CHOWCHILLA, Calif. -- On another weekend when dirt tracks all around Chowchilla Speedway cancelled, the 3/8 mile clay oval was able to get in the first SCRA wingless 360 sprint car show of 2006 and the opening race for a new All Stars Series for the dirt modifieds that will combine events at Chowchilla and Antioch in 2006. Australia's Peter Murphy timed in 8th and ran fifth in his heat to secure a starting spot in the dash for the SCRA action. He won the dash, then proceeded to pace all 30 laps of the feature run. West coast superstar Brent Kaeding started 4th and ran second for much of the race only to see his line blocked by a spinning car on the final lap. That allowed Tulare's Ricci Faria to race the Mark Flachman car into second on the last lap and young Evan Suggs edged out Kaeding for third. With a lot of laps on the track in both the dirt modifieds and spec sprints, David Press ran a solid fifth after timing in 10th quick in a 20 car field. With so many area tracks having rained out all of their 2006 events, the dirt modifieds drew an incredible 32 car field. 2005 IMCA Modified Western Region rookie of the year Alex Stanford scored a clean sweep as he won his heat, the dash and the feature for a $500 payday. Coming off a win in the Merced Speedway IMCA season opener the previous weekend, Chico's Richard Papenhausen ran second in the Ira Compton owned BMS. Stanford wheels a D&M and some contact from Papenhausen as they raced to the checkered flag left Stanford sideways taking the win. Victory Chassis racer Paul Stone ran third and veteran Keith Brown Sr was fourth. With three cars making the long tow from Marysville, the limited late models had a four car field and veteran racer Jerry Bartlett gained the win ahead of Merced's Larry Pedrelli and Jeff Olschowka. Eleven cars appeared in the super fours and Atascadero's Ron German won both his heat and the feature. Newcomer Joel Giusti was second in the main and Porterville's Dudley Reed ran third. Only three cars appeared in the mini fours and Robbie Loquaci beat heat winner Travis Myers in the feature. The track has added a school bus division and used veteran racers in their opener. Ray McCann owns his own bus and won the opener over the track buses driven by hobby stock star Marc Key, mini four star Travis Myers and Ryan Sagmiller.

The track turned extremely dry slick after hot laps for the large turnout and the racing was one groove on the bottom. Rusty Carlile turned quick time for the 20 wingless 360 sprint cars with a 15.944 clocking. Kaeding was second at 16.197 and Danny Olmstead ran a 16.306. Driving his own car, Rick Williams was fourth at 16.461 and 410 star Andy Forsberg ran a 16.516. Faria ranked sixth ahead of dirt modified graduate Richard Brace Jr, Murphy and Press. You needed to finish fifth or better in one of the three heat races to gain a spot in the six car dash that determined the starting order for the front of the feature. Crowd favorite Steven Williams from Merced won the opening heat race over R Williams, Jonathan Logan and Carlile. Brace missed a dash assignment as he ran sixth. Robert Ballou made a rare wingless appearance and won heat 2 over Kaeding, crowd favorite Andy Ferris and Steve Osborne. Murphy ran fifth as Forsberg missed the dash with his 7th place run. Series organizer Richard Harvey Jr won heat 3 ahead of Faria, Press, Albert Pombo and Brian Quilty. Olmstead missed the dash by finishing sixth. The fact that Brace, Forsberg and Olmstead all missed the dash put Murphy on the outside front row and he drove to the dash win ahead of pole starter Press, Faria, Kaeding, R Williams and Carlile. That result put Murphy and Press on the front row for the 30 lap feature. Murphy never ventured from the bottom line as he paced the main event in wire to wire fashion. Twelve time King of California champion Kaeding was set to make a turn 1 attempt to steal the lead on the final lap only to see a spun backmarker in his line. That forced him to dart high on the track and fall from 2nd back to 4th. Murphy got the win ahead of Faria, Suggs and Kaeding. Press ran fifth ahead of Osborne, Ferris, Forsberg, Harvey, Logan, Carlile and Olmstead. Kaeding came out of the night with the SCRA point lead, 3 ahead of both Murphy and Faria.

