2011 RACE RESULTS
Results from Chowchilla Speedway- October 29, 2011 By Steve Hazelton In a dream season, Jason Sneep 11x, captured his 10th main event of the 2011 season, at Placerville Speedway on Sat night. The 2010 champion has showed how car prep, a knowledgeable pit crew, and driving skills, can bring consistent results. Fourteen Midget Lites signed in for the next to last race of the season, which may have been the highest car count of the season. Racers miss the weekends off, but it gives them time to work on their cars. The track surface was the best ever, due great preparation, and cool temperatures and humidity. Cars could run the top, middle and bottom. A dirt drivers dream. Cory Green 53c and Joey Hoover 76, brought the field to the line for the green flag. Green took the lead at the stripe with Hoover in tow, but Howard West 7 spun in turn two, causing a complete restart. Hoover was on his toes the next start and the took the lead as headed down the back stretch with Green and Sneep in tow. Craig Holsted 74, spun on lap four in turn two, and was collected by Dakota Albright 35jr, with no place to go. Both cars continued, but the yellow came out. On the restart Hoover again took the lead with Green and Sneep battling for second. Sneep pulled under Green in turn two and the two competitors circled the track, side by side until Sneep made the pass out of turn two. The perfect track conditions made for exciting racing. West spun again on lap seven, bringing out the yellow, and he headed to the pits under the two spin rule. One more restart, for the top three, had them all on their toes. Hoover took the lead, and was running the middle and top of the track. That left the bottom open, an d a lane for Sneep to get by coming out of turn two. On the next lap, Green made the same move on Hoover and took over second. Sneep and Green battled the rest of the way passing most of the field. Rick Soto 30, drove his best race of the season and finished fourth. His new car set up man, BCRA haul of fame inductee, Orv Johnson, has the car handling great. Albright and Holsted recovered from their contact to finish fifth and sixth. The Lites put on an excellent show for the capacity crowd. I have had my problems writing using MYLAPS.COM, but there is a lot of information about laps of the races you can find on the site. The most stand out statistic this weekend was the main event lap speeds of Sneep and Green (63 mph) with the rest of the field in the 60 mph range. Main: Sneep, Green, J. Hoover, Soto, Albright, Holsted, R. Hoover, Goehring, Smith, Johnson, West, Bailey, Dillard, Corso DNS Heat 1: Dillard, Soto, J Hoover, Smith, Johnson, West, Albright Heat 2: Sneep, Holsted, Green, Hoover, Goehring, Corso, Bailey Results from Petaluma Speedway- August 13, 2011 By Steve Hazelton Marcus Smith 28 brought the field to the green flag with Dakota Albright 35jr, on the outside pole. Going into turn one, Sneep jumped in behind Albright, and it looked like the same battle from last week at Placerville. Albright and Sneep pulled away from the field, with Albright guarding the bottom in the turns. Smith, Richard Bailey 83, Zack Beard 77, and Cory Green 53c, had their own battle going for 3rd and 4th. Smith held on to third, lap after lap, with experienced drivers Baily and Beard behind him. Finally on lap 6, Albright slipped up in turn 4, and Sneep dove under to take the lead, and never look back. I think the story of the night was about Marcus Smith. Marcus has only been running with the Lites for a couple of years. Smith has had terrible bad luck at previous races this year, with motor issues and fuel problems. Many Lite car owners and drivers have lent him a hand, as they do to all drivers. Most new drivers, who start up front, usually drift to the back, by the end of the race, but Smith exhibited some good driving skills, to stay ahead of Baily for 10 laps, and finish in fourth. Richard Bailey won heat 1 race and Sneep took heat race 2 with Smith in second. I had the pleasure of joining regular announcer, Ron, to call the Midget and Lite races. Main: Sneep, Albright, Bailey, Smith, Beard, Green, Holsted, Johnson, Soto Heat 2: Sneep, Smith, Green, Johnson Results from Placerville Speedway- August 6, 2011 Thirteen Lites checked in to the pits at Placerville Speedway on a balmy night in the sierra foothills. The Lites were joined by a 20 car BCRA/USAC midget field, and a 29 car USAC wingless sprint field. Jason Sneep 11x, scored his amazing 8th feature win of the year, but it did not come easy, due to a race long battle with Dakota Albright 35jr. The main event got off to a rough start, as pole sitter Rick Soto 30, and two time main event winner, Cory Green 53c, tangled hard in turn one, taking them both out of the event. At the green, Albright peddled away from the field. Joey Hoover 76 dropped into second and battled with Sneep for the position until Hoover drove up turn 4 to avoid a spinning Howard West 7, on lap 3. On the restart Sneep dove