Alas, I need a fax machine to get regional points after every weekend,
so that didn't work out.  Anyway, here's the same deal as usual:
Pacific Coast Regional track in Watsonville report, then top finishers
at Pacific Coast's Antioch track and Sunbelt Region's San Jose track.

If this article seems a bit rushed, it was.  The races ended 30 minutes
before my deadline.

 
   WATSONVILLE -- It came down to two-lap shootout between a pair of 
former Late-Model Stock Car drivers in Friday's Winston Racing Series 
competition at Watsonville Speedway.
[ep Salinas' Bobby Hogge III, the 1989 Pacific Coast Region champion,
outgunned 1983 regional champ Dave Byrd, to score his first Grand-
American Modified Division feature race win of the season on the
quarter-mile dirt oval.
   An incident-plagued Street Stock Division main event was ended under
a red flag condition, with Don Silva of Salinas taking the win and 
series points lead.
   Back on top this week was Jim Gillespie in the Figure 8 Division. 
The Santa Cruzan reset his own race record time in beating John Keldsen 
to the checkered flag.
 
   There were three red flags during the night. The worst occurred when
street stock driver Michael Jimenez was involved in a crash during the 
``B'' event. Complaining of neck pain, medical crews cut the roof off 
Jimenez's car and extricated him in a neck brace and on a back board 
before transporting him to Watsonville Community Hospital for X-rays.
   The red flag that ended the street stock feature was when the Camaro
of Chris Araujo burst into flames spectacularly. It was a very scary 
moment for the driver from Santa Clara, who was seriously burned in a 
pit fire last year.
   The third red flag of the night came in the Grand-Am feature race. 
As the green flag came out for a restart, race leader Scott Busby's 
engine went sour. As he was being passed left and right, he made contact
with Mike Brumit. The two cars locked wheels, with Brumit's car nearly 
becoming inverted as they ground to a halt in the middle of the front 
straight.
 
   Attendance to the speedway has been relatively low this year, and 
some fans have voiced their dismay at the loss of the Late-Model Stock 
Car Division. Whatever their reason may be, it isn't speed or number of 
cars.
   Busby set a new Grand-Am record Friday night, just three tenths of a
second slower than Ed Sans Jr.'s late-model record. The Grand-Am car 
count consistently has been higher than the stock cars had last year,
too.
   Ken Pelphrey set a new street stock qualifying record as well. 
However, like Busby, the Los Gatos driver had his troubles later in the 
activities, dropping out of the main event very early after tangling 
with Darrell Hughes as they fought their way forward from mid-field 
starting positions.
 
   Until Busby's engine trouble, it looked like he was set to score his
seventh regional victory of the season. He took the lead from the 
battling pair of Steve Hendren and Brumit on the ninth lap, and was able
to keep his distance from Brumit.
   While Brumit continued to battle with Busby, Hendren pitted to 
replace a flat tire, then spun later. Because he had stopped on course 
to bring out a yellow so he could change the tire without losing a lap, 
the second yellow meant he was not allowed to continue racing.
   Brumit got passed by Hogge for second moments before being tied up 
with Busby.
 
   During the early moments of the street stock race, a couple of 
sophomore racers were having excellent runs. Salinas' Chad Patterson 
took the lead from Silva on lap 3 and led until a flat tire sent him to 
the pits six laps later. Santa Cruz's Joe Antonetti came from 14th to 
fourth in just five laps, and had got as high as third before trouble 
befell him in Turn 4 just after half distance in the 20-lap race.
 
Results from Friday's NASCAR Winston Racing Series at Watsonville Speedway:
 
   GRAND-AMERICAN MODIFIEDS
   Fast Time -- 15.796 seconds (record); Scott Busby, Martinez
 
   Trophy Dash, 4 laps -- 1:04.96
 1. Louis Davis, Mountain View
 2. Busby
 3. Dave Byrd, Los Gatos
 4. Bobby Hogge III, Salinas
 
   Heat Race 1, 6 laps -- 1:40.76
 1. Ron Parker, Soquel
 2. Dennis Furia Jr., Healdsburg
 3. Ray Morgan, Watsonville
 4. Johnnie Baptista, Seaside
 
   Heat Race 2, 6 laps -- 1:38.68
 1. Bob Hansen, Danville
 2. Ken Pedersen, Kentfield
 3. Byrd
 4. Hogge III
 
   Heat Race 3, 6 laps -- 1:39.01
 1. David Furia, Healdsburg
 2. Victor Gonella, Petaluma
 3. Davis
 4. Bobby Hogge IV, Salinas
 
