ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- What a wild night of action on the Dirt Track @ NAPA Speedway tonight. Over 100 cars on hand in seven divisions. With dry weather and high winds for the last week track prep has become a real challenge for Charlie Fegan and his staff. In what could be said was less than optimum track conditions, drivers in all divisions put on a great show.

The USRA Modifieds again had a short field, but all of these guys are fast. There were a couple of new cars out this week with the #3 of Kenneth Payne and the #13 of Luigi Truden, so maybe the count will start to increase. As usual the X-Mod of #62 of Tom Melloy ran with the A’s also, continuing his streak of getting more bang for his racing buck by running the same car in 2 divisions and running 4 races a night. Heat #1 saw the #09 of Bill Waltman take the win over a hard charging #13 Truden and #3 Payne. Heat #2 had Farmington driver Bob Harter in the #75 take the win over #58 Clint Miller and the #3J of Josh Cain. This is one of the rare races this year that Cain hasn’t won. The main event saw Cain go back to his winning ways as he took the win over #58 Miller and #75 Harter. Late in the race Cain hit a rut and got all 4 wheels off the ground allowing Miller to close the gap but was still able to hold on for the win.

The USRA B-Mods were down under the 20 car count this week with 19 on hand for three heats and their main event. This division arguably had the most exciting racing of the night. Heat #1 saw newcomer to the X-Mods this year #8 Ronnie Bell take the win over #21 Tommy Barela and #62 Tom Melloy. Heat #2 saw the K3 of Kevin McDonald take the win over the #87 of Eric Ford and the #1 of Mychal Lucero. Heat #3 had Rob Haaland in the #37 win over #26 Ryan Dietz and #29 Mike O’Neal. The main event had all 19 cars on hand take the green flag for a fantastic race. Bell in the #8 took off to the early lead and seemed to be running away for an easy win, but boy that was not going to be the case as a couple of yellow flags allowed the rest of the field to close up onto his rear bumper. The K3 of Kevin McDonald and the #1 of Mychal Lucero had a great battle for second and eventually overtook Bell. But the exciting drive of the night came from the #0 of J.R. Bonesteel. Bonesteel had mechanical problems in his heat and had to start dead last in the main event. From the drop of the green Bonesteel seemed to be on a mission as he began his move toward the front by running the highest groove on the track and passing cars one after the other. With the laps winding down it seemed as if Bonesteel was going to fall just short of taking the victory but with 2 laps to go he turned up the burners a notch and took the very close win over the #K3 of McDonald with the #1 of Lucero taking the last spot on the podium.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USRA Weekly Racing Series
NAPA Speedway, Albuquerque, N.M.
Saturday, June 1, 2013

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1. #09 Bill Waltman, #13 Luigi Truden, #3 Kenneth Payne, #28 Mark Harger DNF, #8 John Marrs DNF.

Heat #2. #75 Bob Harger, #58 Clint Miller, #3J Josh Cain, #31 Doug Goodenough, #62 Tom Melloy.

Main Event. #3J Josh Cain, #58 Clint Miller, #75 Bob Harter, #3 Kenneth Payne, #13 Luigi Truden DNF, #09 Bill Waltman DNF, #28 Rob Haaland DNS, #8 John Marrs DNS, #31 Doug Goodenough DNS, #62 Tom Melloy DNS.

USRA B-MODS

Heat #1. #8 Ronnie Bell, #21 Tommy Barela, #62 Tom Melloy, #54 Tim Hooper, #33 Wild Bill Lynch, #34 Donald Scott.

Heat #2. #K3 Kevin McDonald, #87 Eric Ford, #1 Mychal Lucero, #5X Rick Boelter, #25 Derek Dietz, #0 J.R. Bonesteel DNF.

Heat #3. #37 Rob Haaland, #26 Ryan Dietz, #29 Mike O’Neal, #14 Andrew Fowner, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #28 Skimmer Leathem DNF, #14C Bennie Chavez DNF.

Main Event. #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #K3 Kevin McDonald, #62 Tom Melloy, #8 Ronnie Bell, #54 Tim Hooper, #37 Rob Haaland, #21 Tommy Barela, #33 Wild Bill Lynch, #14C Bennie Chavez, #14 Andrew Fowner, #29 Mike O’Neal, #34 Donald Scott DNF, #5X Rick Boelter DNF, #25 Derek Dietz DNF, #00 Steve Bonesteel DNF, #28 Skimmer Leathem DNF, #26 Ryan Dietz DNF, #87 Eric Ford DNF.