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Rick Green, Doug Livingston take top honors at I-37 Speedway

I-37 Raceway celebrated the Easter weekend Saturday night with several attractions including Ryan Newman’s Tornados-sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup car, dozens of goody bags given away to the kids during intermission and a couple of new winners in the top two divisions on the semi-banked, ¼-mile clay oval.

Liberty Hill’s Rick Green put an end the early streak of Greg Dinsmore in the IMCA Modified class. Green got out front early, but gave way to Mike McCarthy on a botched restart. Green got the top spot back after McCarthy and Dinsmore got together while fighting for the lead. From there Green pulled away from Darin Leonard to take the checkers.

As green waved on the 20-lap main event Green shot from row 2 for the lead with Leonard and Dinsmore moving up to second and third. McCarthy, Matt Fox and Bob Lienweber were three wide for fourth, with McCarthy getting the position. Dinsmore got by Leonard for second on lap 2 with both coming away with sheet metal damage.

Dinsmore had just started working on Green for lead when Marlin Sanford, Fox and Robert Liese jr. tangled in turn 4 to bring out a yellow. Under caution Dinsmore was sent to the pits to remove loose body panels and restarted at the tail. Once back to green Dinsmore shed more parts, while Cody Tidwell, in his first ever Modified ride, spun in turn 1.

On the next restart, McCarthy got past Leonard and Green for the lead after a mistake in the flagstand with the lights. Bill Pittaway moved in to battle with Green for second as they ran side by side, while Dinsmore worked his way back to fifth. Lap 7 saw Dinsmore get under Leonard, then Pittaway for third until he spun to bring out a caution.

Once back to racing Dinsmore got along side Green for second in turn 2 then by in turn 4. Dinsmore closed on McCarthy and was looking inside on lap 9 when the two made contact sending McCarthy around. Both McCarthy and Dinsmore were forced to pit with flats, putting Green back on the point. Leonard gave Green a quick look low in turn 1, but Tidwell looped his ride to bring the yellow back out.

Green got a good jump on the final restart and coming to the crossed flags it was Green, Leonard, Pittaway, Lienweber and Liese in the top five. Green then put some distance on Leonard and Pittaway while Tidwell made his way past Liese for fifth. Greens biggest scare came on lap 16 when Liese did a 360 in turn 4 directly in front the leader. Green, in the Green Construction, Qwik/Green Chassis continued to increase his lead on the final circuits to grab the victory.

“Surprisingly, the motor laying down the final laps helped me,” replied Green. “That’s when I started pulling away. I like coming down here to run at an IMCA track. It makes the competition a little more even and there’s not as much cheating going on.”

“The track was pretty good tonight. It was dry slick from the low to middle groove, then up top there was a little cushion. The flagman came up and apologized for the one restart saying it was his mistake with the lights.”

“This started out as a Qwik Chassis but over the winter I completely cut it up and redid it. My brother, Randy, and I primarily build the motors.”

IMCA Modifieds results
82 Rick Green
26 Darin Leonard
37 Bill Pittaway
12 Bob Lienweber
17 Cody Tidwell
53x Matt Fox
67 Robert Liese jr
20 Mike McCarthy
8g Greg Dinsmore
c31 Marlin Sanford
24 Tracy Fink

IMCA Modified heat winners: Darin Leonard and Greg Dinsmore

When the checkers waved on the 20-lap IMCA Southern SportMod main, San Antonio’s Doug Livingston found himself in a somewhat unfamiliar place, the Winners Circle. Livingston, shopmate of last years track champ, Mark McGahey got by early leader David Routen and never looked back taking his first ever IMCA SSM victory in the Douglas Glass, Struthoff Company, Alamo Bolt & Screw, Mark Warner powered, Smiley’s Chassis

At the start of the 12-car feature Routen beat Clark Warren out of turn 2 for the lead. Livingston then got by Warren for second and began working on Routen for the lead. Routen and Livingston were side by side, with Ray Doyon III getting by Warren for third when the race’s only caution came out on lap 2 for a spin by Leland Frautchi in turn 2. Livingston ducked low on Routen and got the top spot on lap 3, with Doyon re-passing Warren for third.

