Laney wins third IMCA Mod feature at Bakersfield speedway
BY MIKE GRIFFITH mgriffith@bakersfield.com
Cody Laney is hitting his stride at Bakersfield Speedway.
Laney took the lead 13 laps into Saturday Night’s IMCA Modified feature on the third-mile clay oval and went on for his second straight win and third of the season.
He now tops the division — which has seen 10 different winners — with three victories.
“We’ve been good pretty lately,” said Laney, who ran unchallenged after taking the lead from John Piker in the 25-lap race. “This thing is fun to drive.”
Piker, looking to add his name to the long list of winner, took the lead on the seventh lap. At that time Laney was running fourth.
A caution on the ninth lap bunched the field and Laney was second when another caution fell on the 12th lap. He got the lead on the restart.
“At the beginning it looked like we’d be in trouble,” Laney said. “But we began picking them off.”
Piker wound up second, followed by Levi Kiefer, Brad Pounds and Steve Noland.
“This is like a win to us,” Piker said of his best finish of the year.
Karl Noland Jr. started on the outside of the front row and led all 20 laps to win the Hobby Stock feature, his first of the year.
“I ran out of brakes about half-way through and had to be really careful,” he said. “The track was great and I had a lot of fun.”
Steven Johnson made a last-lap bid for victory, but spun in turn four, recovering to finish fifth.
Kevin Collier finished second with Robert Lawler third, putting Collier two points up in the championship race.
Mike HIll Jr. was fifth.
Scooter Black took the lead early in the 20-lap Mini Stock feature and went on to his first win of the season.
Points leader Tina Bell close a large gap as the race wound down, a lapped car impeded her on the final lap and she could not get close enough to challenge for the win.
“I was hoping for no yellows,” said Black and that’s what he got as the only caution fell on lap three, before he took the lead and started to pull away.
Jared Plumee, who won the last race, placed third.
Chuck West took the lead on a restart on lap 11 and led the rest of the way to win the 20-lap NMRA Three-Quarter Midget race.
The only thing to slow West was his helmet, which he had difficulty taking off in victory lane.
“I’m getting too old for this, that’s a fast, heavy track … I can’t even get my helmet off,” he said.
Bruce Hiroshima was second and West Evans third.
Lane McDonald started up front in the Senior Mini Dwarf feature and led wire-to-wire to win the 15-lap feature which had six cautions fly in the first six laps. Jakob Carey survived to finish second with Kercie Jung third.
The younger Junior Mini Dwarf drivers raced much cleaner with Cade Lewis, 8-year-old son of Texas Rangers pitcher, Colby Lewis, coming away with his first win. Lewis led the first six laps before Mason Ratcliff took the lead. But Ratcliff tried to muscle his way past a slower car with two laps to go and went high in turn four, allowing Lewis to regain the lead. Ratcliff was second with Cole Forster third.
