Tristao Leads Wire-to-Wire for Bakersfield Sprint Car Victory

By Ben Deatherage  MERCED, Calif. – Something exciting is around the bend in the California IMCA Modified scene. Doug Lockwood, promoter at Merced Speedway, has put together the first-ever Modified Speedweek in the State of California.  The series will race from Monday, Aug. 10 to Saturday, Aug. 15 at six different racetracks in as many nights.  The racing extravaganza will be open to both IMCA Modifieds and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods. Each race will feature a 20-car main event for $1,000 to win and $50 to start for the Modifieds while SportMods will race for $600 to the winner and $40 to start. Modified features are Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. Point funds will be up for grabs in both divisions, with $1,000-$400-$200-$100-$100 shares being paid in the Modifieds and $600-$300-$200-$100-$100 shares paid in the SportMods. The whole party kicks off at Placerville Speedway on Aug. 10, before the tour travels west to Petaluma Speedway on Tuesday.  Wednesday will be spent at Antioch Speedway while the Thursday date is reserved for Merced Speedway.  The series continues its southern [Read More]

By Ben Deatherage  BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (April 10) –  Robby Sawyer and Zack Forster bested their respective IMCA features at Bakersfield Saturday evening. In the IMCA Modified main event, the early goings were dominated by Steve Noland, who held onto first until being overtaken on the fifth lap by Troy Morris III. Morris was the lead element of the field until he was passed on the eighth circuit. The driver to do that was Sawyer.   Sawyer then began building a massive lead over the rest of the pack. The 30-lap affair would go non-stop and nothing stopped the fifth-starting Sawyer from collecting his first win of 2021. Ethan Dotson rallied from 19th starting to finish in second place while behind him, in third, was Morris. Making it an all-Bakersfield top five, Jerry Flippo crossed the wire fourth followed by Kyle Heckman in the Bill Henderson-owned entry. Cade Lewis showed the way early in the IMCA STARS Mod Lite feature. A lap one incident bunched the field and prevented Lewis from getting too far from the [Read More]

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – When Cade Lewis won his career-first IMCA STARS Mod Lite feature, his father Colby enjoyed seeing the checkers fly from one of the best seats in the house … behind him on the track at Bakersfield Speedway. Cade, just 14 but already a 10-year racing veteran, topped the May 8 main event at Bakersfield. Colby, a former Major League pitcher with considerably more experience on the mound than on the dirt, was more than happy to end the night with a mid-pack finish. “It was pretty cool. This win proves I’ve come a long way and am still on the path to go up,” said Cade, who graduates this week from the eighth grade at St. John’s Lutheran School in Bakersfield. “It meant a lot for me to win and it meant a lot for my dad to be there with me in victory lane. He supports me in what I do and it’s cool to beat him on the track.” He’s progressed from go-karts and will see much of the country [Read More]