and to KC Rooney for making the long trip and taking pictures for all of us. I am not superstitious but there might be something to Friday the 13th. My dog was attacked by a pit pull and my wife and I were bit, 2 hours before we left for the event. Tom and Deanna Macht ran out of gas at 1am, 20 miles outside of Ely. John Duty had 3 flat tires on his way. Randy Carder had a flat on the rear of his hauler that stranded him in the middle of the desert and did alot of damage and I believe I was told Craig Hansen lost a wheel and tire on his trailer. Those are just the stories that I know of, I am sure there were more. It is a good thing that the Crocketts weren't there!!! Here are this weekends contingency winners. 7-13 INDIANA TRUCK SALVAGE $100 Fast Time: Chris Shannon 17.390 PIONEER MERCANTILE Fast Dash: 1st Steve Drake $100 2nd Jeffrey Priddy $75 3rd AJ Kirkpatrick $50 4th Kellen Chadwick $25 LITTLE DARLINS CHILD CARE $100 Hard Charger: Lonnie Parker Sr. 11 positions. (Randy Carder also moved up 11 positions, but award goes to highest finish.) www.PhotoFinishPhotos.com $100 Hard Luck Award: Reldon Hatch (3 hours of wheel packing and never got to race) $3000 Main Event Winner: Kellen Chadwick 7-14 INDIANA TRUCK SALVAGE $100 Fast Time Award: Kellen Chadwick 17.860 PIONEER MERCANTILE FAST DASH 1st Steve Drake $100 2nd Richard Papenhausen $75 3rd AJ Kirkpatrick $50 4th Mark Carrell $25 LITTLE DARLINS CHILD CARE $100 Hard Charger: Rob Sanders 16 positions !!! (great job Rob) www.PhotoFinishPhotos.com Hard Luck Award: $50 Dean Moore, $50 John Duty $4000 Main Event Winner: Kellen Chadwick Thanks to everyone for a fun weekend, and we will see you this Saturday July 21st @ BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY The Wests Fastest 1/3 Mile High Banked Clay Oval

Western Allstars-Gary Jacob Memorial this Saturday

Western Allstars Super Dirt Late Models prepare for Kings Speedway this Saturday


This Saturday night June 30th the Western Allstars will host The Gary Jacob Memorial presented by Fast Undercar at Kings Speedway in Hanford, CA. This is one of the biggest events of the year for the Western Allstars Dirt Late Models. Drivers from CA, CO, AZ, NV and OR are expected to enter the $5000 to win and $700 to start event. “We are very proud of that purse for a one night event”, stated series promoter Chris Kearns.

“Besides the $5000 to win and $700 to start A-Main we are also paying $850 to win and $250 to start the Non-Qualifier race,” added Kearns.

Some of the other giveaways for this race are $100 for Indiana Truck Salvage Fast Time, Insureitforless.com drum of race fuel, $100 for best appearing car and $100 for the longest tow sponsored by Bakersfield Speedway, $50 to the youngest and oldest racer sponsored by “Some Dude in Alabama”, $100 for 5th fastest qualifier sponsored by Olsons Race Engines. $50 each to the lap 25 leader, the slowest qualifier and the non-qualifier winner sponsored by Sara Souza. $350 for the Pioneer Mercantile/Olsons Race Engines Fast Dash. 1 Hoosier tire and 1 case of oil given out in each heat race and B-main. Each B-main winner will get $100 from Hixson Backhoe Service and a 2 lb Halon Fire extinguisher from Safety Pro Inc. Hixson Backhoe Service ($100) and Safety Pro Inc. (fire extinguisher) will also be giving their prizes in the non-qualifier main event.

The A-Main winner will receive $5000, a Fast Undercar/Gary Jacob Memorial Champions jacket and a Safety Pro Inc. Halon Fire extinguisher. There will also be a Little Darlins Childcare $100 Hard Charger Award and a $100 Photo Finish Photos Hard Luck Award. On top of the great A-Main purse 2 big dirt late model fans, Late Model Mark and Steve from RaceImages.net will contribute $100 each to the 4th and 11th place.

“It is very important for myself and the Western Allstars to honor Gary Jacob with a race of this caliber”, stated Kearns.

Gary Jacob was a very respected West Coast Auto Racing Writer. Gary could be seen at as many as 4 race tracks in one weekend. Without him West Coast Racing would have never got the exposure over the years that it did. It was a passion for him, as he was never paid for his work, and he gave his life to it. He won awards over the years for attending more auto races that anyone else in the United States. Gary would attend and write about anything from go-karts to dirt LateModels and attended events on any given weekend in states such as CA, AZ, NM, OR and WS. WAS promoter Kearns adds, “It would take 5 people to replace Gary and that will never happen. We all miss just seeing Gary at the races.” Gary Jacob passed away in June of 2006 while attending a meeting in Tulare regarding racing.

According to Kearns, “The Gary Jacob Memorial could not happen without the support of series sponsor Fast Undercar of Bakersfield.” “Mike at Fast Undercar is the best supporter, financially and mentally, a promoter like me could ask for,” added Kearns. “This series would not be anywhere near as successful without him. Fast Undercar is a wholesale undercar parts distributer.

The Western Allstars/ Gary Jacob Memorial presented by Fast Undercar is this Saturday June 30th @ Kings Speedway in Hanford, CA.

