By JM Hallas
Pleasanton, TX.,(April 30th, 2022)
After a two week hiatus, it was time to fire up the engines on the ¼ mile, semi-banked, dirt oval. With the Late Models and Limited Modifieds having the night off, the Texas Dirt Trucks Series and Dwarf Car Racing Series of Texas came on board for a full night of racing along with the IMCA Modifieds, Factory Stocks, Sport Compacts and Go-Karts.
The racing this season has been close and intense with door to door battles and near photo finishes. Tonight would be no different with some winners, again, determined in the waning laps of their respective features. We also had two father-son combination winners, with the dads winning their class races and sons winning in the Go-Karts.
After a hot first two races, Jared Maupin saw his win streak broken by, former track champ, Rick Green in the IMCA Modifieds, then took a DNF in the Factory Stocks after contact battling for the lead cut down a tire. Lets see if he can start a new streak, after rebounding at another south Texas track with 2 wins and second in 3 classes, including the Texas Dirt Truck Series.
In the Sport Compacts, Michael Burris jr., who missed the first race has come in and won back to back the past two shows. The young Burris had to make a last lap, last corner pass on Levi Hernandez to keep his hot streak alive, winning by a fender.
Whitmire Wins Modified Main
At the start of the 20-lap IMCA Modified main it was Rick Green off turn 2 with the lead chased by Jared Maupin, Tanner Whitmire, Ryan Doyon and Chris Morris. Robert Liese would spin to infield and collect Marlin Samford as he tried to pull back on track. On the restart Maupin tried the high side on Green with Whitmire looking to go three wide for the lead.
Whitmire was able to take second from Maupin and began to look low on Green while Morris got by Maupin for third. Whitmire then tried the high side on Green and got a good run down the back stretch taking the point on lap 9. At the crossed flags it was Whitmire, Green, Morris, Maupin and Jamie Campbell in the top five.
As Green tried to make the bottom work, Morris closed in for second. While Green and Morris battled, Whitmire was able to slowly creep away. Morris was able to get second from Green with three to go. Whitmire(Portland) had about 8-car lengths on Morris as he scored the victory in the Sames Ford, First Community Bank, Coastal Bend Airboats, Towboat USA, Revolutionary Insurance, Coors Light, Tripp Whitmire Racing, crate powered, Devilbiss Chassis.
“It's been a while since I've been up here,” replied Whitmire. “I think the last time I was here we rained out and I was worried I was bringing the rain again tonight.”
“I stuck my nose down low and knew (Rick) Green saw me and he started to change his line up a little bit. I knew I was going to have move him or change my line, and I don't drive like that. So I changed my line to the top and hoped to make it work in (turns) 1-2. I was able to keep the momentum up and go around on the outside.”
“I've been out of Modifieds for 15 years or so and it's my fifth race back into it. We won one a couple weeks ago and had a couple seconds. To be able to come out tonight and with a stout field definitely feels good. I picked up this car in January, Zane(Devilbiss) has been top notch in help. I wouldn't be here in Victory Lane without him.”
“Tripp(Whitmire) usually has some bad luck here too. But he dominated in true fashion tonight. He put the pressure on me to do the same. We made a bet at the beginning of the year on who could win the most races. I think he's up to 18(wins) and I'm at two.”
My dad and I both work on my Go-kart,” added young Tripp Whitmire. “I do a lot of winning on Iracing too, mainly in the big block Modifieds. I've raced against Clint Bowyer, Kyle Buschs son(Brexton) and Owen Larson. I also ran the Go-kart winner series in three classes.”
Price Chevrolet IMCA Modifieds
101 Tanner Whitmire, 94 Chris Morris, 82 Rick Green, bd1 Jared Maupin, 86 Dillon Tindall, 29 Jamie Campbell, 81 Ryan Childress, 16 Landon Bednarz, 22 Ryan Doyon, 22 Darrell Boyd, 28 Marlin Samford, 56 Gilbert Amezquita, 77 Robert Liese jr.
