Lauer latest IMCA winner at Bakersfield Speedway
By Mike Griffith mgriffith@bakersfield.com
With most of his competitors glued to the bottom of the third-mile clay oval at Bakersfield Speedway on Saturday night, Danny Lauer took a path less traveled.
He moved to the high side of the track and it paid off with his first IMCA Modified win of the season.
Lauer moved past Cody Laney with seven laps remaining to become the seventh different winner through the first eight races.
“Once I found a little moisture (up high) it was good for us,” said Lauer, who started sixth. “When you’re up there you can’t make any mistakes … We needed that.”
A disappointed Laney was looking for his second victory.
“When you’re (leading) you’re kind of a sitting duck,” Laney said. “One he passed me I moved up and (the car) rolled better through the turns.”
Steve Boles started in the front row and led the first 16 laps before a caution bunched the field.
Laney jumped into the lead on the restart with Lauer moving to second. The two ran side-by-side for a couple of laps before Lauer edged ahead for good.
Josh Vogt finish third with Robby Sawyer fourth and Bryan Clark fifth.
In Hobby Stock action, Kevin Collier passed Aaron Stewart following a restart for his sixth win of the season.
Stewart took the lead on the third lap but could not hold off the determined Collier, who went low in turns one and two to make the pass after the restart.
“This is a great year,” Collier said. “Last week (a crash in the B-main) was not good but I came back.”
Collier started in the sixth row and said his strategy was “to just stay out of trouble and watch ahead of me.”
Once passed, Stewart battled right back and got his nose under Collier’s car a couple of times before eventually finishing a few car lengths behind in second. Travis Avila was third and Coby Quinton fourth.
Rick Childress Jr. emerged from a late-race four-car duel to win the 25-lap Sport Mod feature.
A caution on the 14th lap set up superb racing over the final 11 laps.
Nick Sylvester was low with Jordan Hager trying pass on the high side with Childress and Michael Johnson right behind.
Childress split the two in turn three for the lead on the 21st lap but Sylvester edged back ahead and led the 22nd lap when a caution fell.
That set up a three-lap dash with Childress edged past Sylvester in turn 3 on the 24th lap and led the final lap for his first win of the season.
“I just took his lien away in turn 3 and hoped for the best,” Childress said.
Sylvester finished second followed by Johnson, Hager and Nick Spainhoward.
Gary Dutton passed Matt Mayo for the the lead on the 16th lap, then fought off Mayo and others after a caution to win the 25-lap Pro Stock feature.
“The track was real racey tonight,” Dutton said. It was nice and smooth and fast.“
Doug Thornton finished second followed by Lee Jensen and Lonnie Welch.
Dutton had to fight off Mayo and a couple of other cars follwig a late ca
Scot Black Jr. was looking for his first Mini Stock win of the season and had a half-lap lead midway through the 20-lap feature. Then a caution flag fell.
That put Doug Shepherd one lapped car behind Black on the restart. Shepherd went low on the track on the 18th lap to take the lead and went on to his second win of the season.
“It was delicate,” Shepherd said of working his way from near the rear of the 14-car field to the front on a track that was a bit moist after being prepped for the first feature of the night. “You had to know where people were going and pick the right path.”
Black finished second with Kenny White third and Roy Maynard Jr. fourth.
Point leader Tina Bell, who had won five of six races, had mechanical problems and finished near the rear of the field.
