Pounds gets 5th win
BY JEEF EVANS Californian staff writer e-mail: jevans@bakersfield.com
Brad Pounds, Cody Laney and Kyle Heckman gave each other all they could handle Saturday night in the IMCA 20-lap main event at Bakersfield Speedway.
Pounds of Bakersfield nipped Laney by two feet for his fifth main event win of the season.
Laney, from Torrance, momentarily slipped past Pounds twice in the final three laps, but each time Pounds regained the lead quickly.
Heckman, the points leader, was right there with the two leaders.
Justin Schweitzer led for most of the first half of the race but spun out on Turn 4 of the 10th lap that ended his bid for victory. He was sent to the back of the eight-car field on the yellow flag.
That put Bryan Clark of Bakersfield in the lead, but Pounds worked past him one lap after the restart.
It was a Pounds-Laney battle the rest of the way. Heckman was a few car lengths behind the co-leaders but then closed on the lead over the final few laps.
Bruce Hiroshima of Camarillo won the 25-lap NMRA midgets main event.
Hiroshima bided his time, hanging around fourth and fifth place in the opening laps. He made his move on Lap 15 by moving into third and challenging the leaders, Chris Thomas from La Habra and West Evans from Moorpark.
Hiroshima moved into second place on the 17th lap and took the lead for good near the start-finish line starting Lap 19. He pulled away after that and had a 10-car length lead by the 22nd lap, and cruised in from there.
Evans was second and Thomas placed third. Only five of the nine cars that started the race were on the track when the race ended.
Zach Boitnott of Bakersfield captured his first win of the year in the 20-lap Mini Stock main event.
Boitnott took the lead on lap 10. Doug Shepherd was running a strong race in the early going but lost power at the start of the ninth lap and limped to the infield.
That gave Steve Roark the lead, but he only held that for one lap when Boitnott blew past him at the start of the 10th lap. Boitnott was not challenged after that.
Tina Bell, who began the night in second place in the points standings, placed third, behind Boitnott and Roark, to take the points lead.
Jeff Fry from Hawthorne won the Mod Lites main event, which was scheduled for 20 laps but trimmed to 15 by track officials.
Zac Forester from Bakersfield was the dominant car through eight laps but Fry sneaks into the lead as the start-finish line at the end of the ninth lap and extended his lead from there.
Only five cars started the race and four finished. One of those was a lap down. Third-place Rick Granger from West Covina was a half-lap behind Fry when the race ended.
