Round two of the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets' championship series came down to just two drivers in the main event on Saturday night. The 30-lap feature became a great battle between Floyd Alvis (18) of San Carlos, Calif. and Glenn Carson (26) of Newark, Calif.
Both cars started in the fourth row of the field and quickly moved themselves through traffic, albeit not without a bit of bumping here and there. On lap 21, Alvis moved to the inside of race leader John Sarale (2k) in turn 3/4, bumping from the inside line. Sarale spun high to the track and stalled the car.
At the restart, it was Alvis, Carson and Tom Weninger (32) of Carson City in the top three. As the cars circled the track before the green flag, Weninger pulled his ride into the pits with motor problems, Ken Molica (94) of Soquel, Calif. then took over the third position.
The 65-year-old Alvis, a four-time champion of the series, took the checkered flag, with Carson in second and Molica third. Rounding out the field were Shaine Matthews (2s), Bill Lindsey (61), Sarale, Gary Dickenson (8), Weninger, and Ron Horton (23x). Not making his heat race or main event due to a broken rocker arm in the motor was Chuck Gurney Jr. (88)
of Livermore, Calif.
"I moved up into his (Sarale) line and got him on the high side," Alvis said. "If he had stayed in front, I wouldn't have been able to catch him. Had he got back around, he would have won the race."
Horton won the midget trophy dash over Carson, Alvis and Molica. Sarale picked up the win in the first heat, with Weninger second and Lindsey third. Alvis won the second heat, with Matthews finishing second and Carson third.
In the maverick division it's becoming a Bauer-McMordie show as the drivers who are 1-2 in points respectively, finished their main event win in the same order. Each of these drivers started from the back row of the field and amazingly threaded their way to the front in a matter of a few laps.
Just as the cars are taking the white flag, signaling one lap to go, Randy Bauer (25) and Mike McMordie (77) come upon the slower, lapped car of new driver Jeff Martin (83). Heading into turn 3, Martin gets his car sideways right in front of the leaders with Bauer nearly hitting him and spinning himself out. Martin held on to his line just enough for all three cars to cross the finish line in one piece.
Bauer was the winner with McMordie second and Bill Gould (37) taking third. Rounding out the field were Mike Fuller (44), Allen Hunter (15), Matthew Sciarroni (98), Martin and John Eckert (8) of Silver Springs, another newcomer to the track.
A black cloud seemed to hang over the late model sportsmen, as the director of competition had to expel two cars from the track during the main event.
C.J. Bawden (25), driving the Landmark Homes-sponsored car of Robbie Shelton, was the first to be relegated to the pits for rough driving on the track, after spinning out the cars of Gary Chandler (96) and Al Goss (3).
Then it was Mike Millard's (22) turn. While observing a caution and the cars were stopped on the back stretch of the track, Director of Competition Robert Kline spoke to Millard regarding the lineup of the cars for the continuance
of the race. After directing a few "choice" toward Kline, Millard was black-flagged out of the race for "unsportsmanlike conduct."
Once the race got under way, it was Dave Sciarroni (25) who found himself leading and then winning the 25-lap, tension-filled race. It was Sciarroni's first main event win this season. Taking second was Dean Heller (27), the only car that kept pace with Sciarroni during the race, followed by Dave Lester (34) in third. Rounding out the field were Craig Paulsen (65), Chet Danburg (3x), Goss, Rafael Gomez (2x), Chandler, Les Kipler (54), Frank Sanfelipo (29), Bawden and Millard.
"My brother (Matthew) won his heat race, so I figured I had to go out and win my main event," said Dave Sciarroni. "It's that sibling rivalry thing.
"And that's after Chet came over to my pit, looked at my tire set up and said, 'That tire stagger isn't going to work.' I thought, why not? And about 20 laps into the race, and I'm leading, I then thought, hmmm, maybe it does work. So, I was happy."
After taking a victory lap and stopping his car on the start/finish line, Dave Sciarroni then dedicated his win to one of his biggest supporters and fans, his mother, who passed away about a year ago.
"This one's for you, Mom," he said.
This weekend is the second leg of the Tri-Holiday Sweepstakes racing venue, with first-round qualifying on Saturday and the 150-lap main event for the limited sportsman on Monday, July 3. The maverick division will race a 50-lap main event. Gates open at 5, qualifying is at 6 with racing at 7:30 p.m. each day.
For information, call 885-2079 or visit www.silverstateraceway.com.
