8/30/2020
Redwood Acres Raceway
Copeland Repeats, Powers Wins Again
The abbreviated 2020 season of racing at Redwood Acres Raceway is quickly coming to a close. This past Saturday’s race marked only three weekends left on this year’s schedule. All five local divisions of roadrunners, mini stocks, bombers, Legends and late models were in action as Redwood Capital Bank and Eureka Oxygen co-presented the afternoon’s races. Competition Carburetion also contributed to the purse for the event.
Bryan Brandt was fast time for the roadrunners with a 20.294 time. JR Brandt was the winner of the heat race. Joseph Brown used his pole position starting spot in the 20-lap main event to take the lead when the green flag dropped. Going into the third turn on lap one, Brown lost control and spun collecting Bryan Brandt forcing both drivers out of action. LeRoy Marsh, Jr. got the jump on the restart and moved to the lead. JR Brandt fell into second and stayed within a few car-lengths of Marsh the majority of the race. Marsh was able to extend his lead in the final three circuits as Brandt had his hands full with Jeremiah Martin. With two laps remaining, Martin moved by Brandt but there wasn’t enough time for him to catch Marsh. At the finish it was LeRoy Marsh, Jr. winning over Martin and JR Brandt. Wayne Marsh placed fourth while Lexi Coleman was fifth.
Many of the regular drivers in the mini stock division were participating in a 100-lap event at Madera Speedway which made for a reduced field for the afternoon. Eric O’Ferrell was fast time with a 19.182. C.J. Dalton took the heat race victory. Nick Ford led the opening three circuits of the 20-lap main event before O’Ferrall powered by on the high side on lap four. The race was slowed only once when Dalton spun off the fourth turn. O’Ferrall was in a league of his own on the afternoon as he was able to handily take the win over Gannon Cyphers, Ford and Dalton.
Dustin Walters set fast time for the late models with a 16.625 and was the winner of the heat race. A special bonus was on the line in the main event as the Competition Carburetion Send It program put $50 on the line for the driver who set the fastest lap in the feature event. Dustin Walters dominated the 25-lap feature leading from flag-to-flag to take the win. Eugene Palmer and Ed Rasmussen rounded out the field. Walters earned the $50 bonus for setting the fast lap of the main with a 17.071.
The fastest driver in qualifying for the bomber division was Loren Powers, Jr. with an 18.105 time. Ryan Walters took the win in the heat race. Competition Carburetion also had their special $50 bonus for fast time in the main of the bomber feature. Sam Brown took the lead when the green flag dropped for the 25-lap main. Sam Brown’s mirror was full as both Walters and Donnie Brown dueled side-by-side for the second position. Walters was able to clear Brown on lap three while Powers began to make his presence felt in the fourth position. Powers moved to third on lap six. On lap eight, Walters tried to move outside of Brown for the lead. Coming off turn four, Walters got sideways and scraped the front stretch wall allowing Powers to take second. Debris in turn four brought the caution out on lap 10.
The restart proved brief as Walters got tight off turn two and spun into the infield resulting in the race’s only other caution period. Powers nailed the restart as he was able to jump past Brown going into the first turn. Powers quickly pulled away as Sam Brown had his hands full with Donnie Brown while Walters was on a mission to redeem himself. Donnie Brown moved under and past Sam Brown on lap 15 while Walters followed to third. The next lap, Walters took second from Donnie Brown. Powers’ lead was too much to overcome without the aid of a caution flag and at the finish it was Powers winning by nearly three seconds over Walters. Donnie Brown, Sam Brown and Jordan Krupa rounded out the top five finishers. Powers set the race’s fast lap at an 18.318 for the $50 bonus.
Qualifying for the Legends division was led by Derek Copeland with a 17.782 lap. The first heat was won by Scott Taylor. The second heat race saw an incident that collected two of the top contenders Dane Nissen and Chris Lawrence. Both drivers were unable to continue. Copeland took honors in the second heat. Unlike the previous main event for the division on August 15 which was halted numerous times, this weekend’s Legends feature was clean and green for all 35 circuits. James Nichols took the lead when the green flag dropped for the main as the land rush of faster qualifiers attempted to move through the field as quick as possible. By lap three, Copeland had already carved his way through the competition. He moved by Taylor for second then moved under and by Nichols for the lead on lap four.
With Copeland in his own zip code, the best the rest of the field could hope for was second. David Dunlap moved to second on lap 13. The best battle for the remainder of the race was for third between Nichols and Landen Green who was making his first-ever start in a Legend at RAR. Copeland was able to win handily over Dunlap. Green was able to beat Nichols to the line for third by two-thousandths of a second. Tyler Krupa placed fifth.
Racing at Redwood Acres Raceway takes a weekend off before returning on September 12. A full video stream of this past Saturday’s event is available to view on Redwood Acres Raceway’s Facebook page. Follow RAR on Twitter @RacinTheAcres.
Submitted By: Matthew Sullivan