under Behind the two leaders, On the restart Albright was put back in front, so the Sneep/Albright battle started again. Sneep would peak inside the turns and Albright would shut the door preventing the pass, until lap 13, when Sneep made the pass stick coming out of turn two, and went on for the win. Zack Beard was in contention all the way, as he watched the leaders, and waited for a mistake. Team mates Craig Holsted 74 won his first heat race ever in heat two. The heat race was marred by a spectacular flip in turn 1and 2, on lap 6, by Justin Burton 3. Sneep scored a win in heat 1. Marcus Smith 28 had engine gremlin problems, again, and Stuart Goehring’s engine could not make the call for the main event. Main: Sneep, Albright, Beard, R Heat 1: Sneep, Green, Albright, Rosa, Beard, West, Goehring Heat 2: Holsted, J. Hoover, Soto, Results from Merced Speedway- July24, 2011 Jason Sneep Returns to the July 24, 2011 The Lites had a busy weekend with a double header on tap. After a great race night in All teams quickly went to get a look at the track to see what they needed to do to their setups to match this new track. Hot laps found most of the teams had found the right combinations and the cars were fast on the small quarter mile. Heat 1 found Craig Holsted #74 and Cory Green #53c on the front row but immediately after passing the cone Jason Sneep #11x ducked down low and took the lead and held onto it for the entire 8 laps. Green finished in 2nd followed by Richie Hoover 3rd in the #75 moving up from the 6th place position. After the pill draw for the main the teams line up with Dakota Albright #35jr on the pole with Richie Hoover on the outside. As the green flag flew the outside row took off fast and Heat: Sneep, Green, MAIN: Sneep, Green, Albright, Beard, Hosted, Soto, By Steve Hazelton Antioch Speedway has not been on Cory Green’s list of successful raceways in the past. Previous races at On lap 8 Sneep got under Albright in turn 4, to take over second, and go to work on Green’s lead, but to know avail, as Green hit all his marks and brought home a victory. Albright and Richie Hoover were followed by Zack Beard 77, Rick Soto, 30, Craig Holsted, 74, and rookie Howard West, 7. The field finished in that order. Marcus Smith, 28, had electrical problems, and Atley Tafoya, 33, had carb problems, besides the oil plug coming out of the pan. The two drivers did not start the main. The Lites newest rookie driver is Howard West of Marysville. Howard is 36 and has had no previous experience in racing, but works on fast aircraft. Howard is a Tech Sargent in the Air Force, stationed at Beale Air Base, and has a career of working on U2 spy planes. His Dad is his pit grew, and they are enjoying the challenge, of going fast. A small 10 car field was on hand for the event, but put track promotion welcomed the Lites, and gave the Lites a 20 lap main, even with a small field. I once again, was welcomed, by track announcer John Meyers, to announce the Lites events. The grandstand enjoyed the Lites performance. First heat was won by Richie Hoover, and the second by Jason Sneep by a nose over Cory Green at the stripe. Jason Sneep Continues to Dominate the 2011 Season with Win #6 July 9, 2011 The Midget Lites made their final trip to There were eight teams that checked into the pits including one new team with rookie driver Howard West with his father as his crew chief. Howard will be piloting the # 7 car. We are excited to have them racing with us. The 1st heat race started with Richie Hoover #75 on the pole with Dakota Albright #35jr beside him but soon the order would change as Cory Green in the #53c quickly moved into 2nd place on lap 2 and Jason Sneep in the #11x moving up to 3rd on lap 4. New comer Howard West #7 had chain problems and pulled into the infield early in the race and Rick Soto #30 was fighting an electrical problem pulled off on lap 6. After the inversion was drawn for the evening Albright in the #35jr was sitting on the pole with Sneep #11x on the outside front row. Sneep quickly took the lead as Albright jumped in behind him. Green made the pass on With the season officially at the half way point, there is still a lot of racing to come. In fact come join the BCRA Midget Lites for a full weekend of racing on July 23rd and 24th at Antioch Speedway on Saturday and Merced Speedway on Sunday. It should be a great weekend of racing. MAIN: 11x Sneep, #35jr Albright, #77 Beard, #53c Green, #74 Holsted, #75 R. Hoover, #7 West HEAT: #75 Jason Sneep Continues to Dominate July 1, 2011 This would be the first trip to Silver Dollar Speedway for the BCRA Midget Lites in several years and we were all were looking forward to racing this famed track. There were seven teams of Midget Lites that checked into the pits on this hot afternoon. Last weeks odd rain storm had left the pits a little difficult to maneuver the rigs in as the mud had not completely dried up. But with the help of the track tractor all were soon unloading and getting set for a great night of racing. Hot laps proved to our racers that this was going to be a fast track as many returned to their trailers to make adjustments to their set ups. All cars were to compete in one heat race for the night but it proved to be exciting as Richie Hoover in the #75 car starting on the outside pole jumped out to a quick lead. By the end of lap one Jason Sneep in #11x had moved up from third to second to challenge Green starting on the pole for the main event with Beard beside him brought the field to green but Green in the #53c hit a greasy spot on the backstretch allowing Beard #77 and Sneep #11x to take advantage and move past. Beard was quickly overcome by Sneep as he made his pass on lap 3 for the lead and began to distance himself from the field. Meanwhile Green racing hard to get past Beard returned to the #2 position and was chasing down Sneep. Hoover in the #75 had to pull off the track with an overheated race car on lap 10 but the field stayed green. Dakota Albright in the #35jr now racing in the 4th position followed by Rick Soto in the #30 as he made the pass on Craig Holsted in the #74. Both Sneep had Green had lapped the last place cars as the 20 lap feature went from green to checkered with no cautions and Sneep in the #11x once again found victory lane! Sneep, the 2010 Midget Lite champion now holds the win in 5 out of 6 races this season. Main: 11x Sneep, 53c Green, 77 Beard, 35jr Albright, 30 Soto, 74 Holsted, 75 R. Heat: 75 R. Results from Marysville Raceway Park - June 18, 2011 Smokin Jason Sneep Takes Win # 4 By Steve Hazelton The night started out in very strange fashion, in the first hot lap session. Joey Hoover #76, took the green flag on the front straight, set the car to drift through turn one, and found no brakes and hit the wall HARD. Damage to the car caused him to load up and head home. Joey was sore but ok when I talked to him. Next hot lap session produce d another surprise, Zack Beard #77, hit the wall in the exact same place as Hoover, and his car flipped. Zack exited the car ok, and the thrashing begun in the pits to repair the car. The two events were a very strange beginning for two of the top Midget Lite drivers. Beard made repairs and started the main on the pole, with Marcus Smith #28 on the outside. Smith jumped into the lead at the line and lead into turn one, but slid up the track, and left the door open for Sneep and Dakota Albright #35jr to move up. Beard lead the top tree down the back stretch. Lap 2 produced another surprise as On the restart Beard again took the lead into turn one, but Albright ducked underneath him coming out of turn 2, to take the lead down the back stretch. Sneep made a pass right after, and the 3 leaders pulled away from the field. Smith, in his second race of the year, spun on lap 7, bringing out the yellow. Getting anxious to stay with the leaders, Smith spun again on lap 8, and took the black flag to the pits. On each restart Albright pulled away, and seemed to have the car to beat. Sneep in his usual style of being in place to pass, if a mistake is made, was there when Albright slowed, or lost power, coming out of turn 2 on lap 12, and took over the lead. Albright corrected the problem and continued in second. Rick Johnson #88 drove the best race of his career, and was battling with Rick Soto #30. Racing hard in to turn 3, Soto and Johnson made contact and Soto ended upside down, ending his race for the night on lap 13. On the restart Sneep distanced himself from the field for the win. Four cars finished the main. More surprises continued at the scales where the top 5 cars are weighed. Johnson’s car was found to be 9 lbs light. Rick had never run a main event where he was weighed after, so it was another lesson learned. Rick still had a smile on his face in the trailer later. Atley Tafoya has joined the Midget Lite drivers, driving the #33 of Larry Matoske, from Ceres. Larry is a long time car owner and looking forward to racing with the Lites. Atley is 16yrs old and started in Jr Sprints when he was 10. From there he moved up to 600’s and has been racing at Delta and Lemoore. Bad luck struck him, as a fuel leak was discovered while in staging for the main event, preventing him from taking the green flag. Or maybe it was good luck since it was discovered in staging and not in the race. Heat 1: 11x Sneep, 28 Smith, 88 Johnson Heat 2: 35jr Albright, 77 Beard, 53c Green, 33 Tafoya, 30 Soto Results from Chowchilla Speedway - May 14, 2011 When we arrived at Chowchilla, we had at least 6 inches of MUD on the track. The 1st round of Mud packing seemed to have no real results on the conditioning of the track. After some of the owners and drivers talking to the Referee, another round of Mud packing went to the track. It helped quite a bit, but the track was still muddy and very wet with puddles on the inside all around the track. After a 3rd round of mud packing they were ready to start the race. Hot laps were not the best for any class. The lites were