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WATSONVILLE -- Round 3 of the Western States Dwarf Car Regional Championship and the two-day Micro 600 National event capped off the 2009 season at Ocean Speedway Friday and Saturday nights.
Gilroy's Gilbert Toste, 2009 Bay Area Dwarf Car Association champion, won the pro division 30-lap main event Saturday night, assuring him of a top-three finish in the Western States Regional standings.
Toste was relieved to get the win, given his car's performance toward the end.
"Two laps from the end, the left front wheel started pulling to the left under braking, and I started getting really nervous wondering what the problem was," he said. "Sparks were really flying off the left front wheel on the final lap. Just after crossing the finish line, the left front spindle broke into two pieces and forced me to a sudden stop in the first turn."
Gene Pires Jr. of Los Banos fared well, finishing second in Friday and Saturday's pro feature, along with winning the pro division trophy dash Saturday night.
Leading the first 11 laps in both features, Pires lost to Los Gatos' John Wear on Friday by a little more than a second and by more than two seconds to Toste on Saturday.
After finishing third in the feature, San Jose's Shawn Jones was caught by surprise at Toste's sudden stop. Jones flipped upside down behind Toste after the checkered flag by climbing the wheel of another car.
Jones, 2009 rookie of the year winner in BAD, finished
Toste had to come from the rear of the field in Friday night's feature, finishing fourth. He was cited and sent to the rear for being involved in an early race incident.
"The whole weekend was a real success for Western States -- we had the highest car count of any regional this year," said Toste.
The Western States region has approximately 12 independent clubs located within California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. They race primarily on dirt tracks ranging from a quarter to half mile in length.
Encompassing a nostalgic look of early stock cars, the Dwarf Cars are scaled versions of the 1928-1948 vintage American coupes, sedans and trucks.
They are powered by stock motorcycle engines of any make with a maximum size of 1,250 cubic centimeters. The tubular-framed metal bodied race cars have a minimum weight of 1,000 pounds and use 15-inch wheels, with a maximum tire width of eight inches.
The Western States Series is made of three classes -- the pros are highly experienced veterans and the fastest class in the series; the sportsman division is for the newer rookie drivers and the Veteran division is a senior class for drivers 45 years and older.
The sportsman division was dominated by San Jose's Josh Pires, winning both Friday and Saturday night features. Second on both nights was Dean Pires with San Jose's Greg Penny third on Saturday and Nevada's Race Wilson finishing third Friday. Penney won the Sportsman trophy dash.
Kelly Gutches of White City, Ore. swept Saturday night's show with wins in the feature and the trophy dash. Gutches was pre-qualified for Saturday's feature with a third-place finish in Friday's feature.
Scott Dahlgren of Ballico won Friday's veteran feature along with the first heat race. Salinas' Billy Martinez finished second and won the second heat race on Friday. He finished behind Dahlgren Saturday for third in the veteran feature.
Temecula's Gary Winter won a hard-fought battle over Hollister's Thomas Bray in Saturday night's Micro 600 feature. He also won Saturday's trophy dash. His visit to Watsonville in May netted him a feature win.
Christine Root of Fair Oaks won her second consecutive feature win of the year in the Micro on Friday, which was her first win in a Micro National event.
The 2009 Micro 600 track champion, Salinas' Orval Zane Burke Jr., finished second to Root on Friday and third behind Bray on Saturday night. Root broke a right rear shock mount, spoiling her attempt for three consecutive wins. Burke also won his forth trophy dash of the year on Friday.
