From: keeper@deeptht.armory.com (Ron O'Dell)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: 14 Aug. Watsonville
Date: 15 Aug 92 23:46:49 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: The Armory



This week's is another 30-minute express article.  Only two errors and
one possible error, though.  A typo on the word `Mofified'; using Kurt
Slama's first name on second reference; and possibly having the number
of points Slama earned through the night wrong.  Because of the
disqualification of Myers, Slama may have earned one more point than
I gave him credit for.  I don't know if in trophy dash/heat race points
people get moved up when someone is DQ'd, like they do in main events.
Oh, one grammatical error from changing wording again ... ah well.

Couple of fights, one suspension for the rest of the season (or perhaps
for life) ...  Fights involved pit crews of two late-model drivers
(Ed Sans Jr. and Vance Beltran), and a pair of Figure-8 drivers (Richard/
Raymond/David Keldsen (whichever one was driving the circle-1 car) and
the man they hate, Paul Larsen).  The driver of circle-1 was the one
suspended, for returning to the track and driving at speed, nearly running
into the victory ceremony and various people on the track surface (Grand-Am
people inspecting what the F8 did, since their main event was next).
I think he was upset that the race was called 25 laps before the scheduled
distance ...

Anyway, it's about time for me to leave for the sprint car race tonight,
so I'll get on with sending the story.  Agate is has only top-4 for main
events because the scorers weren't done yet.  Technical inspection wasn't
over yet, either.  There was some babble about a dodgy manifold ...
So the rundowns (called `agate' because they appear in agate type in the
newspaper) this week certainly are not official.

14 August 1992  Watsonville Speedway; Santa Cruz, Calif.  1/4-mile dirt oval

   WATSONVILLE -- San Jose's Robert Miller, the man who dominated much
of July in the Late-Model Stocks, was back on form Friday night at
Watsonville Speedway, winning both a heat race and the main event.
   Finishing in second place was Steve Hendren of Santa Cruz, who has
clinched the 1992 Pacific Coast Region Championship in the NASCAR 
Winston Racing Series.
 
   In the very tight Grand-American Modfied track championship, Scott
Busby had another blow-and-win night. After losing a motor in his heat
race, he came back with a fresh powerplant and won that division's 
feature race, taking back the points lead from fellow Martinez driver 
Tim Stratmeyer in the process.
 
   Dan Barger of San Jose won his first Street Stock main event of 
the year, fending off Kurt Slama and Kimberly Myers, who later was 
disqualified for having an illegal carburetor.
   Because of altercations on and off the track last week at Antioch 
Speedway, street stock drivers Ron Parker and Rick Petruzzi were 
suspended from NASCAR events for a week, so were not in competition 
Friday.
 
   The 40-lap Figure-8 -- which had been postponed from an earlier 
date -- was shortened, because of time constraints, to only 15 laps. 
Santa Cruz's Jim Gillespie won, making him 4-for-4 on the year.
   Gillespie was not untouched, however. In fact, John Keldsen of 
Castroville touched the back of Gillespie's car several times, but 
stalled in mid-race and had to restart from the tail of the field. He 
fought back to second, though, where he finished.
 
   It was a tough night for Bobby Scott of Santa Cruz in the late-
model division. Apart from his third-place finish in the trophy dash, 
he had nothing but bad luck.
   The worst of the luck came in the main event, when his car began 
smoking shortly after the start, and he was out of the race.
   Scott was trying to wrench away second place in the track points 
for the late-model division from Ed Sans Jr. He was one point behind 
going into the night's competition.
   Sans, apart from a heat race victory, also had trouble in the main
event, and scored no more points that Scott for that race. However, 
Sans did win a heat race, so gained four points on Scott in the track 
standings.
 
   Both the drivers going for the Grand-Am track championship lost 
motors during the evening. Besides Busby's blown engine in a heat 
race, Stratmeyer lost his late in the main event, while running third.
   Busby followed Watsonville's Tony Gomez for much of that race, 
eventually using the high line on a restart to take the lead.
 