WAS notes and winners from Reno-Fernley June 16th

Based on the crowd size and enthusiam at Reno Fernley Raceway for the Western Allstars first visit to the track, you would never know there were only 23 cars on hand. It was a great night of racing and entertainment. Next to Las Vegas, it was probably the largest crowd the WAS has raced in front of this year. The racer participation for the autograph session was awesome and the fans seemed to really enjoy getting to come down on the track and meet the drivers. Zack Forster and Mike Johnson even let the fans sign there cars.The top West Coast Super Dirt Late Model drivers such as Mike Johnson, John Duty, Darren Coffel and the nights main event winner Kellen Chadwick put on a great show. As usual Dirt Late Model rookie Chris Shannon was his consistent self with another top 5 finish. AJ Kirkpatrick and Andy Obertello had a great side by side battle for several laps. Obertello moved up 13 positions to earn the Little Darlins Child Care Hard Charger award. Jeffrey Priddy had his most impressive showing of the year and Chet Buckleys bad luck continued, as he flipped in the main event, earning the Photo Finish Photos Hard Luck award. I would like to thank all of the racers who attended this long distance race (Duty 609mi) (Buckley 525mi) (All Bakersfield cars 460mi) It was a great time. To me the Reno-Fernley race wasn't just about the race, it was about having fun with family and friends. On Friday about 20 of us (my family, the Shannon crew, the Forster crew, the Sevisind family, the Detrich family) all floated down the Truckee River for about 3 hours. That was probably the best time of the weekend and the most work. (it wasn't easy knocking Chris Sevisind in the water) My son and I and several racers did battle on the Go-cart slick track. At night we hit floating golf balls into the driving range-lake and even did some bowling. It was a great weekend. Hopefully next year more racers and families will come enjoy this Western Allstars-Reno Fernley weekend. I may even try and ad a Friday night race somewhere. Here are all the winners. Hoosier Tire for the Longest tow, sponsored by Western Allstars: JOHN DUTY (This was not a planned giveaway, but I wanted to thank the drivers that supported this event) Driver meeting Drum of Race Fuel giveaway, sponsored by www.InSureItForLess.com : BOBBY HOGGE (This was not a planned giveaway either, but Doug Thompson wanted to also show support of the racers that attended this event. The fuel giveaway is normally only given out at points races) Indiana Truck Salvage $100 Fast Time Award: DARREN COFFELL (18.34) Case of oil giveaway for last place in each heat race: RELDON HATCH, CHET BUCKLEY, JAY ELLENBERGER, ANDY OBERTELLO Pioneer Mercantile Fast Dash: 1st) $100 KELLEN CHADWICK, 2nd) $75 ZACK FORSTER, 3rd) $50 DARREN COFFELL, 4th) $25 MIKE JOHNSON Reno-Fernley Raceway $100 slow dash winner: MARCUS AUE (this was also not a planned event or giveaway, Chris from Reno-Fernley just wanted to show his appreciation to the racers in attendance) $3000 A-MAIN Winner: KELLEN CHADWICK www.PhotoFinishPhotos.com $100 hard luck winner: CHET BUCKLEY Little Darlins Child Care $100 Hard Charger Award: ANDY OBERTELLO (13 positions) I would also like to thank the Reno-Fernley Raceway for inviting the Western Allstars to there awesome facility and to my crew for once again making me look good by running a perfectly organized show. (I just wish one of them would have driven that 2 seater for me, so I would have looked good there also) Thank you, Chris Kearns Western Allstars

Gary Jacob Memorial June 30th Kings Speedway

Gary Jacob Memorial Firecracker 50 presented by Fast Undercar. June 30th Kings Speedway- Hanford,CA 1) $5000 2) $2000 3) $1200 4) $1200 5) $1050 6) $1025 7) $1025 8) $1000 9) $1000 10) $1000 11) $ 875 12) $ 775 13) $ 775 14) $ 750 15) $ 750 16) $ 725 17) $ 700 18) $ 700 19) $ 700 20) $ 700 21) $ 700 NON-QUALIFIER MAIN $850 to win- $250 to start 1 Hoosier tire given to first non transfer in each heat race. 1 case of oil given to last place in each heat race and B-Main A-Main winner will recieve a Fast Undercar/Gary Jacob Memorial Champions jacket 55 Gallon drum of Race Fuel given away in drivers meeting. Sponsored by www.insureitforless.com Indiana Truck Salvage $100 Fast Time award Olson's Race Engines $100 for 5th Fast Qualifier Little Darlins Childcare $100 Hard Charger award www.PhotoFinishPhotos.com $100 Hard Luck award Pioneer Mercantile/Olson's Race Engines Fast Dash $100,$75,$50,$25,$25,$25,$25,$25 A-Main,each B-Main and Non-Qual winners will recieve a 2lb Halon Fire Extinguisher from Safety Pro Inc. ($159 retail value) $100 to win each B-Main-sponsored by Hixson Backhoe Service $50 to the lap $25 leader, $50 to the slowest qualifier and $50 to the winner of the Non-Qualifier Main event. Sponsored by Sara Souza (chevcamarolvr) $100 to the Best Appearing Car- Sponsored by Bakersfield Speedway-Scott Schwietzer $100 to the Longest Tow- Sponsored by Bakersfield Speedway- Scott Schwietzer $100 added to 11th place- Sponsored by www.raceimages.net $100 added to 4th place by Late Model Mark A 30 pack of Bud Light on ice for the first car to retire from the A-Main. supplied by Scott Woodhouse/Westernatv.com $50 to the youngest racer in attendance/ $50 to the oldest racer in attendance- Sponsored by Some Dude in Alabama (Dodger dog) Over $32,000 in purse and giveaways for a 1 day show. $50 entry fee/ $40 pit pass For more information contact Chris Kearns 805-714-8538 chriskearns@verizon.net or www.westernallstars.com