Diatte, Kapaun Win Dwarf Car Nationals Events At Merced Spe

Merced, CA...June 16...Ryan Diatte picked up the big win in the Western States Dwarf Car Association 30 lap Main Event for the Pro Division. It capped a two win weekend as he also won the Preliminary Feature on Friday night to put him into the Fast Dash. Diatte won the Fast Dash ahead of Ryan Winter.

With a pole position start for the 30 lap race, Diatte led from the outset. However, it was Jonathan Henry keeping it very close at the checkered flag. Tony Steffensmeier was third, followed closely by Derren Brown and Winter. After winning the 15 lap B Main, Cameron Diatte charged to a sixth place finish ahead of Mac Marmon, Danny Wagner, Darren Brent and Dustin Loughton. Cameron Diatte outran Michael "Spanky" Grenert and Brent to win the 15 lap B Main. 10 lap heat race wins went to Cameron Diatte, and Grenert.

Steven Kapaun had an impressive night in the Veteran Dwarf Car division. The Arizona visitor picked up the win in the 10 lap Fast Dash, followed by Mark Biscardi. The two then had a good race up front in the 20 lap feature race with Kapaun finishing just ahead of Biscardi for the victory. Tim Fitzpatrick out-dueled Scott Dahlgren for the third position. Buddy Olschowka was a solid fifth, followed by Kevin Bender, Mike Reeder, Jack Haverty, Wade Ehrlich and Dennis Hively. Olschowka won the 10 lap heat race.

Shawn Whitney bested a short field of Sportsman Dwarf Car competitors. After winning the 10 lap Fast Dash, Whitney outran Oregon racer Joe Sanders for the 12 lap Main Event win. Mike Clark was a solid third ahead of Eddie Claesson and Mack Aceves.

Reigning Hobby Stock champion Kodie Dean continues to close in on the point lead after his 20 lap Main Event triumph. This was his fourth win, and he used a pole position start to lead all the way. Robbie Loquaci kept it close in second. Rick Diaz and two-time champion Bubba Nelson came from the fifth row to finish third and fourth, respectively. Austin Van Hoff settled for fifth, followed by Kristie Shearer, John Hensley, point leader Shannon Nelsen, Cody Smiley and Jeff Lacy. Dean and Hensley won eight lap heat races.

Jesse James Burks captured his third California Sharp Mini Late Model feature win of the season. Burks out-dueled point leader Tim Crews to get the win. Ian Shearer was a season best third in a good battle with Carson Guthrie as Riley Jeppesen rounded out the Top 5 in the 15 lap race. Burks also won the six lap heat race.

Chris Birdsong won his second 12 lap Valley Sportsman Main Event. Birdsong picked up the win with Watsonville Speedway Hall of Famer Ray Johnson a few car lengths behind in second. Reigning division championship Jeff Bristow won a photo finish with point leader Jerry Cecil for third as Rick Elliott rounded out the Top 5. Birdsong also won the heat race.

Merced Speedway will go dark this Saturday night before returning for the annual Timmy Post Memorial race. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and California Sharp Mini Late Models will be competing that night. For further information, go to www.racemerced.com.





Merced, CA...June 15...Ryan Diatte scored of the victory in the 20 lap Western States Dwarf Car Pro Main Event Friday night at Merced Speedway. Ryan Winter paced two laps before Diatte moved by for the lead. Jonathan Henry followed closely into second. Henry kept pace with Diatte, but Diatte would lead all the way to the checkered flag. Winter was a solid third, followed by Darren Brown, Danny Wagner, Tony Steffensmeier, Dustin Loughton, Mark Hanson, Mac Marmon and Chad Matthias.

The Pro division had 27 competitors for the first night of racing, and Zack Price won the first eight lap heat race ahead of Wagner. Winter won the second heat ahead of Brown and the third heat win went to Diatte in front of Henry. Steffensmeier had to win the 15 lap B Main to get into the feature, and he won the race ahead of Loughton, Gene "Punky" Pires, Darren Brent and Toby Brown.

A light turn out of Sportsman Dwarf Cars saw them combined with the Veteran Dwarf Car class. Scott Dahlgren won a good battle up front for the 20 lap feature win. Arizona racer Steven Kapaun set the early pace, but he surrendered the lead to Dahlgren on lap nine. A lap 15 restart allowed Mark Biscardi to charge into second ahead of Kevin Bender. Dahlgren led the rest of the way to win ahead of the Biscardi, Bender, Kapaun, Tim Fitzpatrick, Buddy Olschowka, Kevin Miraglio, Mike Reeder, Eric Weisler and Wade Ehrlich. Eight lap heat race wins went to Bender and Kapaun.

