TRACY, California — Jason Gilbert of Pleasanton will official claim the 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Model championship at Altamont Raceway Park on Saturday evening.
Round 20 of the competitive division will be part of Volvo Rents / USG Night at the Races, with other action including American Limited Stock Cars and Grand American Modifieds on the half-mile, Formula-4 racing on the 1.1 mile road course and the quarter-mile oval, and the exciting Legends of the Pacific.
Not only will Gilbert claim the track championship, he will extend his points lead in the NASCAR California State points. Gilbert unofficially has a lock on that championship, but his chief rival Nick Joanides will race on September 13 and is mathematically still in the hunt.
Will Gilbert has his eyes on the state title and his top-ten run in the national standings, this weekend’s race win is far from a lock.
Among those expected this weekend are a trio of talented young guns, with Doff Cooksey of Brentwood, Justin Philpott of Tracy, and Carson City, NV’s Bobby Hodges.
Cooksey, the 2007 Rookie of the Year, currently runs in the second position in the track points. Philpott is still looking for his second main event of the season after stringing together several top-tens this season.
Hodges is likely the most overdue for a win, after claiming eight top-fives in his nine starts so far this year.
The other three weekly Altamont divisions will be competing in their second to last events, with Saturday September 20 marking the championship program for them.
In the American Limited Stock Car division, season long dominator Sammy Solari of Salida has won seven of the nine races but only leads by 16 points.
Richard Harper of Stockton has been the mark of consistency and still has a shot at taking his first Altamont track championship.
Todd Lynch of Tracy has a comfortable lead in the Grand American Modifieds by 22 points over Riverbank’s Todd Lewis. The top-two are nearly 200 points ahead of their nearest competitors, making it a two-car race down the finish.
Lewis is still winless this year in his first year running the open-motored Modifieds, and a win on Saturday would go a long way to getting him back in the championship.
The Formula-4 championship is the most interesting and closely matched. Last week’s debut for the division on the quarter-mile oval saw a three-wide finish between the top-three in the points.
One race on the oval and one of the 1.1 mile road course is on tap for Saturday, with Richard Hull leading by just 10 points over a tied battle for second between Bob Wilson and Jake Morgenstern. Wilson has put together seven feature wins in 2008 to lead in that category.
Race fans will get to enjoy the return of the popular Legends of the Pacific division, which runs half-scale cars that resemble vintage racers.
The series is a mix of both young guns and veterans, with drivers as young as 15 and as old as late 50s competing together.
Pine Grove’s Matt Scott, age 15, leads the points standings.
Racing action kicks off early on Saturday at 2 p.m., with racing to conclude by sundown.
Altamont Raceway Park is also preparing for its big show on September 13. The Altamont Fall Classic will mark the first ever event combining USAC and NASCAR Camping World Series West racing into one program.
More information on this history making night of racing is available at www.altamontracing.com/fallclassic
The official site for the Altamont Fall Classic features more information on both the NASCAR Camping World Series West and USAC Sprints & Midgets as well as event schedules and ticket information.
Altamont Raceway Park is located just west of Tracy at the merger of Highways 205 and 580. An extensive remodeling project during the winter of 2005/06 has made the facility one of the most up-to-date on the West Coast.
For more information on this NASCAR- and USAC-sanctioned, multi-use facility, visit www.altamontracing.com
