PHILPOTTS RULE FIELD AT ALTAMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK

Source: Altamont Motorsports Park Public Relations
Date: 08/26/2007

TRACY, California -- The Philpott family of Tracy, Calif's put on an impressive display at Altamont Motorsports Park on Saturday night, lining the podium in a 1-2-3 finish that featured Ryan Philpott in the number one position followed by cousin Justin Philpott as the runner up and uncle David Philpott rounding out the top three.

Ryan's win, his ninth of the season at Altamont, may have been his toughest fight yet, besting a field of 26 talented drivers including Ross Strmiska, Mark Holeman, Brian Koski and Matt Erickson.

Coming into the race, Strmiska led the NASCAR Whelen All-American Late Model points standings in California followed by Mark Holeman in the fifth position.

"This is awesome," said Philpott in victory lane. "The Philpotts are one, two and three. That is how it should be every week."

Ryan and his #52 "Red Rocket" did not have an easy task ahead of him after ending up in the rear of the field after an early race incident with the #26 of Mike Beller and the #57 of Doff Cooksey.

"I felt a little difference in the wheel." said Philpott about the wreck. "We got it in the rear wheel and the front wheel but it eventually felt fine."

The wreck retired Cooksey for the evening after the young gun from Brentwood led the first eight laps of the contest.

Ryan Philpott narrowly avoided disaster on lap 22 when he negotiated around a wreck in turn 4 that included his uncle David and Ross Strmiska.

Strmiska finished fifth for the evening with the #73 of Ken Benamou finishing ahead of Strmiska in the fourth position.

Rounding out the top ten were Holeman, Jeff Orr, Helder Garcia, Rudy Marquez and Brian Koski.

Ryan Philpott ran the quickest time in qualifying followed by Ross Strmiska and Mike Beeler.

Earlier in the day it was the visiting Donnie Darter who took the checkers in the American Limited Stock Car event, besting a talented field of fifteen ALSC drivers. Darter took the lead on lap 20, getting around ALSC driver Chad Holman who had won five out of the last sixth ALSC events at Altamont Motorsports Park coming into Saturday nights contest.

Rounding out the top five were Jim Earl, Jim Dulla, Jacob Cardoza and Tim Rappa.

The #3 of Bryan Jones led the first three laps of the 40 lap ALSC shootout on the 1/4-mile.

In Grand American Modified action the #1 of Todd Lynch dominated the field, leading all but three laps of the 40 lap event on the half mile oval. Lynch was followed past the stripe by the #47 of Thomas Leiby and the #06 of Tony Noceti.

Altamont Motorsports Park will not be racing next weekend as the NASCAR Nextel Cup series will be paying a visit to the California Speedway just outside of Los Angeles, Calif. Racing will return to Altamont Motorsports Park on September 8th for another "Combo Night!" featuring the USAC-CASA "Best in the West" Series in addition to the V8-powered West Coast ProTrucks.

Altamont Motorsports Park is located between Livermore and Tracy, Calif., within an hour's drive from most points in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as the Central Valley.

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