by Gerald Laurie

Madera Speedway Opened their 2009 Open Wheel Season on Saturday Evening with the USAC/BCRA Midgets, USAC Sprints, SMRA Supermodifieds, and 360 Supermodifieds. This was the first of six Super Saturday Events that combine several open wheel classes for exciting wheel to wheel action. This article will cover only the Supermodified portion of the event.

The Madera 360 Supermodifieds were paced in qualifying by defending champ David Tuey (6) at 13.402. He was pursued by Kenny Kinchen(5) at 13.485, Lance Tatro (72) at 13.504, Lance Jackson (18) at 13.672, and Willie Northammer (15) at 14.158.

The Supermodified Racing Association Winged Roadsters were led by multi time Champion Troy Regier (98) with a lap of 12.476 seconds. Just .034 seconds slower was Jim Birges(89) at 12.510. The remaining qualifiers were Lonnie Adamson(14) at 13.322, A.J. Russell (7) at 13.468, and George Greenway (8X) at 13.975. Former champ Adamson was experiencing some handling problems while Russell and Greenway were having first race gremlins with newly built power plants.

The two Supermodified Divisions each had a four lap trophy dash, the points for which feed into the Madera Speedway Super Saturday points race, but do not factor into the SMRA overall championship. The 360 Supermodified line-up featured Lance Tatro and Lance Jackson in the first row followed by Kenny Kinchen and David Tuey in the back. Kinchen somehow blew past both front row starters on the backstretch of lap one while Tuey headed to the pits with a power steering line adrift. Kinchen led the entire race followed by Tatro and Jackson.

The SMRA Dash lined up with Troy Regier on the poll followed by Jim Birges, Lonnie Adamson, A.J. Russell, and George Greenway. Regier and Birges went into turn one side by side with Birges pulling a slight advantage off turn two. The North turns were also negotiated side by side with Birges leading the first lap by half a car length. Birges completed the pass going into turn one with Regier, Adamson, Russell and Greenway in tow. And that was how the four lapper ended.

Supermodifed Heat Racing started with the 360 Supers lining up with Willie Northammer on the pole followed by Lance Jackson, Lance Tatro, Kenny Kinchen, Rookie Kyle Vanderpool, and Larry Hinz. David Tuey scratched in order to complete power steering repairs. Jackson took the lead from the outside and led lap one over Northammer, Kinchen, Tatro and Vanderpool. Northammer brought out the yellow when he spun on the front stretch at the completion of lap two. Restart order was Jackson, Kinchen, Tatro, Vanderpool, Hinz and Northammer. Kinchen moved inside Jackson in turn three on lap four. The two touched wheels and sent Kinchen spinning to bring another yellow. The field was again restarted with Jackson leading Tatro, Vanderpool, Northammer and Hinz. Kinchen moved into fifth on the restart and then took fourth from Northammer on lap six. Northammer spun in turn three on the last lap. Jackson won the heat over Tatro, Vanderpool, Kinchen, and Hinz.

The SMRA eight lap heat race featured George Greenway, A.J. Russell, Lonnie Adamson, Jim Birges, and Troy Regier. Birges blasted around Greenway in turn one and took Russell on the outside of turn three to lead lap one over Regier, Adamson, Russell, and Greenway. Greenway headed for the pits at the end of lap two. Birges and Regier went tooth and nail for two laps before Regier dropped back a couple of car lengths. Birges took the checkers over Regier, Adamson, and Russell.

The SMRA and 360 Supermodifieds were combined in a single fifty lap main event. Willie Northammer led off followed by Lance Jackson, Lance Tatro, Kenny Kinchen, David Tuey, and Lonnie Adamson. The last three rows consisted of Jim Birges, Troy Regier, George Greenway, A.J. Russell, Kyle Vanderpool, and Larry Hinz. At the drop of the green Jackson led over Northammer, Kinchen, Adamson, and Tatro. On lap two, Regier and Russell went three wide trying to get through the traffic. Tatro then made contact with the front stretch wall to light the caution flashers. Tatro left the track on the hook. Restart order was Jackson, Adamson, Regier, Northammer, Kinchen, Russell, Tuey, Birges, Greenway, Vanderpool, and Hinz.

On the restart, Adamson and Regier both moved around Jackson with Kinchen and Russell in the top five. Tuey and Birges were now just behind this group. Regier took the lead on lap four and disappeared into the next time zone. Russell took fourth on lap five and Birges moved from sixth to fourth on lap six. Top five at this point were Regier, Adamson, Russell, and Birges. Jackson was the top 360 in fifth overall with Kinchen Tuey and Northammer in pursuit. Regier began lapping cars on lap nine. Birges took third from Russell on lap ten. Tuey was now the top 360 and in the top five overall. Kinchen, Jackson and Northammer were all in the top eight. Greenway headed for the pits on the lap eleven.

