WCVDTS-Bakersfield

Eddie Mulder's W.C.V.D.T. Series
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Round 5 - September 22nd, 2007
Kern County Fairgrounds
Bakersfield, California

Amidst dark clouds and rain, the sun shone brightly for those of us who believe in the power of the race Gods. Another wonderful night of flat tracking was hosted by Eddie Mulder and crew in Diggers hometown of Bakersfield, Ca. The Kern County Fair was the venue and what a good one it was! Fans from all over the fairgrounds flooded into the grandstands as the roar of motorcycles drew their attention to the nights exciting main event. Digger even blew the National Anthem on his trumpet! Way cool! Rick Hollenbeck and Dustin Allen worked for three days to get the track just right and it was perfect! Bigger than the last two years so the racing was even more thrilling! Thanks to everyone who came out! Especially Jared, Shaun and Brandan, our GNC pro contestants. Everyone loves to race with and watch you guys. Congrats to the multiple winners and to all who had a good time. Another round in the books. Can't wait for Willow Springs Oct 13-14. Already got money added from Digger, Vizzo Racing, G&G Cummings and the $5,000 American Suzuki Twins race on Sunday so this should draw a lot of the pros who will be out west for the Az and Vegas dates. Don't miss our own little outlaw Grand National! As always the racing is great at Willow Springs! Eddie and Jodie

Senior

Senior
1. 55 Tom Horton
2. 28d Ron Lessley
3. 98 Rod Lake
4. 19z Joe Brown
5. 27 Ron Alexander
6. 96a Jack Alexander
7. 25d Steve Craft
8. 57 Keith Speir
9. 12e Jeff Lessley
10. 209 Cliff Nagatani

Vet “A” Main

Vet “A” Main
1. 33 Wes Powell
2. 21y Tommy Carriger
3. 6 Joe Steffen
4. 96L Mike Besemer
5. 571 Mike O’Neil
6. 48y Mike Vital
7. 12x Patrick Hayes
8. 42 Bill Kolkman

Vet “B” Main

Vet “B” Main
1. 28b Gary Ritchie
2. 77 Kyle Lessley
3. 77 Joe Suebert
4. 45c Mark Stuckert
5. 441 Paul Lane
6. 72 Jim Beck

Sr Novice/Super Sr

Sr Novice/Super Sr
1. 27t Steve Lacey
2. 52c Dave Cheney
3. 7 Larry Dale
4. 80x Bob Harris
5. 86d Allan Girdler
6. 14t Ted Hubbard (dnf)

Classic 500

Classic 500
1. 55 Tom Horton
2. 87y Chris Rudy
3. 51z David Brown
4. 96a Jack Alexander
5. 14 James Kohls
6. 4r Lenny Rodriguez

Dino
1. 3 Mike O’Neil
2. 53 Brent Johnson

Youth 50

Youth 50
1. 80 AJ Alves
2. 7 Ryder Ely
3. 11 Tori Neumann
4. 1 Cole Chilantt
5. 9 Brett King
6. 44 Kyle Chilantt

Youth 60
1. 12 Cody Pelle

Youth 80

Youth 80
1. 309w Bronson Bauman
2. 942 Ethan Gray
3. 995 Ryan King
4. 1 Hadley Melton

Modern 250

Modern 250
1. 55 Tom Horton
2. 12e Jeff Lessley
3. 76y Cary Buck
4. 80g John Grant

Modern 500

Modern 500
1. 98 Rod Lake
2. 28d Ron Lessley
3. 13p Allan Malm
4. 52c Dave Cheney

Modern 750

Modern 750
1. 68 Paul Herman
2. 55 Tom Horton
3. 58y Jim Ottele
4. 57 Keith Speir
5. 27 Ron Alexander
6. 556 Steve Mihovil

250 Open

250 Open
1. 33e Mikey Avila
2. 58 Brandon Bates
3. 55 PJ Osmer
4. 309w Bronson Bauman
5. 28 Pauly Herman
6. 87 Lindsey King
7. 310w Briar Bauman (dnf)

