November 8th, 2011 – This past Saturday night was the final race for the Open Wheel Modifieds in the 2011 season at Desoto Super Speedway. Going into the night there were only 2 guys who could take home the points championship, Dalton Baldwin and Mike Birk Jr., being separated by 14 points. The night was made a double points night and it was an intense one for most of the night.
Dalton started 3rd in the heat race with #10 Mike Birk Jr. starting 2nd. #74 Wayne Bowman was on the pole, #03 Kyle Bookmiller 4th, and #2 Ralph Bowman starting in the 5th position. The green flag flew and Birk took over the lead going down into turn 1. Coming out of turn 2, Dalton took it 3-wide down the backstretch with Wayne and Bookmiller. Bookmiller moved to 2nd, Dalton to 3rd, and Wayne fell back to 5th after his brother Ralph passed him for 4th. The field was all bumper to bumper. Going into turn 3 Bookmiller had to check up to keep from hitting Birk, Dalton checked up to keep from hitting Bookmiller, and Ralph didn’t have enough time to check up and ran into the back of Dalton, turning him around. Dalton saved the car and the caution flew, both went to the back.
They went back green, Dalton and Wayne battled side-by-side for a few laps for the 3rd position. After some contact going into turn 3, Dalton spun Wayne around. There were a few words in the pits afterwards, but they both talked it out and went on to the feature race. Mike Birk Jr. won the heat race gaining him 8 points on Dalton, taking the difference down to just 6 points between them.
After the final finishing order for the heat race was made, the entire field was inverted based on a pill draw for the start of the feature race. Putting Dalton on the pole with Wayne Bowman on the outside pole, Ralph Bowman starting 3rd, Bookmiller 4th, and points contender Mike Birk Jr. in 5th. They took the green coming down the front stretch and into turn 1. Dalton and Wayne made a little contact getting down in the turn and Ralph gave Dalton a bump coming out of 2. But Dalton remained calm and held on to the top spot. After one lap of competition, Birk and Wayne made contact, causing Birk to spin and bring out the caution.
On the restart, Dalton held on to the spot at the head of the pack. With Ralph not to far behind, Dalton just focused on keeping the car in the bottom lane and not making a mistake. After a few challenges from Ralph, Dalton pulled away to a 2-3 car length lead. Coming to the closing laps, Dalton pulled even further away making it a half straightaway lead by the time the checkers flew. Dalton took home his fourth win of the season and was crowned the 2011 Open Wheel Modified Champion. The final difference in points was 18. At just 17 years old, Dalton has now accumulated 2 Rookie of the Year honors, 4 feature wins and 19 top 5’s in 25 modified starts, and now an Open Wheel Modified Championship.
We are currently seeking partners to come on board with us for the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, as well as our regular season for 2012. If you may be interested, or want more info, then visit our Contact page and shoot us an e-mail or phone call. We’d love to put your business on the side of our car as well as right here on www.DaltonBaldwin.com!
