2003 99 Schedule
BELLETTO RALLIES TO VICTORY FOR NASCAR DOUBLE POINTS
Press Contact: Erica Klomp 209.537.7600 or
ericak@clbryant.com
Sat., Sep. 13th race fans packed the house for the thrilling SRL
WILDWEST SHOOTOUT 100. The evening featured five big main events for the NASCAR
DODGE WEEKLY SERIES Double Points and included Western Late Models, Grand
American Modifides, Pure Stock and Pro 4 Trucks.
In the Western Late Model HAVOLINE C.L. BRYANT sponsored
division, Danny Contessotto,#97, of Stockton gained a strong lead after the start. In
lap four, David Hogue of
Elk Grove spun out causing a caution flag that allowed
Pete Anderson, Jr., #5, of Stockton to capture the lead. Anderson, Jr. went full
force protecting his position from Mike Garcia
of Lodi who lost control and
caused another caution flag. Anderson, Jr. quickly recaptured the lead, while
Chris Monez, #11, of Turlock and Contessotto went head to head for second. Monez
outmaneuvered Contessotto leaving him to defend his position from point leader
and dash winner #05x, Eric Schmidt of Roseville, Harry
Belletto,
#74, of Modesto and John
Moore, #27, of Granite Bay, as they went three wide. Schmidt executed a brilliant
pass leaving behind Moore, Belletto and Contessotto for
third. Aaron Shankel,
#05, of
Lodi piloted Dwight Pilcher’s car until he and Eddie Wilcox, #62, of Modesto connected
and crashed into the wall. After the restart Anderson, Jr., Schmidt and Monez
went three wide on the high-banked quarter mile paved oval. Schmidt bolted into
the lead like a freight train. Monez,
(#11 left) was in pursuit until a flat tire plagued
him, forcing Anderson, Jr. out of his position. After two unsuccessful restarts
by Belletto and Schmidt, they had to take the green behind Contessotto
and Brock
Monroe of Escalon. Belletto and Schmidt quickly maneuvered their way around
Contessotto and Monroe battling head to head for the lead. As they rounded turn
three in the final lap Schmidt went low in his last attempt to pass Belletto,
but Belletto defended the lead and raced to victory. Schmidt followed less then
a car length behind for 2nd. Anderson, Jr. was 3rd, Dave
Byrd 4th, and Monez finished 5th.
The Grand American Modified Division kept the crowd at the
edge of their seats. Soon after the start, point leader Jay Linstroth,
#10a, of Citrus
Heights suffered from a flat tire causing him to abruptly stop. Chris Mays,
#39, of
Stockton smashed into the wall along with Angelo Quierolo, #100, of Ripon trying to
avoid
hitting Linstroth. Linstroth was on a rail this season dominating the
point lead, setting two track records and winning eight main events. Linstroth
quickly coasted into the pits and changed his tire. Following the restart
Sam Solari, #6 of Salida regained the lead, Philpot followed and Stearns was third. Linstroth’s
new tire continued to give
him problems and was billowing thick smoke. He was
quickly black-flagged and was unable to finish the race. Last Saturday’s race
was Linstroth’s opportunity to
capture double points, which would have secured
his position for the championship. Solari breezed past the finish line for his
first season victory and a clean sweep. Philpot was 2nd which placed
him in the point lead, Stearns was 3rd, Mike Regelman of Ripon was 4th
and Tim Smith finished 5th.
In the Pure Stock Division Richard Harper,
#5, of Stockton and
Aaron Shankel, #47, of Lodi
battled for the lead after the start. Harper passed Shankel and dominated the lead for the first half of the race. Johnny Cordoza,
#40,
was in second and Michael Wendt, #1, of Lodi followed in third. Defending point
leader Gary Schafer, Jr. and second place point holder Jeff Ahl, #31, of Lodi battled
head to head for
eighth place. Schafer, Jr. passed Ahl and Boyd Camper of
Manteca in lap nineteen and continued to work his way through the pack until
Dave Ball of Stockton and second place point
holder Ahl slammed into the turn
two wall, causing a caution flag. Wendt finished the race with a tri-fecta, Tom
Bolin was 2nd and Johnny Cordoza was 3rd. Schafer Jr.,
#96,
finished 4th and was crowned 2003 Pure Stock Division Champion.
Richard Harper was 5th.
