The third race event of the summer served up a thrilling night of action at the Redwood Acres Raceway on Saturday.
And it was a particularly good night for Kai Lovell of Willits, who took the checkered flag for his first main event win in the NorCal Legend Series.
The night’s action, which was presented by Zable Trucking, also included the Upstate Modified Series, the local bombers, mini stocks and the Dirt 4 Bangers.
A strong field of 21 drivers competed in the NorCal Legend Series with Cody Winchel setting quick time in qualifying with a 17.469.
Kade Godbehere was the winner of the first heat while Kylei Keown was victorious in the second heat.
The series used the pole shuffle format to set the first eight positions for the 40-lap feature, with Jarrett Dickson, who qualified sixth, out-dueling Robby Czub, Trey Daniels, Kai Lovell, Brandon White, Tanner Reif and Cody Winchel to earn the coveted pole position.
The main event went right down to the wire, with Lovell taking the checkered flag by just 0.011 seconds over Dickson.
Reif placed third, Daniels fourth and Godbehere fifth.
It was an emotional scene in victory lane for Lovell, who earned his first NorCal Legend Series win of his career after coming close on numerous occasions.
In the Upstate Modified Series, meanwhile, David Furia led the way in qualifying with a 16.942 time.
Donnie Brown started on pole position for the 45-lap main event, but it was a rough night for the veteran racer after contact with Christian Sanchez early on sent him to the rear of the field.
Brown then spun in turns three and four for a caution, before suffering a wreck in turn one that ended his night.
Furia led the majority of the race, but Sanchez applied serious pressure lap after lap.
Furia was able to eventually pull away for the victory, with Luke Hall in second as Sanchez ran out of fuel on the last lap to place third. Gene O’Dell finished fourth while David Land was fifth.
Ryan Walters returned to bomber action for the night and was fast time in qualifying with an 18.382, while Stephen Ghilarducci was the winner of the heat race.
Walters would round out a big night after pulling away for the win in the main event, followed by T.J. Sorrels in second, Ghilarducci in third, Jimmy Sorrels in fourth and Raymond Rosales rounding out the top five.
Also on Saturday night, Jarrett Mayo maintained his dominance in the mini stock division as he set quick time in qualifying with a 18.296 and was the winner of the heat race and main event.
Cole Peterson placed second, followed by Garrett Wheeler and Tanner Hrynkiewicz.
In Dirt 4 Banger action, Jimmy Sorrels and Matt Merrill were the heat race winners while Jimmy Sorrels took the main event win over Julio Diaz, Dylan Bramlett, Christian Sanchez and Nathaniel Foley.
Racing returns to Redwood Acres Raceway on Saturday, August 15, when Harper Motors present Fan Appreciation Night.
The Mid-City Motor World Late Models will return to action along with the Upstate bomber Series, Legends, Jr. Legends, bombers, mini stocks and the Dirt 4 Bangers.
The annual Mustang Show And Shine will take place prior to the night’s races.
