TROY ERMISH DOMINATES THE FLASHCO SRL’S FIRST RACE OF THE 2008 SEASON AT ALL AMERICAN SPEEDWAY IN ROSEVILLE

WILTON, California – Troy Ermish in his number 38 Alfred Matthews Pontiac led wire to wire as he held off all competitors getting the victory in the first race of the year for the Flashco SRL Southwest Tour Series. The SRL was part of a very action packed night in Roseville, CA as the All American Speedway kicked off their 2008 racing season.

The weather was an issue for the drivers on Friday as off and on rain all day limited practice and wiped out the scheduled qualifying session. Fortunately on Saturday the weather cooperated and the SRL drivers were able to get two practice sessions in. The main event starting grid was determined by a combination of last year’s points and Saturday’s practice times, with last year’s champion Dave Byrd picking the invert, putting the number 18 Moeller Brothers Chevrolet of Pleasanton’s Todd Bammer at the pole.

In front of a sold out All American Speedway, the field of 23 Flashco SRL cars roared into action. Only two laps into the race, Roseville’s one-third mile oval showed how tight it can be when Jim Pettit was spun in turn 2 putting him into the rear of the field, at least for a little while.

Meanwhile up front, Ermish began to show how fast his car was going to be in lap 8 as he began to pull away from the field followed by Bammer. But gathering momentum was SRL veteran Pettit working his way forward from the rear and by lap 43 the pack behind Ermish and Bammer was loaded with tour vets including the 33 car of M.K. Kanke, the 2 car of Craig Raudman and Pettit.

While the vets were waging a terrific battle for the 3rd spot, Ermish and Bammer continued to run strong out front driving smooth lines and distancing themselves at times from the rest of the field. The battle for 3rd was eventually taken at lap 60 by Pettit who had worked all the way back through the field.

But Ermish continued to have the fastest car in the field and he began to pull away from Bammer. Bammer then had his own challenge on his hands as the sophomore SRL driver had racing legend Pettit right behind him in 3rd for the last 40 laps. And to add even more pressure, the battle for 2nd was joined by the 02 car of Raudman and the 4 car of Greg Voigt of Goleta, CA. But Bammer rose to the occasion and was able to hold off Pettit to secure a solid second place finish.

Troy Ermish continued on with some distance from the pack battling for 2nd and cruised to victory in the first race of the 2008 Flashco SRL Southwest Tour Series season. “This is a testament to all the people on my team not giving up. Last year we had a bit of a sophomore slump but those who believed in this team came together for 2008,” said Ermish. “This year we have made some changes and one is keeping to a strategy of being smart and aggressive at the same time,” continued Ermish. Getting this victory in the first race of the season shows that the Alfred Matthews team is definitely moving in the right direction.

Second place finisher Todd Bammer was excited about his strong second place finish as well following the race. When asked what made the difference for him in this first race of 2008 Bammer replied, “I think both what we learned last year as an SRL rookie as well as advice from our new Strandwold Properties teammates Craig Raudman and Dave Byrd will help us this year.”

Jerry Allec Jr., in the number 50 car, was the Mid Valley Iron and Metals “Hard Charger” finishing 9th after starting the race in the 18th position. Joe Farre’ got the Ron’s Rear Ends “Hard Luck” award when his night was cut short in lap 13 when his 54 car ended up in the wall in turn 2.

“We would like to thank Bill McAnally and all the terrific people at the All American Speedway for allowing us to be a part of their tremendous opening night event,” said Steve Fensler. “It was a great night for us showing off our talented drivers in their beautiful cars to the sold out crowd in Roseville!”

Official Finish – All American Speedway – 3/29/08
1 3 38 Troy Ermish Alfred Mathews, Jeff Jess Motorsports Pontiac 100 50 $2,000.00 Running
2 1 18 Todd Bammer Moeller Brothers Body Shop Chevrolet 100 48 $1,300.00 Running
3 9 03 Jim Pettit II Top of the Hill Performance Ford 100 46 $1,000.00 Running
4 12 2 Craig Raudman Approved Memory, Performance Electric Chevrolet 100 44 $800.00 Running
5 2 4 Greg Voigt Auto-Pro Racing Engines Chevrolet 100 42 $700.00 Running
6 15 21 Travis Bennett Giumara Co., Bob Carsaro Chevrolet 100 40 $675.00 Runningl
7 6 1 Dave Byrd Performance Electric Chevrolet 100 38 $650.00 Running
8 8 33 M. K. Kanke Sims Trucking, RPM Motorsports Chevrolet 100 36 $625.00 Running
9 19 50 Jerry Allec Jr. Napa Auto Parts Chevrolet 100 34 $600.00 Running
10 17 5 David Mantooth Hot Rods by Lew.com, Chevrolet 100 32 $575.00 Running
11 10 9 # Justin Westmoreland Automotive Aftermarket Ford 100 30 $550.00 Running
12 16 13 # Ryan Mock Mid-Valley Iron & Metal Chevrolet 100 28 $550.00 Running
13 4 02 Tracy Bolin Bolin Builders, Beebe Racing, Chevrolet 100 26 $550.00 Running
14 13 7 # Josh Combs Country Bear, Calif. Upholstering Co. Ford
98 24 $550.00 Running
15 5 11 Bryan Herzog Lucas Motorsports Chevrolet 93 22 $550.00 Running
16 21 48 # Mike Lay ARS Plumbing Chevrolet 73 20 $500.00 Mechanical
17 18 48L Jim Walker Rick Harper Chevrolet 51 18 $500.00 Mechanical
18 22 84 # Eddie Secord Carpenter Trey Engineering Chevrolet 43 16 $500.00 Mechanical
19 23 3 # Jimmy Santos Santos Chevrolet 36 14 $500.00 Mechanical
20 14 37 Keith Spangler Loren Spangler Chevrolet 32 12 $500.00 Mechanical
21 7 51 Rick Ruzbarsky Mid-Valley Iron & Metal Chevrolet 13 12 $500.00 Accident
22 11 54 # Joe Farre’ Sigma Engineering Solutions Chevrolet 12 12 $500.00 Accident
23 20 51F # Carlos Viieira Allied Packaging Chevrolet 0 12 DNS

# - Rookie-of-the-Year Contender

Margin of Victory: +0.655

Fastest Lap, Todd Bammer @ 13.477

Mid Valley & Metal Hard Charger Award Jerry Allec Jr.

Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award Joe Farre’

Top Finishing Rookie Justin Westmoreland

About the FLASHCO SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its eighth season in 2008, the FLASHCO SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. The series utilizes cars based on the former NASCAR Elite Division Series rulebook. First 2008 event is this weekend at Roseville’s All-American Speedway.

For more information contact the FLASHCO SRL Southwest Tour Series offices at 916-687-7284 or go to www.srllatemodels.com

About Flashco, Inc. – Contractor Supply and Equipment Rental Company: Flashco, Inc. is a privately owned company based in Bakersfield, California. For over three decades Flashco has been an industry leader in traffic control and safety, and the equipment rental company of choice for the Central Valley. www.flashcoinc.com

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend