Roseville, California -- The roar of race cars turning laps around the speedway, the smell of race fuel, and wedding bells brought fans to All American Speedway for the 15th NASCAR championship points race. The championship divisions contested their 15th race of the season and with just two races left, some 2011 Championships on the line. The race day presented the NASCAR Late Models 50, Modifieds 40, Street Stocks and Bombers 35 as well as the highlight of the night was a wedding put on in the infield. The unification of Eddie Simmons and Renee Fleenor had fans cheering them on. A memorial lap was performed for a fellow racer’s brother passing. Long time AAS racer Gary Glenn’s Brother Joseph passed away on August 24th. With all of the many years of the Glenn family participating at AAS, the Speedway put on a memorial lap in remembrance of Joe Glenn. Many cars from all divisions made a few laps on the track in support of the Glenn family.
"Championship Points race No. 18 on October, 1st has been cancelled due to reservation of Open Wheel night."
First up on the agenda was the Street Stock division fielding an impressive 19 cars and No. 23 Richard Poppert Jr. topped off qualifying with a fast time of 15.241 seconds. Along with No.98 Byron Gonzales, No. 08 Mickey Owens, No. 16 Scott Woessner and No. 52 Matt Camp the fast five. Mickey Owens grabbed the first heat race win and No. 86 Dave Silva took home the win for the second heat race. The top four drivers Mickey Owens, Dave Silva, No. 79 Eric Martinez and No. 2 Mel Wilson made it to the four lap trophy dash and Mel Wilson took home his first trophy dash victory. In the 35 lap main event, an invert of seven was spun putting the No. 86 machine Dave Silva on pole to lead the stacked field to the green flag. On lap three, Matt Camp and No. 25 Dave Sciarroni collided on the front stretch collecting No. 22 Mark Blanton. Blanton received the most damage and had to enter the pits to flatten out his buckled hood and fix the bent front bumper preventing it from rubbing the right front tire. Late Model crew members helped Blanton bend back the front bumper and sent Blanton on his way just in time for the restart. Dave Silva continued to power away on the restart and extending his lead. By lap nine, Richard Poppert Jr. and Mickey Owens had finally passed for the second spot racing side by side for five laps while running down the leader. As Dave Silva approached lap traffic Poppert and Owens began to close in. On lap 19, Richard Poppert Jr. made the pass for the lead as the two raced side by side. The two drivers remained side by side until coming up on a lap car. The two would sandwich the lap car making the pass three wide with Mickey Owens quietly following them. On lap 25, Mickey Owens took the lead for good and never looked back. Mickey Owens captured his eighth victory this season followed by Dave Silva, Richard Poppert Jr., Byron Gonzales and Matt Camp the final five. The street stock division has two races left for the championship and if Mickey Owens continues with strong finishes he will be crowned 2011 All American Speedway Champion.
Second up was the Modified division fielding 12 cars and first time top qualifier No. 8 Andy Field posted fastest lap around the speedway with a time of 14.541 seconds just keeping No. 4 Steve Cote in second by .003 seconds. Making the return to the speedway was No. 7 Joey Licata in third, No. 26 Mindy McCord fourth and points leader No. 29 Dan Jinkerson fifth. No heat races were set for the Modified division as they jumped right into the trophy dash. The top four qualifiers all made it the trophy dash and Mindy McCord came home with her first ever trophy dash victory. The seven car invert put No. 68 Cody Thompson on pole to set the pace for the green flag. Thompson got a good run on the start to take the early lead and had already opened it up to five car lengths by lap two. On lap two, drivers went three wide and Joey Licata hit the wall breaking a spindle and ending his night. No.4 Steve Cote was also involved in the group as Steve was pushed down to the bottom of the track and lost positions. On the restart, Cody Thompson continued to power away on the starts to open up his lead. On lap three, No. 50 Michael Roman and No. 98 Keegan Walmer traded rubber resulting in Walmer spinning. On lap six, No. 5 Jason Bamberg made a bump and run on No. 05 Chase Grigsby in turn two but Grigsby kept his machine rolling. By lap eight, Cody Thompson had now extended his lead to six car lengths from the field and continued to power away. On lap ten, the top five cars all spread out and the battle was for sixth with four cars in the mix Jason Bamberg, Bobby Runyan, Steve Cote and Keegan Walmer. The rest of the race went smooth and the Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle veteran Cody Thompson had extended his lead to 15 car lengths to finish line with a 2.097 second lead capturing his first ever career Modified victory. Followed by Dan Jinkerson, Jason Bamberg, Mindy McCord and Andy Field the top five. With one race and twin 50’s left for the 2011 championship, the championship is on the line with Dan Jinkerson and Steve Cote down to the wire.