IMCA Modified heats
Heat 1; 82 Rick Green, 94 Chris Morris, 86 Dillon Tindall, 29 Jamie Campbell, 81 Ryan Childress, 16 Landon Bednarz, 28 Marlin Samford
Heat 2; bd1 Jared Maupin, 101 Tanner Whitmire, 5r Ryan Doyon, 77 Robert Liese jr., 56 Gilbert Amezquita, 22 Darrell Boyd
Barber Best for Truck Series Tally
The largest field to date, 18 Texas Dirt Series Trucks, took the green for their 20-lap feature. Lance Chacon led the pack into turn 1, but it was Tony Bernal, from row 2, getting by off turn 2 with Chacon, Jarrett Barber, Jared Maupin and Larry Baggett in pursuit. J. Barber quickly moved up to get the point on lap 2.
Maupin, Chacon and Bernal were three wide on a restart with Maupin and Bernal getting by leaving Chacon to fend off Johnny Torres. After taking the spot from Chacon, Torres got along side Bernal for third. Torres got the spot with Baggett and Chuck Barber following past Bernal for fourth and fifth. Up front Maupin was pressuring J. Barber for the lead sneaking by on lap 8.
After a restart for a Colton Borlace spin, J. Barber regained the lead coming to halfway ahead of Maupin, Torres, Baggett and C. Barber. Maupin then mounted a last challenge on J. Barber trying the high side in turns 1-2 with two to go. J. Barber(Robstown) was able to hold him off for the win in his Barber Oilfield Trucking, Ace Transmission, crate powered, ARTS Chassis.
Texas Dirt Truck Series
19 Jarrett Barber, 91 Jared Maupin, 10 Johnny Torres, 19b Chuck Barber, 38 Josh Sewell, 00 Buster Dean, 8t1 Tony Bernal, 21t Shaun Tracy, 95 Lightning McGreen, 3 Larry Baggett, 4 Treyler Caulfield, 416 Lance Chacon, 9 Pete Arce, 44 Kevin Vasbinder, 28 Russ Parker, 41t Elgin Tracy, 693 Colton Borlace, 01t Adolph Tracy
TDTS Heats
Heat 1; 19 Jarrett Barber, 81 Tony Bernal, 28 Russ Parker, 93 Colton Borlace, 41 Elgin Tracy, 01 Adolph Tracy
Heat 2; 00 Buster Dean, 10 Johnny Torres, 3 Larry Baggett, 38 Josh Sewell, 4 Treyler Caulfield, 416 Lance Chacon
Heat 3; 91 Jared Maupin, 19b Chuck Barber, 95 Lightning McGreen, 21t Shaun Tracy, 44 Kevin Vasbinder, 9 Pete Arce
Maupin Muscles Up for Factory Feature
Kasey Krauss led the field of Factory Stocks off turn 2 for the lead in the 20-lap feature. Jared Maupin, Paul Reyes, Dillon Gaither and Johnny Torres fell in behind Krauss. Maupin wasted little time pressuring Krauss for the lead getting along side on lap 2 and taking the top spot on lap 3 before Zach Freeman slapped the front stretch wall.
The restart saw Gaither take second from Krauss with Dakota Hurley grabbing fourth from Torres. Gaither then began taking looks low in turns 1-2 while Hurley got along side Krauss for third. Gaither was able to move past Maupin for the lead on lap 6, while Hurley took third. Two laps later, Maupin was able to muscle his way back to the lead.
At the crossed flags it was Maupin, Gaither, Krauss, Torres and Reyes in the top five after Hurley pulled off. As Maupin began to move away, Krauss was putting the heat on Gaither for second and Torres was running down both. Krauss was able to get the spot, but it was Maupin(Weslaco) building a comfortable advantage in the Jamie Fuller owned, Reflective Wrecker, JGR Fab, Longs Machine Shop, CNC Graffix, Wells Race Engines, Lazer Chassis taking the victory.
“I'm worn out!,” exclaimed Maupin, who ran three classes. “It's a humid day, so ya, I'm pretty worn out. After getting out of the Modified I knew the top was pretty good. I ran the top and (Dillon) Gaither peeked on the bottom and got by me. But I was committed to the top. There was way more up there. I knew you had to be absolutely perfect to win on the bottom.”
“The truck and Factory Stock are similar. I actually like the way they drive more. They're real front end dominant and don't like to be sideways. All in all they're pretty close to a Factory Stock.
“When I run multiple classes I'm thinking more about, did I make the right changes or am I going to have time to make the changes. I'm always thinking about the next one(race). In the Modified I was too afraid to make a big change. I should have just trusted my gut on some changes. It's good to be back in Victory Lane with the Factory Stock. If we just keep our nose clean, we'll be tough to beat.”
