GOTTULA WRENCHES ANOTHER VICTORY ON CRAFTSMAN TOOL NIGHT AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

It was an evening packed with racing excitement as Madera Speedway hosted National Craftsman Tool Night on Saturday evening, June 7th with a NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series program featuring the Western Late Models, American Limited Stock Cars, Modified Super Toyotas, Toyota Sedans and the fan favorite Hornets.

It was also Moo Moo Skirt Night at Madera! Four year old Allison Galiano won the moo moo skirt contest held before the night’s main events and was given the honor of being the night’s trophy presenter.

The Western Late Models (WLM) put on one of their best races of the 2008 season as Rick Thompson of Clovis, jumped out to an early lead on the opening green flag. He was quickly joined by Trevor Schlundt also of Clovis, Modesto’s Kyle Gottula and Harry Belletto and Jeff Belletto all of Modesto plus rookie points leader Vito Ranuio of Stockton. The six went at it for several circuits, packed tighter than a Japanese subway at rush hour, before Schlundt was able to squeeze into the lead on lap 10.

Schlundt had no time to relax as he immediately came under heavy pressure from Jeff Belletto and Gottula. The battle lasted until lap 30 when Gottula got a good run coming out of turn two and slid underneath both of them. Schlundt tried desperately to fight back and touched Gottula in turn four. Gottula wobbled but was able to recover while Schlundt shimmied down the front straight before tapping Harry Belletto, causing both to spin in front of the starter’s stand. Both were forced to pit during the ensuing yellow-caution to make repairs before rejoining race at the back of the field.

Stockton’s Joey Stearns, who had been patiently bidding his time sat on Gottula’s tailpipe when the race resumed. Stearns valiantly tried every trick in his arsenal to get past Gottula, going high then low, but Gottula was up to the task as he held on for his fourth straight win and fifth overall this season in just ten starts. Jeff Belletto finished third, Oakdale’s Todd Corral was fourth while Schlundt and Harry Belletto recovered to take fifth and sixth, respectively.

"I kept looking in my mirror and all those guys looked real fast right behind me. I was expecting a strong challenge from Joey (Stearns) and I was anticipating a little bit of hitting and banging since anything goes on the final lap, but we held on," said a joyful Gottula. "Winning four straight is almost unbelievable. We have had so much bad luck in the past that it is nice to have things come around and go our way."

Stearns, who entered the night leading in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Driver Standings for the State of California and ranked 18th nationally, was pleased with his runner up effort.

"After the last couple of weeks, with all the trouble we have had, this seems like a win. We just didn’t have quite enough car to catch him tonight," said Stearns, "It feels good to be leading in the NASCAR standing right now, but I would rather be leading it in September."

Gottula also won the WLM trophy dash while Stearns earned top time in qualifying.

Modesto’s Dennis Saunders Jr. saw his mediocre qualifying effort turn to gold when an eight-car invert put him on the pole for the American Limited Stock Car (ALSC) 30-lap feature. After waiting a year and a half for his first ever career ALSC victory last Saturday, Saunders proved to be a quick learner as he promptly went wire-to-wire this Saturday for win number two.

Saunders jumped out to a big lead before being slowly reeled in at mid race by Atwater’s Jason Aguirre, season points leader Howard Holden of Clovis and Stockton’s Brian Vosburg. But Saunders never flinched as he nimbly threaded his way through a LA freeway’s worth of lapped traffic to maintain his lead over the trio.

Saunders was eventually able to once again stretch out his lead as he cruised to the checkered flag in his red Mainline Equipment sponsored #91 ahead of Aguirre, Holden, Vosburg and rookie Nic Belletto of Modesto.

"I still can’t believe this. I don’t know what to say, I am speechless," said an emotional Saunders after the race. "If I had qualified better I probably wouldn’t be here. I seem to get an A plus in inverts and start up front almost every week. I don’t think I would even know what to do starting in the back."

The wealth was spread out in the ALSC division as Holden took top honors in qualifying and Vosburg grabbed the victory in the trophy dash.

Hometown hotshoe Randy Fleming Jr. continued to steam roll through the competition as he raced to his fourth consecutive victory of the season in the 20-lap Modified Super Toyota (MST) main. The father-son team of John and Jason Bowersox completed the night’s MST podium in a race that ran caution free.

"I don’t want to take any time off because we a having so much fun right now," said Fleming, who will have to wait until June 28 for the next scheduled MST race. "I can’t thank my crew enough for giving me such a good setup every week. They make the car easy to drive."

It was the perfect end of a perfect night for Fleming, who earlier set the pace in MST qualifying and grabbed the win in the trophy dash.

The 12-car Toyota Sedan main saw more shuffling during the opening laps than the poker pit at Harrah’s on a Friday night. Fresno’s Jason Kerns eventually emerged in the lead and held on despite several yellow-caution slowdowns for his third win of the season. Defending Toyota Sedan track champion Stan Hankins was finally able to sneak by fellow Fresno driver Justin Dukes on lap 19 for second following their spirited multi lap battle.

The race was red flagged on lap 11 when Fresno’s Tim Kammerer lost a rear wheel and flipped up side down in a scary looking accident leaving turn four. Although the car was done for the night as it sat teetering like a flipped turtle, Kammerer crawled out of the stricken vehicle unhurt.

"Racing can be a dangerous thing. Luckily the track officials got to him in a hurry and he was OK," commented Kerns. "This is a great division and I want to thank everyone in the stands because that is where I was just a few years ago. Come down and talk to any of us if you are interested in joining the division because it is a lot of fun."

Kerns also set fast qualifying time for the Sedans, but just as he did last Saturday, Hankins picked up the win in the trophy dash to spoil Kerns bid for a clean sweep on the evening.

It took only six laps for racing grandpa and defending division champion Miles Humphreys, of Clovis, to work his way from the rear of the seven-car starting field to the front of the pack in the 20-lap Hornet feature. Hometown drivers Dillion Jackson and Jeff Dizney quickly glued themselves to the back bumper of Humphreys, but despite their best efforts, neither were able to get by the #14 as Humphreys took his third win of the 2008 season.

"I am almost getting to feel a little guilty about it," smiled Humphreys, who also set fast qualifying time and captured the trophy dash for a clean sweep of the night’s Hornet activities. "These guys are getting better each week and harder to deal with. That is the way it should be though. They are all learning."

Madera Speedway returns to action next Saturday evening, June 14th with Hoosier Tire Night, presented by the Madera Auto Center, in Super Saturday #3. This special Father’s Day weekend program will feature the powerful the 410 and 360 Super Modifieds running together in a combined feature, Western Late Models and BCRA Midgets in a main event tripleheader. In addition, the Legends of the Pacific, Hornets and Spectator Racing Series will all be taking on the "Fastest 1/3 in the West."

The Madera Speedway is conveniently located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west of Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit.