Five Divisions Of Racing This Saturday Night At Southern Ore

Merced, CA...The fair time break is over, and Saturday night racing returns to Merced Speedway with an exciting four division program that will be headlined by the IMCA Sport Modified division along with the Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and the Valley Sportsman division. Considering the car counts being offered up by Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks this season, it should be another great show.

A check of the point standings in the IMCA Sport Modified ranks shows that just 19 points separate point leader Rick Diaz from Steve Stone, Mike Drake, defending champion Josh Hensley and Tim Elias. Diaz is the only one of the group with more than one feature victory. In fact, only Stone has a feature victory of the remaining Top 5 drivers in the standings. Stone is just one point behind Diaz while two time Top 3 finisher Drake is just seven points out of the lead in the George Medeiros car.

The racing has been fast in this division all year long, and there are some tough competitors such as sixth ranked Gary Tucker and Chris Falkenberg who could score a victory at any point this season. Alex Odishoo has been quietly creeping up the point ladder and should not be counted out. After his Top 3 season last year, Dwayne Short holds on to a Top 10 ranking and is another driver hoping to get his first feature win this year.

Of the young guns in the division, second generation racer Tanner Thomas is doing the best. Tanner is just six points out of the Top 10 right now in 11th and currently tops the rookies in this division. More importantly, under the guidance of his Street Stock championship winning father Darren Thomas, Tanner is learning the ropes and doing a good job. A full field of Sport Modifieds is expected for this race, and you never know who may show up next. Diaz may be the man to beat, but there are several drivers out there nipping at his heels.

The Hobby Stock division has been an interesting affair. At this point, we've had five different winners in six races. The only repeat winner is multi time division champion Raul Rodriguez Sr., who is not really chasing points this year. Dexter Long has finished as high as second in his sophomore season, and he finds himself 13 points behind one time feature winner Michael Shearer, who has been running strong most of the season. Last week was a speed bump for Shearer as he had his worst night of the season.

Kristie Shearer took a night off during the fair, and IMCA Modified veteran Tommy Bostic handled the driving duties well in his top five finish. Robbie Loquaci did equally well as the past Chowchilla Mini Stock champion finished third in the Main Event and holds down on fourth in the points by just three tallies over Cody Dean.

Being on the winner's list is something the drivers are shooting for, and that list grew to over a dozen drivers last season. On the list so far in addition to M. Shearer and Rodriguez is Ben Louis II, Ted Stofle Classic winner Phil Vaughn and two time Watsonville champion Terry Campion. Long seems poised to finally get his first win, but hard chargers such as K. Shearer, Loquaci, Dean, Garrett Corn, reigning champion Kevin Joaquin and Austin Van Hoff are others you'll have to keep an eye on.

The Mini Stock division has a dominant force in its midst with 2014 champion Chris Corder. Corder has taken the off time as an opportunity to go down to Watsonville Speedway and pick up a pair of feature wins. He opened the season with three feature victories this year, but it was Jason Lewis snapping his win streak last time out. Remarkably, Corder only holds a three point lead over Joy Alger in the battle for the championship, and one of the drivers we tabbed as a driver who could be a threat to Corder this year, James Stockton, is only 10 points out of the lead. Stockton had a runner up finish last time out, and he leads his teammate Mike Germait by just two points in the battle for third.

Rookie Destiny Carter has done a good job of ranking fifth in the standings, but the teenager is taking a vacation that will take her out of the action for a few weeks. This is the opportunity for Paul Laoretti to try and climb back into the Top 5. Laoretti has a pair of Top 5 feature finishes this year. The Mini Stock division continues to do okay this season, and several drivers have taken this division as an opportunity to get into racing at Merced Speedway. Having sold her Hobby Stock, Jennifer Corder managed to make a trade and get back into the division in which she ranked second in the standings back in 2014. She should not be counted out along with teammate Alger in the quest to join her brother Chris Corder on the winner's list.

In the Valley Sportsman division, Kenny Birdsong has won a pair of Main Events. Birdsong is driving the Rod Poor tribute car. A recent tabulation of cars in the area finds over a dozen cars are ready or close to ready, and that means that seeing an increase in car count is a possibility. At the moment, Birdsong leads season opener winner Jeff Bristow by just four points. Mike Friesen, Eric Seeley, Tim Prothro and Mike Palmberg are other racers that we've seen so far this year, and we've heard that Jeannie Canepa-Reveal may be next to debut her car. The more cars the merrier as this division is a fun division to watch.

To recap, racing comes back this Saturday night at Merced Speedway with a four division show that will be headlined by the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks. These two divisions alone could have enough of a car count to require B Mains in both classes. Add the Mini Stock and Sportsman divisions to the mix, and you have a show that you won't want to miss. For further information on this and other happenings at Merced Speedway, go to www.racemerced.com.

Merced Speedway Points
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Rick Diaz 185
Steve Stone 184
Mike Drake 178
Josh Hensley 168
Tim Elias 166
Gary Tucker 149
Alex Odishoo 139
Chris Falkenberg 133
Dwayne Short 129
Andy Welch 117

Hobby Stock
Michael Shearer 121
Dexter Long 108
Kristie Shearer 101
Robbie Loquaci 98
Kodie Dean 95
Garrett Corn 92
Phillip Vaughn 88
Kevin Joaquin 84
Austin Van Hoff 83
Andrew Krumm 70

Mini Stock
Chris Corder 69
Joy Alger 66
James Stockton 59
Mike Germait 57
Destiny Carter 56
Paul Lauretti 46
Dennis Copus 44
Curtis Thornhill 39
Jason Lewis 39
Lucy Falkenberg 32

Valley Sportsman
Kenny Birdsong 59
Jeff Bristow 55
Eric Seely 36
Mike Friesen 36
Tim Prothro 18
Mike Palmberg 17