STAR SPANGLED NIGHT FOR BYRD & BELLETTO AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

Source: Madera Speedway Media Relations/db
Date: 07/05/2008

Madera Speedway held its annual birthday gala for the good old USA on Friday night, July 4th with Round #2 of the Tri-Holiday Classic. This very special NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series program featured the HotWood 750 Series for the Western Late Models in twin 75-lap main events plus the American Limited Stock Cars, Modified Super Toyotas, Toyota Sedans and Hornets.

While Madera’s posse of "Young Guns" in the Western Late Model division - which includes defending track champion Mark Holeman, current points leader Kyle Gottula, Trevor Schlundt and Ross Strmiska, all age 22 or younger - has grabbed most of the headlines the last two seasons, on Friday age was served as fan favorite veterans Dave Byrd and Harry Belletto ruled the roost in the HotWood doubleheader.

Dave Byrd, age 50 of Monterey, started the first feature from the third row of the 17 car field as pole sitter Joey Stearns jumped out to an early lead. Schlundt, age 18 of Clovis, pulled even with Stearns on lap 20 and the two went wheel to wheel for the lead while Byrd sat perched right behind them in third.

Coming out of turn 4 of lap 22 Byrd saw his opportunity and attempted a daring pass by slicing right between the surprised pair. After trading a little paint down the front straight, Byrd emerged with the lead.

Byrd still had some work to do as a hard charging Gottula, age 21 of Modesto, began to close down on him at mid race, but just as Gottula moved close enough to make a move he cut a tire in turn four which put him into a sudden spin.

With Gottula now stuck at the back of the pack as the race resumed, Byrd was able to cruise home for the win. Schlundt followed Byrd across the finish line for second while the Stockton trio of Strmiska, Stearns and rookie Vito Ranuio rounded out the top five.

It was a welcome first win of the season for Byrd, who has amassed more than 350 wins and 16 championships in his incredible 32 year racing career.

"The door opened and I decided it was time to go. The gap closed a little bit and we made some contact, but I was able to make it stick," explained Byrd "We needed that tonight. What a blast."

Following a spectacular fireworks display, sponsored by Pacific Mobile Structures, the late models returned to the track for part two of their doubleheader.

Harry Belletto, age 65, sat on the pole for the nightcap and he used it to his full advantage by charging to the lead. The three time track champion and all time wins leader at the now defunct Stockton 99 Speedway would never look back as he sailed to a wire-to-wire victory.

"Winning is always great, but it is even better when it comes on the Fourth of July," exclaimed Belletto as he celebrated with his family in front of the cheering grandstands. "We had a lot of problems in the first race so we made a whole bunch of changes for the second race and they worked. I hope I can keep doing this for a few more years."

After waging an epic battle throughout the last half of the race, Gottula was finally able to subdue the determined Stearns for second place. Byrd backed up his earlier win with another strong run to finish in fourth.

"This feels good. I was looking for a chance at the 74 car (Belletto), but I really didn’t think I had a chance of getting him unless there was a restart," conceded Gottula, who remains on top of the season points.

Stearns concurred that this race belonged to Belletto.

"Being kids and growing up watching the Firecracker 100 in Stockton, this is a race that both Kyle and I really wanted to win, but when a big race is on the line Harry always seems to come through," said Stearns with a big grin. "After the two races, we didn’t have a lot left at the end."

Fresno drivers Stan Hankins and Jason Kerns ran into some tough sledding as they renewed their season long tussle for the Toyota Sedan division points lead on Friday. Starting the night with three wins apiece and tied for the lead in the 2008 standings, it seemed only appropriate that the pair would start the 12-car main side by side in the fourth row.

As Kerns immediately darted for the front on the opening lap, Hankins made contact with another car in turn 4, causing him to spin and putting him dead last in the field. But it is always the bleakest before the dawn and Hankins’ luck would soon change for the better.

As Hankins began to weave his way back through the pack, Kerns was tagged on lap 3 and ultimately forced to retire for the night due to the damage he sustained in the incident. Ten laps later Hankins would inherit the race lead when hometown driver Randy Fleming Jr. was sent to the pits with an oil leak.

With the path now clear in front of him, Hankins continued on for his fourth win of the year ahead of Madera’s Candee McIntosh and Fresno’s Justin Dukes.

"We had to work awful hard tonight. After that mistake at the start I knew I had to be patient and keep my head to get back up front," said Hankins. "It was a bad for Jason (Kerns), but we’ll take it because next time it could be us."

American Limited Stock Car points leader Howard Holden, of Clovis, picked up his fifth win of the year, but Coulterville’s Matt Erickson made him work hard to earn it.

Erickson shadowed Holden through the final laps of the 30-lap main, going sideways out of the corner on several occasions as he looked for any advantage. He was finally able to get a nose under Holden coming out of the final corner, but Holden was able to get just enough bite down the home stretch to take the checkered flag by less than half a car length.

"That one was tough. I don’t like to run the high side, but Matt got underneath me so I had to and for some reason it was sticking up there tonight," commented Holden. "Matt ran me hard but clean in those final laps. I think we put on a good show for the fans."

Although he was satisfied with his effort, Erickson felt he might have let this one slip away.

"I screwed up coming out of that last turn. I got a little throttle happy and got loose," admitted Erickson. "If I had rolled into the throttle a bit sooner I think I would have gotten him."

Modesto’s Dennis Saunders Jr., winner of three of the last four ALSC races, had his hopes of a fourth victory dissolve after he punted another driver early in the race, which earned him a quick invite to the rear of the field from race officials. He was able to recover and salvage a third place finish.

Hometown ace Randy Fleming Jr. remained hotter than a three-dollar bill as he rolled to his sixth straight win in the Modified Super Toyota division. Fleming started from the back of the seven-car field, but it only took him three laps to pass Chowchilla’s John Bowersox for the top spot.

"I decided to be aggressive and get to the front as quick as I could," said Fleming. "This is awesome to win six in a row and do it on the Fourth of July."

Miles Humphreys, the 68-year-old racing great grandpa out of Clovis, matched Fleming’s impressive performance as he also picked up his sixth straight win in the wild and wacky Hornet division.

As it did last race, the class took the green flag from a standing start. Humphreys spotted the rest of the field a quarter lap advantage by starting in turn 3, but an early race yellow caution quickly erased the deficit and Humphreys would eventually pass Madera’s Jeff Dizney on lap 12 for the win.

"It was my idea to handicap the field a bit by starting one turn back, but you never know when a yellow flag might come out and change things like it did tonight," said Humphreys, who also captured fast qualifying time and the trophy dash win. "Maybe next time we will have to start from the back gate."

There will be a break in the NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series regular season as Madera returns next Saturday, July 12th, with a special program featuring a 200-lap Enduro and a metal crunching Destruction Derby. The Spectator Racing Series, which allows fans to take on the "Fastest 1/3 in the West," will also be back.

The following Saturday, July 19th, Madera Speedway will host the Pombo Classic in Super Saturday #4. The program will feature the powerful 410 and 360 Super Modifieds running together in a combined feature, plus the Western Late Models and BCRA Midgets in a main event tripleheader. In addition, the Legends of the Pacific, American Limited Stock Cars and Spectator Racing Series will all be racing.

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.

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