7/9/2023
Redwood Acres Raceway
Miller Dominant In Firecracker 100 Victory
David Miller was in a class of his own Saturday night at Redwood Acres Raceway. The Coquille, Oregon veteran made the hard-earned victory look easy by winning the Harper Motors Firecracker 100 in near flag-to-flag fashion.
Only one other car finished on the lead lap of the race with Brandon Barnwell taking home second position. Even with a caution flag in the latter portion of the race, Miller’s margin of victory was nearly four seconds. Ryan Walters finished third followed by Luke Hall and Nick Ford. Miller was fastest in qualifying with a 15.600 time. Barnwell won the trophy dash while Miller won the heat race.
Brandon White had himself a night as he raced with the Upstate Bomber Series as well as the Legends division. White led Upstate qualifying with a time of 18.076. Terry Pittman was the trophy dash victor while the heat race victories went to White and Dustin Kuhl. White was virtually untouchable in the 50-lap feature as he took the flag-to-flag win over Jordan Krupa, Pittman, Kuhl and Doug Way.
White also set fast time in the Legends with a 17.765. Landon Green won the trophy dash while White took the heat victory. Just as he did in the Upstate Bomber feature, White dominated the 30-lap Legends main event by leading every lap enroute to the win. Green placed second followed by Tyler Krupa, Tyler Avelar and Kai Lovell.
Gary Klinetobe continued to be unstoppable in the mini stocks as he was fast time with an 18.669 qualifying lap. Brian Murrell, Jr. won the trophy dash in his first start of the season while Jarrett Mayo won the heat race in his new car. The 25-lap main saw thrilling racing at the front as Mayo did everything he could to hold off Klinetobe. Mayo held on until lap 23 when Klinetobe took the lead. Klinetobe held on to take the win over Mayo, Joe Bonomini, Murrell, Jr. and Cole Peterson.
Sadly, following the racing action, Martin Towns passed away. Martin was a beloved crew chief for the Redd Family Racing team but more importantly he was a dear friend to many at Redwood Acres Raceway. To say that he will be missed is truly an understatement. His impact and insight cannot be overstated and will never be replaced. Martin will never be forgotten.
Redwood Acres Raceway would like to send condolences to Martin’s partner, Lori Brown, the Towns family and all of Martin’s friends. We would also like to thank our staff and the volunteer fire and safety crew who were on the scene quickly to aide in saving Martin’s life.
Racing will return to Redwood Acres Raceway on Saturday July 29 with the Legends Of The Redwoods Shootout. The Legends feature will be an INEX sanctioned national event and track officials are expecting a very strong car count. For more, visit RacinTheAcres.com or find Redwood Acres Raceway on Facebook or Twitter @RacinTheAcres.
Submitted By: Matthew Sullivan