(Dave Grayson photo)

BLYTHE, Calif. -- Bylthe-California's DJ Lonie took advantage of an on track incident to win the street stock feature last Saturday night at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway. Then Andrew Phipps won the SuperClean Modified Racing Series 75 lap feature as well as the points championship later that evening. The speedway action was in front of a packed grandstand on a special night dedicated to the U.S. Border Patrol.

In the street stock feature race Danny Dill got off to a strong start and led the field under the initial green flag. But by lap six of the race reigning division champion Bryant Sutterfield worked his way into second and started eradicating the asphalt real estate between himself and the race leader. By lap 13 Sutterfield was glued to Dills's rear bumper and the battle was on.

Meanwhile DJ Lonie and Richard Selph were riding in third and fourth while watching and waiting for the on track altercation between the race leaders they were sure was coming. Almost on cue Sutterfield hit the race leader's bumper with four laps left in the race. The result was Dill's car doing a 360 spin through turn three which brought out the caution flag. Both Sutterfield and Dill were dispatched to the rear of the field for their involvement that brought out the yellow flag.

Now established as the new race leader, Lonie held off a last ditch effort from Selph and ran out the final laps for the win. Sutterfield and Dill finishes third and fourth while John Lowrence completed the top five. In the preliminary events Dill also won the division's trophy dash.

The SuperClean Modified Racing Series championship night was the big highlight of the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway evening. But the 75 lap feature, with a full field of 22 open wheel modified cars, somehow turned into a wreck festival. The nine yellow and four red flags in this race was highly uncharacteristic for this series.

Simi Valley-California's Andrew Phipps arrived in Blythe with a slim six point lead over Texas based driver James Cole. He left Blythe with his third win of the season and the $1,000 winner's check, a 14 point lead over his season rival and the series championship worth $3,500 in post season bonuses.

Jimmy Dickerson, Tim Morse, Doug Carpenter and Cole completed the top five. Earlier in the evening Riverside's Jim Mardis won the trophy along with the $100 bonus from Poly Dome Plastic Products. Escondido's Austin Barnes won the $100 Budweiser bonus for setting the fast time in the qualifying session after touring the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedways' quarter mile paved oval with a lap of 14.617 seconds.

The youngsters in the very small, but very fast, bandolero cars are a fan favorite at the local track. Tommy Kelly was the big winner in the division's feature race. The Lake Havasu City-Arizona driver won the feature race flag to flag meaning he led all of the laps.

Kyle Niquette, Breanna Nelson, Michelle Brachowski, Mathew Davey, Jeremiah Orozco and Darryn Keirns followed the race winner under the checkers. In the division's preliminary events Nelson won the trophy dash while Davey won the heat race.

17 factory stock cars took the green flag for their feature race of the evening with the capacity crowd on their feet cheering them on. Connor Sprawls made a race winning move with four laps left in the event to take the feature win. Roger Gilstrap and Kenny Foster followed him under the checkers. In the preliminary events Vince Hull won the trophy dash while Gilstrap and Foster won the heat races.

Greg Scheidecker, promoter of the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway, was very pleased to have the opportunity to honor the agents from the U.S. Border Patrol at his Speedway Saturday night. "we had around 100 people from the U.S. Border Patrol and their families. They presented the colors of the flag for us and brought their beautiful vehicle which was used as an official pace car. Having them at our speedway tonight was very special, they are a class act. With Blythe being so far south in the southern California area, and so close to the border, there's a lot of respect that goes out to these people. We also respect what they do and what they have to do. We were very proud to have them here," Scheidecker said.

Scheidecker was also very pleased with the turn out of racing fans especially in light that he was competing with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on live television that night as well as the California Angels, also on live TV, during the Major League Baseball post season play offs. "Isn't that amazing?" he said adding "NASCAR live on TV and the Angels, which I heard went into overtime tonight, and we had 95 percent capacity in our grandstands plus the packed crowd in our brand new tail gate area. I'm very happy with that. "

Racing returns to the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway, and its Winter Blast Racing Series, on October 31st where it will be Palo Verde College Night as well as a celebration of Halloween for the young fans. The Gene Price Motorsports Late Model River Series, the street stocks and the factory stocks will provide the action that night.