8/6/2010
Silver Dollar Speedway
Kaplan Wins in Dramatic Style
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Photos by M&M Photos[/caption]
Chico's Kevin Lesch led all 20-laps to win his second street stock main event this year. Lesch was driving the Chico Volkswagen #27. Current point leader Heather Bartlett chased Lesch the first ten laps of the event. On lap 13 Jeff Olschowka charged around Bartlett for second. Olschowka then began to catch Lesch. On lap 17 smoke began to emerge from out of the engine department of Olschowka's car. On the next lap he would pull in to the pit area. Officially he was scored as the ninth place finishing car. This put Phil Marino into second. He got to within a car length of Lesch but was never able to pull along side the leader. Lesch crossed the finish line 0.238 ahead of Marino. It was an exciting finish. Bartlett finished in the third spot. Her closest championship rival is Scott Rogers. Rogers followed Bartlett across the finish line in fourth. Mike Slightom hung around the top five all night and finished in the fifth spot. Lesch thanked his team for providing a good car for him to drive. Bartlett won the first heat while Lesch got the win in heat two.
Britton Bock brought out the first yellow of the B.C.R.A main event. On the restart, Jonathan Henry spun around in turn four. Henry restarted at the rear of the field but did not stay there long. He raced his way back through the field. Henry really impressed the fans at Silver Dollar with his charge into the top five. Henry ultimately finished in the third spot. What a great run after the mishap. For the third restart the field was placed in a single file formation. Jimmy Sills led the the drivers to the green flag. Sills led the first three laps of the race. Chris Ennis passed Sills for the lead on lap four. Sills slid back a few spots the next ten laps. On lap 16 his night came to an end when he flipped his midget in turn two. Sills emerged unhurt but did not continue.
Up front it was Ennis the leader. Ennis was holding off Ryan Kaplan for the first half of the race. A new challenger in Evan Margeson moved from third to first on lap 12. Margeson swapped the lead with Ennis on the ensuing three laps. Margeson took the lead back on lap 15. It was the spot he held until the final lap. With five laps to go Henry moved into the second spot. Two laps later Kaplan held down the second spot. This set up the final lap showdown. Coming out of turn four Margeson drifted high while Kaplan dove low on the track. With the white flag being waived, Kaplan took the lead away from Margeson as the pair entered turn one. From there Kaplan extended his lead down the back stretch. Kaplan sailed it through turns three and four and won by over a half-second at the line. Margeson, Henry, Ennis and Josh Lakatos rounded out the top five. The midget main event was clearly the fan favorite moment of the night.
Nick Foster Jr. led the first eight laps of the B.C.R.A semi main event before getting passed by Jake Swanson. Swanson went on to lead the final three laps to get the win. Nick Chivello finished in the second spot. Robbie Whitchurch roared up to finish third. Foster drifted back to a fourth place finish. Tim Pyle and David Prickett rounded out the top six.
Randi Pankratz kicked things off by winning the first of four heat race for the midgets. Josh Lakatos won the second heat race. Kaplan picked up the win in heat three while Henry won the fourth heat race.
The B.C.R.A mighty midgets will race at Placerville Speedway on Saturday night.