   Parker, from Soquel, leads the street stock points at Watsonville 
over Kurt Slama by enough of a margin -- 60 after last week -- that he
was not be hurt too badly by scoring no points this week.
   Slama even admits that Parker's one-week suspension is no great 
opportunity for him. He nearly conceded the track championship, saying
simply, ``I'm too far behind.''
   The reprimands did allow Slama to harden his position in the 
points, however. He took over the second-place spot last week, coming 
away with only a 12-point spread over Petruzzi.
   Slama scored 27 points throughout the night, so with three 
weekends left, including one double-points night, he still has a 
chance for the division's track championship, but must hope for Parker
to have bad luck.
   Next week, the street stocks will compete in a 100-lap main event.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
   Friday's NASCAR Winston Racing Series results from Watsonville Speedway:
 
   LATE MODEL STOCK CARS
   Fast Time -- 16.565 seconds; Bobby Scott, Santa Cruz
 
   Trophy Dash, 4 laps
 1. Jeff Silva, Aptos
 2. Steve Hendren, Santa Cruz
 3. Scott
 4. Larry Damitz, Vallejo
 
   Heat Race 1, 6 laps
 1. Robert Miller, San Jose
 2. Hendren
 3. Damitz
 4. Mike DeLucca, San Jose
 
   Heat Race 2, 6 laps
 1. Ed Sans Jr., Santa Clara
 2. Vance Beltran, Morgan Hill
 3. Bobby Large, Watsonville
 4. Silva
 
   Main Event, 25 laps
 1. Miller
 2. Hendren
 3. Silva
 4. Jim Gillespie, Santa Cruz
 
   GRAND AMERICAN MODIFIEDS
   Fast Time -- 17.359 seconds; Scott Busby, Martinez
 
   Trophy Dash, 4 laps
 1. Tim Stratmeyer, Martinez
 2. Busby
 3. Troy Shirk, Concord
 4. Paul Meeks, Prunedale
 
   Heat Race 1, 6 laps
 1. Ken Nott Jr., Watsonville
 2. Stratmeyer
 3. Louis Davis, Mountain View
 4. Doug Riparetti, Salinas
 
   Heat Race 2, 6 laps
 1. Bill Riordan, Pebble Beach
 2. Ron Obertello, Hollister
 3. Tony Gomez, Watsonville
 4. Shirk
 
   Main Event, 20 laps
 1. Busby
 2. Gomez
 3. Davis
 4. Kim Beard, Seaside
 
   STREET STOCKS
   Fast Time -- 18.688 seconds; Kurt Slama, Salinas
 
   Trophy Dash, 4 laps
 1. Carlos Jimenez, Las Lomas
DQ  Kimberly Myers, Half Moon Bay
 2. Slama
 3. Michael Robe, Watsonville
 
   Heat Race 1, 6 laps
 1. Dan Wagner, Salinas
 2. Eddy Juster, Prunedale
 3. Peter Pedone, Morgan Hill
 4. Michael Jimenez, San Jose
 
   Heat Race 2, 6 laps
 1. Tim Clark, Aptos
 2. Johnny Thompson, Salinas
 3. Ken Pelphrey, Santa Cruz
 4. ``Redbone'' Crouch, Marina
 
   Heat Race 3, 6 laps
 1. Jay Baer, San Jose
 2. Dave Hansen, San Ramon
 3. Bob Hansen, Danville
 4. Doug Hagio, Prunedale
 
   Heat Race 4, 6 laps
 1. Don Silva, Salinas
 2. Jerry Cutler, Salinas
 3. Carlos Jimenez
 4. Slama
 
   C-Main Event, 8 laps
 1. Clark
 2. Wagner
 3. Crouch
 4. Ron Souza, Pescadero
 
   B-Main Event, 12 laps
 1. Chris Araujo, Santa Clara
 2. Juster
 3. Walt Haas, Antioch
 4. Dave Hansen
 
   Main Event, 20 laps
 1. Dan Barger, San Jose
 2. Slama
DQ  Myers
 3. Dave Robe, Watsonville
 4. Hagio
 
   FIGURE 8
   Main Event, 15 laps
 1. Jim Gillespie, Santa Cruz
 2. John Keldsen, Castroville
 3. Fred Lind, Morgan Hill
 4. Bob Dickey Sr., Ben Lomond
 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pacific Coast Region, NASCAR Winston Racing Series
Top-10 as of August 8, 1992

    Name, Home town                       Starts  Wins  Top5  Top10  Points
 1. Steve Hendren; Santa Cruz, Calif.*      35     22    28    32     3600**
 2. Tom Pinkowsky; Vancouver, Wash.         34     10    27    33     3485
 3. Ed Sans, Jr.; Santa Clara, Calif.       33    
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport