(Hanford, CA)- A great night of racing on Friday night a the Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, CA culminated with familiar faces finding victory lane as Steven Tiner, Cody Laney, Nick Spainhoward, and Steven Johnson each picking up wins in their respective divisions.
In the first of six Battle For the Milk Can events in the King of Kings Winged 360 series, it was déjà vu of the season opening event two weeks ago as Steven Tiner and Blake Robertson again battled for the top spot.
From the front row, Robertson would mash the throttle and set a torrid pace in clean air as race one winner, Steven Tiner began working his way forward from his second row starting position.
As Tiner worked his way by Craig Stidham and Gio Scelzi, he began to chase down Robertson who had built up over a second lead on a very well prepared Keller Auto Speedway surface. Robertson’s sizeable lead would see him get into traffic, and as he went to work, Tiner was able to close up the gap and make a bid for the lead.
With just over 10-laps to go in the race, Tiner would make a big time move in lapped traffic that would propel him to the lead, which he would never relinquish as he quickly distanced himself from the rest of the field en route to his second consecutive win at the Keller Auto Speedway.
Behind the leader, Stidham and Mitchell Faccinto would also make some moves in traffic as they worked into the second and third positions, as Scelzi was able to overtake Robertson for the fourth spot late in the race, as Robertson rounded out the Top-Five.
Robertson would get the night started off by setting fast time during qualifying time trials, as Scelzi and Steven Kent would each win heat races.
The IMCA Mods would put on a great show up front as Cody Laney and Paul Stone went toe-to-toe for the duration of the 20-lap A Main event. For much of the race it was Stone leading the way as Laney ran in his wake but it looked as if Stone would not be denied on this night.
In the race’s waning laps, Stone would dive low on the 3/8 mile track and Laney would commit to the high groove, and it would pay off for him as he was able to drive around Stone to take over the top spot as he went on to capture the win.
Stone would hang on to finish second as Roger Holder, Ethan Dotson, and Ricky Childress would round out the Top-Five.
Nick Spainhoward continues to be the man to beat in the IMCA Sport Mod division, but on Friday night he had his work cut out for him. After two dominating wins led him into Friday’s event, Spainhoward would battle Gary Dutton during an action pack feature event.
The two driver would run side by side for much of the night as Rick Diaz and Bryon Holder sat in the cat birds seat just behind the lead duo. Just as Laney did in the IMCA Mod feature, Spainhoward would also make the high side of the speedway work to his advantage as he cleared Dutton and picked up yet another IMCA Sport Mod feature event win.
Dutton would finish second as Diaz, Holder, and Matt Mayo also tallied Top-Five finishes.
Steven Johnson was the man to beat in the 20-lap Stock Car feature event as he would turn in a dominating performance that saw him win by over 2.5 seconds. Tory Patee would finish in the second spot, Mike Hill would finish third, Alan Mendes fourth, and Loren DeArmond would round out the Top-Five.
ON TAP- The Keller Auto Speedway will take this weekend off before coming back with another action packed night of racing on May 13th with the second installment of the Battle For The Milk Can with the King of Kings Winged 360’s, as well as the IMCA Mods and IMCA Sport Mods.
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.
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