500 Support

500 Support
1. 21y Tommy Carriger
2. 571 Mike O’Neil
3. 84j Jeff Gonzales
4. 6 Joe Steffen
5. 32y Mike Gonzales
6. 12x Patrick Hayes
7. 8 Dustin Allen
8. 91w John Larson
9. 3 Steve Baker
10. 3m Robert Koch

Open Amateur “A” Main

Open Amateur “A” Main
1. 1 Chad Cose
2. 21y Tommy Carriger
3. 15 Garrett Stout
4. 45 Kayl Kolkman
5. 33e Mikey Avila
6. 38y Chris Canepa
7. 310w Briar Bauman
8. 49w Dustin Pruczinski
9. 79 Joey Alves (dnf)
10. 23 Joe Meyer (dnf)

Open Amateur “B” Main

Open Amateur “B” Main
1. 24p Jimmy Abrams
2. 88 Dillon Allen
3. 58 Brandon Bates
4. 25d Steve Craft
5. 46m Troy Milligan
6. 42 Bill Kolkman
7. 45c Mark Stuckert
8. 146 Bill Wright

Dash-4-Cash
Vizzo Racing, Digger Helm, Rod Lake Racing, G&G Cummings, EM Ltd

Dash-4-Cash
1. 21 Jared Mees
2. 28 Shaun Russell
3. 62s Kenny Malaguarnero
4. 17y Brandan Bergen (dnf)

Digger Pro 600

Digger Pro 600
1. 21 Jared Mees
2. 17y Brandan Bergen
3. 1 Chad Cose
4. 28 Shaun Russell
5. 62s Kenny Malaguarnero
6. 15 Garrett Stout
7. 23 Joe Meyer
8. 14 Joe Winston
9. 38y Chris Canepa
10. 88 Dillon Allen
11. 96L Mike Besemer
12. 46 Eric Beers
13. 65y Kris Bunch
14. 45 Kayl Kolkman (dnf)

Digger, Mr Ed, Jared, Jamey, Eddie and Brandon.

Jimmy Wray Photos @
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http://www.jrpix.com

Eddie Mulder's W.C.V.D.T. Series

Round #5 Kern County Fairgrounds

Bakersfield, Calif.

Sept. 22^nd, 2007

Article by Jamey Blunt

"Joe Leonard back on track"

"Mees Makes Money"

The expected weather never materialized to rain on Eddie Mulder's parade. Rather the dark clouds surrounded the Kern County Fairgrounds, but kept their distance throughout the program. This years Bakersfield track was "PERFECT"! Rick Hollenbeck and Dustin Allen labored for three days to make this the best Bakersfield racetrack ever, and larger in size as well. With the price of admission fairgoers had full access to all the Kern County Fair had to offer, but when the roar of the motorcycles rang throughout the complex the belchers capable of holding ten thousand began to fill.

One hundred seventy eight riders made up the programs twenty two heat races and nineteen main events. The fifty year and older group started the mains with the AGV Helmets/ARD Ignitions Senior final. Getting the initial jump was the Bultaco of Ron Lessley with Tom Horton, Keith Speir, Joe Brown and Rod Lake dropping in behind. On the exit from turn four Horton quickly displaced Lessley for the lead. As the field came back through turns one and two three riders were down, Cliff Nagatani, Steve Craft, and Mark Davis. Fortunately all three were fine with only their pride wounded. Lap three had Horton pulling a gap at the front, Lessley was secure in second, Brown ran third and Lake made the pass on Speir between turns one and two for the fourth spot. Jeff Lessley had settled in at sixth appearing to have some mechanical problems and Ron Alexander ran seventh on his C&J Triumph. On the last go round Jeff Lessley hit the dirt almost taking Speir with him, this cost Speir though as he would drop to eighth at the finish. Lake meanwhile would make the pass on Brown in turn three for the final podium position making the finishing order Horton, Ron Lessley, Lake, and Brown.

