BERRYHILL WARDS OFF CHALLENGERS FOR WATSONVILLE BCRA MIDGET WIN

WATSONVILLE, CA., MAY 12: Travis Berryhill warded off all challengers to take the 30-lap feature win in Bay Cities Racing Association midget action at the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA. Starting from the pole in his "Spirit of American Canyon" Gaerte powered Stealth, Berryhill drove a smooth "catch me if you can" race over a dry slick quarter-mile dirt oval that presented problems to his veteran and rookie pursuers. Berryhill managed to preserve his right rear tire better than most, still rendering it with only an imprint of tread remaining while second-place Darrin Bolton pulled in with a totally slick tire. 15-year old Bolton, starting sixth among the 19-starters, jumped into third by the end of the first lap. A fourth-lap tangle involving three cars in turn-one brought out the first of several yellow caution flags.
Bolton's Stewart/Stanton Mopar put pressure on second-running midget rookie Alfred Galedrige aboard the Jimmy Sills TCR/Brayton Buick and took over the position after a two lap duel on the fifth circuit. Garratt ÒSurfer DudeÓ Boyden, from ninth starting, moved his Spike/Esslinger into the fourth spot and pressured Galedrige, taking third on the next round. A seventh-lap shunt in the third turn with Galedrige and rookie Tony Boscacci brought out the caution with Boscacci continuing on to retrieve his position under the yellow. Following the green Greg Dennett and Gary Dickenson came together in the first turn with Dennett spinning and retiring. Berryhill continued his lead with Bolton hanging on, but unable to make a serious challenge. Boyden held third over Boscacci and Brian Gard who had moved through traffic from 14th starting. Visiting NOMA champion Steve Dickenson from Oregon held sixth over veteran Floyd Alvis and dash winner Jimmy Christian. Gard, who had spun in the fourth lap incident, again spun, this time to the infield exiting the second turn. He was out due to the two-spin rule. On the 14th round David Prickett spun into the infield, but did not bring out the yellow. One lap later defending BCRA champion John Sarale spun in the same location as Prickett, this time emitting the caution flag. Both restarted at the rear. At the green Boyden spun exiting turn-four, collecting Scott Pierovich before reaching the stating line causing a switch-back to the caution flag. John Haugh spun at the end of the backstreatch into the infield and Prickett, along with Cameron Beard pitted. On the 22nd circuit Steve Dickenson lost ground with Christian, rookie Todd Miller and Pierovich moving by during a hot four-car dice for position. Christian made an inside pass of Boscacci in the fourth turn to take over third on the 23rd round. It continued to be smooth sailing for Berryhill, Bolton still hanging on to second and unable to challenge the leader as Pierovich moved his Stealth/Brayton into the fourth slot over Boscacci. On the 29th lap BoscacciÕs Walker Stealth/Esslinger abruptly lost power. Gary Dickenson, immediately on his tail, ran up over the right side of the Walker machine and nearly overturned as he pirouetted in-air and landed facing backward with Alvis sliding to a halt to avoid the melee. It was later learned that the Walker carÕs battery strap had broken. Green again and Berryhill took the checkered flag over Bolton, Christian, Pierovich and Miller with Steve Dickenson narrowly beating Alvis to the line over Galedrige and Gary Dickenson. With a non-qualifying format at the Ocean Speedway, the midgets lined up for three heat races according to a pill draw of the 22-entries. Gard came from third to capture the first heat over Rick Faeth and Alvis. The second eight-lapper went to Sarale over Christian and Steve Dickenson. Pierovich won the third heat over Dennett and Boyden. The top two finishers in the heats transferred to the six-car trophy dash that was won by Christian over Gard and Sarale. The only roll-over came in the third heat after Bolton spun in the first turn. The ensuing maneuvers to avoid the car resulted in Boyden shunting Bill Lindsey who was propelled into the wall at the beginning of the backstretch. The former Gonsel ÒYellow BirdÓ car, now owned by Alvis, climbed the wall and rolled easily onto its side with no injury to Lindsey. The next BCRA midget race is set for May 20 at the Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka, followed on June 3 at the Lakeport Speedway.

SUMMARY:
MAIN EVENT (30-laps): 1. #11 Travis Berryhill, 2. #XX Darrin Bolton, 3. #16 Jimmy Christian, 4. #35 Scott Pierovich, 5. #9 Todd Miller, 6. #99S Steve Dickenson, 7. #18 Floyd Alvis, 8. #8 Gary Dickenson, 9. #10 Tony Boscacci, 10. #4 Alfred Galedrige, 11. #19 Cameron Beard, 12. #15 David Prickett, 13. #42 Garratt Boyden, 14. #54 John Haugh, 15. #51 Dan Gondo, 16. #32 John Sarale, 17. #57 Brian Gard, 18 #47 Greg Dennett, 19 #17 Rob Russell.
HEAT-1: Gard, Faeth, Alvis, Boscacci, Berryhill, Haugh, Prickett.
HEAT-2: Sarale, Christian, S. Dickenson, Beard, Gundo, Miller, Scott Nail. 2:09.10. HEAT-3: Pierovich, Dennett, Boyden, Bolton, Galedrige, G. Dickenson, Lindsey, Russell.
TROPHY DASH: Christian, Gard, Sarale, Dennett, Pierovich, Faeth. 1:03.59.