Mojave Valley Raceway
Oct 24th, 2009
Points Race #18

1. Mike Williams
2. Mike Dunn
3. AJ Breu
4. Pat Henesey
5. Tim Cotherman
6. Storm Phillips
7. Butch Dunn
8. Heather Henesey
9. Russ Madden
10. Mike Bracy
11. Melanie Williams
12. Scott Cardella
13. Randy Deines
14. Frank Phillips
15. Matt Decker
16. Ryan Henesey

    NADCAR News 2009
    
    Mike Williams celebrates his championship with his former High School shop class teacher Lonnie Dunbar.

    10/24 - The NADCAR 2009 Championship was decided at Mojave Valley Raceway on Saturday Night not only for first position, but all the way down as far as eighth place was up for grabs. The only thing for sure was that the JBJ Trucking backed Russ Madden was "Rookie of the Year". In heat race two Russ proved himself by taking his first heat race win.!

    The Championship Fight - The two championship contenders started the night by each winning their respective heat races. Pat Henesey overcame an off track slide in turn one to avoid Ryan Henesey to take the lead from Frank Phillips when the track went green again. Pat looked to be in top form as he was the race prior. Mike Williams had an easier go at it by leading flag to flag to win his heat race even though he was pressured from behind. Going into the main event the points spread was still one point which didn't mean anything as far as an advantage. Mike Williams starting inside of row five and Pat Henesey just outside of him. It was just a matter of who finished in front of the other. The stage was set for a 20 lap duel for the 2009 NADCAR Championship.

    Third Place Fight - With Tim Cotherman leading Mike Dunn by 8 points the pill draw gave a slight edge to Cotherman and put Dunn one row back in heat two on the inside. The heat race also had Mike Williams on the pole and he couldn't afford to give any points up and let the championship slip away. Williams jumped out front with Cotherman sliding in just behind him. Dunn in pursuit looking for a line around Cotherman to take some much needed points away. All three cars nose to tail rounded the super smooth MVR track without any of them giving an inch. Cotherman finished second taking two more points from Dunn who now trailed by 10 going into the main. Coincidently Cotherman and Dunn will start side by side on row four in the main.

    The Four Way Fight For Fifth - Helen Henesey, Matt Decker, John Ogden, Heather Henesey, and Mike Bracy all within 36 points at the beginning of the night. Heat one saw Helen tangle with son Ryan Henesey to put her out for the night and possibly end her bid for fifth in the championship. Heather Henesey survived her heat with a fourth place finish. Matt Decker did the same in heat three. John Ogden suffered another engine failure and put him in the grandstands with Helen to watch the main event. Mike Bracy faired the best of them all with a second place in heat two but he had the most ground to make up.

    With nothing decided yet, it was "Race On" for the main event points. After the four wide salute to the fans the green flag flew and Russ "Rookie of the Year" Madden jumped out front bringing a whole line of cars behind him to the sweet spot in the progressive banking of MVR. Mike Williams made his move with another one of his patented leap to the front first laps, Mike dove to the bottom and had third by lap two. Mike Dunn saw the same opening and followed. Williams worked around AJ Breu with Dunn in tow and then they began to work on Russ Madden. By lap four Williams and Dunn were running one and two. Pat Henesey didn't fair so well as he would tangle up and have to drive through the infield putting him back in the pack. Pat put his skills to work and drove up toward the front only to drop back with another off-track slide. All this under green didn't help his championship. Tim Cotherman took the strategy of just keeping Dunn in his sights and drove a smart points race counting his positions. Running as high as fourth, Tim had a small cushion of points to keep third in the championship. The dreaded red flag waived on lap twelve with Matt Decker landing on his side after flipping over Frank Phillips #1 sedan. Matt walked from the incident but knew his bid for fifth place championship points was over. At the restart Williams engine sputtered and Dunn got by only to have the yellow waive again. Another restart and another sputter allowed Dunn alongside Williams fighting for every point they ran side by side. Mike Williams engine cleared out just in time to take advantage of his line and pulled back into the lead. Meanwhile Pat Henesey was on yet another charge to the front passing up to fourth place on the final lap. At the finish it was Mike Williams 1st, Mike Dunn 2nd, and AJ Breu 3rd taking his first ever trophy.

    When the dust settled, Mike Williams was crowned the 2009 NADCAR Champion. Pat Henesey settled for second. Tim Cotherman edged out Mike Dunn for third by a single point. Helen Henesey managed to hold onto fourth by a single point over Matt Decker. John Ogden ended the season in sixth by only three points over Heather Henesey.