Under a Full Moon at Placerville

By Steve Hazelton

Sept. 25, 2010

Joey Hoover, driving his Callen Pool Supply, K&T Trucking, #76 stayed with the program to capture race number 15 of the 2010 BCRA Midget Lite season.  On May 9^th of last year he won the main at Placerville under a full moon, and this night the moon was full again. I reminded him and his Grandpa, Ken, of the good luck last season.

Hoover has had bad racing luck this season, with engine problems, and a blown engine.  Tonight with a brand new car, all went right.

Three time main event winner, Scott Kinney in the Betty Brite Cleaners #11 started on the pole with Dakota Albright in his A & K Custom Harvesting  #35jr on the outside.  Kinney jumped into the lead with Albright, Jason Sneep in the MoJo Lounge #11x, and Jeff Shurley in his Drive Line Service #50, in tow.

Richie Hoover, in his Callen Pool Service, K & T Trucking, AMSoil Lubricants

 #75, brought out the red on lap 3 with a hard hit, and roll over on the front straight.  Richie exited the car ok.  On the restart Joey Hoover started his move toward the front, settling into second on lap 6.  Kinney, J. Hoover, and Sneep pulled away from the field to make it a 3 car race. As Kinney pulled away, Sneep ran the high groove and J.Hoover ran the bottom. Sneep could pull along side in the turns, but Hoover would hold him off in the straight.  It was great racing.

The second group of Albright, Pete Paulson in the Red Hawk Casino #8 and Scotty Males in the Betti Brite Cleaners #1, had their own race going, trying to catch the leaders.

A yellow flag for rookie #56 Jason Ballentine, bunched the field up for a race to the finish.  Hoover could pull along side Kinney but not make the pass, until lap 18 when he dove underneath the #11 in turn 4 to take the lead.

Drama was not over yet, as the #76 blew a water hose on lap 19 right in front of the white flag, with a big puff of smoke. Joey kept his foot in it to take the checker the next time around.

Heat races were won by Joey Hoover and Pete Paulson, with very little passing.

Main: J. Hoover, Kinney, Sneep, Albright, Paulson, Males, Corso, Shurley, Hannum, Green, Bailey, Buffa, Holsted, M.Ballentine, J. Ballentine

Heat 1: J. Hoover, Shurley, Albright, Males, Hannum, Bailey, Buffa, J. Ballentine

Heat 2: Paulson, Sneep, Kinney, Green, R. Hoover, Holsted

Nuts and Bolts: Second in points, #10 Brian Corso, passed up his heat race due to his car being stuck in gear after hot laps. The crew could not determine if it was first or second, and needed to start the feature for points.  #1 Scotty Males, had a surprise wide open stuck throttle as he took the checker in hot laps, and crashed in turn 4 as a result. He wrenched on it hard, to make his heat and finish 6^th in the main.  J. Hoover’s winning car was brand new and first time on the track.  New drivers to join the lites are (third time out) Jason Ballentine, and first time out, Mike Ballentine, from Marysville. They plan on running the entire 2011 season.

Pro-Motion Video captured the event, along with driver interviews. The interviews will be edited separately, and can be used by drivers to attract sponsors.  Pro-Motion Video offers a service to teams that have an interest in a DVD to attract perspective sponsors.  It can be shot at a speedway or at a shop or location.

Next race is the last race of the BCRA Midget Lite Season, at Chowchilla, October 30^th.

Results from Placerville Speedway - August 7, 2010

Pete Paulson Brings the Red Hawk Casino Midget Lite to Victory Lane

By Steve Hazelton

Lites video guy, Dennis Parker, and myself returned to covering the BCRA Midget Lites, on a breezy, comfortable delta day at Antioch.  Roaming the pits prior to racing, I found a new driver in the #1 car of Lonnie Lopez, and one of our new drivers celebrating his 23^rd birthday.

Hard charging, Australian sprint car driver Scotty Males joined the Lonnie Lopez race team for the night, in the #1 car.  #28 Marcus Smith from Tracy, one of the new Lite rookies, was celebrating his 23^rd birthday, and driving a car that was the first car of Ken Hoover racing.

The 11 car field had a 4 car invert, putting the 2 main event winner, #10 Brian Corso

on the pole, with hard charger #35 jr Dakota Albright on the outside of the front row.

Corso jumped out to the lead on the first lap, and 11x Jason Sneep quickly jumped from the second row, into second going into turn one.  #11 Scott Kinney, 3 time main event

winner pulled to the infield in turn 2 with chain problems, but the race stayed green since he was off the racing surface.