The A&A Racing/Motion Pro Vet "A" main event had Tommy Carriger lead off the line but then almost throw it away between turns one and two, handing the lead to Wes Powell. Mike Besemer slipped past as well for second with Carriger recovering in third with Joe Steffen fourth and Mike O'Neil fifth. Exiting turn four for the fourth time Carriger shot up the inside of Besemer to reclaim second. Mike Vital who was running in sixth was now banging handlebars with O'Neil over the fifth place spot, while Steffen with one and a half remaining found a way around Besemer for third. Carriger pushing as hard as he could, to the point of almost throwing it all away couldn't catch up to Powell in the time remaining. This made the final tally Powell, Carriger, Steffen, Besemer, and O'Neil.

Dave Cheney led the Maxxis Tires/Tuffplates Super Senior field into turn one. On the second trip down the back straight Steve Lacey took over at the front and never looked back as no one could match his 13.06/100 second laps. Larry Dale, Ted Hubbard, eighty four year old Bob Harris, and Allan Girdler gave chase but couldn't keep either Lacey or Cheney in sight. The battle on the track was for fourth on back which Harris would win. With Hubbard going down hard on the exit from turn four on the final lap, this making the finishing order Lacey, Cheney, Dale, Harris, and Girdler.

A J Alves and Ryder Ely had the crowd in the bleachers on their feet for the Kawasaki of Simi Valley/Barnett Youth 50cc main. Alves who had won the heat race led from the start but Ely found new speed and took the lead away at the half way point. With two turns remaining Alves shot to the inside in turn three and made the pass which he held for the victory, this sent the crowd to their feet as Alves snatched the checkered flag from Eddie Mulder for a victory lap, normally reserved only for the pros.

The sound of the big twins filled the air in the C&J Racing Frames/Bartels Modern 750cc main. Lancaster's Tom Horton and Paul Herman on the Steve Berg Triumph hit turn one side by side with Herman leading out of turn two. Keith Speir on the Eddie Mulder Triumph ran third with BSA mounted Jim Ottele fourth and Ron Alexander fifth. Horton was glued to Herman's exhaust trying to find a way past, as Herman was riding a much higher line. Lap three had Herman put in a 12.52/100 second lap while Ottele pushed his way past Speir for third. By lap four Steve Mihovil was about to go a lap down as Horton was only a bike length in back of Herman and Speir had regrouped and was pressuring Ottele for his third place position back. At the white flag (one lap remaining) Herman had a five bike length lead and Ottele was all over the place leaving the door open for Speir which he could never quite go through. As the black and white came out Herman notched up another victory for the Steve Berg machine, Horton was second, Ottele held on for third, Speir was a close fourth, with Alexander fifth.

Rod Lake Racing/Browns Cycle's 250 Open class is for the young guns. Briar Bauman crept on the front line to lead into turn one as Mikey Avila, P J Osmer, Brandon Bates, Pauly Herman, Bronson Bauman, and Lindsey King gave chase. By turn three on the first lap Avila took over at the front and would never be challenged. With three laps down Bates moved up to third while Briar Bauman threw his mount to the ground in the entrance to turn four. This gave Avila a full straight lead over Bates who inherited second. With a clear track Avila put in his fastest lap of 12.23/100 seconds as he sailed to the victory. Bates was second, with Osmer third, Bronson Bauman fourth, Herman fifth, and King sixth.

Fourteen riders made up the Saddlemen/Works Performance 500 Support class. From the pole position Tommy Carriger led the field into turn one followed by Mike O'Neil, Jeff Gonzales, Patrick Hayes, Gary Ritchie, Dustin Allen, Mike Gonzales and Joe Steffen. Two laps down had Carriger inching away as the pack strung out. The third lap saw turn three collect Ritchie while Steffen and Mike Gonzales started their march forward. With four and a half laps complete the finishing order was set at Carriger, O'Neil, Jeff Gonzales, Steffen, Mike Gonzales and Hayes fading back to sixth.

