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By Tom Macht
Kyle Heckman, in the No. 11 car, tries to hold off
Darrell Hughes in the No. 28H car during Saturday's Modified race at
Bakersfield Speedway.
BY MIKE GRIFFITH Californian staff writer mgriffith@bakersfield.com
It's been a pretty good month so far for Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas.
Two weeks ago, he won $15,000 by winning a big Modified race at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville.
Two weeks ago, he won $15,000 by winning a big Modified race at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville.
On Friday night he started 15th and managed to get a win (and $1,500) in a Modified race at Bakersfield Speedway.
So when Hogge started on the front row at Bakersfield Speedway on Saturday night was there any doubt as to the outcome?
Hogge led the first lap and never looked back, leading all 40 laps on the third-mile clay oval to double-down at the 28th Budweiser West Coast Dirt Nationals.
The win was worth another $1,500 along with a jacket and guitar given to all feature winners on Saturday night.
"I think I need to learn to play it," Hogge said after being handed the guitar, before saying it would go on the wall.
He also noted his car was perfect.
"This thing has been on a rail all weekend," he said. "The track was real slick and smooth. I like it."
Larry Hood of Bakersfield started on the pole and ran second all night.
"I just couldn't catch him," Hood said. "Usually I'm not disappointed with second, but this type of show you're here to win."
Clay Daly finished third, followed by Jay Marks and Dylan Coffey.
The Late Model feature was not complete by press time.
For 20 laps, it was the Johnson-and-Johnson show in the Hobby Stock feature. Then Rich Denman crashed the party and it looked like he was about to steal the cake.
Only Steven Johnson was having none of that, and made a dramatic last-lap pass to come away with the victory in the 30-lap race.
Bakersfield brothers Chad and Steven Johnson battled for the lead for the first 20 laps with Chad leading all by four of those laps.
But a caution bunched the field after 15 laps and Denman -- who had been out of the picture -- was suddenly back in. While the two fought for position low on the track, Denman went up high and powered past them and into the lead on lap 22.
Chad Johnson moved into second on lap 26, and with a lap to go, put pressure on Denman. Johnson drove low into turn three on the final lap, came out of turn four with the lead and won by two car lengths.
"Once (Denman) got by me I was thinking what do I have to do to get better," Johnson said. "Once I got by Chad I focused on him.
"This track was awesome. It was just a fun race."
Chad Johnson finished third, followed by Lloyd Wren Jr. and James Cecil.
The Sport Mods were the first feature of the night and the last two track champions -- Darrell Hood and John Piker -- staged a side-by-side duel before Hood broke free with a couple of laps to go for the victory.
Hood, the 2012 track champ, charged into the lead at the start of the 30-lapper and was glued to the bottom of the track. Piker, the 2013 champ, ran the high groove and edged past Hood on lap four. The two then traded the lead three more times in the next few laps. Hood led from the 11th lap on, but sometimes just by inches.
"That was fun stuff right there," Hood said. "The man raced me clean the whole way."
For Piker, finishing as runner-up was bittersweet.
"To be honest, I should be happy for what we went through yesterday (knocking the rear end out of the car), but I'm not," he said. "I wanted to to win."
Kruz Griffith finished second, followed by David Childress and Jason Nation.
Lee Jensen's only challenge in the Street Stock feature was the track. And he mastered it.
Jensen led all but the first three laps in the 30-lap feature to win by nearly half a lap.
"It's awesome," Jensen said. "We've had a rough year and it seems like every time I win one of these we're good the next year."
Jensen has now won four Bud Nationals.
Levi Kiefer, who led the first three laps, finished second. Tim Randolph was third, Clay Daly fourth and Lonnie Welch fifth.
So when Hogge started on the front row at Bakersfield Speedway on Saturday night was there any doubt as to the outcome?
Hogge led the first lap and never looked back, leading all 40 laps on the third-mile clay oval to double-down at the 28th Budweiser West Coast Dirt Nationals.
The win was worth another $1,500 along with a jacket and guitar given to all feature winners on Saturday night.
"I think I need to learn to play it," Hogge said after being handed the guitar, before saying it would go on the wall.
He also noted his car was perfect.
"This thing has been on a rail all weekend," he said. "The track was real slick and smooth. I like it."
Larry Hood of Bakersfield started on the pole and ran second all night.
"I just couldn't catch him," Hood said. "Usually I'm not disappointed with second, but this type of show you're here to win."
Clay Daly finished third, followed by Jay Marks and Dylan Coffey.
The Late Model feature was not complete by press time.
For 20 laps, it was the Johnson-and-Johnson show in the Hobby Stock feature. Then Rich Denman crashed the party and it looked like he was about to steal the cake.
Only Steven Johnson was having none of that, and made a dramatic last-lap pass to come away with the victory in the 30-lap race.
Bakersfield brothers Chad and Steven Johnson battled for the lead for the first 20 laps with Chad leading all by four of those laps.
But a caution bunched the field after 15 laps and Denman -- who had been out of the picture -- was suddenly back in. While the two fought for position low on the track, Denman went up high and powered past them and into the lead on lap 22.
Chad Johnson moved into second on lap 26, and with a lap to go, put pressure on Denman. Johnson drove low into turn three on the final lap, came out of turn four with the lead and won by two car lengths.
"Once (Denman) got by me I was thinking what do I have to do to get better," Johnson said. "Once I got by Chad I focused on him.
"This track was awesome. It was just a fun race."
Chad Johnson finished third, followed by Lloyd Wren Jr. and James Cecil.
The Sport Mods were the first feature of the night and the last two track champions -- Darrell Hood and John Piker -- staged a side-by-side duel before Hood broke free with a couple of laps to go for the victory.
Hood, the 2012 track champ, charged into the lead at the start of the 30-lapper and was glued to the bottom of the track. Piker, the 2013 champ, ran the high groove and edged past Hood on lap four. The two then traded the lead three more times in the next few laps. Hood led from the 11th lap on, but sometimes just by inches.
"That was fun stuff right there," Hood said. "The man raced me clean the whole way."
For Piker, finishing as runner-up was bittersweet.
"To be honest, I should be happy for what we went through yesterday (knocking the rear end out of the car), but I'm not," he said. "I wanted to to win."
Kruz Griffith finished second, followed by David Childress and Jason Nation.
Lee Jensen's only challenge in the Street Stock feature was the track. And he mastered it.
Jensen led all but the first three laps in the 30-lap feature to win by nearly half a lap.
"It's awesome," Jensen said. "We've had a rough year and it seems like every time I win one of these we're good the next year."
Jensen has now won four Bud Nationals.
Levi Kiefer, who led the first three laps, finished second. Tim Randolph was third, Clay Daly fourth and Lonnie Welch fifth.
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