WELCH PADS STOCKTON 99 POINT LEAD
(STOCKTON, CA--August 27, 2000)--Mark Welch of Orangevale took another step towards his second consecutive Grand American Modified and NASCAR Pacific Coast Regional championship Saturday night by posting his 12th feature victory in 19-starts on Stockton 99 Speedway’s high-banked quarter-mile paved oval.
Twenty-two cars took the green flag for the 30-lap feature that saw the initial lead fall to outside pole sitter Sam Solari of Salida with Welch, who started ninth, jumping to third in a single circuit with Robert Miller of Gardnerville, Nevada hot on his heels. The two rubbed tires and sidebars on the next pass and Welch checked up falling back to fourth. A yellow slowed the action on lap-nine as Tom Burkett of Ceres spun off turn-two. Miller moved to second on lap-11 with Welch third as another yellow fell two laps later when Robert Knittel of Lodi got turned around coming off turn-four.
During the caution, NASCAR officials talked to both Miller and Welch regarding rough driving. It didn’t matter as Welch shot by Miller and Solari on the subsequent re-start, only to have the event red flagged when Buzz Devore of Stockton spun on the front straight before smashing hard into the infield tire barrier. The head on impact severely damaged Devore’s car and resulted in his being transported to a local hospital. Initial reports indicated he was sore and suffered a mild concussion.
When the green was waved again, Steve Stacy of Stockton passed Miller for second but was not a threat to Welch as the season point leader added to his margin. Another red was displayed on lap-27 as first-year driver Mike Regelman of Ripon got turned backwards facing traffic under the flagstand at the start-finish line. Miller took advantage of the re-start by passing Stacy for second. At the checkered—after Welch, Miller and Stacy—it was Barry Callouette of Benicia fourth in front of Tony Silva of Sacramento.
Welch’s season point lead is now 101 (996-895) over Silva with just races left in the NASCAR season and four at Stockton.
A field of 12 Pro Stocks produced a bump-and-grind 25-lap feature that left the end result in the hands of the officials. Joe Hylton of Manteca was the first lap leader with a quick move from his third place starting position. A yellow fell on lap-three as Jerry Crawford of Stockton and Scott Chappell of Lodi tangled coming off turn-four. On the re-start, it was Hylton, followed by Joe Williams of Manteca, Johnny Berndt of Clements and season point leader and fast timer Cary Treadway of Stockton. The leaders got three wide coming off turn-two causing Treadway to hit the brakes and in no time he was back to eighth in line.
Berndt took control of the lead on lap-seven with Pete Ramirez of Manteca coming to second one lap later. Chappell came to third on the next pass with a yellow coming out on lap-10 for a spin by Ramirez. The scoreboard showed the re-start as Berndt, Chappell, Hylton and the resurgent Treadway, who passed Hylton for third on lap-14. The final yellow fell on the 18th go-round when Hylton got tagged and spun by Mike Garcia of Lodi. Chappell outgunned Berndt on the lap-19 re-start to take the lead with Treadway coming to second on the following lap. Treadway and Chappell played hardball to the end with Treadway making a final lap pass for the apparent win. However, in the eyes of the officials, Treadway was overly aggressive and placed in back of Chappell, who, as a result, collected his fourth win of the season. Berndt finished third ahead of dash winner Crawford and Ramirez. The reversal had little effect on the season point battle as Treadway leads Chappell by an even 100 (1030-930).
The I.B. Benedict Pure Stocks put on another slam-bang show with Tracy Bolin of Valley Springs grabbing the first lap feature lead and running to a quick yellow on the second pass as Stacy Medina of Galt lost power and stopped on the track. The re-start saw Tracy followed by his brother Tom Bolin of Morgan Hill and incoming point leader Guy Guibor of Manteca. Tom outran his brother Tracy to take the lead on lap-three with Kannai Scantlen coming to third on lap-four. Mike Graham of Manteca joined the top five on lap-nine.
A yellow on lap-28 set up a brother-to-brother dash to the checkered with Tom Bolin adding to his earlier heat win by earning his first career feature win over brother Tracy. Guy Guibor finished third ahead of Graham and brother Danny Guibor, also of Manteca. Guy Guibor’s season point lead is 54 (1067-1013) over Tracy Bolin.
A field of 26 Legends was on hand for their fifth season appearance with 20 answering the bell for their 30-lap feature. Barney LaRue of Napa led off the get-go with a yellow flying on the second pass as Kelly Martin of Modest did a solo spin in turn-two that collected Bumper LaRue, also of Napa, and Gary Warren of Reno, Nevada in the process. LaRue continued to lead as Tim Farquhar of Pinole moved to fourth on lap-four followed by D.J. Krentz of Reno. Krentz methodically passed a car a lap to move to second on lap-eight. Fast timer and heat winner Ryan Foster of Anderson took the fifth slot on lap-10 with Krentz going to the lead one lap later. Foster then began the same process as Krentz, passing a car a lap coming to second on lap-14.
Foster made the pass on Krentz to take the point on lap-17 and the sometime NASCAR Southwest Tour runner was never seriously threatened. A lap-27 entanglement involving Krentz and hard charging Joey Zampa—running second and third—brought out a red flag and set-up a three lap dash to the checkered flag. On the re-start, it was Foster, followed by Barney LaRue, Farquhar, Ryan Mosher of Cupertino, and Gary "Grandpa" Hockman of San Jose. Hockman jumped to third on the next pass, and came to second on the white flag lap to finish behind Foster with LaRue third in front of Farquhar and Mosher.
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Late Model Sportsman cars—sleek Monte Carlo’s, Grand Prix’s and Ford Tauruses—return to Stockton 99 Speedway this Saturday night, September 2, for the third leg of the Tri-Holiday Classic.
Sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts, the Sixth Annual Tri-Holiday Classic combines results of 100-lap events run on Memorial, 4th of July and Labor Day Holiday weekends.
Jim Petit of Salinas won the first two legs but still only leads Greg Potts of Manteca by only two-and-a-half points. In addition to the 100-lap Late Model event, the program will also include Grand American Modifieds, Pro Stocks and I.B. Benedict Pure Stocks.
Ticket gates will open at 3:00 p.m. with time trials set for 5:00 and green flag racing at 6:00. Adult tickets will cost $15, ten for seniors over 65 and teens 13-to-17, five dollars for children six-to-12 with those under six getting in free.
"Two dollar off" discount coupons can be obtained at participating NAPA Auto Parts stores in Stockton, Manteca, Tracy, Elk Grove, Jackson, Lockeford, Salida, Rio Vista, Brentwood and Patterson.
Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, a quarter-mile west of Highway 99.