Birges was very patient in stalking his prey and working through lapped traffic. He finally passed Adamson on lap fifteen with Regier better than a third of lap ahead. Birges slowly reeled in Regier while the two of them blasted through lapped cars. By lap sixteen, Regier, Birges, Adamson, and Russell were the top four while Tuey and Kinchen battled for 360 bragging rights while still on the lead lap. Jackson, Northammer and Vanderpool were now in the top five of the 360 race within a race, but they were a lap down. The battle at the front continued as Birges reeled in Regier when they had a clear track and Regier pulled out a little while going through traffic. Kinchen fell a lap down at on the twentieth circuit with Tuey being the last 360 to lose the lead lap on the twenty first go-around. Tuey was beginning to put some major distance between himself and Kinchen by this point. Regier and Birges were having a whale of a battle, while Adamson and Russell were hammering one another about half a lap behind. The Tuey-Kinchen battle had pretty well ended, but Northammer, Jackson and Vanderpool were in a great battle in another small knot of cars. Russell finally prevailed over Adamson on lap twenty seven. Overall order at thirty laps was Regier, Bitges, Russell, Adamson, Tuey Kinchen, Jackson, Vanderpool and Northammer. Regier lapped Adamson on lap thirty three and Russell on lap thirty six. He had pulled out about ten car lengths on Birges while Jim worked around the lapped cars. Tuey continued to dominate the 360 class while Kinchen slowly fell further back. At this point, Regier and Birges were alone on the lead lap with Birges slowly working back up to Regier's nerf bars.

At lap forty, Troy's car began to bottom out pretty severely at a couple of places on the track. On lap forty three, an apparent suspension failure sent Regier into the turn one wall. When the dust had cleared, Birges had the lead with a full lap advantage over Russell and Adamson. Tuey was firmly in control of the 360 contigent with Kinchen on the same lap and Vanderpool one lap in arrears. The remainder of the feature was anticlimactic as Birges won going away over Russell, Adamson, Tuey and Kinchen. Vanderpool finished third in 360's and sixth overall in a remarkable rookie debut. Regier finished eighth overall with Northammer and Hinz rounding out the top ten overall and the top five in the 360 race.

The first major open wheel pavement show of the year finished well under the curfew time for Madera Speedway even though there were a few serious wall banging incidents. The Midgets brought a good car count and put on a great show. The Sprint Cars and Supermodifieds were a little shy on car count, but the racing was good. The Supermod feature was shaping up to a dramatic finish with Birges ready to challenge Regier for the lead. The last three laps were going to very interesting had bad fortune not struck Regier.
With six of these Super Saturday Shows scheduled plus some additional Sprint, Midget and 360 Supermod events combined with other divisions, Madera seems to be the place to be for pavement Open Wheel competition in Central and Northern California this year.

From somewhere in Sunnyside, I am the Racing Widow's Husband.

Madera Speedway, Madera California
Madera 360 Supermodifieds,
Qualkifications: 1. David Tuey (6) 13.402; 2. Kenny Kinchen (5) 13.485; 3. Lance Tatro (72) 13.504; 4. Lance Jackson (18) 13.672; 5. Willie Northammer (15) 14.158; 6. Larry Hinz (4) 14.326; 7. Kyle Vanderpool (1) 14.702.
Dash: 1. Kinchen; 2. Tatro; 3. Jackson; 4. Tuey.
Heat: 1. Jackson; 2. Tatro; 3. Vanderpool; 4. Kinchen; 5. Hinz; 6. Northammer.
Feature: see SMRA below.

SMRA Supermodifieds,
Qualifications: 1. Troy Regier (98) 12.476; 2. Jim Birges (89) 12.510; 3. Lonnie Adamson (14) 13.322; 4. A.J. Russell (7) 13.468; 5. George Greenway (8X) 13.975.
Dash: 1. Birges, 2. Regier; 3. Adamson; 4. Russell; 5. Greenway.
Heat: 1. Birges; 2. Regier; 3. Adamson; 4. Russell; 5. Greenway.
Combined 360 and SMRA Feature: 1. Birges; 2. Russell; 3. Adamson: 4. *Tuey; 5. * Kinchen; 6.*Vanderpool: 7. Regier; 8. *Northammer: 9. * Hinz; 10. *Jackson; 11. Greenway; 12. *Tatro.