Jesse Love claimed the 2019 Gerhardt Classic

The POWRi Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) mighty midgets roared into Madera Speedway on Saturday night July 13 2019 for the 17^th annual Gerhardt Classic and after an intense 50-lap feature the 2018 POWRi BCRA champion, 14-year old Jesse Love came away with a hard-fought victory.

Love laid down the fastest lap in time trials with a blazing lap of 13.907 seconds around the paved 1/3-mile in the 51 Fifty Energy Drink sponsored Van Dyne Engineering midget to edge out  Jerome Rodela in his Trench Shoring-sponsored machine who posted a best lap of 13.997 seconds.

The speedy pair were followed in order by Dylan Nobile, Cody Gerhardt, David Goodwill, Annie Breidnger, David Prickett and JR Williams. Prickett was filling in for Adam Lemke in the experimental Chevrolet stock-block powered midget while Lemke ran a late model race back east.  Two midgets, the machines of Mark Maliepaard and current POWRi BCRA points leader Robert Carson were unable to make the call for qualifying.

Maliepaard and Carson were both able to affect repairs and joined the tail of the heat race line-up, but before the field could take the green flag to start the race, Ms. Bredinger’s #8 machine, scheduled to start on the pole position, encountered mechanical gremlins with its Honda engine and pulled off the track. Annie’s misfortune moved Cody Gerhardt to the pole position with Goodwill alongside for the start of the 8-lap heat race.

Cody led the first circuit, before Rodela passed him for the lead of lap two. Meanwhile, Love maneuvered into third place from his fifth starting position. On lap three, Love moved past Gerhardt into second place, but over the final laps, Jesse could not close the gap on the fleet Rodela machine.  The finishing order was Rodela, Love, Gerhardt, Goodwill, Nobile, Maliepaard, Prickett, Williams and Carson.

The 17^th annual Gerhardt Classic was the final event of a full evening of racing, and the field took the green flag in row of two in lieu of the traditional three-wide start, with Rodela and Love on the front row with teammates Gerhardt and Nobile in the second row. Unfortunately, the field was only comprised of nine cars, as despite the valiant efforts by the crew led by her father, Annie Bredinger’s #8 could not make the starting call.

After the field was introduced to the crowd and the drivers and crew members threw frisbees to the grandstand crowd, the field rolled away and lined up for the start.  At the drop of the green flag, Rodela shot into the lead with Love close behind. By lap five, current points leader Carson retired to the infield, and a few laps later, Goodwill began to pressure Maliepaard for fifth place as the engine in Mark’s car went off-song. 

On lap 15, Goodwill completed the pass and Maliepaard retired his #51 Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special to the infield. Meanwhile Gerhardt continued to race in third place with Nobile never more than a car length behind him and constantly looking for a way past.

On lap 35 of the 50-lap feature, Love closed to the rear nerf bar of Rodela’s #25 and on lap 37 Jesse made a move underneath Jerome entering turn three but could not make the move stick. Three laps later, as the pair entered turn one, Love made a move to the low side, but the blue #5 slid sideways to a stop in the grass inside turn two which brought out the race’s first caution flag.  Once he restarted the Tres Van Dyne owned #5, Jesse rejoined the field in in fourth place.

When the green flag flew again, it was clear that Jerome Rodela’s car had a mechanical problem, as he was off the pace and dropped to third place as Nobile charged to the lead followed by Love in second place. On lap 44, Rodela rolled his immaculate Toyota-powered maroon #25 to a stop at the end of the front stretch which brought out another caution flag as the Madera track crew pushed Jerome to safety in the infield.

Photo by the author 

As the field rode under the caution flag, the running order was Nobile, Love, Gerhardt, Goodwill, Prickett and Williams. When the green flag re-emerged, Jesse Love hounded Nobile for the lead until he made the winning move on the inside of turns one and two on lap 46 and drove away to win by .459 seconds over Dylan Nobile, with Cody Gerhardt third. 

David Goodwill finished fourth one lap behind the leaders with David Prickett fifth two laps behind and JR Williams in sixth place.  Among the non-finishers the official order was Rodela, Maliepaard, and Carson, and Annie Breidnger who did not start the feature.

The POWRi BCRA midgets will be back in action on the pavement on Saturday August 3 at Evergreen Speedway located on the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe Washington for the Rory Price Memorial presented by Bardahl. 

The race co-sanctioned with the Washington Midget Racing Association (WMRA), held since 2006 honors the memory of Rory Price, who raced midgets and sprint cars with the WMRA, BCRA, USAC, and NSRA clubs. In addition to the POWRi BCRA and WMRA midgets, the program will feature late model stock cars, outlaw figure 8’s and the Hornets class. 

One week later, on August 10^th, the pavement midgets will be joined by the vintage division at the new Stockton 99 Speedway for the Tom Manning Memorial Race.  In addition to the POWRi BCRA midgets, the program will include the Gun Slingers Wing Sprint Car Series, Legends of Kearney Bowl, Focus Midgets, and the Mini Cup class.    

      

Huddleston to do battle with

Spears SRL Late Models at Irwindale

Trevor Huddleston, the 4-time NASCAR All-American Series State of California champion, will compete in the ‘RJ Allen Inc. 100‘  presented by Traffic Management Inc. for the Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late models presented by Lucas Oil on Saturday March 23, 2019 at Irwindale Speedway. Expectations for Trevor's performance will be high as the three-time track champion has 44 feature race wins at Irwindale Speedway, with his last Irwindale win on March 9, 2019.