Up next was the NASCAR Late Model division and No. 05 Eric Schmidt putting his machine on top of the charts in qualifying with a fast time of 13.953 seconds followed by No. 8 Jason Romero, No. 88 Dylan Hutchison, No.4 Glen Cook and No. 5 Chris Scribner the fast five. The top four qualifiers made it to the trophy dash and Jason Romero captured the dash victory. The seven car invert put No. 11 Juan Pitta on pole to lead the field to the green flag. On the first lap in turn one, Eric Schmidt made a three wide pass on Dylan Hutchison and Glen Cook. On lap five, aggressive Schmidt delivered Chris Scribner a bump and run in turn four. Dylan Hutchison dove low into turn three locking his brakes to make a solid pass on Juan Pitta on lap three. On lap 19, Schmidt and Romero had caught up with Matt Scott to start putting the pressure on the leader. On lap 31, Eric Schmidt tried to make a bump and run on Scott in turn two but couldn’t complete the pass. On lap 35, Eric Schmidt got loose allowing Romero to finally make the pass. On lap 40, Romero eager for the championship drove in deep into turn one passing Scott but got high in turn two sending him in the marbles getting Romero extremely loose and hitting the back stretch wall ending his night with his first DNF for the year. On lap 47, Juan Pitta gave Chris Scribner the bump and run in turn two. On lap 48, Pitta collided with Scribner in turn one sending Pitta spinning. Matt Scott walked to his fifth victory of the season followed by Eric Schmidt, Dylan Hutchison, Chris Scribner and Glen Cook the final five. With the win Matt Scott finalized the 2011 All American Speedway Championship making it his second consecutive championship.
Last up for the race day was the Bomber division fielding 12 cars and No. 24 Cody Rickard set a fast time of 16.168 seconds. Followed by No.3 Chris Paulson, No. 77 Erick Ray, No. 50 Richard Perez and No. 23 Eric Bocksberger the fast five. Erick Ray took home the first heat race win and Richard Perez grabbing the second heat race win. Four drivers competed in the trophy dash and Richard Perez took home the dash win. With the seven car invert, Eric Bocksberger started on pole. Bocksberger took the early lead until lap three Erick Ray put his machine out front. On lap 23, smoking Cody Rickard spilled oil on the track from the front stretch to turn one to the off ramp ending his night with a DNF. All American Speedway Officials quickly cleaned up the track and got racing underway. On lap 26, No. 63 Joe Rhodes made a complete stop on the front straightaway causing a red flag. After the restart Erick Ray continued to lead the way to his fourth victory this season. Followed by Richard Perez, Chris Paulson, Eric Bocksberger and Dana Kelly the final five. Three races ago Chris Paulson clinched the 2011 All American Speedway Championship making it his second consecutive championship.
Weekly NASCAR Championship Points Race No. 16 will return to All American Speedway this Saturday, September 10th featuring NASCAR Modifieds Twin 50’s, Street Stocks and Bombers 35 also joining in on the championship series will be USAC Young Guns and Ford Focus Midgets. More information about All American Speedway, as well as driver interviews, can be found at www.AllAmericanSpeedway.com. The Placer County Fairgrounds administration office is open for advance ticket sales Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm at 800 All America City Blvd. Roseville, CA. 95678, or contact the office at (916) 786-2025. Championship Points race No. 18 on October, 1st has been cancelled due to reservation of Open Wheel night.
