Tortoises trounce hares at speedway

June 21, 2006

By HARLAN OSBORNE
FOR THE ARGUS-COURIER

Hurry up and go slow was the method that reaped the most rewards on Petaluma Speedway's tricky clay race track last Saturday night. With one end of the three-eighths mile oval hooked up for horsepower, and the opposite end as glassy as an ice skating rink, it took plenty of patience to come out on top.

Those that succeeded were IMCA Modified driver Nick Caughman Jr., Super Stock winner Mikol Westling, and Late Model speedster Nick Perivolaris. Joining them in victory celebrations were Brandon Mattos in Mini Stock, Brian Knuutti in Pure Stock and Slingshot racer TJ Etchison.

Those that failed are too numerous to mention, but if yellow flags are an indication of the problems faced by over-eager drivers, they reflect that patience and caution were mostly ignored.

Caughman faced a difficult task in the IMCA feature, where jackrabbit starts by heavy-footed drivers delayed the race five times in the first five laps. The Suisun driver, also a victim of an early tangle, gingerly crept towards the front where race leader Charlie Campbell was busy keeping pesky Rick Karnes in the runner-up spot.

Caughman swiped second place from Karnes on a Lap 15 restart and chased two-time track champ Campbell until the race's 10th caution flag flew on Lap 17. On the ensuing restart, Campbell drifted too high in Turn 4, "a stupid driver mistake," he admitted later, allowing Caughman the space to get by. Caughman held on and picked up his second win of the season over Campbell, 13th starting Karnes, Mike Learn and Michael Paul Sr.

After the race Campbell's engine was claimed by Bob Martinelli, but the claim was disallowed by track officials because of rules infractions.

Unlike many of the competitors in the Super Stock feature, Westling had the tricky track figured out. He avoided the spins and blunders that brought on eight restarts, and scored his third triumph of the season by leading every lap of the event.

"My crew put a great car under me and I remembered the driving lessons I learned from Mitch Machado," said Westling.

Third-row starter Kevin Aguirre grabbed second place on the 17th circuit and gave Westling a run for the money, but Aguirre had to settle for second place followed by Dean DeVolder, Dusty Welch, Shawn McCoy, Mike Campbell and Paul Anderson.

The Late Model feature, filled with experienced veterans, showcased a high speed challenge for the lead between Ed Sans Jr. and Perivolaris that ran nonstop for 20 exciting laps.

Six-time track champion Sans, who leads the All-Pro point standings but remains winless so far this season, led from the start, but had Perivolaris riding his bumper almost from the beginning. Sans kept it low in the corners and did an excellent job of protecting his lead and thwarting Perivolaris' charge.

With one lap remaining, Perivolaris capped his unrelenting pursuit by taking the high side around the bottom hugging Sans. "I was just waiting for the right moment, he's a good driver and I was trying to keep it clean," said Perivolaris, quickly diverting the attention to crew members Mark Johnson and Tommy Bottini for setting up the awesome race car.

Jeff Decker got by Sans on the last lap to finish second. Sans was third and double-duty driver Michael Paul Sr., who placed fifth in the IMCA feature, finished fourth. Following in order were David Lindt Jr., Rod Arnold, Norman Beck, Doug Hayes, heat winner Jeremy Petrell, Don Iverson and Gary Johnson.

The Mini Stocks, which is becoming the Mattos division this year, had 10 entries but the front spot, as it has all year, turned into a family dispute between Brandon and Justin Mattos. Justin held the lead for seven laps before the more experienced Brandon took charge and led the final 13 tours and notched his fourth win of the campaign.

Justin claimed second place over Larry Drew, Kenny Drew, Tim Slatt, Emily Drew, April Wright, Jon Kirby and Robbie Walker.

Mark Ramirez finished ahead of Brian Knuutti, Anthony Adams, and Susan Russell as the Pure Stocks ruled the Super Stock feature.

Slingshot racer TJ Etchison led all 15 laps to win his second straight feature on the small infield track. Second place went to Fred Baker over Hawk Valentine, Roger Miller and Charlie Von Holt.