ROSEVILLE, California -- All American Speedway hosted round two of the weekly NASCAR racing Saturday night providing family entertainment with great on track action featuring Modifieds, Street Stocks and Bombers. Fans made their way back to the speedway to capture more of the great racing excitement AAS has become accustomed to offering. The three primary divisions put on an exciting show for all of AAS supporters and fans.
First up on the agenda were the Modifieds season opener with Twin 50’s on the schedule. AAS Veteran driver No. 24 Scott Winters topped the charts in practice posting fast times right out of the box. Winters continued to do so in qualifying with a fast time of 14.264 seconds leading No. 15 Jason Philpot, No. 45 Rich Lindgren, No. 25 Jay Linstroth and No. 68 Cody Thompson the fast five. A scary wreck happened to Cody Thompson on his cool down lap in qualifying as his throttle stuck sending him into turn one wall. Thompson made it out safe and unharmed, however the car had a lot of damage to the front end. Tough break for Thompson as he will be chasing the State championship and track championship points this year. No heat races were scheduled for the division as drivers headed right into trophy dashes and the main events. Jay Linstroth took home the first modified trophy dash victory for 2012. 13 cars entered the first 50 lap main event with an invert of five. Lindgren and Linstroth led the field to the first green flag of the season and Lindgren jumped to an early lead. No. 50 Gary Glenn and No. 5 Jason Bamberg traded rubber as the two battled for the fifth position on lap one. For three laps, Gary Glenn, Jason Bamberg, No. 83 Rick Anderson and No. 98 Keegan Walmer were all nose to tail for the fifth position. By lap ten, Winters, Lindgren and Linstroth began to put distance on the field as they were all in tow for the top spot. Tough break for Jason Bamberg as his night ended early hitting the front stretch wall on lap 11 and exited the track. As no yellow was thrown, Lindgren gained a two car length lead on Linstroth hoping to break away from the field. By lap 20, Lindgren added more than five car lengths over second. On lap 23, Jason Philpot made a bump and run on Scott Winters for third and the two raced side by side for two laps with Philpot in third. Philpot got loose on lap 25 allowing Winters to re-gain his third position. As Lindgren’s car became loose on lap 32, Linstroth ran him down looking to make an inside pass on Lindgren for the lead and Rich closed the door. On lap 36, Philpot recouped his car and was ready to battle with Winters again for third as Philpot raced Winters side by side for three laps and completed the move. On the white flag lap, Linstroth tried to make his last attempt to make a move for the lead as he drove to the inside of Lindgren. Lindgren held tough on the outside and ran to his first Modified victory. Followed by Jay Linstroth, Jason Philpot, Scott Winters and Gary Glen the final five.
12 cars made it for the second Modified feature and an invert of three was spun putting Philpot and Linstroth on the front row. Jason Philpot jumped to an early lead over Linstroth. A yellow was thrown on lap one for debris on track from the start of the race. Again Philpot took the early lead on the restart and never looked back. On lap ten, Lindgren on the back of Winters rear bumper dove to the inside of Winters for third and Winters good on the high side closed the door on Rich. By lap 15, Philpot had checked out to a seven car length lead over Linstroth in second. Caution flag on lap 33 as Keegan Walmer’s 98 machine was stopped on the front stretch due to a broken transmission. AAS officials quickly removed the 98 car from the track and racing was back underway. Jason Philpot had a good run on the restart and checked out from the rest of the field to win his first 2012 modified victory. Followed by Jay Linstroth, Scott Winters, Gary Glen and Rich Lindgren the top five.
Next up was the Bomber division fielding 18 cars and No. x86 Jarred Beddow posted the fastest lap in qualifying with a time of 15.995 seconds followed by the 2011 Bomber track champion No. 3 Chris Paulson, No. 13 Michael Smith, No. 77 Erik Ray and No. 50 Richard Perez the fast five. Both No.7 Rick Anable and Paulson shared a heat race victory and No. 22 Keith Hopkinson won the trophy dash. An invert of five was picked for the stacked Bomber division putting Richard Perez and Erik Ray in front to lead the field for a 35 lap feature. On the start, Perez, Ray and Paulson all battled for the top spot with Perez taking the lead on lap two. On lap five, Paulson made a pass on Perez for the top spot and gained the lead. On lap nine, No. 9 Dan Farrington received a flat right front tire and managed to pull off the track safely, no yellow was thrown. On lap 12, Beddow and Dave Silva battled side by side for fourth with Beddow capturing the fourth position by lap 13. By lap 20, Beddow had run down Erick Ray and began to put the pressure on for position. As Paulson and Perez broke away from the field with 10 car lengths on third, Erik Ray, Eric Bocksberger and Matt Manolis made it three wide in turn one battling for third on lap 27. Track Champion Chris Paulson won his first 2012 Bomber victory with a 1.410 second lead over Richard Perez, Erik Ray, Eric Bocksberger and David Thompson the top five.
Ending the night was the Street Stocks fielding 18 cars and 2011 track champion No. 08 Mickey Owens landed fast time in qualifying with a 15.010 second lap. No. 23 Richard Poppert Jr. 2nd, No. 52 Matt Camp 3rd, No. 21 Kevin Owens 4th and No. 00 Josh Whitfield 5th. Both No. 86x Dave Silva and Richard Poppert Jr., shared a heat race win and No. 22 Mark Blanton won the trophy dash. An invert of five was picked for the division placing Josh Whitfield and Kevin Owens on the front row for the 50 lap feature. Whitfield and Owens raced side by side for the first lap until the two rubbed fenders in turn two allowing Whitfield to take the lead. On lap two, Poppert passed Owens for second and set his sights on Whitfield. On lap three, Whitfield got loose on the back stretch which allowed Poppert to reel in Whitfield. On lap four, Whitfield and Poppert raced side by side for the top spot for three laps with Whitfield holding onto the top spot. By lap nine, the top four drivers Whitfield, Poppert, Mickey Owens and Kevin Owens were all nose to tail for the lead. The caution flag was thrown on lap nine as David Thompson, Earl Lee and Lonnie Leonard all collected in turn four. On the restart, Whitfield, Mickey Owens and Poppert all battled hard for the top spot racing side by side, rubbing fenders and bump and runs were made in the first couple of laps. In the end Mickey Owens muscled it out front for the lead and checked out by lap 14. On lap 33, Matt Camp looked to make a move on Kevin Owens for third in turn one and got Owens loose. Owens managed to keep his car on track and closed the door on Camp. On lap 36, Eric Price and Byron Gonzales made contact in turn four as the two battled for sixth, Gonzales completed the pass. Caution flag on lap 47, as Mark Blanton looped his car in turn four. Green, white, checkered was set for the restart as Mickey Owens jumped to the lead. On the last lap, Kevin Owens got loose in turn one and made contact with Poppert and Blanton. Mickey Owens went on to win his first 2012 Street Stock victory and performed a memorial burnout on the back stretch in honor of Casey Cavender’s dad, Gary, who had passed away last week. Casey is a driver of the No. 03 Street Stock. Kevin Owens 2nd, Richard Poppert Jr. 3rd, matt Camp 4th, and Mark Blanton 5th.
With round two in the books the night went smoothly and all the drivers enforced proper sound requirements. Racing at AAS resumes next weekend with Late Models, Street Stocks, and Bombers. 75 laps on tap for the Late Models, 35 laps for Street Stocks,and 35 laps for the Bombers. More information about All American Speedway can be found at www.AllAmericanSpeedway.com or on the Speedway’s Facebook page. 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.
