PHILPOTT AND GUIBOR TAKE HOME WINS AT ALTAMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK

Source: AMP Media Relations
Date: 04/28/2008

David Philpott of Tracy and Guy Guibor of Manteca picked up stirring wins on Saturday afternoon, at Altamont Motorsports Park, in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Twin-50s.

Philpott and Guibor’s wins in the Western Late Model division went along with feature wins for Todd Lynch of Tracy in the Modifieds, Sammy Solari of Salida in the ALSC division, Colby Potts of Manteca in the Future Champions Development Series, and Bob Wilson in the Formula-4s.

21 cars took the green flag in Western Late Model 50 lap race #1, with 2005 track champion Jason Gilbert of Pleasanton leading the field to the green.

Trouble struck early as Casey Scheier of Danville tangled with Tim Bost of Paradise in turn three. As the two spun, Gary Franks was collected. Franks suffered heavy front-end damage and was done for the afternoon. Bost was forced to retire from the race but returned for the second feature.

Philpott, who also set the fast-time, went to work from eighth position and moved up to Gilbert’s rear bumper by lap 11.

Heavy battling for the fourth position between Tim Spurgeon of Danville, Guibor, Dallas Glenn of Fresno, and Greg Potts of Manteca allowed for Brentwood’s Doff Cooksey to run comfortably in third.

Reinie Naeb of Jackson spun while being lapped on lap 15, and was hit head-on by Mark Squadrito of Livermore. Both were eliminated by the crash.

On the restart, Philpott sized up Gilbert and on lap 25, made a thrilling pass to the outside to take the lead.

A late caution on lap 46 set up a four-lap shootout between Gilbert and Philpott, but Philpott had a great restart and was able to pull away for the win.

The top-five were Philpott, Gilbert, Cooksey, Spurgeon, and Potts.

The second 50 lap feature on the fastest half-mile in the west was Guibor’s race. Guibor led the entire race distance to take a very convincing win in just his fourth start on the paved oval.

While Guibor dominated, the race was full of drama, as the top-12 cars ran in a tightly wound pack in the opening laps. Trouble struck the two Nascimento Motorsports teammates when Glenn and Potts collided in turn one, collecting Cooksey.

All three returned to the track after repairs, with Cooksey and Potts sprinting to the front while Glenn dropped several laps off the pace.

Philpott went on the charge, running down Andrew Livengood of Richmond on lap 23 to set-up a thrilling duel for second.

Philpott and Livengood dueled fiercely in a race that stayed relatively caution-free, while at the tail-end of the lead-lap, Spurgeon, Bost, Cooksey, and Potts staged a heated battle for fifth.

With just a few laps remaining, and Guibor in striking distance, Philpott surrendered third as he suddenly went to the pits with an apparent overheating problem.

Guibor snuck away in heavy lapped traffic to a close win over Livengood, Gilbert, Bost, and Cooksey. Guibor also managed to come away as the points leader.

In Grand American Modified action, Tracy’s Todd Lynch worked his way past 2007 runner-up Todd Lewis of Riverbank to take the feature win.

Lynch and Lewis ran side-by-side for several laps, with Lewis appearing to possibly have the preferred line.

Lynch and Lewis came across the line in a close finish, followed by Robert Kennedy of San Francisco, Jose Gutierrez of Modesto, and Morgan Cooksey of Brentwood.

“Slammin” Sammy Solari of Salida won his second ALSC main event of the year, winning over a tough and talented field of 14 cars.

Solari opened up the afternoon by setting a new track record in qualifying, and took the lead from Steve Philpott on lap seven.

A large pack of cars battled closely behind Solari, and a late race restart gave Joe Allen of Stockton an opportunity to challenge Solari. But Solari proved too strong as he picked up the over two second win.

The top-five at the finish were Solari, Allen, Zack Huffman of French Camp, Tim Rappa of Hayward, and Richard Harper of Stockton.

Three young drivers took to the Altamont quarter-mile in the new Future Champions Development Series. 14 year-old Cameron Millard of Carson City, NV, 14 year-old Colby Potts of Manteca, and 15 year-old Tyler Thomas of Loomis competed. Potts, a former karting champion, ran the fastest lap of the day with a 14.679.

The young drivers will return on May 24 with more drivers expected to be in action.

The series allows 14-16 year-old drivers to compete in Western Late Model cars. More information about this brand new division is available at the Altamont Motorsports Park website.

Bob Wilson and Wilson Motorsports triumphed in both 10 lap main events for the Formula-4 division on the 1.1 mile Altamont road course.

The top-five of the first main event went to Wilson, Leo Solari, Dan Durbin, Jake Morgenstern, and Richard Hull.

The top-five for the second main event were Wilson, Robert Lopez, Hull, Jim Robbins, and Jake Morgenstern.

16 of these stock four-cylinder vehicles competed in this fast-growing, economy class.

Altamont Motorsports Park goes dark next Saturday but will return May 10 and 11 for the “wackiest spectacle in the west” with the 24 Hours of LeMons. Not to be confused with that French race over the Atlantic, 24 Hours of LeMons is two days of racing for cars costing $500 or less. Close to 100 cars and 500 drivers will compete in this event on the Altamont road course.

All mothers will be free for all weekend for this event!

Oval racing returns May 17 with the USAC Western Sprints and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Models. Racing thunder with both closed- and open-wheeled cars will be on tap.

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