PHILPOTT CLEANS UP IN TWIN FEATURE SWEEP AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

Madera Speedway celebrated the arrival of summer with Summer Kick off Party & Hawaiian Shirt Concert Night on Saturday June 28th. The seven-division program included the NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series American Limited Stock Cars (ALSC), Mini Super Toyotas, Toyota Sedans and Hornets plus the Mini Cup and Baby Grand divisions.

The event also marked the long awaited return of the Grand American Modifieds (GAM) to the "Fastest 1/3 Mile in the West" for the first time in two seasons. Their exciting performance in twin 50-lap features had the fans on the edge of their seats and left them hoping that the wait will not be nearly as long for the versatile open-wheelers come back.

Sacramento’s Jason Philpott locked horns with Tracy’s Scott Winters, the defending champion at Roseville’s All-American Raceway, in the first GAM feature. The two battled wheel to wheel through much the race with each seemingly gaining the upper hand on several occasions only to see the other driver fight back.

Winter’s grabbed the lead with three laps to go, but Philpott slowly edged his way back up on the outside and gained about a one-foot advantage as the two steamed across the finish line to take the checkered flag.

"Scott is a great driver and clean racer. The lead kept going back and forth and I just didn’t give up," said Philpott. "We actually touched a little bit a couple of times, but it was just great, hard racing. What a fun race."

Winters was equally complimentary of Philpott. "That was some great side by side racing," said Winters. "Jason is so tough and he had the preferred line on the top and I just couldn’t quite get it done on the bottom."

The two reprised their epic fight in the second GAM feature until Winters faded in the latter stages of the race, allowing Suisun City’s Jeremy Grasty to take over the second place position on lap 37. Although Grasty stayed glued to Philpott’s tailpipe he could never mount a pass as Philpott once again took the checkers for a very hard-earned twin feature sweep.

"I have never won two races in one night before. This is incredible," exclaimed Philpott. "I was really nervous near the end of the race because my oil light kept coming on, but luckily the car hung in there."

Modesto’s Dennis Saunders Jr. continued his recent hot streak in the American Limited Stock Car (ALSC) division on Saturday.

Taking full advantage of a slow qualifying effort that put him on the front row of the ALSC main when a full field invert was drawn for the night, Saunders quickly jumped to the lead of the 20-lap race. Saunders never looked back as he cruised to a wire-to-wire victory over division points leader, Howard Holden of nearby Clovis, in a race that ran caution free.

"I am speechless. I can hardly believe I am even here," said Saunders, who has racked up three wins in his last four starts. "I put a little blue railroad light in the car for good luck and it seems to be working."

Fresno’s Jason Kerns and Stan Hankins renewed their season long contest in the Toyota Sedan division. The pair have accounted for all five victories in the Toyota Sedan races for 2008 with Kerns holding the edge in both wins at three to two and in points at 154 to 147 coming into Saturday night.

Kerns edged Hankins to earn the night’s fast time in qualifying while Hankins returned the favor in the trophy dash. With a full invert for the 20-lap main, the pair started the race from the back of the 11-car field.

Hankins wasted little time moving to the front as he pulled off a daring three wide pass on the second lap and then blew by Fresno’s Tim Kammerer to take over the lead one lap later. Kerns was not so fortunate as he spun trying to follow in Hankins’ path and was forced to restart the race back at the tail end of the pack.

Kerns spent the rest of the race trying to thread his way up to the front while Hankins waltzed away. After struggling to make his way through the pack Kerns was finally able to execute a last lap pass on Madera’s Candee McIntosh to salvage second place.

"That was a great race for us," exclaimed Hankins, who pulled even with Kerns in wins at three apiece. "I couldn’t believe we were able to make it through the traffic like that and when we did it turned into a Sunday drive."

Despite his strong comeback, Kerns was not satisfied with a runner up finish.

"Unfortunately I built this car to win races and although it was a good finish, second place is just a little short of where I want to be," said Kerns. "It is what it is though and we will come back strong next time."

Hometown driver Randy Fleming Jr. continues to be fire engine red hot in the Modified Super Toyota (MST) class as he notched his fifth consecutive win on Saturday.

After failing to get past early race leader John Bowersox, of Chowchilla, from the outside, Fleming regrouped and made a pass underneath of Bowersox for the lead on lap eight. Bowersox stayed close to Fleming for the remainder of the 20-lap race, but he was never able to mount a challenge on Fleming and was forced to settle for second place just ahead of his son Jason Bowersox.

"It is always nice to win, but this one is really special because I want to dedicate it to Francis Nugent who was a family friend and a racing mom," said Fleming, who also took fast time and the trophy dash for a clean sweep of the night’s MST events. "Bowersox was really tough tonight and I had to battle to get the win."

Track officials decided to spice up the Hornet feature a bit by instituting a standing start in the 20-lap main. With four victories in five starts and a healthy points lead Miles Humphreys, the racing great grandpa out of Clovis, agreed to spot the rest of the seven car field a quarter lap advantage by taking the opening green flag from turn three.

It did not matter. Humphreys needed only five laps to make his way to third when the race was red flagged due to a three-car collision on the front straight. When the race resumed, it took only three more laps for Humphreys to take over the top spot and cruise to his fifth straight win of the season.

"It was interesting starting a quarter lap back. They are probably going to want me at least a half of a lap back next time," chuckled Humphreys, who was celebrating his 68th birthday on Saturday, "I want to thank all my friends and scooter riding buddies who came out here tonight to root me on."

Lincoln’s Jarret Kelly looked like he would pull off the upset of the night as he jumped to a huge lead over Jake Gomes, age 15 of Manteca, in the 25-lap WSRA Baby Grands feature, but a yellow caution on lap 21 proved to be his undoing.

With his big lead gone, Kelly tried stay ahead of Gomes on the single file restart only to have his dream of a career first win disappear with a spin in turn two. Restarting from the front, Gomes easily outdistanced his younger brother Josh and Modesto’s Michael Ray over the final laps for the win.

"We had some problems in qualifying. The car was ok early in the race and then it got better and better," said Gomes who is now a perfect seven wins in seven starts this season. "It would have been real hard to catch Kelly, but his spin really helped me a lot."

Rocklin’s John Bowman and Danville’s Max Unterbach started the 25-lap Mini Cup feature 1-2 and they finished 1-2. Antioch’s Brent Curran, the Mini Cup winner at Madera back on May 24th rounded out the podium in the 16-car feature.

After the racing was completed, the enterainment moved to the stage behind the grandstands where track announcer Wayne Pierce crowned the winner of the best Hawaiian shirt contest and the Clovis based Cadillac Cowboys performed live to the delight of the fans.

Next Friday, July 4th, Madera Speedway will help celebrate our nation’s birthday with the second round of the Tri-Holiday Classic Series featuring the NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series Western Late Models in twin 75-lap HotWood 750 Series mains. The program will also include the American Limited Stock Cars, Mini Super Toyotas, Toyota Sedans and Hornets plus a spectacular FIREWORKS show sponsored by Pacific Mobile.

Also, circle Saturday, July the 12th, on your calendars for a crash and bang evening of excitement that will feature a 200-lap Enduro and a giant Destruction Derby.

The Madera Speedway is conveniently located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west side of Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit.

For more Madera Speedway information call the Info/Race Line phone number at (559) 673-RACE and for information on the Madera Speedway Spectator Racing Series program call (209) 476-8123.

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend