This past weekend the Star Grand American Modifieds debut their first race of the season featuring twin 40 lap main events. The Star Grand American Modifieds is a series within the NASCAR Whelen All American Modified series. As the Star GAM drivers compete for their own points and payouts provided by Star Racing Supply, they will also be competing in the NASCAR Whelen All American modified series as well. Seven Star GAM drivers made it to the track on Saturday and three drivers had back luck and couldn’t make the features leaving four drivers to battle with the newer cars. Nick Lyons posted fast times in practice with a time of 14.608 seconds however David Stricklin was right there with Lyons with a time of 14.663 seconds. Four practice sessions cut the division short of qualifying and trophy dashes which led the division into the first main events.
Nick Lyons started the main event sitting in fifth among the Whelen drivers. On the start Lyons battled with Nik Romano however Romano was able to overpower Lyons for fifth. Lyons keeping up with the pace of the Whelen drivers reclaimed his fifth position on lap 16. Both Lyons and Romano were neck and neck swapping the fifth spot. In the end, Lyons took home a steady sixth place finish. Lyons may have finished sixth in the Whelen series but captured the Star GAM victory. Gearing up for the second main event Lyons was eager to improve within the Whelen series and started third. On lap one Lyons was second but it didn’t last very long as he fell back to third on lap two. On lap 17, Lyons was racing hard with a Whelen driver and the two traded positions on and off till lap 19 Lyons’s owned third. Lyons consistent laps and keeping up with the new cars landed a solid fourth place finish as well as his second Star GAM victory.
David Sticklin started seventh and immediately began battling for position with Whelen driver Allen Rider on the start. Tough run for Stricklin as he fell back to the 12th position on lap 15 making Stricklin work harder to get his positions back. By lap 19 Stircklin working on the field picked off one driver for 11th and two more drivers by lap 20. As laps wound down stricklin caught up to the next pack of drivers for 8th, however ran out of time and landed a solid 9th place finish making him second in the Star GAM series. In the second feature Stricklin started 9th on the grid. On lap 10, David picked off a Whelen driver for 8th as well as another one on lap 19 for 7th. As laps began to wound down Stricklin kept working on the field and claimed two more positions and ended up with a solid 5th place finish and a second in the Star GAM series.
William Camera started 11th in the first main event with a steady run. On lap 15 Camera made a two position jump for 8th however on lap 20 he fell back to 11th. Towards the end of the first main event Camera made one last pass for 10th and held onto the 10th position till the checkered ending third in the Star GAM series. Camera started 10th in the final feature and in ten laps William picked up a position. On lap 19 Camera gained another position and on the last lap made a pass for a solid seventh and a third in the Star GAM series.
Todd Lewis started 13th in the first main event and ran a solid 11th place finish in the Whelen series and fourth in the Star GAM series. Lewis started 12th at the line for the second feature. By lap 19 Lewis picked up two positions ending with 10th mid race. On lap 22, lewis made the pass for 9th and completed the run to a solid 9th place finish in the Whelen series and a fourth in the Star GAM series.
Next up for the Star Grand American Modified series is this weekend at Stockton 99 Speedway. The modified division will open the day to the NASCAR K&N Pro series with a 60 lap main event. For More information on Stockton 99 Speedway or the Star Grand American Modified Series Presented by Star Racing Supply, visit www.stockton99.com website or call 209 466-9999. For more information on Star Racing Supply can be found by visiting www.StarRacingSupply.com. The Racer's store is located 8581 Younger Creek Drive, Sacramento, CA 95828 or call (916) 914-1284
Star Racing Supply is the new Stockton 99 track vendor with a physical store at the track offering over 400 brands of racing parts and supplies. Star Racing Supply is the official source for tires and fuel for Stockton 99 Speedway. Star Racing Supply is working to become the new Modified headquarters for Northern California. Star Racing Supply offers four brands of Modified chassis including Racecar Factory, Ellis, Port City and Wenteq. Star Racing Supply is supplied with a full fabrication shop to offer chassis services as well as provides all the parts and materials to build, race and maintain Modified race cars
2012 Whelen All American Series Modifieds Presented by Star Racing Supply Schedule:
April 28th Twin 40s
May 5th w/K&N 60 laps
May 26th Tri Holiday Race 1 & 60 laps
June 9th Twin 40s w/SRL
June 16th Twin 40s
June 30th Tri Holiday Race 2 & 60 laps
July 21st Twin 40s
August 4th Twin 40s
September 1st Tri Holiday Classic Race 3 & 60 laps
September 15th Twin 40s
