WILLIAMS, HYLTON, GRAHAM
SCORE STOCKTON WINS
7-21-01
BY: JIM SHIELS
Grand American driver Greg Williams of Ceres, Pro Stock driver Joe Hylton of Manteca, and Pure Stock driver Mike Graham, also of Manteca, shared the winners circle this week in the NASCAR sanctioned races at Stockton 99 Speedway.
For Williams, it was his fifth win in seven starts on the high-baked, quarter-mile paved oval, and once again he made it look easy through five yellows and a single red dropped on the 30-lap affair.
Troy McQueen of Lodi was the early leader from his outside pole starting position with Danny Contessotto of Stockton gaining the front slot at a yellow on lap-three as several cars checked up on the back straight. Incoming point leader Robert Knittel of Lodi got the worst of the melee with a cut tire that sent him to the pits and put him several laps down to finish 15th on the night and hand the point lead back to Paul Henry of Groveland who had held it for most of the season..
Steve Stacy of Stockton slipped into second on lap-nine, with 10th place starter Williams coming to third on the next circuit. Williams moved to second on lap-12 and set his sights on the leader Contessotto. A yellow on lap-21 for a spin by Stockton pilot Darrin Halterman bunched the field for a restart and Williams jumped to the inside line and worked Contessotto for two laps to finally grab the lead on lap-24. A yellow was flying on the same lap as Fred Clement of Stockton and Randy Miller of San Jose both spun in turn-two.
One Circuit later, Paul Henry cut down too quickly on Steve Stacy in turn-four and spun himself around Stacy’s car, cutting a tire in the process. At the same time, Chevy Collier of Stockton got loose and sideways on the back straight and was slammed by Fred Clement. Collier ended up backwards against the wall with Clement giving him a ‘close up & personal look’ look at his right front tire which was resting in Collier’s right side window.
Williams moved away on the restart to smoothly record the win to add to his fast time and dash victory on the night. Contessotto held strong for second over John Unger of Stockton, Stacy, and early leader McQueen.
Ed Cullom of Ripon took the first lap lead in the Pro Stock feature event with the first yellow coming on lap-three as Mike Garcia of Lodi took a trip to the back of the field for spinning Doug Ollis of Modesto in turn-four. Jeff Lovelace took the point on lap-four and held tough through two minor yellows to lap-15 before he was passed by Chris Monez of Lodi with Joy Hylton of Manteca coming to second on the next pass. Incoming point leader and defending division champion Cary Treadway of Stockton made it to third on the next lap. Monez fell off the pace and pitted on lap-21 with Hylton taking control and Treadway on his bumper. Treadway, the night’s fast timer and dash winner, made contact with Hylton on lap-23 and spun in turn four, allowing Hylton to sail home under a checkered-yellow with his second 2001 season feature win.
Mike Graham of Manteca had the best seat in the house for the Pure Stockton feature and he never gave it up, leading pillar-to-post for all 25-laps in a race that only produced one yellow/red combination. The cars of Donna Treadway of Stockton, Cindy Freitas of Lodi, Steven Hall of Manteca, and Semi-Main winner Eric Graef of Galt were all involved in the melee that took place on lap three coming off turn-four.
Graham was chased to the final flag by heat winner Chad Holman of
Stockton, Fast timer Danny Guibor of Manteca, heat winner Jeff Ahl of Lodi, and Tom Bolin
of Morgan Hill. Additional heat wins went to Kannai Scantlen of Stockton, and Bryan Clark
of Lodi, with Scantlen coming back to take the dash honors.
STOCKTON MIDGET CLASH
By Floyd Busby
STOCKTON, CA., JULY 21: Floyd Alvis emerged from a
wreck-filled feature to score his second Bay Cities Racing
Association midget win of the season, this time on the paved banks of
the Stockton "99" Speedway. Most of the prime contenders were
sidelined in racing incidents, but not before Alvis had already
asserted himself as the man to beat. The wily 66-year-old veteran
began seventh in the feature aboard his Interstate Batteries
VanDyne/Stealth and was leading by the sixth lap when his prime
competition began to falter.
Dan Gundo began the 30-lapper by taking the initial lead over
Jim Silva as sixth-starting Chuck Gurney Jr. charged into third. On
the second round it was Gundo's Gaerte/Stealth over the Baraldi
Brayton Ford/Stewart with Gurney and Alvis as Silva slipped the
Chandler Chevy V4/Beast back to fourth. On the third circuit Cliff
Servetti moved his Buick Brayton/Stealth into fifth and two laps
later Pete Davis dropped Bill Lindsey to seventh, finalizing the top
contenders for the victory.
The prime challenge for the lead came on the sixth circuit
when Alvis moved under Gundo as Gurney went high, making it three
wide through the fourth turn. Alvis nipped gundo at the line with
Gurney close behind.
As Gundo exited turn-two on the next lap Gurney moved down
into the narrow strip between Gundo and the edge of the track. As he
attempted the pass, the two cars made contact and Gurney's mount rode
up and over Gundo's left front wheel, sending the Baraldi machine
straight across the nose of Gundo's car, across the track, with the
right front hitting the wall at an angle, then the rear slapping the
concrete barrier to inflict extensive damage fore and aft. Gurney was
uninjured as the caution flag appeared.
At the resumption it was Alvis over Gundo, Silva, Davis and
Servetti. A serious bout for second lasted several laps between
Gundo, now third-place Davis, and Silva, with Davis coming out on top
for second as Alvis extended his lead to nearly a straightaway.
Lap eleven saw the elimination of Silva and Servetti. The two
had been battling side-by-side, when exiting turn-four with Servetti
on the inside, the two cars clipped, sending Servetti's mount
sideways and catapulted both at a 60-degree angle into the
frontstretch wall. Silva's car came to rest at the wall as Servetti's
car bounded off the wall and slid at an angle towards the infield,
settling just short of the finish line. Both drivers were 'OK, both
cars heavily damaged. The caution flag was followed by the red banner
to allow the removal of both cars and cleanup.
The incident banished Alvis' commanding lead, and at the
restart Davis' Esslinger/TCR was right on his tail as Ken Molica's
Fontana/Beast took up third over Gundo and Joe Lindsey.
At the halfway point the race was all but over as Alvis again
opened a commanding lead, Davis fought a badly pushing car, and
Molica maintained an edge over Gundo. The top four maintained their
positions to the finish as Gary Dickenson won a battle with Lindsey
to claim fifth. Following Joe Lindsey was brother Bill Lindsey in
seventh.
The win extended Alvis' point lead over Gurney by 27 points,
1017 to 809 leading towards his fifth BCRA championship.
Davis laid claim to the fastest qualifying lap in time
trials. Silva came through to take the first heat race win over Gundo
and Bill Lindsey. Gurney grabbed the second eight-lapper over
Servetti and Davis.
Two trophy dashes were held. The three-lap Division-2 dash
was won by Joe Lindsey over brother Bill, Jim Fowler and Stuart
Goehring. The fast dash was taken by Gurney over Servetti and Davis
as Alvis pulled out with a right front flat after he and Gurney made
contact in a wildly contested four-lapper.
