2011 Local Tracks

  STOCKTON 99 SPEEDWAY
2011 Schedule         Last race: WEEKLY RACE RECAP

The New Stockton 99 Speedway Media Release – 9-17-2011           

Media Relations – David Holman                                                                          

Live the Madness Night Brought Forth the Cream of the Crop in Each Division: Mike Graham/Super Stocks,
Jeremy Tucker/Bombers, Jeff Belletto/WLM, Wes Miller/GAM and Joseph Reichmuth/B-4’s

On Saturday, September 17^th, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series returned to Live The Madness, sponsored by 51 FIFTY Energy Drink.  It was also the Whelen All-American Series Final Points Race.  On the Docket for the Event were the Western Late Models in 150-Laps of racing pleasure.  Also, the Super Stocks, Grand American Modifieds, Bombers and the Basically-4-Cylinders were in the lineup and all Divisions were ready to put on a fabulous show to ring out the year.  Of course, the nearly 1500 fans in the stands on hand to witness Championship Night were left standing in awe of the fabulous warfare that had unfolded before their collective eyes.  And, in appreciation of that very fact, most lingered until the conclusion of post-race interviews.  Congratulations to All Our Champions for the 2011 Racing Season.

The Basically-4-Cylinders got the evening rolling as they usually do.  French Camp’s Mark Jacke (747), after being the bridesmaid on several occasions this year, finally made it all the way to the alter to claim Victory for himself, the first of his career.  Also, earlier in the day, Jacke simply shattered the old Track Record of 17.98 set by Rodney Lopez in 2009, when he circled the tricky quarter-mile in an unbelievably blistering time of 17.187.

As the Racing Gods would have it, this one started straight up off qualifying, which put Mark Jacke (747) on pole and third generation driver from Manteca, Firecracker Matt Anderson (5), high and tight to the right as they came around to greet the green.  Jacke grabbed the holeshot going off into turn one with Anderson falling in line behind the #747.  Unfortunately for Anderson, or anyone else, for that matter, on this night, Jacke would not only break his streak of second place finishes, he would do it as Commander and Chief as he began to chew and swallow large hunks of the asphalt real estate out where only the elite few get to enjoy the pristine beauty of vista point, and he left absolutely nothing on the slick racing surface, but the distant fight over that second place territory as he took it to the house for the positively dominating Victory, his first-ever at the Speedway.  Of course, that second place territory was occupied by Firecracker Anderson, who, after casting a distant shadowing of Jacke’s every move, finally realized that on this night, second was not so bad, after all.  Dave Kong (9) of Jamaica, after some devastating luck the last two times out, finally had a great finish that would stick as he drove it onto the podium in third.  2011 B-4 Champion from Manteca, Joseph Reichmuth (6), brought her home in what would be his worst finish of the year in fourth.  Another driver from Manteca, Nic Rogers (51), rounded out the top five.  Congratulations to Joseph Reichmuth for an absolutely brilliant year in winning the Championship with a record of:

Of course, this doesn’t include the last two events, which will not change the outcome.

In the Bomber Division, 2011 Division Champion and Stockton’s own Jeremy Tucker (351), dazzled the crowd and bewildered his competitors by showing why he is the Champ this year with some astonishing driving skills as he completed his Dream Season with a fantastic win, his sixth in 2011.