Johnny Torres was next to put Warren back a spot taking fourth on lap 3. Doyon moved into second going by Routen on lap 4. Torres then closed in on Routen taking third on lap 5. Robby Minten was next in line to pass Routen leaving him three wide with Bill Pittaway and Jason Stanley for fifth. Pittaway did a small lap in the infield after spinning on the back stretch giving fifth to Stanley.

At halfway the top five were Livingston, Doyon, Torres, Minten and Stanley, with Torres pressuring Doyon for the spot. Torres got by Doyon on lap 12, but Livingston was nearly a full straightaway ahead. Livingston caught the back of the pack on lap 14 and cleared traffic without giving up any ground to Torres. Stanley worked his way past Minten for fourth in the waning laps. Up front it was Livingston easily cruising to his inaugural Sportmod win.

“It was a lot of luck out there tonight,” commented Livingston on his first win. “The track and the car were just right. It would go anywhere I wanted it to go. This is my first ever feature win anywhere. I’ve won some heat races, but this is my biggest win.”

“Mark(McGahey) and I don’t really talk much about our different set-ups. Johnny(Torres) helps me out. We talked today about it. I just do what I think my car needs. On a tacky track this car is usually pretty fast. I thought if I broke out front I’d be able to hold them off.”

“ I found myself overdriving the car a couple times because I didn’t know where they were or how hard to push the car. I just to find my mark. I knew they were coming, just didn’t know how close they were. I feel real comfortable racing with all these guys locally. I got kind of nervous up in Abilene where there were 92 cars.”

IMCA Southern SportMod results
89 Doug Livingston
66 Johnny Torres
92 Jason Stanley
4 Robby Minten
09 David Routen
989 Clark Warren
2x Dennis Hilla
37 Bill Pittaway
11 Chris McLendon
00 Leland Frautchi
D9 Ray Doyon III—DQ, Tech(Carb)
18 Larry Jernigan—DNS

IMCA Southern SportMod heat winners: Doug Livingston and Jason Stanley

It didn’t take long in the 15-lap Limited Late Model feature for Wesley Skains to show his dominance again. On green Shannon Moore led the way into turn 1, but Skains swept by in turn 3 to lead the first lap. Richard Bartosh and Gary Hunter both got by Moore on lap 2 for second and third respectively. By lap 5 Skains had run away from Bartosh and Hunter easily cruising to his third victory of the season.

Tator Plumbing Limited Late Models
25 Wesley Skains
7 Richard Bartosh
14 Gary Hunter
18 Shannon Moore
33 Barry Major—DNS
12 Kody Hardage—DNS

Limited Late Model heat winner: Richard Bartosh

Despite a short field of cars the 15-lap Street Stock event didn’t lack for excitement. Dennis Jasik grabbed the early lead with Tommy Casey, Wade Jones and AJ Wernette in pursuit. Jasik went high to lap Steve Mireles and almost ran off the back stretch. Going into to turn 3 Jasik spun and broke an axle. This handed the lead to Wernette briefly as Casey got the top spot. Yellow finally waved for Jasik who couldn’t get completely off the racing surface.

On the restart, Jones got second from Wernette who tried to fight back only to spin himself out in turn 4. Jones then turned up the heat on Casey as they scrapped it out for the lead. Allen Torres brought out the red when he blew a motor and erupted in flames. Torres bailed out of his still moving car as it continued to the infield.

Once back to green the fight for the lead continued between Casey and Jones with Jones sticking the nose inside. After a bumper shot on lap 13 Jones got around Casey to lead the white flag lap. Casey came back to dive inside Jones in turns 1-2. The two made contact with Casey retaking the lead. Jones returned the favor in turns 3-4 sending Casey around in turn 4. Jones crossed the line ahead of Wernette, but was black flagged for spinning Casey, handing the win to Wernette.