In the 2019 SRL Southwest Tour inaugural event,  Huddleston will do battle with SRL defending champion Jeremy Doss and 2018 series runner-up Eric Schmidt, as well as talented rookie Jesse Love, the 2018 Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Midget  champion and the INEX Legends Cars road course world champion. Love will be the youngest driver to ever compete in a SPEARS Southwest Tour Series event, at the age of 14 driving a Naake-Klauer Motorsports Toyota Camry Super Late Model.

The Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late models will run twin 50-lap features on Saturday, and the best combined finisher will collect a $5000 purse offered by Senneker Performance. Also in action on March 23 will be the SRL Modified Series with scheduled twin 40-lap features, and the SRL Tour Truck Series.

After practice sessions Friday afternoon, on Saturday, the pit gates will open at 11 AM, and the spectator gates are scheduled to open at 4 PM. Qualifying for all three divisions will start at 415 PM, with the on-track O’Reilly Autograph Session scheduled for 545 PM, and opening ceremonies at 645 PM.  

For more details check out Irwindale Speedway's website at http://irwindalespeedway.com/

Kern County Raceway hosts

historic first POWRi BCRA race

The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) kicked off its 80^th year of racing action and entered a new era with the first-ever Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series race Friday night March 15, 2019 on the 1/3-mile Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway near Bakersfield. 

Seventeen mighty midgets posted qualifying times, topped by Austin Liggett in his own #83 midget. Liggett’s fast lap of 15.233 seconds edged out Chase Johnson in the Del Morris #47M by just .078 seconds, with Maria Cofer third in the John Cofer #57 at 15.331 seconds. Robert Dalby, Cory Elliott and Shannon McQueen rounded out the fastest six qualifiers.

The first heat started with a bang, as while the pole sitter Michael Faccinto streaked out of turn four on the first lap, CJ Sarna took a tumble back in the pack after contact with Jake Swanson. Sarna’s car was finished for the heat race, but Swanson’s crew replaced his flat right front tire and Jake rejoined at the back of the field for the complete restart. 

On the race’s first recorded lap, Liggett dropped to the low side through turn four and took the lead from Faccinto. By lap four Swanson had worked his way up through the field to run second behind Liggett with Dalby in third.  On lap seven, Faccinto pulled his #71R Morris Motorsports car into the infield, and the finishing order was Liggett, Swanson, Dalby and Ben Worth.

The second heat race was dominated by Bakersfield College student Cory Elliott, who obviously lost none of his talent in his during his short absence from midget racing, as the #11E went wire-to-wire. After eight laps, Elliott crossed the finish line ahead of Chase Johnson, Terry Nichols, Frank Guerrini III, Dylan Ito, and Robert Carson. Robert is the son of three-time BCRA champion Glenn Carson, and the grandson of the late BCRA legendary car owner Howard Segur. Robert’s grandmother is the owner of the #99 midget with which Robert is contending for 2019 POWRi BCRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

The third heat race had trouble on the first lap, as Shannon McQueen spun to a stop at the end of the backstretch after contact with another machine, but #7 McQueen Racing machine restarted and the 2011 BCRA Dirt Series driver champion rejoined the tail of the field for the restart.  At the drop of the green, Maria Cofer shot into lead and streaked away from the field and the 2017 BCRA champion won the heat race in convincing fashion ahead of McQueen, rookie Troy Morris III, and Gage Rucker in the Cory Kruseman entry.

While POWRi BCRA officials totaled up the passing points from the heat races to determine the feature race lineup, Frank Guerrini III’s F&F Racing #63 was withdrawn with engine issues, but CJ Sarna’s hard working crew affected repairs to the #20 machine following the heat race mishap.

Top points earner Liggett shared the front row with Maria Cofer for the start while Elliott and Johnson were deployed in the second row, and Swanson and McQueen shared the third row for the start of the 25-lpa main event. At the drop of the green flag, Cofer shot into the lead with Johnson and McQueen in hot pursuit. The action was slowed on lap two as Rucker spun to stop in turn three, and on the restart, Cofer’s car pulled a big wheel stand which allowed Chase Johnson to slip by into the race lead.

On lap five, Cory Elliott moved into fourth place, but his charge forward was halted for the moment when the yellow flag flew on lap eight as the #71R Morris Motorsports entry piloted by Faccinto rolled to a stop in turn two with engine maladies. On the restart, the field charged hard into turn one, but Elliott’s car caught a rut and went for a ride that ended against the turn one outside wall. Cory emerged from the car uninjured, but the #11E machine was done for the night.

After the third restart, Johnson began to stretch his lead and built up an eight-car cushion by lap 14 over Cofer, as Liggett, McQueen and Swanson rounded out the top five positions. On lap 15, Dylan Ito’s Josh Ford Racing #73 lost its left rear wheel and came to a stop out of turn two on the backstretch.  After the race’s final restart, Johnson again began to pull away as behind him Cofer fell to third place behind Liggett. Swanson began a late race charge to the front, and Jake moved into second place on lap 22 while Cofer reclaimed third place. 

Johnson held a ten-car advantage over Swanson at the checkered flag, with Maria Cofer third, Austin Liggett fourth and Robert Dalby in fifth place. Sixth through tenth place finishers were Shannon McQueen, Ben Worth, Terry Nichols, Troy Morris III, and Kyle Beilman.  Gage Rucker was eleventh with CJ Sarna twelfth and Robert Carson rounded out the finishers in thirteenth. The non-finishers were in order Dylan Ito, Cory Elliott, and Michael Faccinto with Frankie Guerrini, who did not start the feature, was scored seventeenth.  

The POWRi BCRA midget series returns to the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway on May 3, 2019 for the series’ next dirt track race.