All in Design Factory Stocks
91 Jared Maupin, 53k Kasey Krauss, 99 Dillon Gaither, 199 Johnny Torres, 24 Paul Reyes, 11x Brian Harbison, 719 Brian Schoenbaum, 20 Mike Lyon, 15L Daniel Lopez, 75 Jerry Miller, 15 William Cavender, 40 Dakota Hurley, 34h Robby Minten, 00 Zach Freeman
Factory Stock heats
Heat 1; 24 Paul Reyes, 199 Johnny Torres , 11x Brian Harbison, 75 Jerry Miller, 15 Daniel Lopez, 40 Dakota Hurley, 15 William Cavender
Heat 2; 53k Kasey Krauss, 91 Jared Maupin, 99 Dillon Gaither, 3d Robby Minten, 00 Zach Freeman, 20 Mike Lyon, 719 Brian Schoenbaum
Gaither Garners Gold
The B Factory Stock feature saw Ricky Long get a big advantage on the start trailed by Ronnie Schoenfeldt, Lance Gaither, Johnny Brown and Steve Peterson. Gaither quickly moved past Schoenfeldt for second and caught Long for the lead. Gaither got by Long on lap 3 leaving them side by side battling for second.
Schoenfeldt and Long made contact with both going around, but continuing on leaving Gaither with a huge lead. Long and Schoenfeldt continued to run side by side as Gaither increased his lead to a full straight away as the white waved. At the checkers it was Gaither(San Antonio), in the Gaither Motorsports, Spreen Race Engines, home built chassis taking his first dirt track win in nearly 20 years.
“It's my first dirt win in a long time,” said Gaither. “I ran Texas Dirt Speedway and Corpus many years ago. This is my first win here. This is my first time in a dirt car in twenty years. I did race a Pro Late Model on asphalt a year ago in Houston. This is Dillon's old car that he raced two years ago that was just sitting in the shop. Dillon and Brandon helped put it back into race shape. Somewhere along there, Dillon said, dad, you're going to race it.”
“You really don't have a plan. When a hole opens up you just take it. I knew that (Ricky) Long was fast and I maintain the 98 car(Schoenfeldt) and built the motor for it so I know what that car has got and I've hot lapped it. At halfway I told myself, I know they're here, where are they at. Unfortunately they had an incident and it worked out for me. This “B” class is to get guys started. It gives an old guy, like me, a chance to feel good about it. It's a good deal. We'll see how it goes on my moving up.”
B Factory Stocks
5 Lance Gaither, 98 Ronnie Schoenfeldt, 20 Ricky Long, 3d Johnny Brown, 34h Steve Peterson
B Factory Stock heat; 20 Ricky Long, 98 Ronnie Schoenfeldt, 5 Lance Gaither, 34h Steve Peterson, 3d Johnny Brown
Budnik Best in Dwarf Car Bash
A huge field of Dwarf Car Racing Series of Texas racers was whittled down to 24 starting the 20-lap feature. The race got off to rocky start and was dotted by spins, and mishaps that broke up the action before the midway point. At the start it was Ty Paxson jumping out front challenged by Drew Stark who would get the lead briefly.
After a restart, it was Dillon Spreen, using the high side, to get past Stark for the spot on lap 4. Dylan Budnik took second from Stark and was challenging D. Spreen for the lead. Budnik got the bumper out front on lap 7, but D. Spreen retook the spot on lap on lap 8. At halfway it was D. Spreen, Budnik, Brayden Becker, Stark and Dillon Coyne in the top five.
D. Spreen and Budnik ran nose to tail through lapped traffic while Keagan Moore and Dustin Rude moved past Coyne. Budnik(Boerne) saw an opening and retook the top spot on lap 16 then began to inch away to a quarter straight away lead at the checkers in his Sky Haulers, DALCO, Suzuki GSXR 1000, B&B Chassis.
“We redrew a 9 for the start,” stated Budnick. “We got going on the bottom, I knew it was there. I stuck with that for the majority of the race and it worked out. I just held the bottom and saw that Dillon(Spreen) couldn't hold the tires and rotate around the bottom like I was. I was able to get by him and the next lap I missed the bottom and he got back by me. There were several laps I was stuck on the high side and then finally got back by on the bottom again.”