Shawn Whitney won the six lap Sportsman Dwarf Car heat race and then won the Main Event ahead of Mac Aceves, Eddie Claessen and Joe Sanders.

The Friday night preliminary races at the Nationals put the Top 10 finishers of the feature races automatically into Saturday's Fast Heat for the respective classes. That determines the first five rows of the Main Event. With 27 Dwarf Cars in the Pro class, Friday's Preliminary Feature is a pretty important race.

Merced Speedway Unofficial Race Results June 15, 2018
Pro Dwarf Car
A Main
Ryan Diatte
Johnathon Henry
Ryan Winter
Darren Brown
Danny Wagner
Tony Steffensmeier
Dustin Loughton
Mark Hanson
Mac Marmon
Chad Matthias
Zach Price
Michael Grenert
Toby Brown
Brady Beck
Justin Yanez
Adam Teves
Jessica Clark
Camron Diatte
Darren Brent
Matt Sargent
Shane Youngren
Punky Pires
Anthony Pope
Mikie Clark

B Main
Tony Steffensmeier
Dustin Loughton
Punky Pires
Darren Brent
Toby Brown
Mark Hanson
Michael Grenert
Justin Yanez
Chad Matthias
Mikie Clark
Jessica Clark
Brady Beck
Chris Kress
Zack Albers
Devan Kammermann DNS

Sportsman Dwarf Car
Shawn Whitney
Mac Aceves
Eddy Claessen
Joe Sanders

Veteran Dwarf Car
Scott Dahlgren
Mark Biscardi
Kevin Bender
Steven Kapaun
Tim Fitzpatrick
Buddy Olschowka
Kevin Miragilo
Mike Reeder
Eric Weisler
Wade Ehrlich
Dennis Hively DNS


Merced Speedway Unofficial Race Results June 16, 2016
WSDCA Dwarf Car Nationals
Pro Dwarf Cars
A Main
Results are not official
1 #57B Ryan Diatte
2 #63X Johnathon Henry
3 #3C Tony Steffensmeier
4 #11 Darren Brown
5 #4N Ryan Winter
6 #63 Camron Diatte
7 #17M Mac Marmon
8 #11DN Danny Wagner
9 #57T Darren Brent
10 #22D Dustin Loughton
11 #74B Punky Pires
12 #69 Zach Price
13 #2B Justin Yanez
14 #79R Mark Hanson
15 #22R Zack Albers
16 #92N Jessica Clark
17 #28N Justin Winter
18 #23R Matt Sargent
19 #12N Michael Grenert
20 #4B Allen Heeney
21 #5B Brady Beck
22 #9R Chad Matthias
23 #42R Adam Teves
24 #18O Shane Youngren

B Main
Results are not official
1 #63 Camron Diatte
2 #12N Michael Grenert
3 #57T Darren Brent
4 #74B Punky Pires
5 #23R Matt Sargent
6 #18O Shane Youngren
7 #2B Justin Yanez
8 #28N Justin Winter
9 #22R Zack Albersn
10 #69 Zach Price
11 #92N Jessica Clark
12 #5B Brady Beck
13 #4B Allen Heeney
14 #75N Toby Brown
15 #20 James Price
16 #6 Chris Kress
17 #22K Anthony Pope
18 #18N Deven Kammermann

Veteran Dwarf Cars
Results are not official
1 #47A Steven Kapaun
2 #66B Mark Biscardi
3 #14D Tim Fitzpatrick
4 #21N Scott Dahlgren
5 #63N Buddy Olschowka
6 #9N Kevin Bender
7 #72N Mike Reeder
8 #2J Jack Haverty
9 #53N Wade Ehlrich
10 #56N Dennis Hively
11 #64B Eric Weisler

Sportsman Dwarf Cars
Results are not official
1 #15N Sean Whitney
2 #4S Joe Sanders
3 #4K Mike Clark
4 #12B Eddy Claessen
5 #23B Mack Aceves

Hobby Stocks
Kodie Dean
Robbie Loquaci
Rick Diaz
Bruce Nelson
Austin VanHoff
Kristie Shearer
John Hensley
Shannon Nelson
Cody Smiley
Jeff Lacy
Race Shelton

Mini Late Model
Jesse Burks
Tim Crews
Ian Shearer
Carson Guthrie
Riley Jeppesen

Valley Sportsman
Vintage Modifieds
Chris Birdsong
Ray Johnson
Jeff Bristow
Jerry Cecil
Rick Elliot