Randy Jahoda,
#71 of Tracy smoked the competition in the Pro 4
Truck Division. Jahoda lead every lap of the race defeating point leader Carrie
Miller, #27, of Saratoga. Jahoda raced into the lead followed by Bret Barney,
#81, of
Rohnert Park and Ron Robeck of Milpitas as they rallied for second. Robeck
successfully passed Barney for second and Brandon Trevethan of Tracy followed
Barney in fourth. With less
then five laps to complete, Barney made his last
attempts to pass Jahoda, but was unsuccessful. Jahoda quickly crossed the finish
line for victory. Barney was 2nd, Michael Brooks, #0, was 3rd,
Dave Wright was 4th and Mike Curry finished 5th.
Ryan Foster Wins at Stockton99 Speedway!
SRL Media
Photo: #21 Ryan Foster, crew and trophy girl @ Stockton99 Speedway
Stockton,
Calif. (September 14th) – Davey Hamilton’s SRL Wild West Late Model
Shootout
returned to Stockton99 Speedway last night. Rookie Ryan Foster,
#21, picked
up his second SRL victory of the 2003 season. Foster made his way around Jeff
Belletto, #6, on lap 88 and never looked back. Belletto would hang on for second, as
Tracy Bolin, #2, finished third, Chris Wadsworth, #10, fourth, and rookie Aaron Days,
#27, fifth.
“We just stayed out of trouble, and worked
our way to the front. My dad is doing our motors, and he is doing an awesome
job. I also need to thank Junior Joiner from Joiner Motorsports. He helped us
out so much tonight, and really made a huge difference on our race program.”
Said race winner Ryan Foster.
Ryan Foster also set quick time during qualifications. He was the only driver in the 13 second bracket, with a lap of 13.983 seconds. Joey Zampa, #92, was second quick, as he ran a lap of 14.028 around the ¼ mile track. Jeff Belletto qualified third, Jeff Anthony fourth, and Rick Ruzbarsky fifth.
A ten car invert placed Bob Strandwold,
#1,
from Modesto, California and young Kyle Gottula, #21, on the front row. Strandwold
took the early lead as Gottula and Troy Ermish made contact in
turns one and two. Gottula spun, and Sonora’s Nathan Tucker, #41, had no where
to go, and hit the outside wall. Tucker’s day did not start out to well, as the
team arrived at the race shop in the morning only to be the victims of theft.
Nathan’s helmet was stolen, along with much of his equipment, but he was able to
borrow a helmet from Jess Jess, car owner of #51 Rick Ruzbarsky. During
qualifying, something was not right on Tucker’s car. The 2001 champion qualified
last, but used a provisional to start the 100 lap feature. “We borrowed a
carburetor from Troy Ermish, and the Helmet from Jess Jess. A big thank you to
both of them. When we had
mechanical
problems, there was crew members from just about every team that came over to
help us out. I would like to thank everyone who helped us out, it was really
appreciated.”
Current points leader Ron Strmiska Jr.#90,
from Manteca, California and Steve Belletto, #74, each spun trying to avoid the
spinning Gottula. Race leader Bob Strandwold pulled into the pits under caution
with mechanical failure. As the field went green on lap 4 Fremont’s Troy Ermish,
#38,
took control of the race, with Tracy’s Rick Ruzbarsky, #51, second, J. Belletto third,
Lakeport’s Mike Doss fourth, and Joey
Zampa fifth. Gottula spun once again on
lap 8 to bring out the second caution of the night. On lap 19 Jeff Belletto
passed race leader Troy Ermish and took the lead coming out of turn four.
Tim
Stratmeyer, #28, spun on lap 20 to bring out another caution.
Belletto continued to lead Ermish, Zampa, Ruzbarsky and Foster.
On lap 54 Ruzbarsky and Zampa made contact, Zampa did a 360, as he continued back on the track, point’s leader Ron Strmiska Jr. made contact with Zampa. Strmiska’s car backed-in hard into the turn four wall. The red flag was displayed, as Strmiska walked away from the hard impact.
Jeff Belletto,
#6, continued to lead on lap 75,
as Foster closed in. Tracy Bolin, #2, ran third, and
Chris Wadsworth continued in
fourth. Foster and Belletto put on a great show for the fans, and then Foster
made his move around Belletto on lap 88 to take home the Sunoco Checkered flag.
“He made me work for it. Finally I was able to get under him and pass him. It was a great win for us.” Said race winner Ryan Foster.
