Texana Raceway Park Results

[TRP]

Greg Dinsmore Scores First Feature Win of 2007 on Mothers Day Weekend at Texana Raceway Park

 

Texana Raceway Park Results from May 12, 2007

 

Saturday night was appropriately marked in honor of mothers with all mothers entering the Texana gates being presented with a rose, and all of the lady drivers being honored by starting in the front positions for the heats and features. As an added bonus, The Boy Scouts from Victoria presented the colors during the National Anthem. Everyone was treated to some hot action with the pits full of cars.

 

With a heavy down pour moving through Edna on Thursday evening, coupled with high winds doing damage to some buildings nearby it was initially questionable if the May12th event would be held. After sizing up the situation on Friday, it looked good but a final decision would have to be made on Saturday morning and then preparations could begin. At 10 am on Saturday morning, track officials made the call that Texana was going racing. The track was expected to be fairly heavy in the early part of the evening and anticipated to go dry slick by feature time. Well, sure enough the track was a bit heavy in the very early part of the evening and did go dry slick, leaving several drivers scratching their noggins, while they tried to determine how to set up their cars as the night progressed.

 

With all classes on hand and approximately 110 drivers competing in the nights events, it leaves a person wondering if the action can get any better. But, somehow each night seems to top the last. Each event in the 2007 season has been memorable for one reason or another, but May 12th will be noted as the most action packed thus far with one well-known driver scoring his first feature win of 2007. While the night was filled with a number of cautions by the time the feature events rolled around, close racing with a lot of unintended and unavoidable paint sharing kept the fans on the edge of their seats.

 

Ten of the teenagers in the Mini-Stock Division qualified in their heat and made the call for the feature. Haley Jansky of Louise was making a strong showing in the feature giving her mini-stock truck more of the accelerator than the previous weeks proving she’s getting more comfortable behind the wheel. Jansky was setting up for at least a 2nd place finish, but a late race spin put her in the back of the pack. The previous feature winner, Garrett Hayes experienced what appeared to be some mechanical difficulty and had to take to the infield early in the race. This left the door open for the more experienced Mini-Stock driving talents of Justin Bloom to move up to the front. Once in the lead there was not touching Bloom as he working through each turn negotiating the changing track to pull off the feature win and stretch his points lead. In second place it was Victoria’s Jacob Burnett proving his skills are sharpening and he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2007.

1st – 5th Results: 1st #84 Justin Bloom, 2nd #04 Jacob Burnett, 3rd #6 Nicholas Moore, 4th #2 Emily Hayes, 5th #05 Jamie Reha

 

21 Entries made the call for the feature in the Texana Classic Dwarf Class. A very competitive and close running class, the feature experienced it’s share of cautions, but in reality the group was no more caution filled for the number of cars than most of the other classes. In the early part of the feature Douglas Schmidt was steadily holding in 2nd place with what appeared as after-burner power kicking in midway down the straight-aways, but ending up in 5th at the checker. Ronnie Fikes of Cibolo was making a strong showing all night long having the lead for a while and scoring a 2nd place finish in the end. But, with an absolutely incredible display of power Greg Sexton bolted past several of the lead cars in one straight-away pass having gained some serious bite coming out of the #2 turn to jump to the lead. Having made it to the front of the pack, Sexton never slacked up throughout the event and with each restart he held the point to take the feature win.

1st – 5th Results: 1st #1 Greg Sexton, 2nd #30 Ronnie Fikes, 3rd #4 Stew Savage, 4th #3x Frank Fruia, 5th #79 Douglas Schmidt

 