The first pavement race for

POWRi BCRA midgets

at Madera Speedway

The Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Lucas Oil Midget Series presented a non-points exhibition race for the MAVTV Midget Series at the historic 1/3-mile paved Madera Speedway on Saturday March 16, 2019, the first pavement race of the new POWRi BCRA era.  

2018 BCRA overall champion Jesse Love in the 51Fifty Energy Drinks sponsored Van Dyne #5 topped the time trials speed chart with a blistering 13.974 second lap. Second qualifier Jerome Rodela in the Trench Shoring/Ed Pink Racing Engines #25 midget was just .019 of a second slower, while David Goodwill in his #3 midget wound up third with a best lap of 14.030 seconds.

Teammates Dylan Nobile and Cody Gerhardt claimed fourth and fifth qualifying spots respectively, while Toledo Ohio USAC Silver Crown racer Austin Nemire claimed sixth quick honors in the Charles Breidinger #80X Honda-powered midget. Rookie contender Robert Carson did not post a qualifying time with the Segur #99 and Cody Jessop unfortunately withdrew his #00 before qualifying with engine woes.

Both Nemire and Goodwill were late scratches as the field assembled on track for the heat race. At the drop of the green flag, Rodela shot into the early lead ahead of Gerhardt and Love. Love worked past Cody on lap three, then Nobile relegated his teammate to fourth place on lap five, as Carson pulled his machine into the infield. The finishing order for the eight laps was Rodela, Love, Nobile and Gerhardt. 

After the new POWRi BCRA race director Don Thornburg totaled up the passing points from the heat race, Rodela started from the coveted pole position with the young phenom Love alongside while Nobile and Gerhardt shared the second row for the 40-lap feature race. At the drop of the green flag, Rodela and Love raced side-by-side around the track for the first lap before Jerome pulled ahead in his Toyota-powered machine as the pair crossed the stripe for the first time.

By lap seven, Rodela had extended his advantage to 10 car lengths over the 14-year old Love, while Nobile rode in third place ahead of Gerhardt. By lap fourteenth, the dominant red-and-white #25 midget held a straightaway advantage over second place, which was extended to ½ alp by lap 26.  On lap 32, Rodela lapped past fourth place Cody Gerhardt  on his way to a dominant nine-second $1500 victory at the drop of the checkered flag over Love, Nobile and Gerhardt, while 2019 POWRi BCRA series Rookie-of-the-Year contender Robert Carson in the Segur #99 scored a solid fifth place.   

The Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Lucas Oil Midget Series returns to action on April 27 at the lightning fast new Stockton 99 Speedway paved track along with the Gun Slingers Wing Sprint Car Series, North State Modified Series, Legends of Kearney Bowl, BCRA Midgets, Western US Midgets and the Vintage Midget division.

The POWRi BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series returns to Madera Speedway for a double points MAVTV Midget Series $1500-to-win race on May 4 as part of a back-to-back POWRi BCRA dirt/asphalt midget racing weekend. 

2018 BCRA Championship Awards Banquet

On a rainy Saturday night on February 2, 2019 the drivers, car owners, crews and officials of the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) gathered at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1051 in Ripon California to share the successes of the 2018 season.

Following the cocktail hour and a delicious dinner, after recognition of the 2018 Hall of Fame inductees and the 2018 BCRA Board of Directors members and track officials, the highlight of the evening was the awards ceremony hosted by Kevin Triplett to honored the series’ 2018 top performers.

For the BCRA midget lites division, Hunter Kinney captured the 2018 driver’s championship followed by Scott Kinney, Dakota Albright, Brad Dillard, and Terry Bergstrom in fifth place. Sixth through tenth place went to Brandon Leedy, Danika Jo Parker, Steve Brown, Gus Carcione, and Ric Johnson respectively.   

Scott Kinney captured both first and second place finishes in the 2018 BCRA Midget Lite owner’s championship, while Dakota Albright took third place ahead of Craig Dillard and Kenneth Bergstrom. Sixth through tenth place for the owners went to Brian Fonseca, Danika Jo Parker, Steve Brown, Gus Carcione, and Jim Riddell.

Among the special awards for the BCRA midget lites division, Dave LaManna was presented with the Tom Boune Midget Lite Sportsmanship Award, while Rod Browning earned the John & Gladys Soares Sr. Memorial Perseverance Award. Ken Bergstrom was the winner of the Morrie Caudle Midget Lite Mechanic of the Year award and Brandon Leedy was the recipient of the Tracy Taylor Most Improved Driver of the Year award. BCRA vintage division stalwart Bob Mastroleo won the Pete Baraldi Best Appearing Car Award for non-competition vehicles.

Turning to the BCRA midget division, Maria Cofer won the 2018 dirt series drivers’ championship followed by David Prickett with the ageless Marvin Mitchell in third place. Robert Dalby from Anaheim California was the fourth-place finisher in the dirt series, trailed by the always-smiling JR Williams in fifth place. Among the dirt series car owners, John Cofer captured the title followed by Neverlift Motorsports, Marvin Mitchell, J & J Associates and Robert Dalby.  John Cofer was awarded the prestigious Lloyd Nygren Sportsmanship Award for his tireless assistance to many competitors throughout the season.   

The 2018 BCRA pavement series championship was captured by driver Chad Nichols and Team 17, with Mark Maliepaard in second place as both the driver and car owner. Young phenom Jesse Love III scored third place in the drivers’ pavement championship and his car owner Tres Van Dyne nailed down third place in the pavement series.

Maria Cofer scored a solid fourth place for the pavement series for herself as the driver for her pavement car owners, the Arata’s Storcks Garage. Cody Jessop scored fifth place in the pavement drivers’ championship and scored the Johnny Baldwin Most Improved Driver award for the 2018 BCRA midget season. J & J Associates, owner of the #74 midget driven by JR Williams scored a fifth-place finish in the pavement owners championship.

