Sammy Solari, standing with his car at the start/finish line following his Saturday night, July 19 victory in the Stockton Late Model main event, thanked his crew, tipped his cap to runner-up JoJo Stearns and made an announcement about the upcoming Night of Champions – Tribute to Harry Belletto Racing Stables.
Solari, of Escalon, will be at the event at Stockton 99 Speedway on Aug. 9 – as a spectator, in the seats. Solari said longtime veteran driver Mike David of Modesto will drive his Pro Late Model car in the race.
“You think they’ve been working on this car, they’ve really been putting overtime in that car,” Solari said of his team.
Saturday night, the Stockton Late Model points leader pressed and then passed early pacesetter Danny Devore of Stockton on lap 11. Solari led the remainder of the 50-lap main event, holding off Stearns over the final laps to win by .382 of a second. It was the second checkered flag in a row for Solari, following his victory in the Ron Strmiska Firecracker 90 on July 3.
Stearns was lurking a few car-lengths behind Devore when Stockton’s Jeana Ramos spun in the backstretch on lap 16. After the restart, Devore squeezed between Solari and Stearns exiting Turn 4 and held onto second place until Stearns slid inside and passed Devore for second on lap 24. Stearns slowly reeled in Solari over the last half of the race but ran out of laps before he could make a serious try for the lead.
“JoJo is a very respectful kid. He races clean,” Solari said “I had a good hot rod (but) I don’t believe it was as good as our last race because we were backing up to JoJo just a little bit. We were still good but not as good as we want to be.”
Devore finished third and Ty Carlson was fourth.
With his third win of the season, Solari now holds a 262 to 248 advantage over Stearns in the point standings in his quest for a third 99 Speedway track championship.
Legends of 99: Wyatt Sansom of Linden drove what he described as a “perfect” car to a 5.335-second victory in the 30-lap main event. Sansom recorded the best lap (15.206 seconds) and speed (59.187 mph) in an all-green race that finished in 7 minutes, 44.86 seconds.
Starting from the second row in the eight-car field, Sansom quickly snagged the lead from Kayci Phillips of Stockton on lap 3 and never looked back. Sansom lapped his first car on the seventh lap and finished nearly a half lap ahead of Phillips.
“They told me over the radio to stay patient and pass when I can. I got by Phillips and eventually checked out,” explained Sansom. “My dad helped set it up and he is always talking to others on how to get faster.”
Pure Stock: Donnie Darter of Valley Springs seems to have a problem with his car every time the Pure Stock division runs at Stockton 99. It was the transmission one week and brakes another time. He doesn’t have any problem winning, however.
Darter said his car was “missing for some reason, fluttering real bad,” Saturday night, but that didn’t stop him from winning the 20-lap main event by 2.395 seconds over Mason Beghtel. Darter moved in front of Beghtel on the second lap and led the rest of the way, uninterrupted by caution.
In winning for the fifth time in six races, Darter set fast lap time (16.409 seconds) and fast speed (54.848 mph).
Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified: Freddy Irvin of Modesto jumped into Patrick Geiger’s No. 12 machine and drove to his first win at Stockton 99, claiming the checkered flag by .408 of a second over Aaron Coonfield of Riverbank. Irvin led from green flag to checkered, creating breathing room after Coonfield and Stearns closed the gap midway through the 30-lap feature.
“It’s his baby. He let me drive it,” Irvin said in thanking Geiger, the points leader, who didn’t race Saturday night. “He’s my best friend, so thank you Patrick.”
Irvin dedicated the victory to his dad, who he said died “a couple months ago,” having never seen Irvin race. Irvin’s mom was at Stockton 99 to witness his memorable victory, as were his son and girlfriend.
Mikala Stearns of Stockton, racing for the first time since 2021, was third. The wife of Stockton Late Model driver Ty Carlson and sister of JoJo Stearns, Mikala Stearns won the Bomber division track championship in 2018.
NorCal Mini Stock: Ethan Rumsey of Stockton was declared the winner of the main event after the car of Rocklin’s John Sproule was ruled to be underweight, this after Sproule nipped Rumsey by .074 of a second at the checkered flag to cap an engaging 25-lap feature that included a car fire just after the start of the race and a right front brake aflame in Sproule’s racer after the event.
Natalie Harper of Stockton finished third in a race that drew cheers from the enthusiastic gathering of fans.
Boat trailer race: The second boat trailer event of the season produced more sparks and flat tires and over the course of 20 laps was equal parts race and demolition derby. Mangled parts were strewn in the turns and the figure-8 portion of the track.
One vehicle had five occupants, and passengers riding shotgun revved up the entertained crowd with fist pumps along the front stretch.
Stockton 99 returns to action Saturday, Aug. 2, with the same five divisions plus Grand American Modified racing.
Ticket prices are $20 for adults ages 16-59, $15 for juniors 11-15, seniors 60 and over and military with an ID. A family pack (two adults, two juniors) costs $55. Kids 10 and under are free. A pit pass for all ages costs $50, and parking is free.
Stockton 99 Speedway
Results: July 19, 2025
Stockton Late Model (50 laps): 1. Sammy Solari, 2. JoJo Stearns, 3. Danny Devore, 4. Ty Carlson, 5. Roy Luft, 6. Dylan Powell, 7. Jeana Ramos, 8. Lawrence Massone.
Pure Stock (20 laps): 1. Donnie Darter, 2. Mason Beghtel, 3. Sam Reynolds, 4. Jerry Crawford.
Legends of 99 (30 laps): 1. Wyatt Sansom, 2. Kayci Phillips, 3. Jason Gilbert, 4. Kaine Betancourt, 5 Justin Gantt, 6. Lillie Cook.
Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified (30 laps): 1. Freddy Irvin, 2. Aaron Coonfield, 3. Mikala Stearns, 4. Marty Baker, 5. Carl Pierce, 6. Chuck Best.
NorCal Mini Stock (25 laps): 1. Ethan Rumsey, 2. Barrett Sugden, 3. Natalie Harper, 4. Stephanie Ziebell, 5. Scott Sprenkel, 6. John Sproule, 7. Leilani Sprenkel, 8. Steve Ford, 9. Scotty Crawford.
Racing Correspondent Dale Bosowski contributed to this report.
