JAKE PIKE RULES IMCA MODIFIEDS AT BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA (March 30, 2025) – Pahrump, Nevada’s Jake Pike battled past Bakersfield’s Gavyn Manning over the final three laps to win Saturday’s IMCA Modified feature at Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. The second IMCA championship race of the new era in 2025 for dirt track racing in Bakersfield attracted nearly 120 race cars at the one-third mile dirt track.

Pike was one of six winners on the night. 22 IMCA Modifieds took the green flag for the 30-lap feature. Pike started eighth and advanced into the lead past Austin Keifer of Corona on lap 13. Keifer tracked him back down before a caution flew on lap 17. Pike held court on the subsequent restart. 11th-starting Gavyn Manning and 13th-starting B-Main transfer Ricky Childress, Jr. battled for second position. Childress retired from the race on lap 20, however.

A caution on lap 27 set up a three-lap shootout between Pike and Manning. Manning drove inside Pike and the pair raced side-by-side through turns three and four. Manning pushed up the track with his front wheels in the air, allowing Pike to drive around the outside to maintain the lead. Pike grabbed the $750 checkered flag followed by Manning for a second straight runner-up finish. Bakersfield’s Brad Pounds finished third followed by 17th starting Bryan Clark and Kiefer.

Tyler Bannister of Bakersfield is now two-for-two in 2025 IMCA Sport Mod competition at Bakersfield Speedway after topping Saturday’s 20-lap affair.

Bannister rocketed from eighth position into the lead by lap three. He then accumulated a straightaway advantage while his father Jason drove up to second as well. The large lead was nullified by a caution on lap 17. The lead grew again over the final eight laps of the feature, with Tyler Bannister winning by 2.333 seconds over Jason Bannister. Chris McKellar, Paul Brown, and Tate Loftis rounded out the top-five finishers.

The So-Cal Dwarf Cars led the pit area with 28 teams participating. Michael Tobiason of Ramona and Darren Brown of San Diego staged an outstanding duel for the win as they darted in and out of lapped traffic. Tobiason gained the lead on lap 10, lost it to Brown, then took it back in traffic on lap 16. Brown seized the top spot back on lap 23 with a three-wide move in lapped traffic. Brown scored the narrow win over Tobiason, Bakersfield’s J.D. Brown, Nick Velasquez of Camarillo, and Brandon Wiley of Santa Maria.

Cody Johnson won the H&S Body Works Hobby Stocks feature in come from behind fashion. Johnson spun from the lead on lap three, handing the lead to Markus Wankum. Wankum raced toe to toe with Ethan Johnson while Cody Johnson staged a rapid comeback. Aided by the choose cone, Cody Johnson put himself in the right positions to rocket back to the lead by lap ten. Wankum battled with opening night winner Nicholas Johnson during the season half of the 20-lap feature. Wankum then spun from third in turn two on lap 18 during a tight battle within the top-five. Cody Johnson, Madera’s Lance Hurst, Nicholas Johnson, Justin Tuey of Bakersfield, and Wayne Dotson were the top-five finishers.

Steven Johnson won the 20-lap IMCA Stock Car feature after an early race challenge from Wayne Dotson. Johnson drove to a five second gap over second place which was erased when opening night winner Austin VanHoff of Chowchilla spun. Johnson was on the charge again on the restart, building his lead back to 2.715 seconds at the stripe. Dotson settled for second over Jacob Van Essen in third, Raymond Noland in fourth, and a resurgent VanHoff in fifth.

Carson Conway of Bakersfield earned his first career American Stocks win in the 20-lap feature on Saturday night. Nicholas Johnson pursued Conway in lapped traffic before a collision on lap 11 with a lapped car caused Johnson to spin.

Sunnie Simkins challenged for the second position against Kyle Wood, but Simkins race ended when she came to a stop with mechanical woes in turn one on lap 16. Wood dove inside of Conway on the backstretch for a brief side-by-side drag race on the restart. Conway defended the lead successfully to earn the coveted win.

Wood finished second while Nicholas Johnson recovered to finish third. Miranda Scott and Cameron Campbell were the balance of the top-five.

Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway hosts the Ultimate Sprint Car Series for non-wing cars on April 12 along with Racesaver Sprints, Lightning Sprints, and much more.

For more information on Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, visit www.BakersfieldSpeedway.com or follow the speedway on social media. Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway is located at 13500 Raceway Blvd, near Enos Ln and Interstate 5 in Bakersfield.

Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway March 29, 2025 – Race Results

IMCA Modifieds A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 223-Jake Pike[8]; 2. 51G-Gavyn Manning[11]; 3. 15B-Brad Pounds[9]; 4. 51B-Bryan Clark[17]; 5. 3AC-Austin Kiefer[4]; 6. 22X-Jason Pike[6]; 7. 5W-Larry Wise[15]; 8. 161-Donald Houghton[1]; 9. 10N-Rob Sanders[19]; 10. 34-Wyatt Maxwell[22]; 11. C5-Wayne Coffman[20]; 12. 7-Katelynn Robertson[7]; 13. 15F-Markus Frazier[3]; 14. 16-Ricky Childress Jr[13]; 15. X-Robby Sawyer[12]; 16. 51T-Randy Thornell[5]; 17. 111-Logan Drake[14]; 18. 28T-Matt Kampfraat[16]; 19. 58D-Devon Reed[18]; 20. 7Z-Jim Reed[21]; 21. 61-Dalton Houghton[2]; 22. 2H-Bobby Hogge[10]

IMCA Sport Mods A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 151-Tyler Bannister[8]; 2. 51-Jason Bannister[7]; 3. 18C-Chris McKellar[10]; 4. 99B-Paul Brown[3]; 5. 62-Tate Loftis[6]; 6. 172-Tyler Irwin[1]; 7. 33-Cale Kanke[11]; 8. 15F-Matthew Frazier[5]; 9. 80D-Dylan Wilson[9]; 10. 71-Aaron Farrell[18]; 11. 40-Nick Spainhoward[16]; 12. 33B-Brandon Wiley[13]; 13. 17A-Adam Baker[12]; 14. 4M-Emali VanHoff[4]; 15. C50-Nick Coffman[14]; 16. 55K-Kegan Head[2]; 17. 33G-Gavin Espino[17]; 18. 72-Mason Conway[15]

H&S Body Works Hobby Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 26S-Cody Johnson[1]; 2. 10H-Lance Hurst[10]; 3. 1N-Nicholas Johnson[9]; 4. 99-Justin Tuey[12]; 5. 74-Wayne Dotson[7]; 6. 5-Drake Mead[17]; 7. 78-Dakota Brown[14]; 8. 20-Austin Swearengin[16]; 9. 86C-Clay Waters[13]; 10. C4-James Cornelius[4]; 11. 91C-Marcus Wankum[6]; 12. 14C-Colby Ward[2]; 13. 58T-Troy Thomas Jr[5]; 14. 4Q-Colby Quinton[11]; 15. 25B-Brooke Cimental[3]; 16. 79-Ryan Barnes[15]; 17. 11-Ethan Johnson[8]

Dwarf Cars Racing Optics A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 11-Darren Brown[4]; 2. 88-Michael Tobiason[2]; 3. 14-JD Brown[11]; 4. 41E-Nick Velasquez[7]; 5. 33-Brandon Wiley[1]; 6. 18E-Trent Morley[16]; 7. 81E-Dominic Maldonado[3]; 8. 36E-Daniel Peters[10]; 9. 5F-Robert Peters[12]; 10. 21X-Dewey Myers[6]; 11. 20R-Corey Furr[9]; 12. 89F-Damon Sheets[17]; 13. 3-Jimmy Miller[20]; 14. 33E-Matt Dickinson[14]; 15. 21JR-Troy Normile[18]; 16. 87E-Tommy Velasquez[23]; 17. 55F-Triston Peters[8]; 18. 97E-Tyler Fulcher[24]; 19. 65-John Harris[21]; 20. 28-Tony Pellegrino[22]; 21. 76E-Mike Normile[13]; 22. 88E-Jeff Brink[15]; 23. 99E-Kameron Cowles[5]; 24. (DNS) 00E-Joe Barket; 25. (DNS) 28E-Chad Normile; 26. (DNS) 4E-Ian Velasquez; 27. (DNS) 91E-Scotty Preast; 28. (DNS) 15E-Joe Bohard

IMCA Stock Cars A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 26-Steven Johnson[5]; 2. 174-Wayne Dotson[3]; 3. 54V-Jacob Van Essen[8]; 4. 5-Raymond Noland[6]; 5. 44-Austin VanHoff[7]; 6. 2B-Dan Bryant[1]; 7. 68-Billy Simkins[9]; 8. 4-Justin Schweitzer[4]; 9. 74M-Miranda Scott[2]

American Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Carson Conway[7]; 2. 4K-Kyle Wood[9]; 3. N2DEEP-Nicholas Johnson[10]; 4. 74M-Miranda Scott[8]; 5. 21X-Cameron Campbell[4]; 6. 12-Jamesie Goff[14]; 7. L787-Ronald Lookadoo[12]; 8. 17-Jon McKinley[15]; 9. 01-Colton Hay[5]; 10. 33-Robert Swearengin[17]; 11. 23-Josh Goforth[13]; 12. 68S-Sunnie Simkins[16]; 13. 69X-Tyler Weeks[1]; 14. 954-James Robinson[6]; 15. 30-Trace Menees[11]; 16. 31-Spencer Vasquez[3]; 17. J15-John Robinson[2]; 18. 22J-Andrew Johnston[18]