Race Recap

 

Photo Above: 2011 Evolution Chassis At Sawyer Shop

SAWYER DEBUTS NEW CAR AT BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY

July 2, 2011

Robby Sawyer took to the track at Bakersfield Speedway Saturday night sporting a new color scheme on his new 2011 Evolution Chassis. Sawyer had been sitting out a few races making his last run at Santa Maria on Memorial Weekend. Sawyer ordered a new chassis after the SMS race from the Missouri Chassis builder, Evolution. While the car was being built Robby and his dad sat down and developed a strategy for picking up the car. Kelly drove back to the midwest shop to pick up the new car accompanied by Robby's Uncle Mike.

Once the car arrived at the Sawyer shop the work begin to finish the car. It was a team effort including the help of friends and sponsors to get the car ready for the Fourth of July weekend race at the Bakersfield Speedway. The team would like to thank the Nations family, Bryan Brown, Bruce Shirley, Little Darlin's Child Care, J & J Cleanup Service, and the crew Jason, Corey, Jared, and Chris for all their help.

The Bakersfield Speedway saw a packed house of race fans Saturday night for the Annual Fourth of July Race and Fireworks Show. The Modified main event had twenty-two cars start the A Feature main. Sawyer's #198 started in the second row outside and by lap one moved into third and lap two moved into second behind the #4 of Joey Yantis. The next eight laps Sawyer and Yantis ran nose to tail but on lap ten Sawyer made a move to pass Yantis coming out of turn four. A yellow was thrown because of a spin on lap 10 and Sawyer lead the pack at the restart on the green flag. Off the restart Sawyer began to pull away from the rest of the field by a full straight away lead. When the taste of victory seemed close and with six laps to go Sawyer's car just quit on the back stretch coming out of turn two. It was later found the cause was an ignition failure. Yantis went onto winning the main followed by Dutton, Stanford, Schweitzer, and Reeves making up the top five. [Watch The Video of the Main Event]

The car ran great and the new chassis is awesome it is just unfortuante for the electrical problem. The team plans on racing Santa Maria Speedway on July 16th.

Inside the numbers 198 are a screen print of the names of Robby's wife and daughters (Ren, Colbie and Macen).

Photo Above - Tulare, CA - April 30, 2011

SAWYER RACING RECAP - April 30, 2011 Read Story>

SAWYER TAKES FIRST AT GIANT CHEVROLET SPEEDWAY

APRIL 23, 2011

Robby Sawyer won the IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Giant Chevrolet Speedway (formerly known as Kings Speedway) in Hanford, California.

Sawyer was coming off a fifth place finish from the previous weekend at Bakersfield Speedway. At the Bakersfield track Sawyer had been running second and could see a victory close when he realized during a yellow on lap twenty the car had a flat tire. Sawyer made a quick trip to the pits for a tire change and returned to the track before the green flag fell. In the final five laps he was flying and pulled out a fifth place finish.

Flat tires have been an issue the last couple of weeks. On April 2nd at Bakersfield Speedway Sawyer and another car got together and Sawyer had to pit with a flat. That night Sawyer finished ninth in the main event.

Saturday nights feature win in Hanford was long overdue for the #198 Modified. Sawyer has been running great this season and looks forward to racing at the Tulare Thunderbowl on Saturday April 30th. We encourage everyone to come out and support the #198 Modified.
SAWYER FINISHES SECOND IN SEASON OPENER ATBAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY - March 5, 2011

There was a packed house of race fans Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. Robby Sawyer started the 25 lap IMCA Main event in the 12th position. After a couple of early yellows Robby had already worked his way up to third position by lap seven, then one of the drivers decided he wanted the same part of the track as Robby and sent#198 into a spin coming out of turn four. The crash brought out the yellow flag and Sawyer had to pit because of a flat tire. Sawyer pulled out onto the track before the green fell again and was now at the back of the pack. Sawyer never looked back and continued to move the #198 modified high and low around the track. A caution was thrown with one lap to go because of a crash and Sawyer was now sitting in second place.The restart led to a one lap shoot out and Larry Wise took the win with Sawyer finishing second. Sawyer was fast all night and it was a great night of racing for the team. Sawyer plans to race again next Saturday night March 12th at Bakersfield Speedway.