having the rear tires slide out from under them. Ten cars made the trip. Rookie Atley Tafoya driving the EMC No. 87 and Zach Beard back in the 77 made there first 2011 showing. Joey Hoover #76 blew a head gasket in hot laps and then jumped behind the wheel of his brothers #75 for the heat race. Heat #1 had 4 cars starting with #77 Beard on the pole with Paulson #9 on the outside followed by #30 Rick Soto and #35jr Dakota Albright. Paulson jumped into the lead and stayed there all race, followed by the 35jr, 77 and 30. Heat #2 had point’s leader Jason Sneep on the pole with #74 Craig Holsted beside him. Cory Green #53c and Atley Tafoya # 87 beside him in the second row with Joey Hoover #75 starting last. MAIN Event: Cory Green 53c, Dakota Albright 35jr, Jason Sneep 11x, Pete Paulson 9, Zach Beard, 77, Atley Tafoya 87 and Rick Soto in the 30 was the starting order for the feature. On about lap 3 the #9 car blew a hole in the side of his engine and was done. Then the 35jr spun and the 77 could not stop and tapped him on the side, both cars restarted but kept going. The 53c car running in 2nd place got caught in a mud puddle in turn 2. A few laps later the 30 car also spun on turn 2. The #87 blew an oil hose on the back stretch and pulled off the track. The #30 car lost power and with no fuel pump left the track. With 4 laps to go the 35jr went around and was black flagged for bringing out the yellow flag trice in the same race. The finishing order for the main: 11x Jason Sneep, 53c Cory Green and 77 Zack Beard, 35jr Dakota Albright, 30Rick Soto, 9 Pete Paulson, 87 Atley Tafoya A big congrats goes out the Jason Sneep for winning 3 of the first 4 races. The current BCRA champ is the one to beat again this year. He has done it in 2 different cars. Great job. Results from Placerville Speedway - May 7, 2011
Jason Sneep Capture Win #11 and the Driver Championship for 2011
Wayne Albright wins the Owner Championship for 2011
Results from Placerville Speedway- September 24, 2011
Jason Sneep Does it Again Win #10
Placerville Speedway 9/24/11
Jason Sneep Grabs Win #9
Jason Sneep 11x continues to dominate the BCRA Midget Lite Division in the 2011 season, winning his 9th main event, at Petaluma Speedway. Even the full moon did not keep him out of victory lane.
Heat 1: Bailey, Albright, Beard, Holsted, Soto
Jason Sneep Does it Again
Capturing Win #8 of the Season
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Results from Antioch Speedway- July 23, 2011
Cory Green Scores Win #2
Green was all smiles as he climbed out of the car in the infield for his post-race interview.
Outside pole starter, Dakota Albright 35jr, jumped into the lead at the start to lead lap one, with Green in tow. Green pulled alongside on the front straight of lap two, and took the lead, never looking back, on a yellow flag free main event.
2010 BCRA Midget Lite Champion Jason Sneep, 11x, got past Richie Hoover, 75, on the same front straight, and focused on Albright for the second place position. Sneep and Albright battled several laps, side by side, as Richie Hoover caught up to both of them, and the three had their own race going, as Green pedaled away.
Results from Marysville Raceway Park - July 9, 2011
Results from Silver Dollar Speedway- July 1, 2011
2010 Midget Lite champion Jason Sneep continued his domination of the lites by winning his 4th race of the season in his 11x.
Jason Sneep Captures Win #3
Chowchilla Speedway
May 14, 2011
Sneep wins 3 of 4 in 2011
By
Cory Green Blows the Field Away
In First Career Midget Lite Win at
By
5/7/11
Ten BCRA midget lites were in the
Cory Green, # 53c, in his third year of midget lite racing was the class of the field. After a frustrating year in 2010, Green came out in 2011 with an attitude to win, and use everything he learned from 2010. He had led events this year, but on this evening he put it all together and led every lap after starting on the outside pole. In his video interview after the race you could hear the excitement in his voice, as he described the race and seeing the white flag, and finally the checker.
Cameron Beard’s #77 was driven by
Heat race winner, Pete Paulson #9, finished fourth. 2010 champion Jason Sneep, was back in his #11x, but did not find the success he has had in two previous races, and finished fifth, after a last lap pass of Dakota Albright #35jr. Albright brought it to my attention in his pit interview. Richie Hoover #75, Rick Soto #30, Rick Johnson #88, and Craig Holsted #74 rounded out the field. All starters finished the race.
Video pit interviews of drivers followed the main. Drivers gave their opinions of the race and the difference of a wing to non wing. No or little passing pretty much showed the difference of flat footing it around the track
Rookie Rick Johnson is in the #88 that his son Nate Buffa drove last year, and is running for rookie points. Rick did a good job of staying out of trouble and getting seat time. His smile during his pit interview showed he is having a good time.
