WATSONVILLE, Calif. — San Jose’s Shawn Jones topped a strong field of competitors in order to take the Friday Pro Division win during the Western States Dwarf Car Association South Bay Regional at Ocean Speedway.
The victory is Jones’ fourth of the year in the 1000cc machines on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds dirt track in Watsonville.
A total of 55 dwarf cars from three states were competing across three divisions: Pro, Veteran and Sportsman. They were joined by a special non-points race for the Four Bangers. Ocean Speedway will host the same lineup on Saturday as well.
San Diego’s Mike Tobiason led the 20 Pro Dwarf Cars to green for the 20-lap nightcap.
Terre Rothweiler spun in turn two for the first caution on lap six. Jones made maneuvers on the inside line on the restart, with the eighth-place starting driver advancing past Shawn Whitney to take second on lap 12.
Jones then seized the lead from Tobiason on the following lap. Tommy Velasquez followed Jones up the inside, then won a back-and-forth battle for second on lap 17. Jones grabbed the win over Velasquez, Tobiason, Whitney and Brandon Wiley.
Mike Reeder led wire-to-wire in the 20-lap Sportsman Dwarf win for drivers over age 45. Reeder represented the NorCal Dwarf Cars. Fred Dickey suffered an engine failure which brought out a caution on lap three. Reeder used it to charge ahead to a strong lead.
Eric Weisler finished second ahead of Steve Walker. Mark Biscardi and Dan Geil finished fourth and fifth.
The Sportsman Dwarf Car feature was perhaps the most hotly contested. Chase Hill took off with the lead over an 18-car field in the 20-lap affair. He encountered lapped traffic by lap three. The caution flew for Demetri Brown, spinning in turn three, giving Hill a reprieve.
Brown and Keith Costas then tangled in turn four on lap five for another yellow.
Hill spun from the lead on the restart, collecting Dan Varner and ending his evening. Joe Bohard assumed the lead, but engaged in a side-by-side race with tenth-starting Kinser Endicott. The pair dueled in lapped traffic, with Bohard leading lap 10 by a mere .055 seconds.
Endicott grabbed the lead on lap 11 and never relinquished it.
Bohard, Kylee Johnson, Isaak Geil and Justin Bingman rounded out the top-five.
Dan Myrick won his first-career Ocean Speedway Four Banger feature. The organizer of the West Coast Sport Compact division ventured to Ocean for a rare visit. Myrick took the lead from Daniel Bond on the opening lap.
TJ Santos was eliminated from the event with an incident in turn four on the opening lap. Amaya Flowers flipped in turn two to require a red flag on lap three.
The second-row starters were ones to watch as Kenny Stragalinos and Jason Lazzerini represented six season wins. Lazzerini had a hiccup, however, when he tagged the backstretch wall and had to nurse damage on the right rear the rest of the 20-lap race.
A caution on lap 11 erased a 7.1 second advantage that Myrick had on the field. He went back to work and led the way to the finish. Jeff Durant finished second while points leader Austin Sprague finished third.
Stragalinos and Richard Mitchell rounded out the top-five.
Results: Western States Dwarf Cars South Bay Regional Pro Feature (20 Laps)
1. 26B-Shawn Jones[8]; 2. 41E-Nick Velasquez[6]; 3. 88-Mike Tobiason[1]; 4. 15N-Shawn Whitney[4]; 5. 92N-Brandon Wiley[3]; 6. 11DD-Danny Wagner[12]; 7. 12N-Mike Grenert[5]; 8. 14E-Tommy Velasquez III[7]; 9. 45B-Terre Rothweiler[9]; 10. 31N-Dylan Shrum[10]; 11. 18DD-Devan Kammermann[16]; 12. 96B-Nick Squatritto[17]; 13. 812DD-Chance Russell[13]; 14. 31DD-Ellie Russo[19]; 15. 45-Ricardo Rivera[20]; 16. 88B-Travis Day[11]; 17. 7D-Vuki Wilson Jr[2]; 18. 7XLRB-Roberto Monroy[18]; 19. 19E-Kobe Kerns[14]; 20. 29N-Corey Eaton[15]