Saturday March 12th Race - No story for this race date. Robby finished 8th. You can watch the video at

http://www.golivestream.tv/channels/realfast.tv/shows/BAKERSFIELD_SPEEDWAY_IMCA_MAIN_EVENT_3-12-11/

www.realfast.tv has a post race interview with Robby.

In the pits after the race.

 

Photo above: Robby and Colbie with racecar outside of raceshop.

Previous News:

DUEL IN THE DESERT - Las Vegas, Nevada
WATCH LAS Vegas Video - Heat Race Win
Duel In The Desert Results: Thursday Race - Friday Race - Saturday Race

SAWYER FINISHES SECOND AT GEORGE STEITZ MEMORIAL
Watch the Race Video.

October 9 & 10, 2010

SAWYER FINISHES FOURTH AT BUDWEISER NATIONALS

The twenty fifth running of the Budweiser Nationals had 37 Modified's show up to compete. The two day show consisted of heat races and a qualifying race for main event position on Friday night, then Saturday night were the C, B, and A main events.

Heat race position was determined by a pill draw in which Sawyer had a bad draw that placed him in the second to last row of his heat race. Only the top three would transfer to the A Main Event scheduled for Sat night. Sawyer had worked his way up to fourth and then in the final lap on the final corner he made a great inside pass and finished third place. The third place finish gave him the transfer position to Saturday night's A main.

While the remaining cars would pack it up and wait to qualify tomorrow night in the B and C mains, the top twelve would now run a twelve lap shootout to determine starting position for the A main. Four laps into the qualifier Sawyer broke suspension parts on the car and pulled it into the infield. This now meant he would start twelfth in tomorrow nights A main.

Saturday Night

The forty lap A main event had a 22 car starting field. It was a caution free race that saw multiple cars get lapped by the leaders. On lap 28 the first yellow flag was thrown and now only eight cars on the lead lap. Sawyer had now worked his way through traffic up to seventh but lapped cars were between him and the leaders. Then on lap 32 another yellow was thrown that involved some of the lead cars this now put Sawyer up to 4th position. The final eight laps went caution free and Sawyer had to deal with lap traffic between him in the leaders. When the checkered fell it was #2H Bobby Hogge IV,#16B Randy Brown, #7 Dustin Dittman, #98 Robby Sawyer, #222 Larry Hood rounding up the top five finishers.

It was a great night of racing for the team, the Budweiser Nationals has always been a very competitive race and Sawyer drove great and a smart race.

Congratulations to Robby for another top five in the Evolution Chassis! Sawyer now has 11 top five finishes out of 16 race finishes in the IMCA Modified Division.

Robby would also like to thank those who helped in the pits, Jason Nations, Bruce Sherley, Bryan Brown and his dad, Kelly Sawyer.

The team would also like to thank Ryan Porter for letting us borrow a transmission to run Saturday night's race.

The team plans to race again in two weeks at the George Steitz Memorial to be held at Bakersfield Speedway.

A Main Results
1. #2H Bobby Hogge IV
2. #16B Randy Brown
3. #7 Dustin Dittman
4. #98 Robby Sawyer
5. #222 Larry Hood
6. #14P Ryan Porter
7. #98A Alex Stanford
8. #15B Brad Pounds
9. #4x Sean Minor
10. #96 Steve Smothermon
11. #9x Chett Reeves
12. #5w Larry Wise
13. #32 Tina McGowan
14. #97 Jay Marks
15. #28 Darrell Hughes II
16. #55 Brian Cass
17. #67H Greg Mancebo
18. #69m Mike Villanueva
19. #07t Randy Thornell
20. #4 Joey Yantis
21. #11x Mike Johnson
22. #2j Justin Schweitzer

SAWYER FINISHES SIXTH AT FALL SHOOT OUT - October 2, 2010

Thirty one cars showed up to compete in the Fall Shoot Out at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.

