Modified Championship battles Heat Up At Merced Speedway

Merced, CA... Merced Speedway is preparing for a two week summer break, but before they do, there's one more point race opportunity for three of the track's regular divisions this Saturday night. As we've reached the halfway point of the season, the championship battle for the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds have gotten intense. Last week saw a tie get broken and a driver jumped from third to first in the two IMCA sanctioned divisions. Joining these two classes on the card this Saturday night will be the Mini Stock division, while the Box Stock Karts will run on the smaller infield track. The Hobby Stock division is taking a well deserved break, but they will be back for Legend's Night on August 13th.


With Bill Egleston leading the IMCA Modified point battle going into last week and multi time champion Ramie Stone a close second, people may have forgotten the driver in third place. However, they know very well who he is now. Last week, Randy Brown drove a masterful race and scored his third feature win of the season. A past champion at his home track in Chowchilla, Randy is gunning for the Merced title this year, and his win catapulted him above Egleston and Stone into first place. Neither of the other two drivers could even score a Top 10 feature finish last week, and Brown now holds a 4 point lead over Egleston. The last two weeks have not been very good for Egleston and Stone, and they will need to step up their game this week and establish a little momentum going into the break.


A Top 3.ranking is not out of the question for either rookie Bruce "Bubba" Nelson or last year's point runner up Ricky Thatcher. Thatcher enjoyed one of his best finishes of the year in sixth last week, which moved him into a tie with Nelson for fourth in the standings, 17 points behind Stone. The way Nelson has looked this year, a feature win for him would not be a big surprise. Another driver that it would not be a big surprise to see claim the glory would be fourth generation racer Ryan Porter. Porter has only made the last three races, but he has earned Top 5 finishes in all three. Last week was his best effort yet in second.


There are some very competitive racers in the track's IMCA Modified division, including Mike Villanueva, who also has only run the last three races. A past Modified champion himself, Villanueva kicked it off with a pair of sixth place finishes, and took it up a notch last week with his third place finish. Past Top 3 ranked driver Troy Stone is another veteran competitor who has just run the last three races. Through the years, Troy has won his share of Main Events, and he could be a threat to win a feature on any given week. Other drivers to watch for this week include D.J. Shannon, Harley Turner, Karl Rose, Jarod Fast and Robert Marsh.


In the IMCA Sport Modified division, it appears as if 2014 champion Rick Diaz is beginning to hit his stride, while Steve Stone has struggled with back to back non finishes. This has shaken up the points as Diaz has built up a 25 point lead over Stone. A new battle has developed between three drivers for second. Though Stone still holds that position, Mike Drake used his fifth place finish last week in the Georgia Medeiros car to move to within four points of second, while reigning champion Josh Hensley is only 10 points out of second. Stone is the only one of the three drivers who has won a Main Event this year, though Drake has finished second. Not to be left out of this battle is Tim Elias, who is 13 points behind Stone, and Merced Speedway veteran Gary Tucker, who was only 15 points out. In this very competitive division, it's anybody's guess who might end up second in the points, and the championship battle is far from over.


For that matter, there are some good drivers still battling to get their first feature wins this season. With three time winners like Diaz and reigning IMCA Sport Modified State champion Fred Ryland in the field, it's difficult for anybody else to break through and get that win. Ryland picked up his second straight Main Event win last week, and he did it after starting back 11th. Merced Speedway has maybe the most competitive IMCA Sport Modified division in the state of California, and you have to be on your game to get a victory here. Danny Roe recently had his season best second place finish, and last week saw an impressive performance turned in by last year's third place point competitor, Dwayne Short. Short won his heat race, and then led several laps in the Main Event before falling back to a still respectable third place finish ahead of 2015 point runner up Mark Odgers.


The division is still getting B Mains, and Top 10 competitor Alex Odishoo recently had to win a B Main to get into the Main Event. Odishoo is a past of Mini Stock champion at the speedway and is another driver to keep an eye on, as well as young up and comer Tanner Thomas. The competition level is fierce at Merced Speedway, and drivers like Nick Tucker, Chase Thomas, Mark Squadrito, Andy Welch and Chris Falkenberg are others to keep an eye on.


With four feature wins in six starts, 2014 Mini Stock champion Chris Corder continues to lead the way. Corder is simply one of the best Mini Stock drivers in the state of California, and he's a big supporter of the division as his team usually brings two or three cars to the track. Last time out, Corder did win his heat race, but he struggled and finished out of the Top 3 in the Main Event. This opened the door for other drivers to take the spotlight, and Curtis Thornhill shined brightly with his first Main Event win ahead of hard charger Brian Widdowson. Making Widdowson's second place effort even more impressive was the fact that he rolled his car earlier in the race.


Corder is slowly pulling away from the field and has a big enough point lead that he could skip this week and still be leading. The battle right now is for second, where Paul Laoretti has an advantage of five points ahead of rookie Destiny Carter and a six point lead over Thornhill. Carter is driving one of the Corder cars as she lives out her dream of racing at the track at which she grew up. Car count was a bit light last time, but more cars are anticipated this week. Drivers to keep an eye on include Jennifer Corder, Lucy Falkenberg, Mike Germait, James Stockton, the truck of Tony Peffer and Jason Lewis. Lewis is the other Main Event winner this year and also has a second place finish.


We haven't heard much as far as who will be racing in the Box Stock division, but we do know that third generation racer Aiden Larimer won the Main Event last time out. Aiden has been racing at other tracks in the area including Chowchilla and Atwater. Drivers from the neighboring tracks could be a part of the show, and if we happen to get any information on who is running and who wins, we will pass that along here.


To recap, before the track hits the two week break, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks and a Box Stock race on the infield track will race at Merced Speedway this week. When the track comes back from the two week break on August 13th, it will be Legend's Night, featuring IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Valley Sportsman cars. For further information, go to www.racemerced.com.



Merced Speedway Points


IMCA Modifieds

Randy Brown 281
Bill Egleston 277
Ramie Stone 266
Bruce Nelson 249
Ricky Thatcher 249
Jarod Fast 228
Paul Stone 188
Jeff Streeter 183
Harley Turner 135
T.J. Etchinson III 125


IMCA Sport Modifieds

Rick Diaz 332
Steve Stone 307
Mike Drake 303
Josh Hensley 297
Tim Elias 294
Gary Tucker 292
Dwayne Short 246
Alex Odishoo 234
Fred Ryland 229
Tanner Thomas 208


Mini Stocks

Chris Corder 106
Paul Lauretti 77
Destiny Carter 72
Curtis Thornhill 71
Joy Alger 66
James Stockton 59
Mike Germait 57
Tony Peffer 45
Dennis Copus 44
Brian Widdowson 43


Hobby Stocks

Michael Shearer 189
Kristie Shearer 149
Robbie Loquaci 137
Kevin Joaquin 133
Garrett Corn 127
Kodie Dean 125
Phil Vaughn 121
Darren Miguel 115
Austin VanHoff 112
Dexter Long 108


Valley Sportsman

Kenny Birdsong 95
Jeff Bristow 86
Mike Friesen 75
Eric Seely 49
Tim Prothro 37