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Late wreck helps Duste win opener By DON HUNT Mail Tribune WHITE CITY - There's nothing like a little controversy to launch the stock car racing season. Dennis Silva came within 200 feet of the checkered flag during the modified main event on Saturday night when he collided with lapped driver Rick Beck. The collision also wiped out Tom Glover, who was in second place at the time. The late-race pileup enabled Central Point's Dave Duste, Jr., to claim the victory in the 20-lap event. Meanwhile, Dan Menne of Fort Jones, Calif., came back from a spectacular wreck in a sprint car heat race to win the night's featured event. Not to be outdone, Frank Word III led wire-to-wire to outduel Jim Walker, Jr., in the pro stock main, and Portland's Tim Dunn zipped past Medford's Gary Fitzsimmons on the final lap to take the dwarf car event. Joe Forsman of Florence won the mini stock event. "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," said Duste, who never had the lead in the modified race until the very end. "I had a half-lap lead in last year's season-opener when a lapped car took me out. "These things happen, and it's no fun when you're on the short end." Silva, who started on the poll and led the entire way until the mishap, said he tried to slip underneath Beck but the strategy backfired when the slower Beck wouldn't budge. "In retrospect I should have just stayed where I was, but I didn't know how close the guy behind me (Glover) was," Silva said. "When you're only a couple hundred feet from the finish line and can't get there, it's very frustrating." Silva's and Glover's cars had to be towed from the track. Jon DeBenedetti, a former dwarf car national champion making his debut in the modifieds, finished third. Word had little trouble beating Walker, his longtime nemesis and the defending pro stock points champion who won 12 pro stock events at the White City track last season. Driving a new Chevy car equipped with a new Dodge engine, Word charged around the one-third mile clay oval and won by a quarter-lap over Walker, who wound up in second. "The car ran great," said Word, who drives what's known as the Superman car that comes complete with a red cape hanging out the back. "I had six to eight guys working on it all week to get it ready and it just ran super. "And starting in front, I had no excuses not to win." The unofficial wreck-of-the-night award went to Menne, whose sprint car flipped several times during a heat race. Menne said his car hit a rut coming out of Turn 3, went airborne and began to roll after it came back down. "There was nothing I could do," said Menne. "The good thing was that the ground was soft and so the damage to the car was minimal. "That was an easy one." The only damage occurred to the car's top wing, which Menne and his chief mechanic - brother Tom - had replaced within 15 minutes. In other mishaps, dwarf car driver Mitch Sheeler rolled on his side during the second lap of the dwarf car main, and Justin Breshears put his mini stock car on the top of the wall along the back straightway during a heat race. Neither driver was injured. SO Speedway Results MINI STOCKS FIRST HEAT - 1, Tom Lanigan; 2, Tom Coulter; 3, Brian Soltis; 4, Mike Higbee; 5, Tim Towler. SECOND HEAT - 1, Pat Akins; 2, Matt O'Dell; 3, Jack Clement; 4, Jamie Guider; 5, Belinda Duste. THIRD HEAT - 1, Bryan Barnes; 2, Joe Forsman; 3, Vickie MacCormick; 4, Bill Lux; 5, Jerod Morrill. DWARF CARS FIRST HEAT - Gary Fitzsimmons; 2, Greg Staten; 3, Mitch Sheeler; 4, Fred O'Nan; 5, Rick Sequeira. SECOND HEAT - 1, Bob Sousa; 2, Tim Dunn; 3, Rick Harms; 4, Randy Elsholz; 5, Tom Benavente. TROPHY DASH - 1, Bob Sousa; 2, Tim Dunn; 3, Gary Fitzsimmons; 4, Greg Staten. PRO STOCKS FIRST HEAT - 1, Joe Gaider; 2, Eric Bray; 3, Mike Jones; 4, Keith Mix; 5, Albert Gill. SECOND HEAT - 1, Rick Hunsley; 2, Barry Hunt; 3, Tony Walker; 4, Tim Law; 5, Paul Heinleon. THIRD HEAT - 1, Jim Walker; 2, Frank Word III; 3, Dan Thomas; 4, Chris Charlton; 5, Billy Croucher. FOURTH HEAT - 1, Jerry Severson; 2, Mike Medel; 3, Seth Cander; 4, Butch Poppa; 5, Buster McElreath. TROPHY DASH - 1, Rick Hunsley; 2, Jerry Severson; 3, Jim Walker, Jr.; 4, Joe Guider. B MAIN - 1, Ken Irving; 2, Dave Everson; 3, Albert Gill; 4, Scott Martin; 5, Buster McElreath; 6, Paul Heinlein; 7, Jeff Seal. A MAIN - 1, Frank Word III; 2, Jim Walker, Jr.; 3, Seth Cander; 4, Rick Hunsley; 5, Tony Walker; 6, Mike Jones; 7,Eric Bray; 8, Dave Everson; 9, Albert Gill; 10, Butch Poppa. MODIFIED FIRST HEAT - 1, Jon DeBenedetti; 2, Mark Wauge; 3, Jay Hinton, Jr.; 4, Jeremy Richey; 5, Brian Poppa. SECOND HEAT - 1, Tom Glover; 2, Dave Duste, Sr.; 3, Johnny T.; 4, Anthony Vinzant; 5, Bill Theiss. THIRD HEAT - 1, Matt Micheli; 2, Dave Duste, Jr.; 3, Ron Possinger; 4, Rick Beck; 5, Brad Alfrey. FOURTH HEAT - 1, Dwayne Cleveland; 2, Dan Estremado; 3, Justin Holt; 4, Dennis Silva; 5, Ric Treadawy. B MAIN - 1, Dwayne Cleveland; 2, Brian Poppa; 3, Dane Smith; 4, Bill Theiss; 5, Jon Ireland; 6, Dwayne Hornbaker; 7, Scott Weldon; 8, Markey James; 9, Ric Treadawy. A MAIN - 1, Dave Duste, Jr.; 2, Mark Wauge; 3, Jon DeBenedetti; 4, Anthony Vinzant; 5, Matt Micheli; 6, Dwayne Cleveland; 7, Ron Possinger; 8, Bill Theiss; 9, Brad Alfrey; 10, Dane Smith. SPRINTS FIRST HEAT - 1, Chris Llewelyn; 2, Anthony Nunez; 3, Kevin Cory; 4, Cale Carder; 5, Ron Smith. SECOND HEAT - 1, Dan Menne; 2, Bill Nutter; 3, Todd Zeitler; 4, Jason Finlay; 5, Charlie Thompson. MAIN EVENT - 1, Dan Menne; 2, Kevin Corey; 3, Jason Finley; 4, Cale Carder; 5, Todd Zeitler; 6, Charlie Thompson; 7, Chris Llewelyn; 8, Ron Smith; 9, Anthony Nunez; 10, Bill Nutter. 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