TRACY, California Mike Mendenhall passed race leader Jeff Belletto on the white flag lap Sunday afternoon to win his first career SRL Wild West Late Model Shootout race. Current point’s leader Eric Schmidt finished second followed by Aaron Days, Joey Zampa, as Jeff Belletto rounded out the top five. “This is amazing; I still can’t believe we won the race. This win will definitely make our 500 mile trip back home much easier. Those were the first laps I have ever led in the SRL. I’m normally better on the smaller tracks and I’ve been struggling on the momentum tracks such as Altamont. Jeff (Belletto) had a problem with just a few laps to go and we passed him as we took the white flag and won the race.”
Jim Courage Jr. was the fastest of 23 cars in qualifying. Courage Jr. set a new track record with a lap of 17.564 seconds (102.482 MPH) around the big half-mile race track. Ken Boyd was second quick (17.622), Joey Zampa qualified third (17.629), followed by Eric Schmidt and Aaron Days.
The 10 car invert placed 2005 Victory Circle Chassis and Parts Rookie of the Year Jeremy Wood on the pole for the 100 lap event. Jeff Belletto would join Jeremy Wood on the front row as the green flag waived. Wood jumped out to the early race lead as Belletto ran second behind Wood. The first caution flag of the night waived on lap 9 as David Mantooth and Jim Courage Jr. spun exiting turn two. Mantooth suffered major front-end damage and retired his race car for the remainder of the evening. Courage Jr. was able to continue the race.
With 20 laps complete, Jeff Belletto started to put pressure on race leader Jeremy Wood. On lap 23 Belletto made his way around Wood to take over the lead. Aaron Days would move into second just one lap later as Wood ran the outside groove allowing Mike Mendenhall, Ken Boyd, Eric Schmidt, and Joey Zampa to pass. On lap 27 the caution flag waived for Rodd Kneeland, whose car came to a stop in the middle of turns one and two. Jeremy Wood pitted to change a flat tire and returned to the field as the race went green on lap 30.
Belletto continued to lead Aaron Days, Ken Boyd, Mike Mendenhall and Eric Schmidt. Joey Zampa ran sixth as Mike Mansch, Steve Belletto, Kyle Gottula, and Keith Spangler rounded out the top ten at the half-way point. Lap 54 brought out another yellow flag. On lap 68 Mendenhall passed Ken Boyd to take over the third position. Boyd suffered a flat tire and was forced to pit and change the flat. Mendenhall and Schmidt moved around Aaron Days on lap 86 and set their eyes on race leader Jeff Belletto who had a comfortable lead.
With just ten laps to go, Belletto looked as if he was going to win his first SRL race since 2004. With just three laps to go, Belletto broke a power steering belt and had a hard time exiting the sweeping corners of Altamont Motorsports Park. As the white flag waived exiting turn four, Mike Mendenhall was able to get under Belletto to take the lead as fans cheered their favorite driver on in the closing lap. Eric Schmidt was able to pass Belletto as Aaron Days followed to finish third, Joey Zampa fourth and Belletto finished fifth.
“The car was great all weekend. With about three laps to go we lost the power steering belt. The car locked up in the corners and it was a real chore trying to drive it off. We still salvaged a good finish but that race was ours to win.”
2004 Series Champion Steve Belletto finished sixth followed by Victory Circle Chassis and Parts Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Gottula, Tracy Bolin, Keith Spangler, as Wes Banks rounded out the top ten.
Eric Schmidt won the four lap Performance Electrical Co. Trophy Dash. Finishing behind Schmidt was Boyd, Zampa and Courage Jr.
The SRL Wild West Late Model Shootout heads to Madera Speedway on Saturday, August 19th.
