by DON HUNT

WHITE CITY -- Kevin Hewitt made a name for himself at the Southern Oregon Speedway two years ago, and that name was mud.

Hewitt became the Dennis Rodman of the track when he jumped out of his car and tossed dirt clods at another driver and then made an obscene gesture at former flagman Freddie Higginbotham.

Hewitt was upset that the other driver had slammed into his car seconds before the start of a race and madder still that Higginbotham didn't see the collision and blackflaged the perpetrator.

"We hadn't even started the race and my car was destroyed," Hewitt says.

What really turned Hewitt into a villain was that the hundreds of fans sitting in back of the flagstand thought the obscene gesture was directed at them, and not Higginbotham.

Hewitt was fined and suspended.

"Racing is a very emotional sport and I just kind of lost it that night," Hewitt says.

Hewitt has minded his p's and q's since then and this summer he's back in the headlines for his success behind the wheel.

The Medford auto paint specialist has been in a spirited battle with Tom Glover, Dave Duste, Sr. and Ken Scales for the IMCA modified points lead.

Hewitt currently stands second in the point standings, trailing only Glover.

On Saturday night, Hewitt was running fifth 23 laps into the 25-lap modified main when he tangled with Dave Yochum and fell off the lead lap.

Scott Lenz overhauled points leader Tom Glover on the sixth lap to win the race. Glover finished second while Mike Caplinger was third and Dave Duste, Sr. fourth.

Meanwhile, Cal Lanfear outdueled Jim Walker, Jr., in a fiercely-contested pro stock A Main. Walker had the lead briefly on the 11th lap, but Lanfear took over on the 12th lap and never trailed the rest of the way in winning for the third straight week.

Walker settled for second while Brian Poppa came on strong late in the 25-lap race to take third. Brad Alfrey finished fourth and Tom Glover fifth.

Dan Menne led wire-to-wire to win the sprint car main.

Jon DeBenedetti dominated the 15-lap dwarf main to complete a clean sweep. DeBenedetti lapped six of the 11 cars in the field.

Hewitt credits his thrust into the speedway's elite to the redesigned suspension and rear end of his car, a Boyd chassis made in Missouri.

"The car was originally set up to run on dryslick," Hewitt says. "We had to adjust it and make it stiffer so it could run on this track, which tends to be rough. Your car takes some punishment at this facility."

Hewitt has two victories and two runner-up finishes to his credit this season and has been in the top five almost every week.

"The main thing is to be there at the end, to be around when the checkered flag comes out," Hewitt says. "You've got to pay attention every second you're out there.

"The modified class is very competitive. There are nine or 10 guys who are capable of winning."

Hewitt is so consumed with racing that he has another car that he runs on pavement at Roseburg and Anderson, Calif.

And when the season ends at White City in September, Hewitt and his wife will head to Iowa and compete in a series of races, culminated by the modified supernationals on Oct. 21.

"I'd race every night if I could," Hewitt says.

Just don't tear up his equipment before the green flag comes out.

MODIFIED

FIRST HEAT -- 1, Dan Estremado; 2, Scott Lenz; 3, Bruce Rayburn, Jr; 4, Tom Glover.

SECOND HEAT -- 1, Dennis Silva; 2, Mike Caplinger; 3, Kevin Hewitt; 4, Jim Thomas.

THIRD HEAT -- 1, Markey James; 2, Dave Duste, Jr; 3, Dave Yochum; 4, Scott Weldon.

FOURTH HEAT -- 1, Skipper Klimcheck; 2, Dave Duste, Sr; 3, Carl Fitzsimmons; 4, Lloyd Speer.

TROPHY DASH -- Dennis Silva.

B MAIN -- 1, Rob Gavin; 2, Steve Heffner; 3, Jerry Gabriel; 4, Todd Rosborough; 5, Terry Burchett; 6, Jeff Pottruff; 7, Tim Bailey.

A MAIN -- 1, Scott Lenz; 2, Tom Glover; 3, Mike Caplinger; 4, Dave Duste Sr.; 5, Dan Estremado; 6, Markey James; 7, Rob Gavin; 8, Carl Fitzsimmons.

PRO STOCKS

FIRST HEAT -- 1, Jim Walker, Jr; 2, Keith Guy; 3, Mike Jones; 4, Mike Petray.

SECOND HEAT -- 1, Cal Lenfear; 2, Brian Poppa; 3, Ken Irving; 4, Travis Benson.

THIRD HEAT -- 1, Kurt Slamma; 2, Mark Wange; 3, Brad Alfrey; 4, Bob Dees.

FOURTH HEAT -- 1, Tom Glover; 2, Eric Ralph; 3, Dan Thomas; 4, Steve Tarr.

TROPHY DASH -- Cal Lanfear.

A MAIN -- 1, Cal Lanfear; 2, Jim Walker; 3, Brian Poppa; 4, Brad Alfrey; 5, Tom Glover; 6, Dan Thomas; 7, Ken Irving; 8, Kurt Slamma; 9, Mike Jones; 10, Bob Dees. 11, Jay McCleary; 12, Mike Petray; 13, Erik Ralph; 14, Travis Benson; 15, Tony Walker; 16, Keith Guy; 17, Howard Merritt; 18, Charles Bench; 19, Mark Wauge; 20, Rob Fitzsimmons.

B MAIN -- 1, Toby Ezell; 2, Tony Walker; 3, Rob Fitzsimmons; 4, Jay McCleary; 5, Chris Charlton; 6, Dave Everson; 7, Dave Haze; 8, Howard Merritt; 9, Jay Morgan; 10, Lee McGinnis. 11, Billy Croucher; 12, Joe Jordahl; 13, James Long; 14, Travis Fisher; 15, Jerry Severson; 16, Ken Heywood; 17, Jeremy Richey; 18, Jamie McCleary; 19, Gary Rotarius.

C MAIN -- 1, Dave Everson; 2, Billy Croucher; 3, Rob Fitzsimmons; 4, Lee McGinnis; 5, Richard Norman; 6, Don Johnstonn.

SPRINTS

FIRST HEAT -- 1, Jason Finley; 2, Dan Menne; 3, Kevin Cory; 4, Matt Rogers.

SECOND HEAT -- 1, Chad Bauer; 2, Jeremy Lowe; 3, Cale Carder; 4, Dan Hix.

TROPHY DASH -- Jason Finley.

MAIN -- 1, Dan Menne; 2, Jeremy Lowe; 3, Jason Finley; 4, Kevin Cory; 5, Brett James; 6, Matt Rogers; 7, C.J. Lewellyn; 8, Cale Carder; 9, Chad Bauer; 10, Dan Hix.

DWARFS

FIRST HEAT -- 1, Joe Fort; 2, David Fisse; 3, Ed Lewis; 4, Doug Devine.

SECOND HEAT -- 1, Jon DeBenedetti; 2, Mark Allen; 3, Bubba Dickerson; 4, Jim Miller.

TROPHY DASH -- Jon DeBenedetti;

MINI-STOCKS

FIRST HEAT -- 1, Mike Bradley; 2, Tracy Bradley; 3, Eric Bray; 4, Mike Shaffer.

SECOND HEAT -- 1, Jerry Apland; 2, Clarence Cole, Jr; 3, Mike Johnson; 4, Jack Clement.

THIRD HEAT -- 1, Jim Hill; 2, Jeff Gault; 3, Mike Chastain; 4, Chris Zealner.

FOURTH HEAT -- 1, Steve Sellers; 2, Dean Combs; 3, Gary Fitzsimmons; 4, Todd Hackworth.

TROPHY DASH -- Jim Hill.