Sep 29 - Nott IMCA Champ

Nott closes IMCA modified season with third win
By Tony Karis



WATSONVILLE -- Watsonville's Kenny Nott closed the IMCA modified season with his third track championship Friday night at Ocean Speedway.

Prunedale's Tim Balding glided to his season first feature win in the modified finale.

Mike Henry of Citrus Heights took top honors in exciting sprint car action between Ocean's GLR 360 Series and the California Civil War sprint cars.

With his clean sweep wins in the feature, trophy dash and heat race, Benicia's Billy Aton secured the speedway's traditional wingless sprint car division title.

Winning IMCA championships in 2004, 2007 and now in 2009, Nott closed the decade with three titles in six years of IMCA-sanctioned racing at the speedway. Garrett Steitz, Tim Balding and Robert Marsh were the other title winners in IMCA modified racing.

"I owe all this success to my dad," Nott said. "He didn't just teach me about racing, he's taught me about life, keeping a job, being responsible and raising a family. I'm blessed to have what I have and to be where I am today."

Nott has a total of five career championships. He was also a NASCAR Grand-AM modified champion in 1996 at Watsonville and again in 1999 at the San Jose Fairgrounds Speedway.

"I was really hoping for a win tonight," Nott added. "Going out on top with a main event win would've been great. This is as much for my dad as it is for me. He's taught me through racing about competition and how to be competitive in life. "

Balding, making only his second appearance this season, used Friday night's event as a tuneup to the two-day IMCA Western Nationals 30/30 shootout next weekend.

"We raced here tonight just to test the car to make any minor changes prior to next week's big race," Balding said. "Tonight's win tells us we're in headed in the right direction with chassis set up, tires and gear selection."

Passing Watsonville's Todd Hermosillo on Lap 5, Balding led the final 20 rounds of the 25-lap feature. Michael Dalton, Jeff Mead, Cody Burke and Hermosillo battled for the runner-up position.

For 15 laps, the trio of chargers pressured Hermosillo for second place. On Lap 21 Salinas' Burke moved into second after Hermosillo lost forward traction. When the checkered flag waved, Hermosillo was scored third, Dalton fourth, and 2008 champion Robert Marsh was fifth, recovering from an earlier four-car crash to pass Jeff Mead. Nott suffered a flat tire on Lap 13, but worked his way into the top ten to finish eighth.

Completing round 11 in the GLR 360' Series, Henry also scored a fast time with Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs just fractions of a second behind.

The two highly competitive and always exciting sprint car series met for the second time this year with Henry carrying the Civil War banner, making his series two-for-two in the win column. The field was split evenly with 11 drivers from each series making up the 22-car main event field.

Oroville's Sean Becker, point leader in the Civil War series, took the lead away while lapping slower traffic on Lap 9. Becker controlled the lead for next five rounds. Henry, also using slower traffic, regained the lead on Lap 15. Becker stole it back on the next lap, lost control in turns one and two, which prompted the caution flag and sent him to the rear of the field.

Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, a GLR series regular, chased Henry through the second half of the 30-lap feature. But it was too-little-too late when Suggs found great traction on the top of the race track and closed in on Henry to make it a close finish.

Coming from 20th place, Johnny Key winner Tommy Tarlton passed Brent Kaeding in the final laps to complete the top five.

Salinas' Ronnie Day swapped positions with veteran racer Bobby McMahan to finish third.

A field of 41 sprint cars initiated "B" and "C" main events. Winner of the "B" feature winner Kyle Hurst ran as high as fourth in the "A" main but finished seventh. Andy Greg, Ronnie Day, Mason Moore, Herman Klein and Ricky Wright were the six transfers to the "A" main.

Three transfers from the "C" main included winner Matt Barber, Eric Rossi and Eric Humphries.

Cupertino's Steve Osborne, Salinas' Keith Day, Santa Rosa's Brett Rollag and Jason Statler were heat race winners.

Red flags waved for Keith Day, who flipped his car exiting turn four on Lap 24 of the feature. Matt Barber and Corralitos' Jerry Bonnema flipped simultaneously on the start of the "B" main.

With one race remaining and a 102-point lead in the traditional wingless division, Benicia's Aton doesn't even have to show up to claim his title. San Jose's Mark Chaves Jr. ran strong all evening, finishing a close second to Aton and winning the first heat race. Salinas' Carter Train, after destroying his car the first race of the season, ran a strong second in the heat race and trophy dash to Aton, then capping off the night with a third-place finish in the feature.