With the 2018 BCRA overall midget driver’s champion Jesse Love III racing in Las Vegas, his mother Liz accepted his 2018 championship trophy and the Johnny Boyd Rookie of the Year trophy. Second through fifth in the overall drivers’ championship were in order Maria Cofer, Chad Nichols, and Mark Maliepaard as JR Williams rounded out the top five finishers.  

In addition to the 2018 overall BCRA Car Owner Championship Tres Van Dyne also copped the Pete Baraldi Best Appearing Car Award for competition vehicles and the Morrie Caudle Midget Mechanic of the Year. Team 17 garnered second place honors in the overall championship, trailed by Mark Maliepaard, J & J Associates and John Cofer to round out the top five overall owners.

The Bay Cities Racing Assocation offers our thanks to all our sponsors, fans, officials and competitors for their contributions to the club’s safe and successful 2018 season, and looks forward to our bright prospects for the 2019 season.     

   

The BCRA 2018 Season finale Doubleheader Weekend

2018 BCRA Champion Jesse Love

photo by the author

Jesse Love makes it three wins in a row at Stockton 99 on Saturday

The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) mighty midgets raced on Saturday night October 27 as the first part of a special 2018 season-ending racing program at the lightning fast Stockton 99 Speedway.  and concluded a big two-day weekend show that also featured the Gunslingers winged Sprint Car series, the BCRA vintage division, USAC Western Speed2 midgets and the Legends of Kearny Bowl which featured an entry from six-time BCRA champion Gary Koster.   

Twelve BCRA midgets signed in at the pit gate and the entry list included Cody Jessop in Karl Hokanson’s beautiful #98 midget which suffered mechanical plumbing problems during practice and was withdrawn. Mark Maliepaard topped the charts in time trials with a quick 13.157 second lap to edge out Jesse Love who recorded a best lap of 13.221 seconds. David Goodwill and Cody Gerhardt were third and fourth fastest respectively, while Chad Nichols surprised many as he struggled and was the day’s fifth fastest qualifier. Rookie Dylan Nobile of Clovis in his BCRA debut in the #55 midget formerly owned by Gary Conterno was sixth fastest, trailed by Maria Cofer, Richard “Skeeter” Flake from Washington state, the affable JR Williams, nine-time BCRA champion Floyd Alvis and George Tuttle, who was doing double duty with the Speed2 midgets.

Chad Nichols in the Shanoian #17N Esslinger-powered midget started the first heat race from the pole position with Maria Cofer alongside, as five cars took the green flag after the engine in Tuttle’s beautiful black #98T car wouldn’t start. Nichols grabbed the lead into turn one ahead of Cofer, who was passed by Maliepaard who used a nifty inside move through turn three on the first lap to grab the position. A lap later, Goodwill dropped Maria to fourth place, and the running order remained static from then until the end of the eight-lap race with the finishing order Nichols, Maliepaard, Goodwill, Cofer and Williams.

Floyd Alvis led the five-car second heat race to the green flag, but outside front row starter “Skeeter” Flake beat the rest of the field into turn one with Cody Gerhardt in second place and Jesse Love in third place. Gerhardt looked high and low at both ends of the track but could not find his way around the Washington midget racing veteran, all while Cody repelled the efforts of the young charger Jesse Love to grab second place. The finish at the end of eight laps was Flake, Gerhardt, Love, Nobile and Alvis.

Later the four fastest qualifiers lined up for the four-lap trophy dash in a fully inverted start. Cody Gerhardt made the most of his pole position start and he held off Goodwill, Love and Maliepaard to claim a popular win in the #29 Eskelsen Motorsports Mopar-powered Beast and $100 donated by Race Director Bob Roza.   

After the heat races and the trophy dash were completed, the re-draw for the start of the feature was held. The fastest qualifier Mark Maliepaard drew the magic “zero” pill for a straight-up lineup with the fast qualifier in the coveted pole position. At the drop of the green flag, Mark and fellow front row starter Jesse Love raced side-by-side for the first lap around the ¼-mile high-banked oval before Love thrust into the lead, trailed by Maliepaard, Goodwill, Nichols and Gerhardt. On lap four, Nichols slipped past Goodwill and Chad had a front row seat as Mark and Jesse battled for the top spot. On lap 12, Nichols passed Mark Maliepaard, then two laps later. Goodwill dropped Mark’s #51 Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special into fourth place.

The caution flag flew on lap 14 after the black #81 machine of “Skeeter” Flake rolled to a stop in turn two and he was pushed into the pit area to join early retiree JR Williams who had experienced an engine oiling issue. The ensuing restart got jammed up and unfortunately, young Dylan Nobile was the innocent victim as his #55 ended up nosed into the outside retaining wall at the end of the front straightaway. The car was undamaged but Dylan headed to the pits, his night over early.  

The next restart was clean and over the next nine laps, the crowd at Stockton 99 Speedway was treated to an epic battle for the race lead between the young phenom Jesse Love and the wily veteran Chad Nichols. Nichols’ orange #17N was brutally fast on the straightaways, but Chad’s machine could not hold the low line through the turns. Lap after lap Chad got underneath Jesse as the pair entered the corner, then edged ahead mid-corner, but Nichols just couldn’t make the pass stick, as Love would diamond off the corner and power underneath to retain the race lead at the start-finish stripe. 

After lap 23, the exciting battle ended and Love began to pull clear of Nichols. Jesse cruised to his third consecutive BCRA midget pavement win over Nichols, Gerhardt, Goodwill, Maliepaard, Alvis, Cofer, Flake and JR Williams.   