The large 32 car dirt modified field was split into four heat races and the top four in each advanced into the A Main. Merced's Rod Freitas made a very rare Chowchilla appearance and won heat 1 over second year racer Mike Villanueva, Antioch's Ed Daviess and Brown. Stone is a former Merced champion and he won heat 2 ahead of many time Chico titlest Randy McDaniel, Ray Mayer and street stock graduate Gary Tucker. Stanford earned up an up front assignment in the A Main by beating Ryan McDaniel in heat 3. Cameron Beard ran third ahead of Antioch regular Joel Hannagan. Papenhausen won heat 4 ahead of 2005 Chowchilla champion Tim Balding, Merced's Chris Shannon and Brad Coelho. Stanford beat Papenhausen, Stone and Freitas in the dash. Four more feature slots were available in the B Main. Top runner Vance Beltran was sidelined in hot laps and Rob Norris ran the B Main after missing his heat. Russ Wells sat out the B Main after problems in his heat. Duane Cleveland from Marysville won the B Main ahead of veteran Larry Lundin, Allen Pace and Chris Compton, Papenhausen's teammate. Just missing the transfer up were Tim Clark Jr, 2005 Chowchilla lady hobby stock champion Melissa Fuhrman and Chico's Eli Zucker. The four heat winners started in the front of the A Main and were holding down three of the top four slots at the checkered flag. A Stanford repeated his win in the Chowchilla season opener and Papenhausen ran second ahead of Stone, Brown, Coelho, Balding, Hannagan, Pace, Freitas, Daviess, Randy McDaniel and Mayer.

Pedrelli won the limited late model heat over J Bartlett and Olschowka. Robert Mull broke in the heat action and J Bartlett gained the feature triumph ahead of Pedrelli and Olschowka. The super four field also included several Marysville cars. German beat Marysville racer Mike Merritt in heat 1 as Dudley Reed ran third. Heather Bartlett, the young daughter of J Bartlett, won heat 2 over fellow Marysville racer Shane Stoker and Kristi Myers. Nathan Herbert broke in hot laps and 10 cars raced in the main event. Top runner Tom Williams, an Oregon star who now lives in Tulare, broke early and German got the feature win over Giusti, Dudley Reed, M Merritt, H Bartlett, Darren Reed and Scott Bowen. T Myers beat Steve Wenzel and Loquaci in the heat for the mini fours, but it was Loquaci on top in the feature as T Myers ran second ahead of Wenzel.

On April 15, the super street stocks, hobby stocks and lady hobby stocks will be in action. Antioch Speedway will try again to start their portion of the All Star Dirt Modified Series on April 15 and that division will return to Chowchilla on April 22 with the CSRA/NCMA wingless sprint cars joining them.

RESULTS

Summary School Bus
Main-Ray McCann, Marc Key, Travis Myers, Ryan Sagmiller.

Mini Four
Heat-Travis Myers, Steve Wenzel, Robbie Loquaci.
Main-Loquaci, T Myers, Wenzel.

Super Four
Heat 1-Ron German, Mike Merritt, Dudley Reed, Tom Williams, Scott Bowen.
Heat 2-Heather Bartlett, Shane Stoker, Kristi Myers, Joel Giusti.
Main-German, Giusti, Dudley Reed, Merritt, H Bartlett, Darren Reed, Bowen, K Myers, Stoker, Williams.

Limited Late Model
Heat-Larry Pedrelli, Jerry Bartlett, Jeff Olschowka, Robert Mull.
Main-Bartlett, Pedrelli, Olschowka. Dirt Modified Heat 1-Rod Freitas, Mike Villanueva, Ed Daviess, Keith Brown Sr, Larry Lundin.
Heat 2-Paul Stone, Randy McDaniel, Ray Mayer, Gary Tucker, Danny Luukonen.
Heat 3-Alex Stanford, Ryan McDaniel, Cameron Beard, Joel Hannagan, Kurtis Moore.
Heat 4-Richard Papenhausen, Tim Balding, Chris Shannon, Brad Coelho, Eli Zucker.
Dash-Stanford, Papenhausen, Stone, Freitas.
B Main-Duane Cleveland, Lundin, Allen Pace, Chris Compton, Tim Clark Jr, Melissa Fuhrman, Zucker, Eli Mendoza Jr, Chavez, Monty Tomlinson Jr, Marshall Weaver, Luukonen, Rob Norris, Moore.
A Main-Stanford, Papenhausen, Stone, Brown, Coelho, Balding, Hannagan, Pace, Daviess, Randy McDaniel, Mayer, Beard, Tucker, Lundin, Villanueva, Shannon, Compton, Cleveland, R McDaniel.

Wingless 360 Sprint Car
Fast Time-Rusty Carlile 15.944
Heat 1-Steven Williams, Rick Williams, Jonathan Logan, Carlile, Evan Suggs.
Heat 2-Robert Ballou, Brent Kaeding, Andy Ferris, Steve Osborne, Peter Murphy.
Heat 3-Richard Harvey Jr, Ricci Faria, David Press, Albert Pombo, Brian Quilty.
Dash-Murphy, Press, Faria, Kaeding, R Williams, Carlile.
Main-Murphy, Faria, Suggs, Kaeding, Press, Osborne, Ferris, Andy Forsberg, Harvey, Logan, Carlile, Danny Olmstead, Brian Schuler, Jeff Gardner, Pombo, S Williams, Richard Brace Jr, Ballou, R Williams, Quilty.