There were four heats with the top four transferring to the A main, the remainder of the cars were split into two B mains.

The thirty lap main event saw 22 cars starting, Sawyer started in the fourth row outside. Sawyer fell back to 11th a few laps into the race after missing the setup....but seven cautions kept the pack tight in compeition. In the final six laps Sawyer was able to pick up positions and was looking strong. When the checkered fell Sawyer finished sixth for the night. If you would like to watch the video of the race go to http://www.golivestream.tv/channels/realfast.tv/shows/THE_THUNDERBOWL_IMCA_MAIN_EVENT_10-2-10/

 

SAWYER FINISHES FOURTH IN MAIN EVENT - September 25, 2010

Twenty cars showed up Saturday night to compete in the IMCA Modified Main Event.

Nineteen cars started the 25 lap Modified main event. Sawyer started in the sixth starting position after finishing second in his heat race. A lap one accident that caused cars scrambling for position in turns one and two lead to a complete restart of the field.

When the green flag fell again Tina McGowan got crossed up coming out of turn two and flipped her car on the back stretch. The accidents involved several cars scrambling to miss the accident as a red flag was thrown. Sawyer had to pit because of getting caught in the action.

When the cars took position again for another restart Sawyer went to the back of the field because of pitting with a flat tire. Sawyer now in 18th was in the last row and when the green fell it was not long before he started passing cars. Another yellow was thrown in three laps and by that time Sawyer had moved up to fifteenth. The remainder of the main went caution free. Sawyer was flying, he was extremely fast and by the time the checkered fell he had caught the leaders and pulled off a well deserved fourth place finish.

We needed a yellow, stated Robby, a yellow would have put us in position. Sawyer plans to take the coming weekend off but will race again in Bakersfield for the two day show of the Budweiser Nationals.

Final Results are listed below.

A Main
1. #15B Brad Pounds
2. #11 Kyle Heckman
3. #11x Mike Johnson
4. #98 Robby Sawyer
5. #9x Chett Reeves
6. #38 Nick Sylvester
7. #2j Justin Schweitzer
8. #07x Troy Morris Jr
9. #21 Austin Rodarte
10. #17n Steve Noland
11. #5w Larry Wise
12. #13B Barry Bradshaw
13. #12L David Lord
14. #4 Joey Yantis
15. #24H Roger Holder
16. #20 Aaron Rodarte
17. #97 Jay Marks
18. #44 Mike Bennett
19. #32 Tina McGowan
DNS #29x Scott Gatson

SAWYER WINS MAIN EVENT - September 18, 2010

It was a great night of racing for the Sawyer Racing Team as after several top fives in the last few weeks the team took home it's first main event win Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. Robby Sawyer has been doing his homework. The assignment started several weeks ago when he won the B main at Antioch Speedway then went onto have mechancial problems in the A main event. The West Coast Nationals drew as many as 49 cars with some coming from as far as New Mexico. Then Sunday in Merced Robby finished second to Bobby Hogue a modified champion and competior in the dirt circuit in California.

Then wanting to see what the car could do, him and his dad loaded up last week and drove to USA Raceway in Tuscon Arizona to compete at a UMP race at the almost halfmile dirt track, they knew going in they were at a disadvantage because the IMCA rules are much different than the UMP rules (lighter cars, more motors, etc). Sawyer took home a fifth place finish with new knowledge gained from the experience.

At Bakersfield Saturday night, Eleven cars started the twenty-five lap main event. Sawyer looked strong in the main event and quickly moved up into the second position. Racing side-by-side with former go-kart competitor Kyle Heckman, Sawyer took over the lead on lap thirteen when Heckman pit because of mechanical problems.

Robby Sawyer lead the next twelve laps and was never challenged. When the checked fell it was Sawyer, Pounds, Jay Marks, Nick Sylvester and Chett Reeves making up the top five finishers.

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[Photos L-R: Mike Mosier interviews Robby Sawyer. Robby's wife Ren Sawyer and daughter Colbie Paige watch the interview in Victory Circle].

Video of Saturday night's race compliments of RealFast.TV.
Sawyer Plans to race Bakersfield Speedway again next Saturday night September 25, 2010.

