BLYTHE, Calif. (April 27, 2003) - Forced to start last after his tow down from his Saturday night racing in Las Vegas saw him miss time trials, Billy Johanneck from Phoenix, AZ drove the Wide World of Maps car to a $750 win in the special 75 lap late model feature that closed both the 2002-2003 race season at I-10 Speedway and the 2003 Gold Rush Fair Sunday afternoon. Johanneck came from the fifth row to 3rd in just 16 laps and he took the lead from Richard Hooper on lap 30. Hooper finished 2nd and a late spin by Mark Schriner allowed Richard Kerr to finish third. Hooper and Kerr ended the season with 446 point each and the track tie-breaker is total feature wins. With three wins, Hooper won the championship in his Fred Gormly owned, Best Value Inn sponsored mount. Dash winner Robert Davis led just the final 7 laps as he won the 25 lap pure stock feature ahead of Brian Faulkner and Billy Dillard. Justin Good ran fourth and won the track championship by ten points ahead of Faulkner. Both Hooper and Good have long tows to the border track as Hooper lives in Palmdale and Good in San Fernando. Both utilize motel rooms from their sponsor Best Value Inn.

Schriner was the quickest of the ten late models in time trials ahead of Kerr and Hooper. Johanneck had raced in Las Vegas on Saturday night and they were still towing south when the time trials were run for the day show. Johanneck was the sixth different driver to wheel this car on the ten point race schedule. Brian Harrell jumped into the Jimmy Rouse car and won the dash ahead of Hooper and Schriner. The long distance 75 lapper had a three car inversion that put Hooper, Kerr and Schriner in the front 3 spots. Kerr was carrying #4 on his car to honor the memory of local racer Larry Hull. Hooper took a quick lead over Kerr, Schriner and John Cran. Cran spun for a lap 2 yellow and Charles Sanford held fifth for one lap before Johanneck took over. Johanneck passed Harrell for fourth on lap 9 and Cran hit the wall in turn 3 for a lap 11 yellow flag. New local Blythe car Wesley Bates pitted on this caution. The Kerr mount began to smoke and he lost third to Johanneck on lap 16. Sanford spun for a lap 16 yellow flag. Harrell made contact with the front fence on lap 21 and a spin by Ed Collins’ truck forced a lap 24 yellow flag. Riding high in turn 3, Johanneck took second from Schriner on lap 27 and an inside move in turn 2 netted him the lead from Hooper on lap 30. Schriner got underneath Hooper on lap 44 to claim second. Sixth place Bobby Keirns Jr was lapped just before the 50 lap mark. Three yellow flags slowed the action on laps 58 and 59. Harrell was penalized to the rear for spinning Kerr out of fourth in the final one. Hooper retook second from Schriner on this restart. Kerr and Keirns tangled for a lap 64 yellow flag. His father having put in numerous hours to rebuild his mount after an Orange Show crash while he helped his kids with the 4H Fair work, Schriner spun out of third for a lap 69 yellow flag. Johanneck paced those final 6 laps for the win with Hooper second ahead of Kerr, Harrell and Schriner. All ten cars were still racing at the checkered flag with Collins sixth ahead of Sanford and Keirns.

Randy Forbis was the quickest of the 15 pure stocks in time trials. Fourth fast Davis won the dash ahead of Dillard and previous race winner Johnny DelPino. Richard Ochoa crashed hard in time trials to end his day. Their 25 lap feature was started straight up off the timed runs. A restart was forced when top runner DelPino threw a wheel on the opening lap. Forbis raced into the lead and paced the first 15 laps. Dillard settled into second with Faulkner taking third from Davis on lap 3. Dedicated to the outside groove, Davis regained third on lap 11. The fourth yellow flag on lap 13 saw a tangle between Jimmy Rouse and George Olmstead with Dusty Hope crashing hard into Olmstead. Good had now climbed into fifth. Dillard took the lead from Forbis on a lap 16 restart and Forbis then spun in turn 2 to force a 7th yellow flag. Davis was now second ahed of Faulkner and Good. After trying an inside run, Davis took the lead from Dillard on lap 19 as Dillard continued to smoke his tires. The final caution came on lap 21 as Jennifer Downes spun. There were incidents all around the track on the last few laps with Rouse, Olmstead and Hope all making contact. Michelle Docks had climbed to an impressive fifth, but she spun on the final green flag. Davis posted the win ahead of Faulkner, Dillard, Good, Forbis, Rouse, Blake Usilton, Olmstead and Hope. Rouse climbed to third in the final points ahead of Davis.

RESULTS

Pure Stock

Fast Time - Randy Forbis.

Dash - Robert Davis, Billy Dillard, Johnny DelPino.

Main - Davis, Brian Faulkner, Dillard, Justin Good, Forbis, Jimmy Rouse, Blake Usilton, George Olmstead, Dusty Hope, Michelle Docks, Jennifer Downes, Mark Barth, Benji Gallegos, DelPino.

Late Model

Fast Time - Mark Schriner.

Dash - Brian Harrell, Richard Hooper, Schriner.

Main - Billy Johanneck, Hooper, Richard Kerr, Harrell, Schriner, Ed Collins, Charles Sanford, Bobby Keirns Jr, John Cran, Wesley Bates.