7/26/2026
Redwood Acres Raceway
Lovell Earns First NorCal Victory In A Thriller
North Coast race fans were treated to some excellent and memorable racing Saturday night. Race three of the 2026 season took place at Redwood Acres Raceway with the NorCal Legend Series and Upstate Modified Series joined local bombers, mini stocks and the Dirt 4 Bangers. Zable Trucking presented the night’s event.
A strong field of 21 drivers timed in for the NorCal Legend Series with Cody Winchel setting quick time in qualifying with a 17.469. The series used the pole shuffle format to set the first eight positions for the 40-lap feature. Jarrett Dickson who qualified sixth was able to out-dual Robby Czub, Trey Daniels, Kai Lovell, Brandon White, Tanner Reif and Cody Winchel to earn the coveted pole position in the main event. Kade Godbehere was the winner of the first heat while Kylei Keown was victorious in the second heat.
Travis Powers was a scratch for the feature as the 20-car field for the main event was led to green by Dickson and Winchel. Dickson moved to the lead on he first lap while Reif took second. Winchel fell back to fifth as Lovell and White moved to the third and fourth positions. Reif was able to power under Dickson going into the third turn on lap three to challenge for the lead. Dickson fought hard on the outside but eventually fell victim to Lovell and White a few laps later. White was then able to take second from Lovell.
White began to heavily pressure Reif and was able to take the lead after the two battled for several laps. White began to pull away while Winchel started maneuvering his way back through the field as he got by Dickson to get the fourth spot.
Handling became a major factor as the field spread out and exciting green flag action was taking place. The leaders had to plan their moves as they maneuvered through slower traffic while there were battles for position throughout the entire field.
Lovell moved to second after running in Reif’s mirror for several laps. His time in the runner-up spot was short as Reif was able to regain the position while Winchel followed to move to third. With second through fourth battling amongst each other, White was able to pull out to a sizable lead.
Winchel was move to second past Reif around the halfway mark while Reif, Lovell and Dickson were having an electrifying battle for third. The scuffle between those three drivers allowed Winchel to pull away as he tried to close on White but White was able to maintain his lead even while racing through slower traffic. The race was turned on its head on lap 33 when the lone caution of the race flew for J.K. Kinney’s car which was spun on the backstretch.
The NorCal Legend Series applies the “California restart” rule which gave White the lead on his own while the rest of the field doubled-up side-by-side behind allowing Winchel to start second and right on White’s bumper. Winchel took full advantage of his position on the restart as he was able to move White off the bottom groove in turn one to take the lead. Dickson moved under White for second while White did all he could to retain his second position which he was able to do. White began to close back in on Winchel as Dickson, Lovell and Reif returned to their three-way fight for third.
White began to reel in on Winchel as the laps quickly ticked off. With two laps remaining, White was within a car length on Winchel while Dickson held third over Lovell and Reif. Going into turn one on the final lap, White made contact with Winchel sending both drivers out of control and up the track. At the same time, Ryan Molina spun and was stopped in turn four. It was a race to the line as Dickson inherited the lead but had Lovell right on is bumper. Lovell gave Dickson enough of a shot to his rear in between turns three and four and the two youngsters drag raced to the finish line. Lovell was able to get to the line first by a mere 0.011 seconds over Dickson. Reif placed third while Daniels was fourth and Godbehere had a strong fifth place effort after starting 10th. It was an emotional scene in victory lane for Lovell who earned his first NorCal Legend Series win of his career after coming close on numerous occasions.
Upstate Modified Series qualifying was led by David Furia with a 16.942 time. Donnie Brown started on pole position for the 45-lap main event but it was a rough night for the veteran racer. Contact with Christian Sanchez early on sent him to the rear of the field. Brown then spun in turns three and four for a caution then suffered a wreck in turn on that ended his night.
Furia led the majority of the race but Sanchez applied serious pressure lap after lap. Furia was able to eventually pull away and was able to cruise to the win. Luke Hall placed second while Sanchez ran out of fuel on the last lap to place third. Gene O’Dell finished fourth while David Land was fifth.
Ryan Walters returned to bomber action for the night and was fast time in qualifying with an 18.382. Stephen Ghilarducci was the winner of the heat race. Jeff French led the early going of the main event but Ghilarducci was able to power by on the outside to take the position away. T.J. Sorrels and Walters were able to do the same. The lone caution flew when Sorrels and Walters made contact in turns three and four sending Walters spinning.
Ghilarducci and Sorrels battled for the lead on the restart while Walters quickly maneuvered his way back to the front. Sorrells took the lead but it didn’t take long for Walters to move to the top spot. He was able to get by Ghilarducci then by Sorrels for the lead. Walters was able to pull away to take the win while Sorrels took second. Ghilarducci was third while Jimmy Sorrels and Raymond Rosales rounded out the top five.
Jarrett Mayo maintained his dominance in the mini stock division as he set quick time in qualifying with a 18.296 and was the winner of the heat race and main event. Cole Peterson placed second followed by Garrett Wheeler and Tanner Hrynkiewicz. In Dirt 4 Banger action, Jimmy Sorrels and Matt Merrill were the heat race winners while Sorrels took the main event win over Julio Diaz, Dylan Bramlett, Christian Sanchez and Nathaniel Foley.
Racing returns to Redwood Acres Raceway on Saturday August 15. Harper Motors will present Fan Appreciation Night. The Mid-City Motor World Late Models will return to action along with the Upstate bomber Series, Legends, Jr. Legends, bombers, mini stocks and the Dirt 4 Bangers. The annual Mustang Show And Shine will take place prior to the night’s races.
For full race results, rules and more visit Redwood Acres Raceway’s official website RacinTheAcres.com. You can also find RAR on Facebook and Instagram.
Submitted By: Matthew Sullivan
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