Winnings were a little mixed Saturday evening at Silver State Raceway, with first-time winners being posted in the maverick and limited sportsman divisions.
Randy Bauer (25) came from the rear of the maverick field in a great passing battle with Danny Kemp Jr. (11), Bill Gould (37) and Mike McMordie (77) to take the win.
With the usual "racing" going on throughout the 25-lap main, the only caution came out on lap 23 when James Meerly (23) got a little sideways coming out of turn 4 and was hit by Jason Perry (45) on the front stretch, nearly overturning Meerly's car after hitting the front wall. Both drivers were OK with Meerly only suffering a flat left rear tire.
Upon completion of the last two laps, Bauer took the win, with Kemp Jr. in second and Gould third. Rounding out the field were McMordie, Perry, Mike Fuller (44), Meerly and Brad Sloan (13).
"The car felt good," said Bauer. "I owe a real special thanks to Dave Shanklin's Auto Body. They got the car running great for me this week. It felt real good to get a win."
Bauer said he is running for the points championship in the maverick division after winning rookie of the year honors for the 1999 season.
Meerly won the maverick trophy dash over Bauer, Kemp Jr. and McMordie. Fuller won the first maverick heat with Sloan finishing second and Perry third. Kemp Jr. won the second heat over McMordie in second and Bauer third. A new driver to the maverick series, Joel Worley (9) of Carson City qualified his car, but pulled from racing contention with motor problems.
In the sportsman division, Dave Lester (34) was poised to take yet another main event win, but was not able to get by Scott Bohemier (8) to do so.
Pole-sitter Rafael Gomez (2x) was trying to hold his own and did so for the first several laps, until Al Goss (3) made a pass for the lead with several cars following suit.
Then the bumper-to-bumper, side-by-side racing returned with Craig Paulsen (65) and Lester each taking turns at Bohemier with neither one able to gain ground. At the checkered flag, it was Bohemier with the win, Paulsen was second and Lester third.
Rounding out the field were Chet Danburg (3x), Goss, Dean Heller (27), Gomez, Les Kipler (54), Randy Shelton (25) and Steve Whipple (86).
"We got lucky we hit lapped traffic," said Bohemier. "But the car felt good and ran good, with the exception of a little bit of an oil leak. It mostly caused smoke to get into the cockpit and I had to raise my helmet a couple of times to breathe. It was one tough race."
Lester won the sportsman trophy dash over Paulsen, Danburg and Shelton. Bohemier won the first sportsman heat race with Gomez in second and Goss in third. Lester took the win in the second heat with Paulsen in second and Heller in third.
Racing continues Saturday with qualifying at 6 p.m. and racing at 7. Featured over the Memorial Day weekend are the Bay Cities Racing Association sprint cars for two days of racing action, and the first of the Tri-Holiday Sweepstakes for the late model sportsman. For information, call 885-2079.
