Philpott Returns to Form at Altamont Motorsports Park

Tracy, Calif., August 11, 2007 - A full slate of local racing was on tap for race fans at Altamont Motorsports Park on Saturday night as four of five local divisions took to the track with an additional visit from the NCMA Sprint cars.

A 50 lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Western Late Model shootout saw Tracy, Calif's Ryan Philpott return to form, taking the lead on the first lap and holding on to the number one position for all 50 laps of the event on the "Fastest Half Mile in the West."

Philpott, the Western Late Model points leader, had stuttered as of late, giving up the past two Late Model wins to 2006 Champ Dave Byrd and Brentwood's Doff Cooksey.

"We've been working real hard but have been having bad luck with these tires." said Philpott.

"You can't abuse these tires," said Philpott. "If you abuse them for two laps you have to let them cool for four laps."

The win on Saturday night was Philpott's eighth victory of the season.

Philpott's main challenger this season, Doff Cooksey, retired early in the race with transmission problems.

Rounding out the top five of the 14 Late Models that entered the event were Ryan Mock, Ken Benamou, Rod Winfree and Jason Gilbert.

The second and third finish positions of Mock and Benamou were the racers' first podium appearances of the season.

Philpott ran the fastest qualifying time earlier in the afternoon but started on the outside of lane two, right behind Cooksey, after a four car inversion. At the start of the race both Cooksey and Philpott rocketed by the inside cars and then Philpott cleared Cooksey coming down the back stretch.

Several mid-race cautions put Philpott's restart skills to the test but in the end no one had what it took to challenge Ryan and his #52 "Red Rocket."

Tight racing highlighted American Limited Stock Car racing as a late caution set up a five lap shootout to determine the winner of the 30 lap event. When the dust settled it was Stockton's Chad Holman taking the checkers and his fourth win in the past five races.

Holman, the 2006 ALSC Champ at Stockton 99 Speedway, bided his time in the event, waiting for the leader, Jim Earl and second place car, Jim Dulla, to make a mistake. Eventually both did, bobbling on laps 20 and 21, and letting Holman get around both of them for the win.

"They were racing hard and I was racing hard and I figured I would see what happened near the end," said Holman. "I didn't really have much for them before that."

"I was working with a really loose car," said Jim Dulla. "I made an adjustment after the trophy dash. I was tight and I made the adjustment too far. [Chad] capitalized on that."

Jim Dulla, the points leader coming into the event, won the trophy dash before the main event. Both Dulla and Earl followed Holman past the stripe to round out the top three of the ten cars that entered the event. Holman ran the quickest qualifying time earlier in the afternoon.

A large contingent of 15 Grand American Modified cars took to the half-mile oval for an entertaining 30 laps of racing.

San Francisco's Robert Kennedy took the win, making the outside groove work for him by passing Tony Noceti on lap 19. Kennedy moved to the outside of Noceti in turn one and eventually made the pass stick between turns three and four.

"Tony is a hard driver. I was on his outside once and couldn't get by him but I got him the second time." said Kennedy in victory lane.

"He's hard driver but he always drives like a gentleman." said Kennedy of Noceti.

Noceti, the Grand American Modified points leader coming into the event, dominated the early races of the season but the last five races in the division have now seen five different winners with Kennedy being the most recent victor.

Kennedy ran the second quickest qualifying lap earlier in the afternoon with Thomas Leiby running the fastest time to get in the show. A six car inversion started Kennedy in the fifth spot with Noceti starting in the third position.

A frightening wreck down the backstretch after a restart on lap 10 saw the #25 of Jim Reeves roll several times in the air before coming to a rest. Miraculously Reeves walked away from the incident unscathed as several cars were retired from the event in chain reactions that followed the initial incident.

NCMA Sprint driver Jimmy Lavell also made the outside groove work for him, passing the #17 of Rob Hammon on lap 5 and holding on for the victory in the 30 lap event of the visiting NCMA touring series.

Jeff Burrows took second in a photo finish between his #9 machine and the #42 of Micheal Zarevich.

In victory lane Jimmy Lavell dedicated the win to the wife of NCMA driver Gary Koster who did not race in the event on Saturday evening as he was caring for his wife who is suffering from a serious illness.

Earlier in the day in qualifying Lavell broke the 100 mile per hour barrier, getting around the half-mile oval in 100.111 seconds - the quickest qualifying time of the evening.

Points leader Leo Solari took the checkers in the early 10 lap Formula Ford race on the road course, coming across the stripe with a full eight second lead over the rest of the pack. Richard Hull crossed the stripe first in the night cap.

Next weekend Altamont Motorsports Park hosts another "Another Open-Wheel Madness Night" as the popular USAC/CASA Sprints and Ford Focus Midgets duel it out once again on the half-mile and 1/4-mile ovals. Also on tap next Saturday night is a visit from the Legends of the Pacific and the Thunder Roadsters.

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.

Source: Jeff Downey/Altamont Motorsports Park


2006 NASCAR Best Facility Improvement Award as a Premier Short Track
2006 USAC the Race Organizer of the Year Award