Gerhardt wins Sunday Afternoon at Stockton 99 Speedway - Jesse Love 2018 BCRA series champion

By Bob Roza

A special Sunday afternoon Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) season-ending racing program closed out 2018 and concluded a big two-day weekend show at Stockton 99 Speedway that also featured the BCRA vintage division, the Gunslingers Sprint Cars, USAC Western Speed2 midgets and the Legends of Kearny Bowl. The afternoon opened with BCRA Midgets time trials with Chad Nichols setting fast time at 13:105 over Mark Maliepaard from nearby Ripon at 13:229 seconds Jesse Love who was aiming for his fourth straight BCRA win was third fastest at 13:354 seconds.    

After hot laps, car owner Karl Hokanson withdrew his immaculate #98 car from competition due to internal engine problems. Karl has had a tough time getting the bugs worked out of his beautiful #98 machine, as problems have surfaced after hot laps at each of the car’s last three outings at Madera and Stockton.

The first heat race was won by midget rookie driver Dylan Nobile from Fresno in the recently purchased Mopar powered Beast formerly owned by Gary Conterno.  Finishing behind Nobile were Love, Nichols, and Richard “Skeeter” Flake who made the long 12-hour tow from Washington state to race with the BCRA midgets.  The second heat race was won by Malipaard from his fourth-place starting position over Gerhardt, Floyd Alvis and Maria Cofer who failed to finish after her black #88 machine suffered front axle damage from contact with a spinning car.

For the final racing event of the 2018 racing season quick qualifier Chad Nichols drew the zero pill, for a “straight up” starting field based on qualifying times, with Nichols on the pole position and Maliepaard on the outside.  When the initial green flag flew, Nichols bolted into the early lead over Love and Maliepaard, however Love’s blue #5 midget owned by Tres Van Dyne began to slow immediately.  Love’s engine popped and backfired as Jesse dove into the infield as caution flag was shown to the field. Once the car rolled to a stop, the crew quickly diagnosed the culprit as a bad magneto which meant that the young phenom was done for the night. 

When racing resumed, Nichols set a fast pace ahead of Maliepaard, Gerhardt and Nobile.  Several laps later Cofer pulled her ill-handling Arata Brothers Chevrolet-powered Spike chassis into the infield.  Her car owners, the Arata brothers, Jeff and Anthony, Maria’s father, John Cofer and Tim Grant, the father of the 2007 BCRA champion Justin Grant, all deserve praise for making the needed repairs after the heat race incident so Maria could start the main event.

With the race half over the racing continued with Maliepaard, Gerhardt, & Nobile in a spirited battle for second place behind Nichols until lap 18 when Maliepaard & Nobile spun together calling for a yellow flag. Both cars were restarted and rejoined the tail of the field.  When racing resumed Gerhardt closed in on Nichols rear bumper then made a clean pass on lap 20, and lengthened his lead as Chad’s handling issues worsened, eventually diagnosed as a bad steering box. Over the remaining laps, Cody was smooth and fast and he took the checkered flag in the Paul Eskelsen’s Mopar-powered Beast chassis over Nichols, Nobile and Malipaard with Skeeter Flake in the fifth position.

With the long season at a close, the BCRA racers gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2018 champions – Maria Cofer emerged as the dirt driver champion, Chad Nichols repeated as the pavement driver champion, and Jesse Love is the 2018 BCRA overall series driver champion. Love will reign as the youngest-ever BCRA driver champion in the club’s long storied 79-year history.  Love’s car owner Tres Van Dyne is the series overall owner champion, while Team 17 captured the pavement owner’s title and John Cofer repeated as the BCRA dirt division owner champion.  

The Bay Cities Racing Association thanks all of the competitors who participated in our final weekend of racing for 2018, our valued sponsors and especially Business Manager Linda Manning. The club also extends our thanks to all the series’ fans, racers, promoters, and sponsors for their support throughout the 2018 season. 

 

       

Jesse Love claims the Harvest Classic

13-year old racer Jess Love of Menlo Park California made history Saturday night at Madera Speedway as he won the 46^th annual Harvest Classic and became the youngest winner in the storied 79-year history of the Bay Cities Racing Association.  

Love started his night by qualifying second in BCRA time trials, as he powered his Van Dyne-powered 51 Fifty energy drinks to a time of 14.089 seconds, just 13/1000 of a second slower than fast qualifier Mark Maliepaard in his Esslinger-powered Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special. Perennial Madera standout Chad Nichols timed in third fastest in the orange #17 Shanonian Esslinger, with David Goodwill fourth and Cody Jessop fifth overall.

2013 BCRA Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Screeton made his return to racing in the #1N Shanonian entry and qualified sixth fastest with Cody Gerhardt seventh fastest as the team battled fuel delivery issues.

US Western Speed 2 midget standout Toni Breidinger, USAC’s winningest female driver joined the BCRA field in her family’s #26B Honda-powered midget with an eighth-place qualifying effort, and Joey Iest, currently second in USAC Western Speed 2 midget point standings, qualified ninth, with the ageless JR Williams tenth and Austin Carter in the second Jessop Western Speed2 racing entry rounded out the qualifying field in eleventh.  Frankie Guerrini was unable to make the qualifying call as his Bob Rosen-owned Mr. Espresso midget suffered an oil pump issue during practice and was withdrawn.         

Chad Nichols claimed the lead of the first heat race at the drop of the green flag, was never challenged, and brought home the win over Jessop, Maliepaard, Gerhardt and Austin Carter. Screeton proved that was just as fast as ever as he led the second heat for several laps before he surrendered the lead to Jesse Love on lap six and trailed Love to the finish line. Goodwill finished third, with Iest fourth and JR Williams in fifth place.