Corso was distancing himself from the field when the yellow came out as #1 Scotty Males came to a stop in turn two of lap two, with a broken crankshaft.  Two of the

normally bullet proof, Lonnie Lopez cars were out of the race.

On the restart Sneep pulled up on Corso in turns one and two, making the pass on the back straight, and leading the rest of the way. Corso and Albright were turning the same lap times as Sneep, but the distance between them from the start made the difference. #76 Joey Hoover, #77 Zack Beard, and #75 Richie Hoover battled it out for the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th places.

Heat 1 saw Sneep and Albright battling for the win.  Kinney and Corso came through traffic to finish first and second in heat 2, setting up a battle of the 2010 main event winners, in the feature.

Nuts and Bolts:
Marcus Smith is a working Cowboy in Tracy on the Double B Ranch.  He did not get the birthday gift he wanted, as he exited the main event on lap two.

We kicked around a story for the spectators, about Scotty Males in his trailer with Lonnie, and settled on the story that he was a circus performer, (at the next door circus) and he came over to drive a car, so Lonnie put him in his #1.  A couple of fans came up to me in the announcing booth to ask about him.  Before the main, I gave Scotty his true credits, as a sprint car driver.

Cars were stopped in the front straight, before the main event for driver announcements, which was a pleasant surprise to give the cars and drivers credit.  If I knew it was going to happen I could have been more prepared with sponsor lists also.

Next race the Hall of Fame Picnic at Placerville August 7, with Midgets.  I am working on a new female driver for Petaluma.

Main: Sneep, Corso, Albright, J. Hoover, Beard, Holsted, R. Hoover, Paulson, Males, Smith, Kinney

Heat 1: Sneep, Albright, Males, Beard, Holsted, Smith

Heat 2: Kinney, Corso, J. Hoover, R. Hoover, Paulson

Results from Marysville Raceway Park - July 10, 2010

  
HOT JULY NIGHTS IN MARYSVILLE

 By: Ken Hoover

Wow!  What a great turnout…18 cars showing up to run on a very HOT day.  A big THANK YOU to all of you.  It made for a very competitive night of racing.

Hot Laps took two cars out right from the start.  Rick Holbrook #9 looked like he spun a bearing and Scott Males #1 had problems with a faulty fuel pump to fuel his newly rebuilt engine.  Tough break for both.

Heat #1 was a very heated contest.  The drivers swapped paint and bars throughout the race.  Dakota Albright #35jr and Joey Hoover #76 battled with Southern CA Dan Hillberg #10 most of the race with a few slips and bumps putting Joey Hoover in the lead at the checkered flag with Albright all over his rear bumper.  Followed by Hillberg, rookie Brad Hannum #11h (first time driving a Mini Sprint), Marshall Sexton #83, Craig Holsted #74, Jason Ballantine #56, Pete Paulson #8, who did not finish and Rick Holbrook #9 who did not start.. 

Heat #2 saw Scott Kinney #11 win and pull off the fastest lap time of the evening, a whopping 15.511 second run.  Scott was followed closely by Brian Corso #10 and Zack Beard #77 and on their tail was Richie Hoover #75.  Stuart Geohring #84 back with us again finished 4^th, followed by Cory Green #53c and Chris Ludwig #7.  Jason Sneep #11x and Scott Males #1 did not finish the race.

The main event had 17 cars scheduled to start.  Jason Sneep broke his #11x engine and was reseated in the #11h car previously driven in the heat by Brad Hannum.  This put Jason at the back of the pack to start.  Joey Hoover #76 busted a throttle cable before the green flag fell. 

The main had a 4 car inversion pill pulled and Brian Corso and Dakota Albright started on the first row, with the points leader Jason Sneep sitting in the #11h starting last.  Corso jumped out with Albright on his tail most of the race.  On about lap 7 Scott Kinney and Dan Hillberg got together on the rough turn one and both went over.  Kinney returned to the track but lost a chain later on lap 17. Right behind at the finish line was the #11h Jason Sneep who brilliantly and skillfully worked his way through the field for a 2^nd place finish.   Albright and Richie Hoover #75 stayed within striking distance waiting on a mistake that never came, finishing 3^rd and 4^th.  Zach Beard #77 drove another great race finishing out the top 5.  Stuart Geohring #84 had his best run of the season following Beard across in 6^th.  Cory Green #53c finished 7^th followed by Rookie and Marysville horseshoer Chris Ludwig #7  in his first feature finish, with Rookie Craig Holsted in a very ill-handling machine right behind him in 9^th position.  There were 6 DNFs:  Scott Kinney, Marshall Sexton, Pete Paulson, Dan Hillberg, Jason Ballantine, and Scott Males.