Street Stocks
37 AJ Wernette
15 Tommy Casey
41 Wade Jones—BF Rough Driving
94 Allen Torres
8 Dennis Jasik
74x Steve Mireles

Street Stock heat winner: 15 Tommy Casey

Heat winners Patrick White and Freddie Gierisch stayed side by side through turns 1-2 at the start of the Pure Stock feature. White got sideways coming out of turn 4, half spun and clipped Gierisch who held on to lead lap 1. Kevin Hyland gave Gierisch an early challenge with Frank Okruhlik, Jarret Payton. Anna Major and Brandy Ramzinski ran door to door for sixth until Ramzinski spun, with defending track champ, Marc Roy moving up to fifth.

Roy then took over fourth from Major and third from Payton on lap 6. Gierisch’s rein out front ended with a flat right front on lap 7 and brought out the caution. This put Hyland in the lead for the restart, but that didn’t last long as Roy shot by as green waved again for the lead on lap 8.

Back in the back, Rick Snyder and William Cavender had their own personal battle going for fourth. After three laps of nearly side by side racing, Snyder got the position. Roy was increasing his margin over Hyland, while White worked his way back up to fifth after his earlier spin. Snyder’s night ended in a plume of smoke with his car losing parts to bring out a yellow on lap 16. Roy got away quickly on the restart while Major got past James Watson and Cavender for fourth. At the checkers it was Roy taking the victory with a comfortable margin over Hyland.

Pure Stocks
24 Mark Roy
72 Kevin Hyland
33 Anna Major
44 James Watson
15 William Cavender
66R Rick Snyder
19 Freddie Gierisch
9 Jarret Payton
99 Frank Okruhlik
88 Brandy Ramzinski
25 Chance Skains
17 Patrick White—DQ, Tech(Vacuum)

Pure Stock heat winners: Patrick White and Freddie Gierisch

Cody Earnhardt got the best of the three wide battle for the lead as green waved on th 15-lap Front Runner feature. As Earnhardt, James Sanford and Jerry Jones ran nose to tail, they quickly put distance on Alec Jasik and Brent Bouchillion. By lap 3 the lead trio were already up to the back of the pack. Earnhardt tangled with a lapped car giving the lead to Sanford on lap 7 with Jones taking second.

Jasik, Bouchillion and Cameron Smith were three wide for fourth coming up on the same traffic. Smith and Bouchillion got together with Bouchilion going around to bring out a caution on lap 8. The top three broke away clean on the restart with Jones giving Sanford a little pressure. Sanford was able to hold off the charge, while Jones fell back into the clutches of Earnhardt. Earnhardt got past Jones on the last lap, but Sanford was well out front and taking the checkers.

Front Runners
35 James Sanford
33 Cody Earnhardt
95 Jerry Jones
13 Cameron Smith
8jr Alec Jasik
20 Brent Bouchillion
T30 Chad Thrush
98 Amber Clay
113 Hailie Marcx
7x Streling Goyett
911 Nick Hencey
96 Steve Stanley
66R Cindy Snider

Front Runner heat winners: Nick Hencey and Cody Earnhardt

The two Wren brothers were the class of the field in the 20-lap Brazos Mini Sprint feature. Ralph Wren beat Troy Wren into turn 1 for lead, with Kyle Thompson, Hunter Montgomery, Trevor Reed and Anthony Smith falling in line. The top six separated out and began pulling away from the second pack early. Nearing halfway, the top three had began to put some space on Thompson, who had Montgomery, coming back from last week’s flip, closing, while Smith began to fade.

Thompson spun on lap 9 in between turns 1-2, got over on the left side tires and tipped over easily, bringing out a red. The top four got a good jump on green, while Ken Pearson began pressuring Smith for fifth. Smith and Pearson ran wheel to wheel for several laps until caution waved for Reagan Reed, who lost a motor on lap 14. Once back to green, R. Wren go a huge jump with T. Wren, Montgomery and T. Reed battling nose to tail for second. At the checkers it was R. Wren by a half straightaway taking the victory.

