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 Twisted Mistress Model A coupe 

At the outdoor Prestone® Antifreeze display at the 2018 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) the author spotted this cool 1931 Ford Model A hot rod that the owner Randy Weaver calls “The Twisted Mistress.”

The rod was built by Weaver Customs in West Jordan, Utah with obvious 6-inch chopped top and the body channeled over the custom-built frame with Heidt’s independent front suspension and finished in Axalta Sand Bronze paint with the interior trimmed with Hydes black Italian leather.

The car is powered by a twin-turbocharged twin-turbo 401 cubic inch Ford Racing V-8 engine connected to a C6 automatic transmission and 9” Ford rear end.  The Model A rides on 18-inch front and 20-inch rear Detroit Steel Wheel Company Artillery wheels wrapped in Toyo Proxes low-profile tires.

This cool coupe will cross the auction block at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale in January 12-20, 2019.

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All photographs by the author 

“Eat’n Dollars” Pulling tractor

a typical John Deere 4010 tractor

Between 1961 and 1963, John Deere Company produced more than 59,000 series 4010 tractors which were powered by 6-cylinder 378 cubic-inch engines that produced 80 horsepower which made the 6300-pound 4010 one of the most powerful two-wheel drive tractors at that time. Interestingly, Elvis Presley owned a 1963 4010 which he used at his Mississippi ranch and Graceland estate; his restored 4010 tractor with a loader attachment is on display at the Elvis Presley Auto Museum.

author photo

The John Deere 4010 lightweight super stock “Eat’n Dollars” tractor on display at the Sawblade.com booth at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Indianapolis Indiana has a triple-turbocharged 505 cubic-inch alcohol-fueled six-cylinder engine that develops more than 3000 horsepower.  

author photo

Obviously, the original John Deere frame would be overwhelmed by that much power, so “Eat’n Dollars” rides on a chrome moly tube Component chassis with a 47.2 SFI roll-cage and custom-built spindle arm assembly and hubs to support the front of the tractor.  

photo courtesy David Esteb

Driver David Esteb of Franklin Indiana began competitive pulling when he was just 16 years old but stepped away to work as a carpenter and farmer before he returned to the sport a dozen years ago. Esteb has competed in the Lucas Pro Pulling League (LOPPL) Champions Tour ARP lightweight super stock class since 2011, and David and his wife Janet were honored as the LOPPL “Puller of the Year” in 2017.  David finished seventh on the 2018 LOPPL Champions Tour, and second in points for the Beck's Hybrid Light Super Stock class with the Indiana Pulling League.  

During the 2018 season Sawblade.com was the presenting sponsor for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series(ASCS), as well as supporting the sprint car team of Scott Bogucki. Sawblade.com also supported teams in the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League (LOPPL) and the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series (LODBRS).

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2019 Chili Bowl Nationals wrap-up

The championship of the 2019 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire was settled with a thrilling last lap pass for the lead by Christopher Bell on his Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammate Kyle Larson.

Larson had grabbed the race lead from pole position starter and fellow KKM driver Logan Seavey on lap 20, but was unable to hold off Bell, who took the checkered flag just a car length ahead of Larson.

California’s Justin Grant finished third, with the “Macho Man,” Brady Bacon fourth, Zach Daum fifth and Tyler “Sunshine” Courtney sixth and the Hard Charger Award after he passed sixteen cars during the feature.  

The top ten ‘A’ main finishers were rounded out by Brad Sweet, CJ Leary, Seavey, and Tanner Thorson.  Favorites Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Shane Golobic did not finish the event.

350 cars and drivers took part in the event during the six nights and officials recorded 75 flips during the six nights with all the drivers able to walk away.  Bell who joined Kevin Swindell as the only three-time consecutive winners of the prized Golden Driller, closed out the event with the final recorded flip as he turned over his Toyota-powered Spike while he spun his victory donuts.

Crowd favorite and five-time event champion Sammy Swindell’s 2019 Chili Bowl run ended when he failed to advance out of his “C’ feature, while “The People’s Champ,” Dave Darland was disqualified from the ‘B’ feature when he ignored directions from track officials.

2005 Chili Bowl champion Tracy Hines failed to finish his ‘B’ feature and retired NASCAR star Kasey Kahne who plans a big slate of open-wheel races during 2019 was disappointed when his machine did not finish his ‘E’ feature.  

Surprising many midwestern fans with their strong performances were California racers Robert Dalby who advanced from the ‘C’ feature and Colby Copeland who advanced form the ‘B’ feature. Copeland finished fourteenth and Dalby 20^th.

The 34^th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire will be held January 13^th through the 18^th 2019. Hope to see you there next year!

