Source: SRL Media Relations/cs
Date: 07/29/2007

ANDERSON, California -- Saturday night was hot in the stands and on the track as well at Shasta Raceway Park. Rookie Bryan Herzog (Clovis, CA) in the 11 car got the win but he had to survive and event filled race with multiple lead changes and several cars spun out, including his own early on, to get his first ever SRL main event victory.

Tracy Bolin of Valley Springs, CA took the lead early as the pole winner Troy Ermish was out of the race quickly after finding the wall in the first lap. What initially looked like a dog fight at the front between Bolin and the 9 car of Justin Westmoreland of Madera, turned into a larger group at the front with veteran Dave Byrd closing the gap followed by the Belletto brothers (Steve and Jeff). Meanwhile rookie Porter Smith of Aztec, NM (62 car) was moving up the field spot by spot with a lot of tight nose to nose racing and Smith ended of spinning out the 11 car at lap 20. At lap 32 it appeared that the 9 car of Justin Westmoreland was loosing the performance it had throughout the day to that point as he began to fall back in the field.

At lap 50, Bolin still looked strong out front followed closely by Steve Belletto (Modesto, CA) in the 30 car, Byrd and Dan Holtz in the 23 car. But the Gremlins got to Holtz’s car again in lap at lap 54 after he suffered mechanical problems in the previous SRL race in Madera. Both times his car has looked very fast and like a potential race winning car. At lap 65, with Bolin, Steve Belletto and Byrd still out front and the 62 car of Smith having worked his way up to fourth, the 9 car of Westmoreland caught fire, apparently do to a transmission leak to bring out a red flag. As track officials ensured Justin’s safety and put out the car fire, the crew for the race leader, Tracy Bolin, realized the O2 car had a flat and brought it off the track for a tire change.

As the race made its way toward lap 70 things got really tight up front with the Porter Smith taking over 2nd place at lap 69. But with the group remaining bunched closely in front, something had to give and what gave was the 62 car after Byrd made contact in turn 1. Jeff Belletto (Modesto, CA) in the 6 car caught a bad break while trying to avoid the entangled cars in front of him and ended up with damage that knocked him out of the race along with the 62 car.

So at lap 75, the battle up front was lead by Steve Belletto followed by the 4 car of Greg Voigt and the 7 car of Rick Ruzbarsky who had both been making up ground on the leader. And right behind the leaders was rookie Herzog moving up from last to fourth after being spun early in the race. The group remained bunched until lap 95.

At lap 95, the 4 car of Greg Voigt was attempting a low groove pass and ran out of room in turn 1, getting into the rear of the 30 car of Steve Belletto and causing the 30 car, himself and a close trailing Rick Ruzbarsky to spin and bring out a late yellow. All 3 managed to use their driving skills to recover in time to keep their cars in the race but they would now be fighting an up hill battle from the back of the pack with only 4 laps to go.

So with 4 laps to go, Bryan Herzog found him self leading the race after the caution and drove strong for the final laps holding off the veteran Byrd, Bolin and Ruzbarsky with young Rookie Brennan Newberry in the 09 car finishing with his best SRL finish at 5th. Herzog and his team celebrated the victory in front of the Shasta Fans and their celebration continued on into the pits. The rookie Herzog was especially excited because this was his first ever SRL win and it moved him to the front of the rookie of the year point standings. He was even more excited as he was able to hold off veteran Dave Byrd whom he admires. When asked what enabled his car to climb back into the race and hold on for the league, Herzog said he felt like a “switch went off in his car after the red flag” (due to the fire in the 9 car) and all systems were go from that point forward.

Another almost equally excited rookie in the pits was Newberry who at 17 is the youngest SRL driver. When asked about his 5th place finish young Newberry said “we just stuck to our strategy and stayed clean and avoided trouble.” Newberry continued, “This series (the SRL) is awesome and the only place I want to be!”

Trophy Dash:
Steve Belletto was fast enough to edge by the 9 car of Justin Westmoreland in lap 2 to win the Performance Electric Company Inc. trophy dash. Following the 9 car was the 1 car of short track racing legend Dave Byrd followed by Rookie of the Year candidate Porter Smith of Aztec, NM in the 62 car.

Other Awards:
The Mid Valley Iron and Metals Hard Luck Award went to Troy Ermish in the 38 car whose luck ran out in lap one when he it the wall between turn 3 and 4 before he even had a chance to see what his car could do. Troy also won the Mid Valley Iron and Metals Pole Start Award and young Rookie Brennan Newberry won the hard charger award for finishing up 9 spots in 5h from his start in the 14th position.

2007 SRL Racing Schedule:

August 4th Altamont Motorsports Park
August 18th Colorado National
September 1st Madera Speedway
October 20th & 21st Shasta Raceway Park

About the Stockcar Racing League (SRL):

The SRL is one of the premier stock car racing series in the country. Under the guidance of Steve Fensler, the series has patterned itself after NASCAR with beautifully prepared cars and support vehicles, and identifiable team uniforms. This seventh season looks to break all attendance records, attracting over 70 seasoned drivers from all over California and the southwestern states. Local and regional stock car fans can also cheer for new stars that will someday drive the machines of NASCAR. The series is a training ground, not only for drivers but for mechanics, chief mechanics and engineers. This series is great for fans who love live action on a hot weekend.

See Also .:

• Bryan Herzog Driver Card
• Shasta Raceway Park Track Page

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