SAWYER FINISHES FIFTH - USA Raceway, Tuscon, Arizona

September 11, 2010 Sawyer Racing drove to Tuscon, Arizona to race a UMP race on Saturday 9/11/2010.
Twenty-five cars showed up for the Saturday night show. Robby started sixth in the third heat to finish third. The finish gave him a third place starting position in the main that was determined by a pill redraw. The main event saw its first caution on lap four and the second caution was thrown at lap twenty at which Sawyer was now running fifth.

Sawyer finished the 25 lap UMP Modified race in fifth when the checkered fell. See final results below. The UMP Modifed race was a great experience for the team and they were pleased to have a top five finish. We would like to thank the track for their hospitality and having the pits open early on Saturday.

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown
1 1 50 Robert Adams Tucson , Az
2 9 3D Chad Ayers Tucson , Az
3 5 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az
4 6 G17 Fito Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm
5 3 98 Robby Sawyer Bakersfield, Ca
6 10 9 Jimmy Ray Las Cruces, Nm
7 11 55 Mike Brandon Tucson , Az
8 2 0 Jake O Neil Tucson , Az
9 12 10S Rick Spencer Tucson , Az
10 20 20 Mark Harrison Coolidge , Az
11 13 102 Greg Jenkins -
12 7 00 Dusty Gauthier Tucson , Az
13 16 74 Carl Trimmer Tucson , Az
14 25 L8 Brian Schultz -
15 15 1AZ Bob Sanders -
16 21 84 Troy Hoey Tucson , Az
17 19 10 Joe Lackey -
18 17 11 Rich Shumate Chandler , Az
19 14 66 Rick Wood Tucson , Az
20 18 23J Greg Jelvik Tucson , Az
21 22 111 Bumper Jones -
22 24 J17 Jacob Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm
23 8 06 Cody Alvarez Vail , Az
24 4 G3 Travis Hooper Tucson , Az

Robby will race this coming weekend at Bakersfield Speedway, Sept. 18th. It will be good to be at the home track and running local and the team looks forward to Saturday nite!!

SAWYER FINISHES SECOND - UMP DIRTCar West Coast Nationals

August 28 - 29, 2010 - Antioch & Merced

August 27 – 28, 2010 – On Saturday and Sunday nights, Oval Motorsports presented the inaugural UMP DIRTCar West Coast Nationals. The event offered open wheel Modified drivers a chance to compete at two tracks in two nights, with each event paying $3,500 to the winner. To spice things up a bit, John Soares of Oval Motorsports threw out a $1,000 bonus to any driver who could claim both wins.

Saturday – Antioch Speedway

The event started on a cool and windy night at Antioch Speedway. The special event got started with 48 cars signed in at Antioch. After running a set of six heat races, a second set of heats was run to complete the qualifying stage of the event. After the heats, 10 drivers had locked themselves into the feature, with the remainder all being divided into three B Mains. Only the top 3 drivers from each B would transfer to the A to set the field for the feature event of the night.

Robby Sawyer finished 2nd in the first round of heats and 4th in the second round of heats. After missing the qualifying position to the A main by one position he went onto start on the pole of the B main. Sawyer not only won the B main but broke the track record at Antioch Speedway. The B main win gave Sawyer a 12th place starting position in the A main. Sawyer ran strong all night but with nine laps to go broke a lower right front ball joint sending him to the pits. Bobby Hogge IV, from Salinas, California went onto win the main event.

Sunday – Merced Speedway

The second show moved 100 miles to the southeast of Antioch to the Merced Speedway. The tight ¼ mile clay oval was ready to host round #2. Many drivers who competed at Antioch were unable to make it for the second straight night, as mechanical woes prevented them from getting repairs made in time. That did not stop a huge crowd filling the stands ready to watch 35 Modifieds compete for them. A similar format was used, with two sets of 5 heats being ran to determine the qualifying drivers. Two B Mains were ran, with 4 cars transferring to the feature, making up an 18 car field.

