Heckman tops strong field of IMCA Modifieds at Speedway

Kyle Heckman could take his car high or he could run it low. It didn’t matter. Racing either line, Heckman had the fastest car in the IMCA Modified field Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway.

Heckman passed John Piker on Lap 11 and then cruised to his second victory of the year.

“It was working about everywhere,” Heckman said. “It was on tonight.”

Able to maneuver his car all over the third-mile clay oval, Heckman executed a flawless slide-job to get around Piker, who led the first 10 laps.

Piker held off Ethan Dotson for second place. Rick Childress Jr. was fourth. Robby Sawyer took fifth.

Chris Settlemire won an exciting 25-lap Hobby Stock main event. Settlemire slammed into the side of leader Mike Hill coming out of turn four on the final lap. Locked together side-by-side with Hill, Settlemire was first to the the flag by inches.

But the apparent victory was wiped away because a caution had come out just before the finish of the race. Hill suffered a right-front flat during the battle for the lead and had to start a one-lap dash to the finish at the back of the field. With Hill no longer a factor, Settlemire took the checkered flag.

Roger Welch was second followed by Lloyd Wren Jr., Raymond Nolan Jr., and Antony Sly.

“I have to apologize to Mike Hill,” Settlemire said. “I tried to stay off him and not lift. That’s not easy to do.”

Hill lead a race-high 17 laps. He and Settlemire swapped the lead three times, with Hill taking the top spot on Lap 18. That lead lasted until the final lap, which was the only one Settlemire led.

It took 13 laps for Blake Robertson to get to the front of the Race Saver Sprint car race. But once he got out front, Robertson took off and left the rest of the field in his wake.

Robertson took the lead away from Jesse Mack on Lap 13 en route to his series-leading fourth feature win in five races this year. Mack led six laps (7-12) after passing Matt Demartini, who paced the field for the opening six circuits of the race. Mack finished second. Albert Pombo was third, Monty Ferriera took fourth and Mathew Mole came home in fifth.

“This class is growing leaps and bounds every time we hit the track,” Robertson said. “… It’s a great class.”

Dakota Brown extended his points lead in the American Stock division by claiming his second feature win of the year. Brown muscled underneath J.R. Garcia in Turn 2 with six laps remaining and then endured a green-white-checkered finish to earn the win.

Garcia led a race-high 11 laps before Brown got around him.

“Starting at the back being the points leader is hard sometimes,” Brown said.

The 20-lap race featured six cautions, but Brown was able to successfully navigate his way through all of the trouble.

“The track is good right now,” Brown said. “I like it.”

Garcia held on to finish a close second. Nicholas Johnson was third, followed by Brian Childress and Brandon Ratcliff.

Marc McCaslin took advantage of a Lap 14 contact between Sean Shay and Josh Yadon to win the Bakersfield Hardtop main event.

Shay and Yadon got together battling for the lead on the front stretch with six laps to go in the 20-lap event, allowing McCaslin to slip past them both and take over the pole position.

From there, McCaslin pulled away in his 1938 De Soto. Shay rebounded from the incident with Yadon to finish second. Tom Dugan was third. Jarred Farris took fourth and Drew McKennan placed fifth.