Heat 1: Paulson, Green, Albright, Sneep, Soto
Heat 2: J.Hoover,
Results from Marysville Raceway Park - April 16, 2011 Jason Sneep Captures Win #2 4/16/11 By A year ago Cameron Beard captured this event in his #77, while his son Zack was off at college. On this night, 2010 Midget Lite Champion, Jason Sneep brought the car home in the number one position, to make it two years in a row for the car. The win was also Sneeps second win of the season, in defense of his title. A fourteen car field was on hand for the second race of the season. Stuart Goehring #84 was down from Tahoe, as well as Nate Buffa in #88. Marshall Sexton #62 had his car out for the first time, this year, as well as new comers Marcus Smith #28, and Mike Ballantine #3, who both started with the Lites last year. Rick Soto #30 was back in the seat after some foot surgery last year, had put him out. Unfortunately Sexton, Smith, Ballantine, and Buffa had problems, but Goehring probably drove the best race of his career finishing 5th in the main. My only judgment is from watching him race last season. Goehring brought the field to the green with Rick Holbrook #53c, normally driven by owner Cory Green, on the outside pole. Holbrook jumped out to the lead, and led the first lap, followed by fourth starting Sneep. Sneep made a low pass in turn 4 on the next lap, as Holbrook spun. With no place to go, third place, Flyin Brian Corso #10 nudged into Holbrook. On the restart Pete Paulson #9 jumped up to the number two position, and he and Sneep distanced themselves from the field. Ninth starting Craig Holsted worked his way through the field and moved into third by lap 5. Holsted was having his best race ever, when unfortunately the fuel pump went out on lap six. Paulson spun in turn two on the restart, and Corso just barely got by on the inside, but making contact, causing damage. Paulson was done for the night, and so was Corso. Dakota Albright #35jr had worked his way into second from starting eighth. The Hoover brothers Joey #76 and Richie #75 were challenging from third and forth. It was only lap seven and five cars were out. Sneep picked up the throttle on each restart and make the win look easy. Joey Hoover took heat one leading every lap after starting third. Front row starting Marcus Smith, in his new car, held his own for lap two and three. Richie Hoover and Brian Corso make their passes, and then disaster struck as Smith tagged the front wall and broke rear suspension and a cracked motor. Tough luck for a new racer. Pete Paulson took command of heat race one from lap one and lead every lap. Sneep finished second and it looked like the battle in the main was going to be between Paulson and Sneep. New comer Mike Ballantine exited on lap 8 with mechanical problems. SpeedShots of the race (short video) are being edited for the web page. Cory Green was not in his 53c, but he was still in a race car, going straight. For the second year in a row, Cory was the Funny Car Fever Champion, at Sacramento Raceway on Sat night. Maybe we can find some video of him on the gas, at the event for the Lites page. Main: Sneep, Albright, J. Hoover, R. Hoover, Goehring, Soto, Holbrook, Paulson, Corso, Holsted, Buffa, Ballantine Heat 1: J. Hoover, Corso, R. Hoover, Goehring, Soto, Smith, Sexton Heat 2: Paulson, Sneep, Holbrook, Albright, Holsted, Buffa, Ballantine Sneep Switches Cars, Same Results 4/9/11 By A small field of 8 Lites were on hand for the 2011 season opening event at Placerville Speedway, which usually draws one of the best car counts. Six more cars are almost ready, according to sources, so the field should be normal at Marysville on the 16th. Racing was very competitive for the 7 racers who made the call for the main event. Dakota Albright #35jr brought the field to the green flag, then spun in turn one, with all cars avoiding him. Richie Hoover #75, moved up to the pole position, with Cory Green #53c on the outside R. Hoover jump into the lead at the green (a little early) with Green, Brian Corso #10, and Jason Sneep #77, in the first pack. The field regrouped with R. A big puff of smoke came out or Richie Hoover’s car in turn 3 of lap 8 that sent his brother Joey, up the hill, and bringing out the yellow. On the restart Albright made his move through traffic and moved into second place, but Sneep was long gone. The race was only to 12 laps due to car count. Jason Sneep, 2010 champion, was driving Cameron Beards #77. He continued his racing style of being smooth high or low on the track, to take the win. Cory Green and Craig Holsted, both showed new speed and improved driving success for 2011. Sneep also took the heat race win over Richie Hoover and Green. Heat: Sneep, R. Hoover, Green, Albright, Corso, Holsted, Paulson, J. Hoover