In the Bomber Division, 18 cars made the call for the feature. The group appeared to have the toughest time of the night figuring out how to negotiate the dry slick conditions. While the group posted the most cautions for the night and it was difficult to find any one car by the end of the feature that had not shared some paint with another, it was one of the most exciting events of the evening. The drivers did their best to stay off one another but simply experienced some difficulty figuring out the changing track conditions with several unintended mishaps. Lake Jackson’s Diana Russom appeared to be headed to her first feature win, possessing the lead for the majority of the race. Showing a very strong contention it was Chris Schaefer in the Arterberry Racing entry, but Schaefer became victim of one of the mishaps. Even still, there was plenty of side by side competition with some of the drivers figuring out the dry slick conditions and finding a second groove in the turns. Bastrop’s Danny Bennett was steadily working his way through the field looking to be a threat to the front runners, but a mid race bump damaged his wheel, sidelining him as well. Shawn Kline also looked as though he was about to post a 2nd place finish, but a late race spin on the high side of turn 3 & 4 dropped him to the back of the field. As noted earlier, Diana Russom was holding the lead but late in the race she got loose just before coming out of turn 2 with Janet Perks in hot pursuit. Perks tried to shut it down and did all she could to stop, but bumped into the drivers door of Russom. Russom experienced some pain and she was transported for observation. Russom was released and was ok on Sunday, with her sights set on returning at the next event. With the race being marred with cautions it set the stage for some new names having a shot at the top finishing positions and that is just what happened, with one exception. The ever consistent Sandra Hudgeons, who battled a sick motor avoided most of the challenges and for the third event in a row posted a top five finish. After all of the technical inspections were completed, it was El Campo’s Charlie Mills who scoring his first ever feature win proving he can get his car back up to the front after experiencing adversity early in the race.

1st – 5th Results: 1st #33 Charlie Mills, 2nd #60 Al Perez, 3rd #58 Jimmy Day, 4th #79 JR Long, 5th #88 Sandra Hudgeons

 

Following the Bombers it was the Hot Stock Truck Class. The Hot Stock Truck Class, which had originally been scheduled for racing once each month due to the class posting low entries, has been bringing more entries and was invited to run at the next event, which they were originally scheduled off. So, the big news is, the Trucks will be racing on May 19th. Making his first showing for 2007, it was Shawn Hansen who took the early race lead. Although it was Hansen’s first outing for 2007, he demonstrated he still has the skills of a past track champion and took the early lead in the feature. But, on this night the veteran and skillful Bob Ort found the low groove and lap after lap inched closer to Hansen. Ort brought his truck up clean beside Hansen and the two raced close for a few laps with Hansen pulling ahead on the outside line down the straights and Ort gaining his momentum back heading into the turns hanging to the low side. Eventually, Ort was too much for Hansen and Ort pulled his truck ahead of Hansen. Ort never slacked up taking the checker to win. Darryl Davis who will be celebrating a birthday on May 14th posted a 4th place finish and Polly Copeland with her first run since the 2004 season posted a very respectable 3rd place finish.

1st – 5th Results: 1st #43 Bob Ort, 2nd #4 Shawn Hansen, 3rd #17 Polly Copeland, 4th #3 Darryl Davis, 5th #55 Russell Bloom

 

The feature with the least cautions of the night was in the Super Stocks. The Super Stock Class has a number of drivers with years of driving experience and it showed with those drivers demonstrating they could negotiate the dry slick conditions. Early in the race it was Kevin Parker taking the lead and stretching it out. But, Parker spun between turn 3 & 4, opening the door for Red Rock’s AJ Dancer. Dancer, with over 15 years of racing experience, demonstrated how you handle a dry slick track, leaving many to take notes. While Dancer was stretching out his lead a good battle was on hand in the middle of the pack between Victoria’s Brad Hayes and Danbury’s Mike Davenport. Hayes and Davenport put on an impressive show of side by side racing, lap after lap, proving you can race clean side by side. Neither driver was threw in the towel and the demonstrated some real talent and skillful maneuvering staying off of each other. The two raced in a side by side fashion for more than ¾’s of the event. John Gay who experienced some carburetor challenges early in the evening, had a good showing in the feature putting down some consistent laps. In the end it was AJ cruising for his second win of the season at Texana. Along with the Bomber Class, several of the top Super Stock cars were called to Tech. Dancer remained the winner with a couple of adjustments there after.

1st – 5th Results: 1st #52 AJ Dancer, 2nd #44 John Gay, 3rd #47 GW Hessong, 4th #5 Brad Hayes, 5th #70 Mike Davenport

 

With the Late Model class having not been able to post more than four cars for any event this season, it was announced that this was the last night for the class as the car count was simply not sufficient for continue the class. In years past the class had been a premier group but as times have changed so has the driver interest in the class for this area. Heading into their last night for this year, Michael Wagner was sidelined early in the feature. At the end, Chris Jewel returned to the winners circle.