Robby Sawyer finished 1st in the first round of heats and 2nd place in the second round of heats. The one-two finish gave him an automatic transfer to the A main feature. Robby started 5th in the 35 lap A main.

With passing being a tough challenge on the small track, the top 5 cars were the 5 cars that had started in the top 5 positions. Shannon lead over Stanford, Hogge, Porter and Sawyer. Over the next few laps, the action would be slowed with several more cautions, either for stalled cars or debris. After a lap 5 restart, the racing resumed, Stanford looked to get under Shannon for the lead. He got his car partially under Shannon in turn 2 and exited trying to take over the lead. Shannon and Stanford made contact, which sent Stanford further towards the inside of the track. Hogge, who was also trying to get into the battle for the lead, was right below Stanford, which resulted in contact between them. As Hogge backed off, trying to avoid a wreck, Stanford spun to the infield. The caution was out yet again but this time Stanford would have to rejoin the race from the rear.

When the green fell again it was Shannon, Hogge, Porter, Sawyer and Foulger.
On lap 20, as Shannon entered turn 3, his car suddenly stalled and brought out a caution. The runnning order was now Hogge , Porter, Sawyer, and Foulgers. Under the same caution, second running Porter’s car began to make popping noises and he exited the track.

Hogge now had to hold off Sawyer, Foulger, Paul Stone and Busby. When the racing resumed, the caution flag would slow the action two more times. When the checkered fell it was Hogge, Sawyer, Stone, Foulger and Ray making up the top five.

Saturday night we were fast but just had some bad luck, Sunday night we were prepared and Robby did a great job of driving, stated Kelly Sawyer. It was a great night of racing for the #98 team!!

Photos gallery
Note- Portions of this story were taken from www.latemodelracer.com

 

SAWYER FINISHES SECOND - August 14, 2010 Bakersfield Speedway

Sixteen Modifieds showed up at Bakersfield Speedway Satuday night to race the IMCA Modified Divison.

Sawyer ran the second heat of the evening and went onto win the heat. The heat win gave Sawyer a second row starting position in the twenty-five lap main event. Sawyer moved into second place shortly after the green fell and pulled in the leader #38 of Nick Sylvester. After several yellows the running order was Sylvester, Sawyer, and Pounds. On lap sixteen Sylvester slipped off the bottom groove and both Sawyer and Pounds scrambled to make a move to pass, but Pounds moved into first and Sawyer fell back to third, then two laps later Sawyer got around Sylvester coming out of turn four. Sawyer pulled in Pounds and both drivers ran nose to tail running the low groove. A yellow on lap twenty-one put the competition close again but when the checkered fell it was Pounds, Sawyer, and Hood making up the top three.

 

SAWYER FINISHES SECOND At Final Track of Weekend

NOR CAL Weekend - Chico, Marysville, Merced - July 30, 31 & August 1, 2010

The Annual NOR CAL weekend had Sawyer Racing competing at three tracks in Northern California. Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Marysville Raceway Park in Marysville, and Merced Speedway. The three day show had both its ups and downs but wrapped up on Sunday night with Robby Sawyer taking a Second place finish in the main event behind the feature winner of Salinas driver Bobby Hogge IV.

Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway Sawyer looked strong in his heat race as he went onto win the race with over a straight of way lead. In the twenty lap main Sawyer again looked strong but the team was fighting motor heating problems early in the night. With only six laps to go Sawyer was running second place when a yellow flag came out because of a car spinning. It was during the yellow Sawyer decided to pit because of the heating problem. Duane Cleveland went onto win the A main Modified feature event. “It is a 50/50 chance of staying out there and losing a motor or finishing, so I choose to save the equipment and pull it to the pits,” stated Sawyer.

Saturday morning Robby left early by himself and towed his hauler over to Marysville. A local racer and competitor ....Randy McDaniels, had offered to help and let Sawyer use of his shop. Both McDaniels and Sawyer worked on the car taking the motor apart and breaking it down looking for the heating problem. Process of elimination made them decide to replace the radiator as this seemed to be causing the heating problem. At this point everything had to be eliminated, down to looking at the possibility of a false gadge reading. Robby and his dad would once again like to thank the McDaniels Family for all their help and hospitality. They opened up their shop to us and anytime they come south to Bakerfield we would do the same, the family was awesome. When Saturday evening came around Sawyer and McDaniels towed their cars to Marysville Speedway to compete against each other in the modified division. The twenty lap main had ten cars start and with two laps to go Sawyer was running fourth and got a flat tire. McDaniels went onto win the feature event.

