Laney wins IMCA Modified feature at the Bakersfield Speedway
By Stephen Lynch for the Californian
Cody Laney drove hard and waited patiently for his chance to make a move to the front of the field during the IMCA Modified feature Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway.
The Torrance driver’s perseverance eventually paid off when leader Leland Hibdon hit the wall on Lap 21, allowing Laney to take over the top spot.
“I was kind of waiting for him (Hibdon) to mess up,” Laney.
Laney lead the rest of the way, beating runner-up Brad Pounds to the checkered flag by 2.726 seconds. Justin Schweitzer finished third. Robert Sanders was fourth and Ethan Dotson fifth.
The race, originally scheduled for 30 laps, was shortened to 25 because of inclement weather.
The 20-lap IMCA Stock car main event came down to a hotly contested, two-lap battle between brothers.
After a caution on Lap 18, Chad Johnson held off Steven Johnson by .190 seconds to pick up his second feature win of 2017.
Troy Patee took third. Mike Hill Jr. was fourth, and Matt Brumley finished fifth.
Karl Noland Sr. of Terra Bella won a caution-filled 25-lap Hobby Stock main event.
Following four early yellow flags, Noland went around leader Jayden Schweitzer on Lap 4 and then held onto to the lead the rest of the way for his second feature win of the year.
“The traffic gave me a challenge for a while, but I had a lot of fun,” Noland said.
Tate Loftis finished second. Raymond Noland Jr. was third. Trevor Baker took fourth and Chris Settlemire was fifth.
Cody Johnson won a competitive 20-lap American Stock feature.
Johnson led the final 13 laps after he went inside of his brother Nicholas Johnson for the lead in turn three on Lap 8.
Later Cody Johnson withstood a Lap 18 restart to earn his second feature win of the season.
Brandon Ratcliff was second. Miranda Scott took third. Nicholas Johnson placed fourth, and Casey Johnson finished fifth.
Cody Johnson started the race eighth in the nine-car field.
“It’s a long, hard drive up there,” Cody Johnson said. “I went to pass my brother. I didn’t mean to slide into him, but things happen.”
Mod Lite driver Anthony Balcazar’s least favorite color on Saturday night was yellow.
Balcazar had more than two-second lead and was pulling away from the field when a caution came out midway through the division’s 20-lap main event. That allowed Zack Forster to close the gap on the leader.
Forster made the most of the situation, passing Balcazar with four laps to go before going on to claim his division-leading third feature win of the year.
“He raced hard,” Forster said. “I gave him a lane and he gave me a lane. I hope it was good for the fans.”
Balcazar held on to finish second. Jeff Thompson was third followed by Roy Maynard Jr and Cheyenne Flippo.