Late in the evening, after the 10-car BCRA feature pushed off as the last race of the night, Chad Nichols jumped into the lead in the first turn trailed by David Goodwill, Love, Maliepaard and Jessop. On lap three, BCRA stalwart JR Williams pulled his midget into the infield, and then on lap five Love maneuvered past Goodwill to take over second place, five car lengths behind Nichols, then three laps later Maliepaard dropped Goodwill to fourth place.

On lap 13, Love began to reel in the leader Nichols and an epic duel ensued as Jesse in the blue #5 Van Dyne looked first to the high side then the low side of Chad, all the while glued to the rear nerf bar of the orange #17. On lap 21 as the pair entered turn three of the fast Madera 1/3-mile oval, Love dove to the bottom and after wheel-to-wheel contact, emerged with the lead briefly before Nichols recaptured the point.

On lap 24, Love again tried the inside move into turn three and again the lead cars bumped and both bobbled, with Nichols was scored the leader at the start-finish line. Finally, on lap 28, Love moved past Nichols in turn three to take the lead for good and finished the 30-lap feature .391 seconds ahead of Nichols to score his historic first BCRA feature win.

Mark Maliepaard recorded the race’s fastest lap and scored a strong third place finish, with Cody Jessop in fourth place and Goodwill fifth.  Cody Gerhardt finished sixth, with Jimmy Screeton a lap behind the leaders in seventh, trailed by Toni Breidinger in eighth place and Austin Carter in ninth, two laps in arrears. JR Williams, with the only car that did not complete the race was placed tenth.

Jesse Love, left, and car owner Tres Van Dyne, right 

celebrate Love's historic BCRA feature victory

BCRA wishes to recognize and thank the USAC Western Speed2 midget car owners, mechanics and drivers that made the necessary changes to their cars and joined the regular BCRA racers to present a thrilling non-stop race for the fans.

The mighty midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association return to action on September 29^th at the unique ¼-mile paved Lakeport Speedway on the grounds of the Lake County Fairgrounds.

Mark your calendars now for the big BCRA year-end doubleheader at the lightning-fast paved Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday October 27th and Sunday October 28^th as part of the ‘Gun Slingers Sprint Car Series Championship’ weekend, with two complete shows that will also include the BCRA vintage division.                  

Chad Nichols wins again

at Stockton 99 Speedway

 

The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midgets took to the high-banked paved Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday July 14^th for a program that also included the BCRA vintage division as well as the Gunslinger and the Northern California Modified Association (NCMA) sprint car divisions.

Chad Nichols set quick time in time in qualifying as the familiar #17N Shanonian Esslinger flirted with the magic 12-second speed barrier with a best lap of 13.018 seconds. Rookie Jesse Love in the 51 Fifty/Van Dyne Engineering #5 was just a tad slower and took second fastest honors with his 13.088 second lap. The third fastest qualifier was Mark Maliepaard in the #51 Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors/Bob Roza Motorsports Esslinger at 13.139 seconds, with David Goodwill in the DDS Racing #3G fourth at 13.197 seconds.

Ominously, however Goodwill’s engine began misfiring during his cool-down lap and when his car returned to the pits his crew was assisted by fellow competitors Tres Van Dyne and Cody Jessop to diagnose the malady. Cody Jessop qualified fifth in his family-owned Jessop Trucking #00, with Frankie Guerrini III in Bob Rosen’s Mr. Espresso sixth fastest, JR Williams in the J&J Fontana powered #74 seventh and nine-time BCRA champion Floyd Alvis, victimized by a flattening right rear tire on his familiar green #18 midget, was the eighth fastest qualifier.

Unfortunately, Goodwill’s car continued to experience electrical problems as David was pushed off for the start of the first heat race, which left the race to the three cars of Love, Guerrini and Alvis. Jesse jumped into the lead at the start then he fought off Frankie’s early attempts to pass on the low side through turns three and four before he sped away. On his sixth lap Love recorded a flying lap of 13.21 seconds on his way to a dominant victory ahead of Guerrini and Alvis.    

The start of the second heat race featured Jessop and Maliepaard on the front row and after one aborted start attempt, Mark seized the advantage with Jessop in hot pursuit. On lap two, Nichols took the low road through turns three and four to take over second place from Cody, and the trio completed the eight-lap sprint in that order after JR Williams retired his #74 to the pit area on the fifth lap.

Chad Nichols drew the number four pill to set up a four-car invert for the lineup of the feature with David Goodwill scheduled for the pole position with Mark Maliepaard alongside and Love and Nichols in the second row. Unfortunately, Goodwill’s #3G continued to experience electrical problems and David exited the track before the green flag flew, and Jesse Love moved his blue #5 to the pole position. At the drop of the green flag, Maliepaard and Love raced side by side for the first lap before Maliepaard gained the advantage.

Unfortunately, amid the torrid action at the front of the field, Cody Jessop rolled his #00 midget into the infield after just one lap with an unknown mechanical failure. Nichols swept past Love to grab second place as JR Williams took his #74 to the pit area on the seventh lap which left Love in third place, Guerrini in fourth and Alvis in fifth place.  That running order remained static past the halfway point of the 30-lap feature until on lap 19, Maliepaard left the bottom side open through turns 3 and 4 and Nichols motored past into the lead.

Once in the lead Nichols quickly built up a substantial lead as Alvis pulled into the infield on lap 22. Chad held a 10-car advantage over Maliepaard at the drop of the checkered flag with Love in third and Guerrini in fourth place. Among the non-finishers, Alvis placed fifth, Williams sixth, Jessop seventh and the unfortunate schedule pole-sitter Goodwill in eighth position.

