IMCA Modifieds Headline Four Division Show At Merced Speedwa

The hard charging IMCA Modifieds return to Merced Speedway this Saturday night to headline a four division show on the fast quarter-mile clay oval. Also on the card will be the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and the fifth appearance of the Valley Sportsman division.

With seven races in the books so far, the IMCA Modified championship battle has been wide open between 2012 champion Bill Egleston, past Chowchilla Speedway champion Randy Brown and multi time Merced Speedway champion Ramie Stone. At the moment, six points separate Egleston from third place Stone. Egleston and Stone each have one victory, while Brown is a two time winner this year and is coming off of a second place finish last time out that moved him to within five points of the point lead. This is a battle that could very well go to the final race of the season.

Another battle going on right now is the battle for fourth in the standings between rookie Bruce "Bubba" Nelson and last season's point runnerup, Ricky Thatcher. Nelson has three Top 5 feature finishes this season, but his worst performance of the year last time out enabled Thatcher to close to within five points of fourth in the standings. The only repeat feature winner in the field so far this year is Brown with two wins as R. Stone, Egleston, Paul Stone, Ethan Dotson, Jeff Streeter and Robbie Sawyer all have feature wins.

The fact that there are six different winners in seven races gives other drivers hope that they could have their turn on the winner's step of the podium. Nelson could very well be the leader of likely candidates, but you can't count out such hard chargers as Jarod Fast, Harley Turner, T.J. Etchison, Derek Nance and Chris Shannon.

In the IMCA Sport Modified division last week, Steve Stone and Rick Diaz entered the night in a tie at the top of the standings. Stone had a nightmare scenario as he had a bad heat race finish and started last in the B Main. Though he managed to make the transfer with a fourth place finish, he did not finish the Main Event and was scored 16th. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like Rick Diaz might see the end of his championship hopes as he lost his ride in the #9d car. However, he has secured a ride, and his fourth place finish last time out has given him sole possession of the point lead.

The winner last week was reigning State of California champion Fred Ryland, who was enjoying his second win of the season. The drivers in the field may be breathing a sigh of relief that Fred isn't pursuing the championship, and even though he has just four starts in eight races, he nonetheless finds himself ranked inside the Top 10 in the standings.

At the moment, there is also a tight battle going on between reigning champion Josh Hensley, Mike Drake and Tim Elias for third in the standings. All three drivers managed to get Top 10 feature finishes last week to keep this battle close, but all three are still looking for their first feature victory of the season. The winner's list will find Diaz with three victories, Ryland with two victories and Stone, Nick Spainhoward and Levi Keifer each with one.

Last week was a week in which a couple of drivers had their best finishes of the season. Danny Roe was credited with a second place finish, while Paul Espino was right behind him in third. Even second generation racer Chase Thomas had a good night in fifth. There are several drivers who are more than capable of getting victories, and drivers to watch include veteran Gary Tucker, Dwayne Short, Chris Falkenburg and Alex Odishoo.

Michael Shearer and his wife Kristie Shearer continue to battle it out for the Hobby Stock championship. Last week, Michael thought he had a shot at his second feature win of the season, only get to be thwarted by multi time track champion Raul Rodriguez Sr. Though Rodriguez is not chasing the championship this year, he still has three Main Event wins. Following his second place finish in the previous race, Robbie Loquaci is coming off of a night he'd rather forget as he DNF'ed back and 15th. Despite last week's disappointment, he still held on to third in the standings.

In ten races, the field has seven different winners as Bubba Nelson is a two time winner in one of the Shearer Racing Team cars, while three time winner Rodriguez, Michael Shearer, Ted Stofle Classic winner Phil Vaughn, Terry Campion, Ben Lewis II and Darren Miguel are also Main Event winners this season. Though the Shearer Race Team is definitely a powerhouse, you never know who could win on any given week, and competitors such as reigning champion Kevin Joaquin, Dexter Long, Austin Van Hoff, Cody Parker and Jerry Tubbs are other drivers to keep an eye on.

When last we saw the Valley Sportsman division, they produced their biggest turnout in two years with an eight car field. Leading the pack in the field was 2008 track champion Mark Odgers. He held off the two time division champion Mike Friesen, who settled for second. We now have seen ten different race cars in this class this season, and there are still a few drivers who have cars race ready that we haven't seen yet. It is unknown who might show up this week, but we anticipate point leader Kenny Birdsong and second ranked Jeff Bristow. Eric Seeley, the Jeanie Reveal-Canepa car, Shannon Fry, Jeff Amos and Mike Palmburg are others who could be there.

This four division show at Merced Speedway should be entertaining as the IMCA Modified drivers have a close championship battle. The IMCA Sport Modified division has been producing high car counts all season long and should be good. With Hobby Stocks and Valley Sportsman cars also on the card, this is sure to be an entertaining show. For further information, check out www.racemerced.com.