   Main Event, 25 laps
 1. Hogge III
 2. Byrd
 3. Da. Furia
 4. Hogge IV
 5. Davis
 6. Hansen
 7. Gonella
 8. Troy Speers, Fremont
 9. Mike Brumit, Watsonville
10. Ken Nott Jr., Watsonville
11. Lonnie Lacy Jr., Watsonville
12. Parker
13. Furia Jr.
14. Busby
15. Johnnie Baptista, Seaside
16. Pedersen
17. Rick Fisher, Cupertino
18. John Riparetti, Watsonville
19. Steve Hendren, Santa Cruz
20. Morgan
 
   STREET STOCKS
   Fast Time -- 17.703 seconds (record); Ken Pelphrey, Los Gatos
 
   Trophy Dash, 4 laps -- 1:12.02
 1. Jerry Movrich, Gilroy
 2. Jim Gillespie, Santa Cruz
 3. Dan Wagner, Salinas
 4. K. Pelphrey
 
   Heat Race 1, 6 laps
 1. Steve Roberson, Scotts Valley
 2. Ron Souza, Pescadero
 3. David Keldsen, Castroville
 4. Tony Keldsen, Watsonville
 
   Heat Race 2, 6 laps
 1. Peter Reinero, Santa Cruz
 2. Fred Dickey II, Ben Lomond
 3. Michael Jimenez, San Jose
 4. Steve Wallace, Carmel
 
   Heat Race 3, 6 laps -- 1:49.78
 1. Tim Hamilton, San Jose
 2. Rickey Sanders, Watsonville
 3. Doug Hagio, Prunedale
 4. Jay Baer, San Jose
 
   Heat Race 4, 5 laps -- 1:31.38 (record)
 1. Cindy Clark, Prunedale
 2. Peter Petracca, Felton
 3. Joe Antonetti, Santa Cruz
 4. Chad Patterson, Salinas
 
   C-Main Event, 8 laps -- 2:29.30
 1. Reinero
 2. Rene LaChance, Prunedale
 3. George Penney, San Jose
 4. Ralph Sampson, Pescadero
 
   B-Main Event, 12 laps
 1. David Soito Jr., Las Lomas
 2. Sanders
 3. Hamilton
 4. C. Clark
 
   Main Event, 20 laps
 1. Don Silva, Salinas
 2. Gillespie
 3. Andy Clark, Prunedale
 4. Wagner
 5. Hagio
 6. Petracca
 7. Darrell Hughes, Salinas
 8. Fred Lind, Morgan Hill
 9. Dennis Pelphrey, Los Gatos
10. Antonetti
11. Eric van Hooser, San Jose
12. Matt Medina, Santa Cruz
13. Ed Jacobs, Salinas
14. Sanders
15. Baer
16. Chris Araujo, Santa Clara
17. Patterson
18. Soito
19. K. Pelphrey
20. Movrich
 
   FIGURE 8
   Main Event, 15 laps -- 6:24.92 (record)
 1. Jim Gillespie, Santa Cruz
 2. John Keldsen, Castroville
 3. Matt Medina, Santa Cruz
 4. Fred Lind, Morgan Hill
 5. Tim Elias, Salinas
 6. Fred Dickey II, Ben Lomond
 7. Ron Stefani, Castroville
 8. Steve Wallace, Carmel
 9. Mike Finlen, Watsonville
10. Jeff Mead, Santa Cruz

Top finishers from Antioch Speedway:

   GRAND-AMERICAN MODIFIEDS
   Main Event, 25 laps
 1. Bobby Hogge III, Salinas
 2. Keith Brown, Pittsburg
 3. Steve Skarry, Alameda
 4. Bart Reid, Antioch
 5. Terry DeCarlo, Martinez

Top finishers in Sunbelt Region competition at San Jose Speedway
(with a rain-out make-up):

   LATE-MODEL STOCKS
   Main Event 1, 20 laps
 1. Steve Hendren, Santa Cruz
 2. John Silva, Fremont
 3. Kimberly Myers, Half Moon Bay
 4. Mark Barron, San Jose
 5. Dave Glass, San Juan Bautista

   Main Event 2, 20 laps
 1. Hendren
 2. Silva
 3. Mike Juarez
 4. Myers
 5. Barron

-- 
Ron O'Dell `Keeper' keeper@cats.ucsc.edu keeper@armory.com keeper@ucscb.ucsc.edu


--
** **   ** ***** **    ** *****    ***    *****   Jack Durbin
** **** ** **  ** **  **  **      ** **   **  **  Tallahassee, Florida
** ** **** **  **   **    **     *******  *****   indy500@freenet.scri.fsu.edu
** **   ** *****    **    ***** **     ** **   **