Following his BCRA feature win, Nichols jumped behind the wheel of Ted Finkenbinder’s #3F Gunslinger sprint car and edged out Jerry Kozba at the finish line to claim second place behind winner AJ Russell.  

Saturday July 21^st is the Jack London Bash Picnic and Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Sonoma Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma California. The Bash starts at 10 AM with lunch catered by Lombardi’s BBQ served at noon and the induction ceremony set to begin at 1:30 PM. There is still time to make your reservations for $30 apiece by contacting thmlmm@comcast.net. Join us as we honor this year’s inductees – drivers Don Meacham and Chuck Stevenson, owner/drivers Rick Holbrook and John Mosekian and Midget Lite official Peggy Holbrook.    

After the bash ends at 3 PM, the action moves to the adjacent Petaluma Speedway for the Jack London Hall of Fame racing program co-sanctioned with the United States Auto Club (USAC) Western States Division. The dirt racing program is set to start with time trials at 6 PM followed by racing at 7 PM.

Mark your calendars for August 18 as the BCRA pavement midgets travel north to Ukiah Speedway for a race con-sanctioned with the Washington Midget Racing Association (WMRA). Early reports from our northern neighbors point to a large car count for an exciting race on the quarter-mile paved oval at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds.   

 

Maria Cofer claims another win at Petaluma

Eleven Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midgets signed in at Petaluma Speedway on Saturday night June 9 for the second night of a back-to-back weekend series. Chase Johnson at the wheel of Del Morris’ midget won the feature on Friday night at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville followed by 2017 BCRA champion Maria Cofer in her family’s #57, Robert Dalby in the Dalby family’s #4D and Shannon McQueen in her own #7 machine.  

Ten BCRA midgets posted qualifying times during single car time trials, with the field led by Chase Johnson’s 14.674 seconds, followed by Maria Cofer at 14.721 seconds, with Frankie Guerrini III third fastest at 14.733 seconds, David Prickett fourth at 14.953 seconds and Geoff “the Human Highlight Reel” Ensign who along with Johnson pulled double duty with the King of the West sprint cars, the fifth fastest qualifier at 14.964 seconds. 

Floyd Alvis suffered mechanical problems and did not post a qualifying time and Marvin Mitchell did not present his car for qualifying, while young Jesse Love the second scheduler qualifier in the Van Dyne #5 suffered a broken bolt in the left rear trailing arm before he took the green flag. The crew led by car owner Tres Van Dyne quickly repaired the car in time for Jesse to make a single qualifying lap at 15.226 seconds.  

 The front row for the first 8-lap heat race was shared by Ensign and Dalby and at the drop of the green flag, Dalby shot into the lead trailed by Guerrini and Ensign. On the second lap of the heat race, veteran Marvin Mitchell exited the track and retired for the race. Through the third turn of the fourth lap Guerrini used the high line to move around Dalby and into the lead.

Guerrini built his advantage and appeared headed to victory until his engine went off-song down the backstretch on the final lap. Third place runner Chase Johnson vaulted into the lead and won with Ensign third, Dalby fourth and Matt Sargent rounded out the finishers in fifth place driving Dave Thurston’s #17.

The five-car second heat was paced by a pair of rookies, with Jesse Love on the pole and Jackson Dukes on the outside. After the first two start attempts were called back, on the third try, Dukes grabbed the lead and he held on for all eight circuits to win his first career midget heat race. Maria Cofer made repeated attempts to pass Dukes on the low side through turns three and four in the later laps, but Dukes held Maria off, with Love in third place followed by David Prickett and JR Williams.

Despite repeated efforts by the F&F Racing team crew to diagnose the electronic problems, Guerrini was forced to scratch prior to the feature along with Alvis, which reduced the starting field for the 25-lap finale to ten cars, with the field led by pole-sitter Geoff Ensign and outside front row starter David Prickett, as Cofer and Johnson shared the second row. At the drop of the green, Ensign established himself as the early leader in Ted Finkenbinder’s machine trailed by Prickett, Johnson, Dalby and Cofer.

On lap 4, Maria Cofer moved her #57 past Dalby to claim fourth place, then on lap five she moved past Chase Johnson to claim third place. On the sixth lap, the Del Morris #71 lost power through turns three and four and Chase Johnson brought the machine to a stop underneath the flag stand which necessitated the race’s first yellow caution flag as Johnson’s car was pushed into the pit area, done for the evening.

On the restart, Prickett got his car alongside Ensign’s as the pair exited turn two, and Maria Cofer dove low and powered by both the #24 and #3F and grabbed the lead as she entered turn three. Maria quickly built her lead as Ensign and Prickett battled for second place, then on lap ten Dalby slipped past Prickett to run in third place.

Cofer built up a ten-car length advantage as she wove through lapped traffic, and on lap 20 Prickett reclaimed third place from Robert Dalby. Cofer had extended her led to a full straightaway when the race’s second yellow caution flag flew on lap 23 with Jackson Dukes’ machine stopped sideways in turn four.  Dukes restarted at the tail of the field.

Maria Cofer controlled the restart and led the final two circuits to claim her second BCRA feature win of the season in her family-owned #57, trailed across the finish line by Ensign, Prickett and Dalby with Jesse Love in fifth place. Dukes recovered from his lap race spin to finish in sixth place, trailed by Mitchell and Williams. Sargent failed to finish and placed ninth, while the previous night’s winner Chase Johnson also failed to finish and was scored in tenth place.

