BAKERSFIELD, California — Jonathon Gomez held off the charging Jim Pettit II to score his first career SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series victory Saturday night at Stockton 99 Speedway, in front of a near capacity crowd.
Gomez of Twin Falls, ID led wire-to-wire which in most cases may sound like an easy victory, but that was not the case for his win in the “Mid Valley Iron and Metals 130”. Gomez had to hold off the challenges of three NASCAR champions throughout the 130-lap event, as Auggie Vidovich, Eric Holmes and finally Pettit all pressed Gomez for the lead.
In the end, Gomez remained calm during a series of late race restarts to win by a margin of .330 seconds over Pettit, followed by Holmes, Mike David and Ryan Foster rounding out the top five. It was the third win in four races for a Bob Strandwold Racing entry in 2010.
"This is a huge win for our team, I have to thank all of my crew for their hard work and giving me a great car tonight…and thank Bob Strandwold for this opportunity." Gomez said. "I was a little nervous about the race having never been to Stockton before, but I can tell you this is one fun track to drive and it is certainly one of my favorites.”
Gomez who is competing full-time in both the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series is now fourth in the points standings in both series.
At the drop of the green, Gomez, starting on the pole, led M.K. Kanke, Ross Strmiska, Vidovich and Holmes into turn one.
On lap four the 2010 championship picture changed dramatically, as contact between Kanke and Strmiska, sent Kanke spinning to the inside of turn two collecting and ending the night for championship leader Derek Thorn.
On the restart, Gomez remained at the point followed by Vidovich, Holmes who was the event’s fast qualifier, seventeen year old Jacob Gomes and Pettit.
The top five remained nose-to-tail until lap 43 when Pettit’s Golden Gate Petroleum/Mo’sGold Ford took over fourth from Gomes, then Pettit moved past Holmes for third nine laps later.
At this point, Pettit was the car on the move, as Gomez remained in control at the front. Pettit now set his sights on the #1 LeRivage Hotel Chevrolet of Vidovich. Pettit pulled even with Vidovich in turn 3 on lap 54 but couldn’t make it stick. On lap 60 the cars Vidovich and Pettit touched again racing for second, both cars got out of shape coming off four, which allowed Holmes to make it a three way race for the lead into turn 1. Holmes and Pettit made contact with Pettit spinning.
On the lap 65 restart, it was Gomez, Vidovich, Gomes third, followed by Holmes and Mike David. Strmiska was up to sixth, Thomas Martin seventh, followed by Brennan Newberry, Keith Spangler and Ryan Foster who lost positions when Pettit spun. Pettit restarted 12th.
Lap 85 saw Martin’s night end with a broken trailing arm. On the restart, the line up was Gomez, Vidovich, Holmes, Gomes, David, and Pettit up to sixth. One lap later Gomes broke his right front hub and lost the wheel to bring out the sixth caution of the night.
As the Three-Way Chevrolet Pace Car brought the field down for the restart Vidovich pulled off the track with broken front suspension.
Pettit moved passed Holmes’ Moeller Bros. Chevrolet on the restart and now only had only Gomez to displace to complete his charge to the front.
At lap 100, the top ten was, Gomez, Pettit, Holmes, David, Strmiska, Newberry, Spangler, Foster, Kyle Cattanach and Justin Philpott.
Gomez and Pettit now began their duel for the lead, with Holmes in tow. The seventh yellow of the night came out as Strmiska stopped along the turn 4 wall with a broken transmission.
Gomez pulled Pettit by two car lengths on the restart, Pettit then closed the gap once again. Cattanach moved passed Spangler for sixth.
The eighth and final caution flew for a spin by Clay Wattenbarger, who was making his first start in the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series, driving for car owner Bob Corsaro.
A seven-lap shootout was set, Gomez who was looking for his first career tour series victory, with the three-time Southwest Tour champion on his bumper. Gomez pulled off another great restart to pull ahead by half a car length. With one to go Pettit closed the gap. At the checkers it was Gomez in his Heritage Cattle Co., Century Boatland Chevrolet by .33 seconds over Pettit, for his first career SRL win. Holmes came home third for his second top four in two SRL starts. Fourth was 2007 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Mike David in his first career SRL start.
Thorn maintains the championship lead with 633 points, Foster (617) and Pettit (611) are second and third respectively.
Next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is Saturday, June 26th at Madera Speedway featuring the “Laps4LittleOnes.com 125” presented by NTS, Inc. and Pocket Radar.
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About the SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its tenth season in 2010, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com. “The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”
About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves. SPEARS’ maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution. For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.