On Sunday morning in Rooseville at Pat Sawyers house (Robby’s Uncle), Robby and Kelly worked on car making repairs to the car which included body work and welding the shock mount. Once all the repairs were completed they loaded the car and headed to Merced Speedway. The newly revamped track drew a total of nineteen modifieds from various cities in California. (I also must add that I was most impressed with the track that they are handicap accessible as they even have an elevator to the grandstands for those in wheel chairs...very cool!). Before the racing began Kelly and Robby noticed problems with the break caliper and other break problems and began to work and fix the problem before the heat race. Sawyer ran the first heat and went onto win the heat which gave him a front row starting position in the main event. Salinas driver Bobby Hogge IV, #2 modified, won the second heat and the #69 of Mike Villa Nueva won the third heat. All three drivers dominated their heat races. The twenty lap main event had Sawyer on the pole with Hogge on the outside and Mike Villa Nueva in the third spot. When the checkered fell it was Hogge, Sawyer, and Villa Nueva. Great clean racing by all three drivers and all three drivers had to stay on thier game! Read story at http://www.racemerced.com/

Sawyer concluded the evening by giving his trophy away to a junior race fan. “The fans is what this is all about and I remember as a kid how exciting it was to meet the drivers,” stated Robby.

Sawyer plans to race again in two weeks at Bakersfield Speedway.

[VIEW PHOTOS]

SAWYER FINISHES THIRD - Bakersfield Speedway July 24, 2010

In a sparse populated grandstands and a low car count for the modified division, only 12 cars showed up to race the 25 lap main event on Saturday night. Sawyer won his heat race and then went onto transfer to a second row starting position for the A Main Event. On lap ten Sawyer moved to the inside to take over the first position but cars shuffled and the 38 of Sylvester found and opening and there was a scramble for first, Sawyer fell to second and then Pounds got by Sawyer on the final laps sending Sawyer to third. It was a good race without mechanical problems for the team. Close racing and excitement led to Sawyer taking a third place finish when the checkered fell. "We got third tonight and I will take it," said Sawyer in a post race interview. Sawyer Plans to compete in the Annual Northern Cal Race Weekend at three different tracks. View photos of RACE

 

SAWYER DNFS - AT Santa Maria Speedway July 17, 2010

 

[photo above: Robby Sawyer takes a moment to prepare for the race.]

Thirty-two cars showed up for the race at SMS on July 17th. The cool weather brought a house full of race fans to the grandstands with many of them traveling from the San Joaquin Valley to get out of the 100 plus heat.

Sawyer finished fourth in his heat which gave him a starting position in the A main. The night saw several mechanical problems for the team. The first problem was found after the qualifying heat race when a broken rocker arm was found. After repairs to the motor the team then confronted other issues as they had suspension issues. Changes in the shocks and springs and making other adjustments to the car were done before the main event.

 

But a black cloud fell upon the team as when Sawyer took his first lap in the main it was evident something was wrong because the car was jumping around the track, it appeared to be a front suspension issue. Sawyer continued to move up positions but with six laps to go the shock on the upper front right not only snapped but also broke the tie rod. This resulted in Sawyer needing a tow into his pits by the nights end.

 

 

 

Sawyer plans on making the repairs and racing again next weekend at Bakersfield Speedway.

 

SAWYER FINISHES FIFTH - Bakersfield Speedway - July 3, 2010

Twenty-two cars showed up before a pack house in the grandstands. The nights event included not only a big night of racing but the only Fireworks show in Bakersfield.

Sawyer started in the 20th position of the main event and ran an awesome race despite he found a broken right front shock just minutes before pulling onto the track for the main event. Sawyer was able to avoid multiple cautions and did some great driving working his way to the front. Sawyer finished fifth in the evenings main event.