Thank you again Owners and Drivers for showing up to give the crowd an exciting show.

Results from Chowchilla Speedway - June 26, 2010

* Midget Driver

Hoover brothers take the heats, but

By: Ken Hoover

Richie Hoover #75 starting outside the front row jumped into the front spot and held off a hard charging 35jr Dakota Albright to win the first heat at hot and dusty Chowchilla Speedway.  Scott Kinney 2nd in BCRA points lost his engine making for a bad night.  Craig Holsted and Jim Reep #83 followed to the flag.

    Cameron Beard Shows No Rust Winning At Marysville
In His Rental Car
6/19/2010

By Steve Hazelton

After an almost 2 yr lay off, veteran racer, Cameron Beard returned in style to win the BCRA Midget Lite main event at Marysville on Sat. 6/19.  Driving his son’s #77, Beard re entered the racing world, starting on the pole of the main event.  Cameron lead every lap of a very exciting race that had challengers on his bumper every lap.  A classified ad on the BCRA web site shows the #77 is for rent to perspective racers or who ever.  After the race Cameron told me the rental rate just went up, since it is a main event winner.

Points leader #11x, Jason Sneep encountered a very odd broken front sprocket shaft is his heat race, and jumped in the 53c of Cory Green for the main event. Hot shoes, #11 Scott Kinney, and rim riding #10 Brian Corso, banged wheels in turn 2 on lap 3, putting Kinney on his head and out of the race. Third starting #35jr, Dakota Albright, jumped into second on lap two and challenged Beard for 14 laps with Corso and #53c, Jason Sneep in pursuit.  Corso and Sneep battled for position for 10 laps.

Corso got by Albright on lap 15, only to have his chain break on 17 as he moved up to Beard.  On the restart Sneep got by Albright to get in the hunt for Beard, as Albright and #75 Richie Hoover traded places for 3^rd and 4^th, with Albright taking the position at the checker.

Fifteen Midget Lites were on hand for the evening, with three new drivers in 3 new cars.  #7 is Chris Ludwick, from Marysville, #28 is Marcus Smith from Tracy, and #56 is Jason Ballantine, from Marysville.  Unfortunately, Smith and Ludwick got together on the first lap of their first heat race, taking them both out.  Back in the pits both teams went to work correcting some major problems, which is a credit to rookie teams.

With two cars eliminated, along with # 76 Joey Hoover throwing a chain, four cars continued on in the heat.  On lap 5 of 8, pts leader #11x broke a front chain sprocket shaft and second in pts driver #11 Scott Kinney pulled to the infield with a broken fuel pump. Team mates #39jr, Dakota Albright, and #83 Danny Parker, finished the last 4 laps, with Albright taking the win. It was not a full moon.

Dennis Parker and myself started the evening with mid season interviews on video.  After 3 we checked the video and found the audio to be a sports radio station.  Looking around we saw a couple radio towers, which the camera was picking up through the mic cord.  Video of the races came out great, but no interviews.  Soon we will be back on the project to capture racers and crew’s thoughts and opinions on video.

Heat 1: Corso, Beard, R. Hoover, Green, Holsted, Ballantine, Paulson, Holbrook
Heat 2: Albright, Parker, Kinney, Sneep, Hoover, Smith, Ludwig
Main: Beard, Sneep, Albright, R. Hoover, Parker, J. Hoover, Holbrook, Corso, Holsted, Ballantine, Paulson, Ludwick, Kinney, Smith


Results from Chowchilla Speedway - June 5, 2010



Scott Kinney Caputures Win # 3

Story by: Ken Hoover

Warm night in the central valley makes for good racing.

Heat #1 getting ready to run in the Hot sun saw #35jr Dakota Albright starting on the pole beside #11 Scott Kinney.  In row two was #11x Jason Sneep beside #6 Rick Holbrook with #75 Richie Hoover alone in row three.  The racing was close for the first few laps with Kinney pulling out in the lead with wheel to wheel racing between Albright and Sneep.  R. Hoover came in forth followed by Holbrook.