Chili Bowl 2019 – night five

Friday night’s preliminary feature at the 33^rd annual Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire was all Justin Grant as he captured the 25-lap feature from the pole position. Grant who earlier won his qualifier race, battled Tanner Thorson the entire race which was run without a caution, at a pace that many observers believed was a Chili Bowl record for the distance.

Grant’s victory his third consecutive preliminary night win broke the stranglehold of Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) which had won all the preliminary races before Friday night. Finishing third behind Grant and Thorson was Chad Boat while fourth place fell to NASCAR star Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with KKM’s Tucker Klaasmeyer fifth.

Notable performances during the night came from Kevin Thomas Jr. and Spencer Bayston, both of whom suffered misfortune in the heat races and did not finish. Thomas Junior won his ‘C’ feature race to advance into the ‘B’ feature in which he finished third to start 22^nd in the ‘A’ main featured and he moved up to finish 14^th at the drop of the checkered flag.

Bayston finished second behind Thomas Jr. in their ‘C’ feature and finished fourth in his ‘B’ feature and started the ‘A’ man in 24^th position. Over 25 laps Bayston worked his way up to finish ninth to win the night’s hard charger award.

350 cars made an appearance on track during the five nights of competition and on the final night every car and driver gets a chance to race once more. Racing in Tulsa Oklahoma begins at 10 AM Saturday morning with the ‘O’ main, then advances backwards through the alphabet to the crowning of the 2019 Chili Bowl champion at the end of the 55-lap ‘A’ main.

Chili Bowl 2019- night four

The fourth preliminary night A-main feature at the 33^rd annual Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire was eventful from beginning to end. The first start was aborted when the midget of Joe Miller came to a stop in turn one. Pole sitter Danny Stratton in the Andy Bondio machine tried a little too hard to push the start and starter Roger Slack set Stratton back one row which moved defending champion Christopher Bell to the pole position. The third attempt to start the 25-lap finale was again called back when the car of Andrew Deal rolled to a stop in turn one.

Once the field was turned loose, Bell raced away to a comfortable advantage over Jerry Coons Jr., Strattion, Shane Golobic and Ryan Bernal in the Kevin Swindell entry. By running the low line through turns one and two and the high line on the cushion through turns three and four, Bell built a lead of 1.6 seconds before the caution flag flew on lap 7 when Thomas Meseraull tangled with another car and his 7R machine suffered a crushed tail tank but was able to continue.

When the green flag re-appeared Bell drove away from Coons as the cars of Golobic Bernal. CJ Leary and Stratton fought for third place. Once again Bell built a big lead of 1.7 seconds before the yellow flag flew again on lap 12. When racing resumed Bell streaked away again to a lead of 2.5 seconds when the field slowed again for Jake Morgan’s crash in turn four that eliminated the #19 car from the race.

Once the field was back to up to speed, on lap 20 Merseraull’s machine took a series of vicious flips into turn three that also caught up the cars of Tracy Hines and Kyle Cummins. The latter pair were able to continue, but “T-Mez” was done for the night. The last few laps of racing were wild as Golobic challenged Bell several times through turns three and four for the race lead but was unable to make the pass stick. 

At the finish the top four finishers were Christopher Bell, Shane Golobic, CJ Leary and Danny Stratton. This finish continues the Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) domination of the 2019 Chili Bowl was four KKM cars claiming all four preliminary night wins thusfar.

Chili Bowl 2019 – night three

The start of Wednesday’s 25-lap A-main preliminary night feature at the 33^rd annual Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire featured two-time winner Rico Abreu on the outside of the front row alongside young Cole Bodine. 

Abreu in his #97 Safelite Auto Glass-sponsored Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota powered machine fell to third at the drop of the green flag behind Blake Hahn as Bodine, who is not related to the NASCAR Bodine family shot into the lead in NOS Energy Drink Clauson-Marshall Racing entry.

On lap two, Abreu shot past Hahn, grandson of Chili Bowl founder Emmett Hahn, to secure second place and moved to the cushion and chased down leader Bodine and took the lead on the seventh lap on the low side through turn four. From there Rico cruised the top, as former winner Tim McCreadie, World of Outlaws sprint car star David Gravel and Bodine battled for second place.

At the checkered flag it was Rico Abreu followed by Gravel and Bodine with Californian Jake Swanson finishing fourth after starting the race in seventeenth position. Swanson was not the race’s biggest mover however, that honor went to Ryan Smith who improved eighteen positions from his 23^rd starting spot.

The the heartbreak of the night award went to Pauls Valley Oklahoma’s Steven Shebester, who was leading the second B feature when the engine in Ray Williams’ gorgeous City Vending machine expired three laps from the finish.