The Vizzo Racing/K&N Filters Open Amateur "A" main event became the Chad Cose show case. Vizzo's Garrett Stout got the jump off the line with Cose and Joe Meyer coming together allowing Tommy Carriger to slip into second. With one lap down Carriger took over the lead with Meyer, Stout, Cose, Chris Canepa, and Kayl Kolkman right behind. A lap later Meyer and Cose came together again with Meyer getting the worst of it and going down. In a separate incident Joey Alves tasted dirt as well. All this gave Carriger a six bike length gap at the front while Cose put his head down and was going after Stout who was now running in second. Mikey Avila and Briar Bauman had their own battle going over sixth at mid pack while Cose was working every line possible to find a way around Stout, as they both closed the gap to Carriger. With a lap and a quarter remaining Stout left the door open in turn four and Cose wasted no time taking over second. Now with Carriger in his sights Cose put in all he was worth and got the drive out of turn four to the checkered flag to snatch the victory from Carriger. Stout stayed in third, with Kolkman alone in fourth, Avila up to fifth, dropping Canepa to sixth, and Bauman finished seventh.

Twenty two pros fought through four heat races and a semi for one of fourteen berths in the Digger Helm Pro 600 final. With a ten thousand dollar purse up for grabs the sorting hat was a little rough on this night with lots of paint being traded. Sitting on pole by virtue of the fastest heat race time was Brandon Bergen, but the odds on favorite's were Dash for Cash winner Jared Mees on the Mr. Ed's Honda, or national #28 Shaun Russell on the Vizzo Racing machine. Bergen led off the line for the first of twenty laps with Mees shadowing his every move. On the exit from turn four Mees got a drive to make the pass up the front straight to take the lead. Russell ran third with Kenny Malaguarnero fourth, Shift's Chad Cose fifth, Kayl Kolkman sixth and Kris Bunch seventh until lap three when he went down at the exit of turn four. Russell who had been studying Bergen, made the pass for second in turn four on lap four only to have Bergen come right back at him on the next lap and regain the position. On lap seven Mees posted the fastest lap of the night at 11.62/100 seconds, and Cose moved from fifth to fourth as he found his rhythm. Eight and a half laps in the books saw Mees into lappers, while Cose had closed up on, and was beginning to pressure Russell for third. Then exiting turn two on the tenth lap Cose got a drive on Russell and took over third on the trip down the back straight. By lap twelve Vizzo Racing's Garrett Stout who came to this show via the semi fought his way up to ninth, but had his sights set even higher. The heavy traffic allowed Bergen to close within six bike lengths of Mees by lap fifteen, and Stout had gotten past Chris Canepa and Joe Winston to seventh, with a lap remaining Stout pushed hard and put Joe Meyer one more rung back making his finishing position sixth. As starter Fred Allen flew the checkered flag the order was Mees, Bergen, Cose, Russell, Malaguarnero, and Stout. Mees had this to say "I want to thank Mr. Ed's for the bike they gave me tonight, Motion Pro, Saddlemen, Oxtar, Arai, Vizzo Racing, Digger Helm, Rod Lake, Eddie Mulder, and all my sponsors. This is the best Bakersfield track ever; it was great, I'm glad I made the trip out."

Following Photos by Jessyca Blunt

Three time Grand National Champion and two time Indy Car Champion Joe
Leonard served as Grand Marshall for the event. Here Leonard rides with
Eddie Mulder while Digger Helm played the National Anthem on his trumpet
for the crowd.

Digger Helm does so much for the dirt track community, but a little
known fact is that he used to play trumpet in a band. On this night
Digger played the National Anthem for his home town crowd.

Three time Grand National Champion and Two time Indy Car Champion Joe
Leonard made a rare appearance when he came to the Kern County
Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, Ca, to serve as Grand Marshal for the West
Coast Vintage Dirt Track races. Seen here with his granddaughter Emily,
Joe received constant attention from fans and racers alike as they
wanted autographs and photos with this racing legend..