"Digger Helm Short Track National"

Article by Jamey Blunt  -   Photos by VFT

Eddie Mulder's W.C.V.D.T. Series
Round #4 Willow Springs Raceway
Walt James Stadium
10-17-2009

A perfect race track at Walt James Stadium inside Willow Springs Racing complex greeted the one hundred thirty eight riders that made up the twenty heat races, two semis, and fifteen main events for Eddie Mulder's round four. Worthy of note was the fact that the wind usually associated with Willow never showed up all day.

Joe Suebert has one fast Jim Kelly Harley as he shot into the lead in the MOTION PRO/BARNETT senior main event. Tom Horton dropped in right behind with Ken Thiebaud and Steve Craft in third and fourth. Entering turn one for the second time Thiebaud went past Horton and set his cross hairs on Suebert. Thiebaud worked hard to find a way around Suebert, but Suebert's Harley had the horsepower advantage and Suebert was making it frightening to attempt to pass him. Horton was a close third just watching and waiting as the top three left Craft and Gregory Anderson behind. Finally on lap four Thiebaud found a way under Suebert on the exit from turn four to take the victory. Suebert held his second position with Horton third.

The top twelve from a field of twenty eight made it through to the MAXXIS TIRES/MAXIMA RACING OILS Vet "A" main event. Don Howard launched off the line first but it was Steve Nichols making the trip from Tulsa Oklahoma worthwhile as he took over going down the back straight to lead into turn three. Working his way through the pack from a sixth place start was Mike O'Neil who quickly was up to third. Also charging hard were Lloyd McGregor and Joe Steffen as they shot past O'Neil when he lost the drive on the exit from turn four dropping him to fifth. Once out front Nichols was pulling a disappearing act and turned the fastest lap of the race at 22.08 seconds. Jimmy Abrams had also worked his way forward to sixth but mistakes cost him and the best he could do was claw his way back to seventh at the finish. At the finish Nichols won by three seconds over Howard with McGregor third, Steffen fourth, O'Neil fifth, and Larry Earhart sixth.

Joe Brown finally got a larger displacement Yamaha for the BROWNS CYCLES/SADDLEMEN Super Senior/Senior Novice class. Mickey Alzola nailed the start and closed the door on Herb Wolff to lead through turns one and two. Shot out of a cannon was Joe Brown as he went from fourth to first down the back straight. Tim Thomas also got past Wolff to take third with Dave Cheney, Mel Stoner and Bob Harris right behind. Still with one of the smallest bikes in the field Brown put in the fastest lap of the race at 24.26/100 seconds. On the last lap Cheney had to re-pass Stoner for fifth making the final finishing order Brown, Alzola, Thomas, Wolff, Cheney, and Stoner.

A complete grid of Yamaha 500cc four stroke singles lined up for the A&A RACING/K&N FILTERS 500 Support war. Buellton, California's Mike O'Neil led into turn one from the outside of the front row. Jeff Gonzales, Gary Ritchie, Mel Stoner, Augie Alves, and Brian Catterson all gave chase. O'Neil chose a high wide line leaving the door open at every turn but no one could match his 23.04/100 second lap times as he easily took the victory over Gonzales, Ritchie, Stoner, Alves, and Catterson.

Briar Bauman is rapidly becoming a force in the dirt track world. The JRC ENGINEERING/KAWASAKI of SIMI VALLEY Open Amateur "A" main event was Bauman at his best on a DTX mount. Not that this was an easy class, it's not! Bauman led from the start with Patrick McNamara and Garrett Stout glued to his backside. Exiting turn two for the second time Stout put a move on McNamara to take second position away. While one of the hardest chargers in the field Tyler O'Hara had worked his way up to sixth from being last to leave the start line. Head down Bauman turned a 21.48/100 second lap putting a 1.2 second gap between himself and Stout. With a lap remaining O'Hara made his way past Curtis Peebles into fourth where he would stay. Bauman kept his lead to finish in front of Stout and McNamara with authority.  

Thirty three pros fought for one of seventeen spots available in the twenty lap Digger Helm Open Pro final. Jimmy Wood and Sammy Halbert came together off the line while Jared Mees led into turn one. Halbert and Wood recovered quickly to settle into second and third with Joe Kopp right behind in fourth. J.R. Schnabel ran fifth with young Briar Bauman sixth. The second trip through turn one had Halbert run up the inside of Mees to take the lead away. Wood also attempted to go past but almost threw it all away, but thankfully made the save and regrouped. On a mission Halbert immediately put his head down and set a new track record of 20.22/100 seconds wanting to gap the field. Starting lap four Schnabel got past Wood for third with Kopp now in fifth and Jethro Halbert up to seventh. Five laps down and Sammy Halbert had a four second gap over Mees as Halbert switched to cruse control. By the half way point Brandan Bergen had found his rhythm and was marching forward from a terrible starting position and was up to ninth. Jeff Carver, Kayl Kolkman, and Mike Rush were also at mid pack by now and having their own private war. Lap eleven is when Wood started his racing for real as he got a drive down the back straight to shoot past Schnabel for third and carried it past Mees for second at the end of the front straight. On lap fifteen Schnabel found a way around Mees for third only to coast to a stop with a mechanical a lap later. This making the finishing order Sammy Halbert, Wood, Mees, Bauman, Kopp, Bergen all the way up to sixth, Carver, Kolkman, and Rush. After the race Halbert had this to say," great track today, I put the hammer down at first to pull a gap then backed it down and brought it home. I want to dedicate this to Jim Kelly, without him we couldn't have done this, and to get the track record is just great!"