Brazos Mini Sprints
4w Ralph Wren(S)
44w Troy Wren
5 Hunter Montgomery
28 Trevor Reed
337 Anthony Smith
17 Ken Pearson
84 Trevor Barr(O)
42 Scott Blakely
14 Jacob Gilliam
7 Reagan Reed®
87 Kyle Thompson

Brazos Mini Sprint heat winners: Troy Wren and Ralph Wren

Kids Go-Karts
Age 9-under
22 Cameron Migura
9 Caitlin Leonard
37 Aaron Trevino
5 Tyler Barr
8g Logan Dinsmore

Age 10-up
33j Jacob Franke
9 Cody Leonard
13 Cody Smith
37 Alex Trevino

By J M Hallas
Photos by Jamie Brabson

I-37 Raceway’s “Thousand Dollar Shootout” to end season on a high note this weekend

The final night of championship racing at I-37 Raceway featured a full moon, the second largest crowd of the season (which sang the national anthem after the CD had a glitch), and a hard but clean night of racing that made everyone hungry for more next season.

There is one more event left on the schedule, though, and it’s a big one: the second annual Hill Country Satellite “Thousand Buck Shootout” on Friday and Saturday, November 6-7, 2009. This will be the final race until the 2010 season kicks off in mid-March, and each class will have its own sponsor and the newest class, the already popular with fans and drivers front drive “Front Runner” class, will run two races, a normal race on Friday and an enduro on Saturday that is attracting cars from all over south Texas. The Front Runners will be racing in the “Tator Plumbing Front Runner” feature, backed by the San Antonio company.

Boerne’s Robert Barker, winner of the last Texas Super Racing Series race on the asphalt at Thunderhill Raceway in Kyle, will try dirt racing for the first time, jumping into fellow Boerne resident (and I-37 Race Director) Eric Knudtson’s Chevrolet Camaro to run the “BPTI Street Stock” race. For the fans, the night’s excitement will include a drawing for a new flat screen television set.

Kerrville’s Moe VanKirk started last season a little late but still managed to win the title. This year he blew away the field and won more than two-thirds of the Limited Late Model races despite having to start nearly every race from the back as the points leader. With no points on the line at the “Shootout,” just money, the Limited Lates will likely let it all hang out in the “C-D Electric Limited Late Model” feature.

San Antonio’s Mark McGahey worked speed and consistency into a formula good enough to win his first IMCA Southern Sports Modified championship at I-37 Raceway. The “Sports Mods” will run the “Manning Safety Services Sports Modified” feature, backed by the suppliers of oil-field safety equipment, and the big Modifieds will be back for the “3-D Landscaping Modified” feature.

The Street Stocks saw a season-long battle among four drivers who should (and probably will) move up in class next year. Though last year’s rookie of the year Wade Jones of Jourdanton had the title locked up early, he also had Floresville’s A. J. Wernette and San Antonio driver Tommy Casey on his tail every week and all year.

They’ll be racing for “BPTI Street Stock” purse with no worries about fixing the car before next season, but they will be dealing with an experienced and high-profile “rookie” in Robert Barker, a former winner at San Antonio Speedway, Thunderhill Raceway and Houston Motorsports Park.. This one is likely to get interesting in a hurry.

The Pure Stock class was a battle among several drivers including former track and class champion Janel Hilla, former track photographer Marc Roy, Sean Terry (forced to miss several races due to his work on an oil rig) and rookie William “Heat” Saunders. It came down to the last night, with Hilla winning her heat race to close to within three points of Roy as they started the feature.

Roy had problems of his own, and was forced to use a car borrowed from his teammate Lynn Hardy for the final two races following damage to his car, while Mike Brown, who hadn’t won a race all year, came through to win on the last night. Roy flashed across the line just behind him with Hilla on his tail, but Roy had the Pure Stock title. Still, Hilla has finished first, third and second in the last three championships and will be back next season.

They’ll be running in the “Douglass Glass Pure Stock” feature, with Dennis “Loco Ocho” Jasik of Douglass Glass probably out there in his number 8 Pure Stock trying to keep some of the money in the company.

Cars are expected from Austin, Houston, Goliad and perhaps Killeen with added cash on the line, Overall title sponsor Hill Country Satellite handles everything from Direct TV to security systems and even supplies racing radios.

Racing will start on Friday at 7:30 pm and on Saturday at 7:00 pm. The full schedule for the special Friday-Saturday event will be posted in advance on the I-37 Raceway web site. (www.i37raceway.com) or call (210) 478-0111.

by TQ Jones

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