Heir to Stockton’s Tucker Clan throne, David Tucker (350) and second generation driver from Ceres, sixteen year old Tyler Guzman (93X), were strapped in tight to the front row and paced the field around to catch sight of that all-important green flag breaking the silence of the near-autumn afternoon.  And, sure enough, with the long right one to the floor, D. Tucker had the heavier foot and beat the pack down into turn one to grab the early lead, which he cautiously garnered until lap 4, when, by no coincidence, he would surrender that precious real estate he held so dear to 2011 Bomber Champ and distant relative, Jeremy Tucker (351), who had just made a tremendous move between one and two to happily wrestle the lead away.  Once out front, and despite having to live through the torture of five caution periods and a red, one which included losing the lead to D. Tucker for three laps (12-14), J. Tucker proved why he would take home the Crown in 2011 by dodging assailants and shrapnel and putting on a clinic in how to control a loose race car as he took it to the checkers for his sixth win of the year in marvelous fashion.  After a two-year hiatus from racing, Stockton’s Dave Ball (300), starting mid-pack in the eighteen-car field, cautiously worked his way through the field with a patience he didn’t even know he possessed, and drove it onto the podium in an amazing second place run.  Bobby Simpson (094), also of Stockton, in an excitement-filled race of his own, finished on a positive note in third.  Yet another Stockton driver, Dennis Byers (969), in a rare appearance this year, and after winning last time out, put together another nice run in fourth with Darin Alder, in his #360 hotrod, filling in the number five slot quite nicely.  Congratulations to Jeremy Tucker for bringing home the gold this year with a record of:

In the Grand American Modified Division, 2011 Division Champion, Wes Miller (57) of Turlock, proved, once again, why he is considered one of the best when he won his Heat Race to clinch the Title, then went out and won the Main, his fifth of the year.

As luck and circumstances usually have their way, Nick Lyons (43A) of Lincoln nabbed the pole position and would be pitted against 2011 Champ Wes Miller (57) to get this fast-paced race underway.  With the green flag smiling down on the field, Miller grabbed a gear coming off turn four and simply beat the #43A off into turn one for the early lead.  Once out in the clean air, Miller, as he so often does, began to step away in not-so-large increments, but step away he did, until lap 13 when no less than three vehicles made contact coming off turn four and came spinning down the frontstretch, coming to rest just beneath the flagstand, which caught the immediate attention of the flagman, who promptly sent the yellow flying high and hard.  On the restart, Miller resumed where he had left off, however, this time when he stepped away, the increments came in much larger bites as he savored the taste of a glorious Season, and, without further adieu, he took it the rest of the way to that fabulous land that sits just the other side of the finish line where he would bask in the riches of Victory and the Well Seasoned Crown.  The win would be Miller’s fifth this year.  Lyons, enjoying a wonderful Season of his own, finished off the year with a second place run, and a second place in the Points.  Rick Andersen (11A) of Citrus Heights wrapped up his year with a solid run on the podium in third.  Oakdale’s Ryan Stepps (98), after a pretty decent Season of his own, brought her home in fourth, while Rio Linda’s Don Lehman (83) rounded out the top five.  Congratulations to Wes Miller and the entire #57 crew for an outstanding 2011 Season with a record of:

In the Premier Division Super Stocks, Stockton’s own Rompin Rich Harper (5) stunned the field and the crowd by showing the entire racing community what he is truly made of when, after an up and down Season where the Racing God of Misfortune came down to take a bite out of that beautiful #5 car on more than one occasion, Harper, on this night, would positively take it to the house in grand fashion, going wire to wire.

Finally, someone above smiled down on Rich Harper (5) with an eight invert, which landed him at P1 to get this one up to speed with the likes of West Modesto’s Garland Tyler (73) already nipping at Harper’s right side numbers as the green flag wrinkled wildly in the night sky.  And so it went, Harper got more foot to the gas and drove off deep into turn one coming out on the other side with the lead.  Once out front, and despite two early cautions, Harper, to all intents and purposes, was completely untouchable as he devoured the racing surface lap by lap until lap 13, when someone, (no one stepped forward to take credit), got into the back of Stockton’s Ben Lewis II (22), which sent him spinning high between turns three and four, and much to the shock of visualizing a great year going up in smoke, Points Leader Mike Graham (93) of Hughson, hit Lewis head on, which popped the right front on the #93 and sent him straight to the pits under caution.  On the ensuing restart, Harper kicked it up a notch, not that he needed to, and vaulted back out front where he had been all night with the same results: large gulps of asphalt disappearing and giving his nearest pursuers nothing left to race for but that far away second spot as Harper took it all the way through and blew down the doors at the finishline to capture his first win of the Season, going stripe to stripe for the refreshing lion’s share of the spoils.  Lodi’s Robert Daniel (17), after enduring some wild racing going on around him, brought her home with a beautiful second place run.  Tyler, after starting up front and trying to unseed Graham for the Division Title, fell off, if only slightly, to finish on the podium with a strong third place effort.  Atwater’s Jason Aguirre (45), a contender every time he hits the racing surface, finished her up in fourth with the second generation youngster from Lodi, Robbie Knittel (03), after a horrific crash last week, putting it all behind him to finish fifth.  Points Leader Mike Graham, by virtue of his sixth place finish, locked up the 2011 Division Championship.  And so we say Congratulations to Mike Graham for winning the Super Stock Title in what was the closest points battle of the year.  Graham finished with a record of:

Live the Madness 51/50 150 Western Late Model feature went a little sideways, but in the end, Tracy’s second generation young driver, Justin Philpott (05), would be left standing on the top tier of the podium in winning number two on the Season.

This one got underway with Manteca’s Jacob Gomes (55X) and Seaside’s Dave Byrd (78) side by side up front and ready to get this one up to speed.  With the green flag breaking through the rather cool night breeze, Gomes got to the gas three-sixteenths of an inch quicker than did Byrd as he dove down into turn one with the early lead.  And over the next twenty laps, it was a battle for the ages (pun intended) with the top two nose to tail, side by side, gnawing and chewing and spitting all over that much-coveted real estate that takes up P1, until finally, on lap 16, Byrd, with the largest bag of tricks on the West Coast, just so happened to pull out the right one as he got beneath Gomes and jetted out to that immortal ground that these asphalt warriors battle over each week.  And over the next several circuits, despite being plagued by a couple cautions, the top two grappled over that top spot until lap 27 when Byrd took it away from the youngster for the final time, just before Gomes began to fade.  Byrd would relish that rarified air out front, again having to endure several cautions, until lap 75 when Roseville’s Eric Schmidt (05X), after starting mid-pack on the grid, decided it was his time to shine.  And so he did, over the next sixty-one laps his smooth style shone bright in the night lights, but not without the constant gnawing and nibbling at his back bumper by the #78, whom, at that time, was playing the part of the obligatory thorn as Byrd relentlessly poked at the spoiler of Schmidt until a caution halted the great action on lap 134.  On the resulting restart, Byrd worked his way around the outside of Schmidt and just nipped him at the line for the posted lead.  But, unfortunately for both drivers, going off into turn one on lap 138, Justin Philpott (05) made slight contact, which pushed both Byrd and Schmidt up the track in an effort to collect their respective hotrods, while at the same time, Philpott dove low beneath both cars and came out of turn two with the lead.  From that point forward, Philpott took full advantage of his new-found inheritance and took it all the way through to the checkered flag for his second win on the year.  Byrd made a great save on the earlier mishap, and although he got close enough to challenge Philpott only once, he just never recovered completely, but still managed a second place finish.  2011 WLM Track Champion, Jeff Belletto (12X) of Modesto, after starting deep on the grid, ran a very intelligent race in finishing on the podium in third.  Of course, by taking the green on this night, Belletto clinched the Title at the onset.  San Ramon’s Tim Spurgeon (86), in an extremely rare appearance at the Speedway this Season, came home in a very respectable fourth, while up and coming second generation driver from Stockton, Colby Potts (12), ran a very fine race of his own in finishing fifth.  Congratulations to 2011 WLM Champion Jeff Belletto and the entire 12x team for a magnificent year at Stockton 99 Speedway.  Belletto finished up with a record of:

The New Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, ¼-mile west of Highway 99.  For more information on tickets and times, please contact the Speedway Office at (209)466-9999 or visit their Website at www.stockton99.com. 

The New Stockton 99 Speedway is sponsored by Jackson Rancheria Casino Hotel, California Welding Supply, Budweiser, Alamo Alarm and Stockton Hampton Inn and Suites and Lodi Holiday Express.

RESULTS

Basically-4-Cylinder

Bombers

Grand American Modified

Super Stocks

Western Late Models

Attn. Visitors; Rooms available at Stockton 99's New Official Hotel!