“I think when I showed him the bottom that's when he went down there when he had been running high. The bottom seemed to be the fast around for us tonight.”
Dwarf Car Racing Series of Texas
25 Dylan Budnik, 81s Dillon Spreen, 117 Brayton Becker, 03 Drew Stark, 41t Dustin Rude, 12 Dillon Coyne, 88 Brandon Spreen, 1k Keagan Moore, 24 Colby Urbanovsky, 7 Ron Theel, 2 Jerry Book, 37 Stacy Starrett, 93 Adam Stehle, 27 Robert Carr, 81d Jerry Burford, 44m Thomas Mach, 22c Cauy Moore, 15 Ty Paxson, 8 Landon Falkenberg, 56 Vince Kacir, 08 Danielle Long, 121 Brian Falkenberg, 171 Tim Ellis
DCRST B-main; 12t Dillon Coyne, 08 Danielle Long, 3 James Pena, 24 Colby Urbanovsky, 81 Jerry Burford, 8 Landon Falkenberg, 2t Jerry Book, 121 Brian Falkenberg, 7 Ron Theel, 93 Adam Stehle, 37 Stacy Starrett, 95 Kristen Stehle, 12n Keith Licher, 72 Landon Sibery, 5a Norvell Cone
DCRST Heats
Heat 1; 15 Ty Paxson, 22 Cauy Moore, 88 Brandon Spreen, 08 Danielle Long, 37 Stacy Starrett,95 Kristen Stehle
Heat 2; 81s Dillon Spreen, 03 Crew Stark, 44m Thomas Mach, 24 Colby Urbanovsky, 121 Brian Falkenberg, 7 Ron Theel
Heat 3; 117t Brayden Becker, 27 Robert Carr, 171 Tim Ellis, 12n Keith Licher, 3 James Pena, 8 Landon Falkenberg
Heat 4;41t Dustin Rude, 25 Dylan Budnik,12t Dillon Coyne, 72 Landon Sibery, 93Adam Stehle
Heat 5; 1k Keagan Moore, 56 Vince Kacir, 81d Jerry Burford, 2t Jerry Book, 5m Brady Ricks
Burris Busts Through Again
Ryker Hernandez and Michael Burris jr. stayed side by side as the 20-lap Sport Compact feature took the green with Jamie Garner, Levi Hernandez and Justin Sitterle in pursuit. R. Hernandez secured the lead while Burris jr., Garner and L. Hernandez went three wide for second. L. Hernandez got the spot leaving Burris jr. side by side with Garner for third.
Burris jr. then began to retake the spots and caught R. Hernandez for the lead on lap 6. The two, who battled until the last lap during the last race, were door to door until a debris caution slowed the pace just past halfway. Burris jr. took a look low on the restart while Garner had trouble and fell back.
With Burris jr. keeping the pressure on R. Hernandez, Burris sr. got by Rod Tait and Sitterle for third. Coming to two to go, R. Hernandez' car misfired and slowed allowing Burris jr to go past for the lead. R. Hernandez would roll to a stop for a late yellow. On the green, white, checkered restart, Burris jr. eased away while Sitterle and Burris sr. traded some paint for second. The win was three in a row for Burris jr.(Marion) in his Lonestar Chassis & Welding, San Antonio Karting Complex, 2000 Acura Integra.
Sport Compacts
81 Michael Burris jr., 88 Justin Sitterle, 33 Jamie Garner, 70 Rod Tait, 18 Michael Burris sr., 76 Donald Lewis, 55 Ryker Hernandez, 28 Levi Hernandez, 75 Chad Miller, 21t Shaun Tracy
Sport Compact heats
Heat 1; 55 Ryker Hernandez, 88 Justin Sitterle, 75 Chad Miller, 70 Rod Tait, 18 Michael Burris sr.
Heat 2; 81 Michael Burris jr., 33 Jamie Garner, 26 Levi Hernandez, 21t Shaun Tracy, 76 Donald Lewis
Go Karts
Adult Predator; Andy VanBLarcum, Noah VanBlarcum, Colin Carroll, Jimbo VanBlarcum, Joseph Montemayor
Senior Division; Tripp Whitmire, Gage Urbanovsky, Zoey Flores
Junior Division; Colt Stafford, Ava Montemayor, Beau Payton, Cecilii Johnson, Kolt McFarlin, Allison Borlace
Youth Division; Landon Budnik, Jayden Gray