The BCRA mighty midgets return to pavement action this coming weekend on Saturday June 16th for the Tom Manning Memorial at Stockton 99 Speedway along with the BCRA vintage midget division, the Gun Slingers Winged Sprint Car Series, and the cars from the California Hard Top Association, and the Legends of Kearney Bowl. The pit gate is scheduled to open at 1 PM followed by the spectator gates at 5 PM and racing set to start at 6 PM.

Maria Cofer claims her first

BCRA victory at Merced Speedway

On Saturday night April 21, The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) dirt track midgets finally made their first appearance of the 2018 season following two earlier rained out dates. Two rookies made their BCRA dirt debut – Jackson Dukes in the #2 Shenanigans Motorsports entry and Jesse Love III in the #5 51-Fifty Energy Drinks Van Dyne Motorsports entry.

The entry list also included three veteran drivers who returned to race with the BCRA midgets after some time away – Jimmy Christian in Dave Thurston’s #11 machine, Rick Cook II in his father’s #7R midget and the ageless Marvin Mitchell in his own #78 entry.  

Defending BCRA series champion Maria Cofer topped qualifying in the #57 Cofer entry with a new track record reported, as she topped Cory Elliott in the Elliott Motorsports #11E, Michael Faccinto in Sean Dodenhoff’s #9D and David Prickett in his own #22Q. Sean Dodenhoff experienced oiling problems in his own #9 car and scratched for the night before time trials.

At the start of the first 6-car heat race, Robert Dalby in the #4D jumped in the lead as Cofer coasted into the infield with a rough running engine. As the field started the fourth lap Faccinto slipped by into the lead when Jimmy Christian rolled to a stop in turn two and the Thurston car caught fire.

The Merced Speedway safety crew responded quickly and got Christian out of the car, but the Thurston entry was finished for the night.  The lower legs of Jimmy’s uniform were scorched and after examination by the track EMT’s, Jimmy was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The club’s best wishes go out to Jimmy Christian for a quick recovery.  

When the first heat race resumed from the red flag stoppage, as the field rolled through turn four for the restart, Faccinto’s engine faltered and he dropped to the inside as Jesse Love grabbed the lead. Love was soon passed by Dalby as Faccinto’s #9D slowly coasted into the pit area with apparent ignition trouble. The results of the first heat race - Dalby and Love in first and second with JR Williams in third place as Faccinto, Christian and Cofer all failed to finish. 

Rick Cook II started on the pole for the second heat race and he held off David Prickett for the first lap with Cory Elliott in third. During the early laps Prickett and Elliott both passed Cook, with Marvin Mitchell settled in fourth place and Dukes in fifth. Elliott made several late moves but could not get past Prickett and the finishing order was Prickett, Elliott, Cook, Mitchell and Dukes.

In a throwback to earlier times, Merced Speedway Promoter Ed Parker offered the four fastest BCRA midgets from qualifying the chance to run a Trophy Dash and Bob Roza offered $100 to the winner. Unfortunately, Faccinto’s #9D still had engine problems after he pushed off and Michael retired to pits leaving just three cars on track. Over two fast and furious racing laps, Prickett topped Elliott and Cofer to claim his second victory of the evening.

Following the track’s Hobby Stock and Valley Sportsman feature races, the BCRA’s 30-lap feature was the finale of the evening’s racing. Once again, Faccinto and the #9D Dodenhoff car could not get going for the feature start and retired to the pit area before the start of the race. At the drop of the green flag, Maria Cofer jumped into the lead from her outside front row starting position with Prickett, Elliott and Dalby in hot pursuit. On the second lap, Elliott dispatched Prickett for second place as Maria began to pull away; by lap 6, she held a 6-car length lead over Elliott who was six car lengths ahead of the Dalby/Prickett battle for third place.

The caution flag flew and slowed the race action on lap 21 as Rick Cook II spun the #7R midget to a stop in turn four facing the wrong way. Under caution the track crew pushed Rick into the infield to join JR Williams as the race’s only retirements. On the restart, Cofer surged to a two-car length lead around the track’s top groove, as Dalby tried the bottom of the track and rocketed past Elliott on lap 23 and set his sights on the lead. Dalby stuck to the bottom of the track through turns three and four and crept closer and pulled alongside Cofer’s car at the start/finish line on several occasions.

Maria and her father and car owner John Cofer

celebrate in Merced's victory lane

author photo

On lap 26, with Dalby even closer than before, Maria moved her #57 midget down to the low line through turns three and four and blocked Dalby’s momentum. Maria held on over the final laps to claim her first career BCRA feature race victory by a single car-length over hard charger Robert Dalby, with Cory Elliott in third trailed by David Prickett, with Marvin Mitchell fifth, Jesse Love III sixth and Jackson Dukes the final finisher in seventh. Among the feature non-finishers, Rick Cook II placed eighth and JR Williams ninth with Michael Faccinto who failed to start listed in tenth place. 

Robert Dalby accepts his second place trophy

from Merced Speedway promoter Ed Parker

author photo

 

The 2018 season for the BCRA mighty midgets continues May 5 with a big night of racing for the Vukovich Classic at the 1/3-mile asphalt Madera Speedway along with the BCRA vintage midget division, the NCMA Sprints, Madera’s own CSS/360 Super Modifieds class, Legends of Kearney Bowl, Senior Open Vintage Super Modifieds, California Hard Tops, the USAC Western US Pavement Midgets, and the Legends of the Pacific.

The BCRA midgets will return to the dirt on May 26 at the Stockton Dirt Track along with the Hunt Magneto Wingless Sprint Car Series and the winged ‘Sprint Car 360 Open’ which will pay $5,000 to the winner.