TRACY, California – Jason Gilbert of Pleasanton continued his dominance in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (w/ Westcar stars) Western Late Model division at Altamont Raceway Park in the “Girls Day at the Track” 100 on Saturday evening.
28 cars graced the pits for the Western Late Model events, continuing the exciting season of high car counts at the fastest half-mile in the west.
Against a star studded 25 car field, Gilbert notched his eighth win of the 2008 season through 16 starts.
Saturday’s events also featured action from the Legends of the Pacific touring series, with points Matt Scott of Pine Valley scoring the win on the quarter-mile oval.
American Limited Stockcar action was claimed again by Salida’s Sammy Solari, points leader Todd Lynch of Tracy won the Grand American Modified feature, and Richard Hull won both 10-lap Formula-4 main events.
2007 Rookie of the Year Doff Cooksey of Brentwood led the field to green in the Late Model feature. After a few short cautions, Cooksey was joined by Carson City, NV teenager Bobby Hodges and Tracy’s Justin Philpott.
Philpott made the charge on Cooksey, taking the lead on lap 21. Philpott then stopped in turn four with a mechanical problem, handing the lead to Hodges.
Orangevale’s Gary Glenn and Gilbert began to move through the field, passing Cooksey and moving towards Hodges.
A caution on lap 29 set up a restart that sent Gilbert into the lead.
Hodges and Glenn followed Gilbert closely, when the caution flew on lap 45 for a spinning Ron Robeck and Chris Bammer.
On the restart, the field set sail on a caution-free run that went all the way to lap 97, with Gilbert, Hodges, and Glenn running very close. Several battles for position all the way back to 15th continued as well.
Philpott spun on lap 97 setting up a three-lap shootout. Mark Holman of Los Altos, 2007 NASCAR state champion, passed Glenn for third.
An accident involving several cars drew a yellow-checkered on lap 98, two laps short of the scheduled distance.
Gilbert took the satisfying win over Hodges, Holman, Glenn, and a late charging Jace Meier of Las Vegas, NV.
Gilbert now leads Cooksey by more than 125 points with four rounds left, nearly cementing his place as track champion.
Westcar points leader Chet Danburg of Carson City, NV finished 13th and maintained his lead.
The Legends of the Pacific 30-lap main event saw passing galore on the Altamont quick quarter-mile.
The nimble, scale, and spec historic cars feature a bevy of both young talent and veteran leaders.
Ryan Raduechel of Modesto led the field to green, with three-wide battling behind him.
Robby Czub of Rocklin, the 15 year-old upstart, made contact with Raduechel to draw a caution and send both cars to the rear of the 20 car pack.
That handed the lead to Dylan Albiani of Modesto, but the lead was short-lived as Scott made his march.
Jeremy Wood, originally of Tracy but now residing in North Carolina, made a popular return to Altamont and was aggressively attacking the outside groove.
Scott finally took the lead from Albiani on lap 14 with Wood in tow. Scott fought off Wood to the finish, with Albiani scoring third. Fred Clement of Stockton and Mark Blevins of Modesto rounded out the top-five. Czub made a spirited charge to sixth.
Solari took care of business in the American Limited Stockcar 30 lap main event, as the class continues to get acquainted with the half-mile oval after previously racing the quarter-mile in 2007.
Solari made some daring passes, including taking the field three-wide, to assume the lead position on lap eight.
Stockton’s Brian Vosburg and Hayward’s Tim Rappa ran closely behind Solari all the way to a thrilling finish. The remaining top-five finished a full seven seconds back from the leaders.
Richard Harper of Stockton claimed fourth with Chico youngster Thomas Vosburg fifth.
Tracy’s Todd Lynch has now won three feature events, along with many fast-times and dash wins. But Saturday’s race turned into a suprising duel between newcomer AJ Ryder of Stockton and Lynch.
Lynch was forced to attack the high-line, his signature move, to pass Ryder with two laps remaining.
The full finishing order was Lynch, Ryder, Todd Lewis of Riverbank, and Leroy Hunt of Stockton.
The Formula-4 division races turned into a huge day for Hull, who swept both 10 lap features on the 1.1 mile road course.
Hull went toe-to-toe with fellow points contender Jake Morgenstern in both main events, while front-runner Bob Wilson lost ground in the ultra-tight standings.
The top-five in the first 10 lap main were: Hull, Morgenstern, Wilson, Jason Edgecomb, and Leo Solari.
Race number two saw Hull come from the rear to win over Solari, Morgenstern, Jim Robbins, and Dan Durbin.
Next Saturday at Altamont Raceway Park is the fall showcase day, with practice for all Altamont classes including USAC and Camping World West Series. This event will serve as the media day for the Camping World West Series as they prepare for the big show on Sept. 13th.
Racing action the half-mile will conclude the day with the NASCAR Western Late Model twin 50’s Future Champions Development Series, NCMA Limited Sprints, and Spectator Racing Series.
For ticket and event information, log onto the track website.
Altamont Raceway Park is located just west of Tracy at the merger of Highways 205 and 580.