SAWYER DNF'S AT Antioch Speedway - June 19, 2010

Fifty-eight modifieds showed up for the $5,000 to win race in Antioch, Ca. The main event would have only eighteen modified drivers starting the race. Qualifying position for the main was determined on a points scale where six heats were ran and then a reverse order of starting position would follow for another six heats. The reverse order of heats would put all drivers on an equal playing field and give everyone the opportunity to earn finishing points and passing points.

The remainder of the modifieds that did not qualify for the A main would then be placed into three B mains, the top three from each B main would transfer to the 50 lap feature.

Sawyer had multiple problems with the car all evening as Lady luck was no where to be found when it came to the #98.

 

 

 

The evening began with what looked promising for a transfer as Sawyer looked fast and finished second to Watsonville's Bobby Hoggue III in the first heat race. However, problems began in the second round of heat races when Sawyer's #98 broke a tie rod just four laps from the finish. As a result, the heat finish now placed Sawyer in the first of the B mains. Sawyer pulled onto the track to line of for the B main when more problems appeared, sparks were coming off the back of his car. Officials then sent Sawyer to the pits before the green flag fell because of the sparks.

 

Once in the pits it was determined the battery had shifted and was shorting out. Since Sawyer never took the green on the first B main the officials allowed him to start the second B main in the back of the field.

Once again the dark cloud of bad luck fell over the #98 when he got a flat tire during the B main.

To sum it up the evening conisisted of a broken tie-rod, battery problems, and a flat tire, all which ended an evening of frustation for the race team. Sawyer plans to race again on July 4th at Bakersfield Speedway, we are hoping lady luck is in the pits with our team come race night!!

 

 

 

 

 

SAWYER FINISHES SEVENTH - SMS Memorial Weekend Show - May 29th & 30th

The two day race show at Santa Maria Speedway had over 42 plus modified's for both nights of racing. On Saturday Robby Sawyer started in the fourth heat race of the evening and went onto win the race that would secure his transfer to the A main. The thirty-lap Main Event started 22 modified's. Sawyer looked strong all night and worked his way up to fourth when on lap 11 a caution fell. On the restart a chain reaction of events had Sawyers #98 modified and #15 hook together front bumper to Robby's rear bumper. The incident had Sawyer lose his rear bumper and pull into the pits during the yellow flag. After several attempts of the crew trying to secure the back bumper (duct tape) speedway officials determined the car was unsafe to race. IMCA rules state that the car must have a rear bumper to prevent the fuel cell from being exposed. Sawyer ended up with an 18th place finish. It's unfortunate this happened as Sawyer was running so strong tonight.

Sunday's race started with a new show and drivers attempting to qualify again for the main event through heat races. Competition was tough all weekend in the modified division. Sawyer transferred again to the main event by finishing fourth place in his heat race. The remainder of the cars ran two B main events and the top three would transfer to the main event. Mechanical problems started early for Sawyer's #98 when on lap one the right front shock broke and he lost his breaks as a result of a scramble of cars getting together in turns one and two. Sawyer continued to race without brakes but on lap 12 spun between turns three and four bringing out a yellow flag, the spin sent Sawyer to the back of the pack. On the restart Sawyer began to work his way back up to the front. The next nine laps saw several more yellows and race officials called the race and through a yellow/checkered on lap twenty making the main short. As of this post we have not seen the final results but Robby either finished seventh or eighth. Sawyer Racing will post the finish once we know the final results.

SAWYER FINISHES FIFTH - Santa Maria Speedway - Friday April 30th & May 1, 2010

The Papich Construction IMCA Modified's competed with points races on both Friday and Saturday nights. Sawyer got into an accident on Friday night on the second lap of the A main. Sawyer was able to make the repairs to the car and compete again on Saturday night bringing home a fifth place finish. Complete Finish is listed below.

1 Doug Thorton 38t
2 Randy Brown 16B
3 Chad Weber 37M
4 Cody Burke 20X
5 Robby Sawyer 98
6 Brian Cass 55X
7 Justin Crockett 21J
8 Cory Sample OO
9 Willy Oathout 14
10 Tony Toste 91T
11 Paul Terrones 8t
12 Josh Vogt 25v
13 Kyle Heckman 12
14 Keith McIndoe 75
15 Joey Claborn 88c
16 Jason Papich 91p
17 Ryan Lauer 31L
18 Daylon Coffey 55
19 Austin Burke 25x
20 Danny Lauer 2
21 Barry Bradshaw 13B
22 Shawn Calderwood 5

SAWYER FINISHES FOURTH - Santa Maria Speedway - April 24, 2010

Twenty-one cars started the 25 Lap main event Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway.Robby Sawyer finished fourth place in the main event. The complete finish is listed below.
1.Heckman, 2.Claborn,3.Thorton,4. Sawyer,5. Terrones, 6. Bradshaw,7. Crompe, 8.R. Lauer,9. Nyback, 10.Calderwood,11. Whitford, 12. Coffey, 13.Oathout, 14. Papich, 15.Toste, Johnson,16. Lowers, 17. Justice, 18. Crockett,19. Wiley, 20. Weber, 21. RaynerD. Lauer(DNS), Domingos (DNS)

SAWYER FINISHES SIXTH - Tulare Thunderbowl Finish From April 10, 2010

1. Alex Standford,
2. Ryan McDaniel
3. Mike Johnson
4. Greg Mancebo
5. Steve Smothermon
6. Robby Sawyer
7. Ryan Porter
8. Bryan Burns
9. Duane Cleveland
10. Buddy Shelton.

 

SAWYER FINISHES EIGHTH - Tulare Thunderbowl Finish From April 3, 2010

1. 66p Stone
2. 2H Hogge
3. 2 lauer
4. 96 Smotherman
5. 15 Burnes
6. 98A Stanford
7. 77 Lust
8. 98 Sawyer
9. 14P Porter
10. 74S Sieweke
11. 69M Villanueva
DNS 21 Schlundt

Race Images of April 3, 2010 - http://paultrevinoracingphotos.com/2010/mods_tul1/index.htm

March 20, 2010 Recap

Adjusting to a new car and a little bad luck went Sawyer's way on Saturday night. Bad luck came in the heat race when a dirt clod flipped the car's ignition switch off. The second string of bad luck came during the main event when Sawyer pitted with a flat and went two laps down. Robby finished 11th in the 30 lap main event and looks forward to running the car this coming weekend on April 3rd at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway. Finish Below.

Finish, Start, Car#, Driver, Hometown, Points
1 3 15B Brad Pounds Bakersfield , Ca 40.00
2 7 87 Randall Davis Bakersfield , Ca 39.00
3 15 16B Randy Brown Chowchilla , Ca 38.00
4 5 4 Joey Yantis Bakersfield , Ca 37.00
5 20 96 Steve Smothermon - 36.00
6 9 5W Larry Wise Bakersfield , Ca 35.00
7 12 51 Bryan Clark Bakersfield , Ca 34.00
8 19 18C Chris Mckellar Bakersfield , Ca 33.00
9 10 72 Eric Manning Bakersfield , Ca 32.00
10 6 22C Michael Johnson Bakersfield , Ca 31.00
11 14 98 Robby Sawyer - 30.00
12 8 2J Justin Schweitzer Bakersfield , Ca 29.00
13 4 18 Blake Watkins Bakersfield , Ca 28.00
14 2 11 Rick Childress Jr Bakersfield , Ca 27.00
15 13 X Danny Mcchristian Bakersfield , Ca 26.00
16 1 38X Nick Sylvester Bakesfield , Ca 25.00
17 17 38 Jesse Bowels Bakersfield , Ca 24.00
18 18 17S Stephan Helms Bakersfield , Ca 23.00
19 16 90F Matt Schweitzer Bakersfield , Ca 22.00
20 11 78 Randy Schweitzer Bakersfield , Ca 21.00
21 21 10N Scott Gatson - 0.00
22 22 44 Jason Wilson Bakesfield , Ab 0.00