Heat #2  had 3 year champion #1 Doug Nunes starting on the pole with returning after a few years running the 360’s #83 Richard Bailey on the outside.  Row two saw Rookie Craig Holsted on the inside with #10 Brian Corso beside him.  Joey Hoover finished out the starters.  #10 Corso jumped into the lead after good racing with #1 Nunes and #76 J. Hoover.  With #74 Holsted and Bailey finishing out the race.

The trophy dash between the 1^st and 2^nd place finishers of each heat ran at a fast pace.  #1 Nunes lead the way with Albright , Kinney and Corso following.

Line up for the feature was #Nunes, Albright, Corso, Kinney, Sneep, J. Hoover, R. Hoover, Holsted, Holbrook and Bailey.  Kinney, Sneep and Corso put on a great show with Kinney finishing first.  Albright stayed right on there tails all night just waiting to pounce.  The battle of the brothers kept excitement in the race for fifth all 25 laps.  Followed by Holsted, Nunes, Bailey and Holbrook.

Notes:

#83 threw a chain on the start of his heat:  #74 had a fuel leak in the heat:  #6 had a smoky engine: #74 had a water problem: # 1 had a Jacob latter problem and the #83 just quit running.

Results from Chowchilla Speedway - May 15, 2010

Kinney Captures 2nd Win of the Season



Results from Placerville Speedway - May 8, 2010

Brian Corso Dumps the 09 Image and Posts a 2010 Win

Placerville Speedway

 5/6/10

By Steve Hazelton

Brian Corso in his #10, ART Kawasaki, was oh so close to a win, in the 09 season, finishing second more times than he wants to count.  Now the monkey is off Corso’s back with a convincing flag to flag win in the 5^th race of the BCRA Midget Lite season.

Defending champ Doug Nunes #1 was on the pole, and #35jr, Dakota Albright on the outside pole for the start.  At the cone both made slight contact and Albright accelerated for the start.  Head official Mike Andreeta called it a false start and sent Albright to the back, moving Corso up.

#6 Holbrook brought out the yellow on lap 3 with a spin in turn 4, and #53c Cory Green had an electrical problem on lap 16, bringing out the only other yellow. Corso was on the ball on both restarts, hearing Nunes engine behind him.

11x Jason Sneep and Nunes battled behind Corso, along with recent hot shoe #75 Richie Hoover.  Albright battled back to finish 6^th.

53c Cory Green, rejoined the Lites after a winning Funny Car break, in grand fashion by winning the first heat by 1.130 seconds over Sneep and Nunes.  This is the first BCRA win for Green and his Green Motorsports team.

#75 Richie Hoover, who led 19 laps at Marysville, last week, took the first heat by .113 seconds over Corso and .495 over Albright.

Main: Corso, Sneep, Nunes, R. Hoover, Kinney, Albright, Paulson, Shurley, Holbrook, Buffa, Green, J. Hoover, Holsted

Heat 1: R. Hoover, Corso, Albright, Shurley, Holbrook, Buffa, Holsted

Heat 2: Green, Sneep, Nunes, Paulson, Kinney, J. Hoover

Results from Marysville Raceway Park - May 1, 2010



Jason Sneep receiving his Trophy

Results from Marysville Raceway Park - April 24, 2010

Scott Kinney Dominates Marysville

4/24/20
By Steve Hazelton

 

2004 BCRA midget lite champion, Scott Kinney, driving the #11 Lonnie Lopez midget lite, dominated the main event.  I told Scott before the main that it was ALMOST a full moon, so his chances were good for a win.  He gave me that big Scott Kinney smile.

A small field of 10 midget lites was in the pits.  A variety of reasons, including the economy was to blame, along with the price of gas and travel.

2009 runner up, #11x Jason Sneep broke the 15 second barrier in hot laps, posting lap of 14.911, to prove the track was going to be fast. #8 Pete Paulson had a wild ride on the front straight when he was getting up to speed, and jumped the right rear of a slower car and sent his car straight up in the air and then over.  Pete was ok but the car was damaged.

Sneep and #1 Doug Nunes started on the front row of the heat.  Nunes blasted away into the lead at the green followed by third starting #11 of Kinney.  The Lopez cars looked like they would be battling for the evening, as the second three car team, Hoover Racing was having engine gremlins slowing them.

Nunes won the heat with a fastest lap time of 15.313 on lap 2.

Kinney and Nunes lined up on the front row of the main with Sneep watching from row two.  Who was going to win the drag race into turn one?  The two former champions are driving for the same owner, but that is where the connection ends.