Results: 1st #23 Chris Jewel, 2nd #65 Buck Mc Farlin, 3rd #36 Randy Kacir, 4th #18 Michael Wagner

 

In the Limited Modified Class it was a demonstration of the veterans in the group getting their machines up to the front, with another great demonstration of driving talent in the field. Shortly after the start of the feature, Cuero’s Aaron Hudgeons took his ride to the front. Hudgeons who can always seem to make the low groove work, planted his car lap after lap never relinquishing the lead. Hudgeons was able to hold the lead after each caution and as long as the field stayed under green he distanced himself from the rest of the field. Making the long haul over from Baytown, Barry Moody worked his way up to 2nd place. Although Moody mounted a respectable challenge to Hudgeons on the restarts and held his own under green laps, he wasn’t able to close the gap and give Hudgeons a run for a pass. However, Moody demonstrated some smooth laps, one after another, and held his 2nd place all the way to the end. Veteran drivers Vince Louden, Art Rodriguez and Mickey Helms all put on a exciting show with some close driving and real skills as they posted 3rd, 4th and 5th.

1st – 5th Results: #68 Aaron Hudgeons, 2nd #90 Barry Moody, 3rd #6 Vince Louden, 4th #22 Art Rodriguez, 5th #174 Mickey Helms

 

In the Modified Class, excitement was in the air as well known driver and 2005 IMCA Rookie of the Year Runner-Up, Greg Dinsmore of Kerville scored his first feature win of 2007. Dinsmore and the 8G Racing Family, making their second visit of 2007 to Texana, are names that have come to be known across the Texas region with their travel to tracks all across the state and outside the state as well, coupled with their annual pilgrimage to Boone. In Dinsmore’s few years on dirt moving from over from drag racing, he and the 8G Racing Family has amassed quite a following of fans with the team serving as natural ambassadors for dirt track racing coupled with Greg’s wife Candace becoming a regular on the weekly webcast “Dirt Track Insider”. In the feature event, current points leader Wade Moyer took the early lead and it was clearly easy to see Moyer had the set-up figured out as his car was pulling like crazy down the back straight. Dinsmore approached Moyer with each lap and as the laps progressed, Dinsmore found an extremely lower groove that no one had discovered. Testing the extremely low side no one else had ventured into, while not touching the infield cones, Dinsmore found traction and started giving Moyer a challenge on this new groove. Within a couple of laps of testing the very low groove, Dinsmore skillfully and cleanly pulled beside Moyer and they raced down the front straight side by side. The two put on an exciting show and then Dinsmore edged in front of Moyer. Moyer would later get tangled with another car and experience a flat, which his crew changed. A second flat for Moyer left him sidelined. Meanwhile, Dinsmore once in the lead would get his next challenge from the Chapman prepared car of James Blaylock. The cream was rising to the top as Dinsmore, Blaylock and the previous feature winner, Roly Rodriguez moved into the top three position. When you combine top driving talent with carefully prepared machines it is a sight to behold and this night was a case in point. Moving through the feature, Dinsmore held the lead on restarts and continued to make his groove work to hold off the equally impressive Blaylock providing Dinsmore with his first feature win of 2007.

1st – 5th Results: 1st #8G Greg Dinsmore, 2nd #2 James Blaylock, 3rd #12 Roly Rodriguez, 4th #2w Earl Whatley Jr., 5th #3x Frank Fruia

 

A truly exciting night of racing. Texana Raceway Park wants to again say thank you to all mothers on this weekend. We also want to extend a thank you to all of the drivers who compete and an extra special thank you to those who travel from long distances to compete at Texana Raceway Park. The competition in 2007 is very impressive, and we hope all of the drivers are enjoying the excitement right along with the fans. So thank you moms, thank you fans, and thank you drivers for some historic events. We’re looking forward to more exciting racing as the 2007 season progresses.

 

Texana Raceway will be racing again on May 19th and the Hot Stock Trucks have been added to the line-up for that event. Come out for another exciting night next Saturday. Texana Raceway Park is located 2 miles south of Edna on SH 111. Pit gates open at 4pm, general admission at 5:30 and racing starts at 7:30.

[Boerneracehounds50]

Greg , you sure Candice wasnt driving that car,lol,lol WTG Greg, it was the new color skeem right.

[dancer52]

Could we get full results?? Thanks!!!

[Racer26]

Congrats Greg. WTG.

[TRP]

Could we get full results?? Thanks!!!

 

I've been focusing primarily on the write-up aspect of the event with 1st - 5th results to follow each class summary. But, it is always nice to see the complete results and where a particular competitor finished. Will investigate if there is an easy way to import the data from the complete result for posting on the Texana website. I'll see what that might entail and how they are formatted

 

Thks.

[dancer52]

Thanks!