Hanford, CA- A beautiful July night set the scene for a packed pit area on Friday at the Keller Auto Speedway, and fans were treated to a great night of racing as Ryan Bernal used a late race pass to score the Duinkerken Farms King of Kings Winged 360 feature ever, Kyle Heckman fended off a late challenge in the McAlister’s Auto IMCA Mod Main, and Gary Dutton picked up a victory with the RaceChic IMCA Sport Mod division.
With 27 fire breathing Winged 360’s on hand for the third installment in Battle for the Milk Can series, it was youngster, Ryan Robinson, and two-time World of Outlaws champion, Jason Meyers leading the field to green.
Jason Meyers would find himself in the early lead as he worked around the slick Keller Auto Speedway before the caution would fly on the third lap. Going to double file restarts on this night, Jonathan Allard, Ryan Bernal, and Carson Macedo would make some moves on the restart as they moved into the second, third and fourth spots as they chased after Meyers.
Getting into lapped traffic by the 10th lap, Meyers would feel serious pressure from a surging Jonathan Allard. With Allard using the top-shelf in turns three and four, he would drive around Meyers on the 13th lap and take command of the race just before another caution flew on the 14th lap with Meyers in second and Bernal running in the third spot.
The restart would see Kyle Hirst become a player inside the top-five as he moved into the fourth spot, as the top-five broke away from the field. On the 18th lap, Bernal would see Meyers leave the door open on the bottom of turns one and two and pounce on the position as the duo made slight contact. As Bernal made his move, Meyers would slide back to the sixth spot before he settled back in.
In the second spot, Bernal would work the bottom to perfection as he reeled in Allard, who had built up a sizeable lead. Pulling alongside Allard on laps 23 and 24, Bernal would make his move on the exit of turn four as he became the official leader on lap 25. A caution would fly on the 26th lap, and with clear track in front of him, he would lead the final four laps to pick up his second win of the season at the Keller Auto Speedway as Allard, Hirst, Macedo, Cory Eliason, and Craig Stidham rounded out the top five.
Mitchell Faccinto would get the action started on Friday night as he earned quick time honors, while heat race wins went to Hirst, Robinson, and Macedo. Robinson would win the Dash to earn the right to start on the pole while Scott Parker won the 12-lap B Main.
Gary Dutton was the man to beat during the RaceChic IMCA Sport Mod feature event. Leading the field to green, Dutton would grab the top spot as Ricky Childress moved into the second spot.
Following a caution on the first lap, the race would ultimately go 19 non-stop laps. With Dutton out front comfortably, the best race on the track would be for the second spot as Childress and Spainhoward would duke it out lap after lap. With Childress ultimately getting the position, he would track down Dutton in the closing laps, but would have nothing for the leader as Dutton picked up the win with Childress, Spainhoward, Austin Frye, and Wayne Dotson rounded out the Top-Five.
By way of his third place finish, Nick Spainhoward would be crowned the inaugural RaceChic IMCA Sport Mods Battle For The Milk Can Champion.
In a wile McAlister’s Auto IMCA Mod Main event, Kyle Heckman would survive a late race caution, and a couple of late challenges to pick up the victory. Coming from the fifth row, Heckman would make a big move to race his way into the race lead on the sixth lap as he would feel pressure from Bryan Burnes and Cody Laney.
As the race clicked off, Heckman would slowly pull away from the field, but in the race’s closing laps, Laney would come alive and become a threat for the win as his machine began to puff smoke in a big way. Despite something going south under the hood of his machine, Laney would gain on Heckman and pull alongside him on the 22nd lap only to find himself having to pull into the infield three laps shy of the finish.
A restart on lap 23 saw second running Bryan Burnes make a last ditch effort for the race lead, but as he got out of shape he would fall back as Steven Noland, Chad Reichenbach, and Brad Pounds put him back to fifth. Heckman would hang on to the win, as Noland settled for second, Reichenbach third, Burnes fourth and the inaugural McAlister’s Auto IMCA Mod Battle For The Milk Can Champion, Brad Pounds, rounding out the Top-Five.
ON TAP- Racing will return to the Keller Auto Speedway on Saturday August 1st, as the USAC West Coast 360 Series takes center stage as the RaceSaver 305’s, IMCA Stock Cars and the Mini Stocks also hit the dirt.
STAY CONNECTED- Stay up to speed with all things Keller Auto Speedway by visiting the website at www.kellerautospeedway.com, by following us on Twitter @KellerAutoSpeed, or by liking us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KingsSpeedwayOfficialSite. The Keller Auto Speedway is located at 801 10th Ave Hanford, CA 93230.