Kinney got the jump, as the green came out, with Nunes on his nerf. Exiting turn two, Nunes jumped the right rear of Kinney, causing him to spin as the field raced by, bringing out the yellow flag.  Now Nunes was going to race his way through the field, which promised to be a crowd pleaser.

On the restart, #75 Richie Hoover jumped into second ahead of Sneep, and the Hoover Racing gremlins were gone as Hoover tried to chase down Kinney.  Rim rider, #10 Brian Corso was looking strong as he held down the forth place position.

Nunes was up to fifth by lap seven, turning the fastest lap of the race at 15.430 on that lap. Corso spun right in front of Nunes in turn two, on lap 7, and the crash brought out the yellow.  The two joined the back of the field, when Nunes got the black flag for being involved in two yellow flag incidents, which is a Marysville Speedway rule. Nunes had no place to go on the second yellow, but rules are rules.

As racing resumed, the race for second an third between Sneep and Richie Hoover was hotly contested till lap 14 when Sneep got by out of turn two when Hoover went high.

Corso stayed in the game for forth with a damaged side nerf bar.  Long haul #84 Stuart Goehring, from Tahoe had one his best nights finishing fifth.  The third car of the Hoover Racing Team, #74 Craig Holsted, also had a good evening, gaining racing laps and over coming engine problems. #76 Joey Hoover never got out from under the cloud of engine gremlins all night and finished seventh.  #50 Jeff Shirley, also from Tahoe, will be getting his rookie flag removed next event.  Shirley exited the main on lap 6 with engine problems.

Video of the event is available in DVD format for $15 from Pro-Motion Video.  Order at pro.motionvideo@gmail.com  DVD’s will be brought to the races.

 Results from Chowchilla Speedway - April 17, 2010

Doug Nunes with his "Trophies"


Results from Placerville Speedway - April 10, 2010

Three Time Champion Nunes Opens Season With a Win

Placerville Speedway 4/10/2010

By Steve Hazelton

Three time BCRA Midget Lite champion, #1 Doug Nunes in the Aslan Cold Storage, Lonnie Lopez, Bailey/Suzuki, opened the 2010 season with an opening night win, at Placerville Speedway.  11x, Jason Sneep in the Lonnie Lopez, Bettie Brite Cleaners, Bailey/ Suzuki, started on the pole and blasted away from the field at the green.

#88 Nate Buffa brought out the yellow on lap1, and the field regrouped in single file for a restart.  Sneep was again on the gas breaking away from the field, on a super fast and heavy racing surface.

Racing stayed green until lap 8 when Red Hawk Casino team mates, #9 Chris Glass and #53c Pete Paulson got together in turn two, to bring out the yellow once again.  The incident eliminated Glass.

In a classic Doug Nunes, at Placerville move, #1 Nunes dove under Sneep in turn one to take the lead on the green flag, and lead to the finish.

First heat winner, and usual rim rider, #10 Brian Corso, in his Concrete Service Construction, ART/Kawasaki, battled #6 Rick Holbrook in his G Force Wings, ART/Kawasaki for 12 of the 15 lap main event, for third and forth place.  Both cars battled for the top side, and middle of the track, in the turns, lap after lap for an exciting show.  Corso finally got by with a rim ride pass in turn 4 on lap 13, but Nunes and Sneep were long gone.

Sixth starting #11 Scott Kinney, in a Lonnie Lopez, Bailey/Suzuki, finished fifth followed by #50 Jeff Shurley in his Finest Fence sponsored entry, in sixth.

Nuts and Bolts: Hoover Racing had the gremlins in their pits all night long, sorting out various problems with three new beautiful cars.  #76 Joey Hoover was in his car with chain repairs going on as the green flag fell for the main.  #35jr, Dakota Albright, went up in smoke, literally, in his hot lap session and the problem plagued him the whole evening.  Cory Green lent his car to Pete Paulson for the evening because Paulson’s 2010 Red Hawk ride was not ready, and Paulson is running for the championship.  Green is splitting his time with his drag race program.  Five other regular Lites were not in attendance, causing a small field of 13 racers.

Main: Nunes, Sneep, Holbrook, Corso, Kinney, R. Hoover, Shurley, Paulson, Glass, Buffa

First Heat: Corso, Nunes, Sneep, Shurley, Albright, Holsted, Buffa

Second Heat: Kinney, R. Hoover, Holbrook, Paulson, Glass, J.Hoover