Karl Noland Sr. wins Hobby Stock feature at Bakersfield Speedway
By Mike Griffith, The Bakersfield Californian – There was a heck of a battle going on in the Hobby Stock feature Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway, but Karl Noland Sr. didn’t see any of that.
Noland took the lead on the fifth lap of the 25-lap feature and led the rest of the way, despite having to survive six restarts in the caution-plagued race.
“I can’t tell what’s going on behind me,” Noland said. “I’m just happy to finish the race, finally.
“The car was pushing; it was dying in the corners. I’m just happy to be here in victory lane.”
While Noland had an uneventful race, it was a dogfight behind him as drivers battled for every inch of space on the track as positions from second to sixth repeatedly switched.
Tate Loftis, who started 10th, worked his way up through the pack and ended up with a hard-fought second-place finish, getting past Marcus Wankum with just a couple of laps to go.
Don Mead was fourth with Chris Settlemire fifth.
Gary Dutton raced to his second straight victory in Sports Mod action.
Dutton, who started seventh, took the lead on the ninth lap and held it the rest of the way in the caution-plagued 25-lapper, which concluded the night’s racing.
Jason Nation was second, James Cecil third and Brylon Holder fourth.
In Mini Stock action, defending track champion Loni Spiller powered into the lead on the fourth lap and cruised to her second win of the season in the 20-lap feature.
“Yesterday, the car was on the floor of the garage with no motor,” said Spiller, who thanked those who worked until 5 a.m. Saturday morning to get it back together and ready to race.
Once in the lead, the only close calls for Spiller were when she had to work her way past a couple of groups of slower cars.
Doug Shepherd was second with Steve Roark third. Only the top three cars finished on the the lead lap.
Nicholas Johnson competed in his first American Stock race of the season and came away with the win in the 20-lap feature.
Johnson started on the pole, fell back to second, and moved into the lead on the third lap.
He easily led the rest of the day, finishing several car lengths ahead of Tylor Johnson.
Brandon Ratcliff finished third, followed by Cody Johnson and early leader Ronald Lookadoo.
Jett Yantis took the lead on the third lap and led the rest of the way in the 12-lap Junior Mini Dwarf feature. It was his third straight win. Stryker Conley finished second and Hank Hall third.
Jacob Carey passed Kercie Jung six laps into the Senior Mini Dwarf feature and led the rest of the way to win the 15-lap race.
Kennedy Cotton was second with Jung third.
