Throughout this racing season at Stockton 99 Speedway, the one constant in the Late Model division not named Sammy Solari or JoJo Stearns has been Danny DeVore.

DeVore, like several drivers at Stockton 99, is the son of a former racer, and is completing his sixth Late Model season at the historic 76-year-old track. He’s led laps, run hard with the big boys and established the black and blue No. 04 as a top-five competitor in the Stockton Late Model division.

All that was missing was a victory – until Saturday night, Sept. 20. True to form, DeVore ran near the front – third, actually, from laps 3-45 – then pounced on a bit of good fortune and led the last five laps of the 50-lap feature for his first Late Model checkered flag. The ‘kid’ won it all on Kids Night at the track.

While children checked out fire engines, played games and won an assortment of goodies – even bikes – DeVore collected a trophy. His racer sported dings and doughnuts.

“I’ll be happy to set the trophy on our car owner’s table,” DeVore said, surrounded in Victory Lane by friends and family, notably his dad, Buzz DeVore. “We’re ready to just take this and keep winning. It’s really about the maintenance and making sure your car’s all ready to go every single week.”

DeVore qualified fourth, three-tenths of a second behind Solari’s pace-setting 14.511-second trip around Stockton 99’s quarter-mile paved oval. DeVore only had the third-quickest lap during the main event, a quarter-second behind Solari and Stearns. And of course, DeVore is running third in Stockton Late Model points behind Solari and Stearns with a double-points race still to come on Championship Night – the season finale on Oct. 18.

In other words, it was a typical night for DeVore – until he caught a break late in the race. Stearns and Solari ran 1-2 from laps 3-45, but a yellow flag in the second half of the race brought the two together and set up a restart – and a big finish – for an enthusiastic crowd on a beautiful night.

Solari, who trailed Stearns by 2.6 seconds early in the main, finally got inside of Stearns on lap 43 and actually moved in front on lap 45, then Stearns regained the edge before Solari spun in turn 2.

With the best seat in the house, DeVore described the action by saying, “It looked like Sammy had gotten by JoJo in (turns) 3 and 4, (then) JoJo shut it off to cross up underneath and maybe got into (Solari) a little in turn 1. It looked like good, hard racing.”

As the only three cars on the lead lap, DeVore inherited the lead with Solari second and Stearns third, and that’s the way it ended with DeVore roaring around the last five laps to win by .932 of a second.

“We’ve been getting closer all year long. All year long, we’re right there. I said we gotta get one here soon,” said a beaming Buzz DeVore, who started racing at Stockton 99 in 1974. “Sammy and JoJo helped us out a little bit there.”

Despite failing to pick up his fifth win of the season, Solari was able to increase his lead over Stearns in the battle for the 2025 Stockton 99 track championship to 22 points (423- 401) heading into the final race of the season on Oct. 18.

Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified: Kyle Labrie of Merced captured another 30-lap main event, followed by points leader Patrick Geiger of Clovis, who was .364 of a second behind.

But the big news was the third-place finish by Mike Brooks Jr., who was at the wheel for his first race since 2006.

“I want to congratulate Mike,” Geiger said. “Bought a car, came out here, now he’s on the podium so that’s pretty awesome.”

Labrie passed Geiger for the lead on lap 13 and held on through two restarts to win for the second time this year.

Mike Brooks Sr. also competed in the main, his first race since 1996.

Labrie’s victory moved him to within just six points of Geiger with two events remaining on the 2026 schedule.

Legends of 99: Linden’s Wyatt Sansom started fifth, blasted through the top five and into the lead by the fifth circuit and drove to his second victory in a row and third overall this season, beating top qualifier Jason Gilbert of Danville by .514 of a second in the 35-lap main event.

Labrie finished third after winning the Mini Modified feature, points leader Kayci Phillips of Stockton was fourth, and Mini Modified pilot Freddy Irvin was fifth in his first Legends race.

Pure Stock: While points leader Mason Beghtel of Morada led the 25-lap feature wire to wire for his second consecutive checkered flag, Sam Reynolds of Lockeford and Jeramy Tucker of Stockton went door to door, fender to fender and more until both ended up in the infield for repairs.

Beghtel dominated for the second race in a row and won by a whopping 7.347 seconds.

“We’ll be seeing (Victory Lane) a lot, hopefully,” said Beghtel, who was driving with a broken left elbow, sustained a week earlier when he fell off a motorcycle.

Reynolds and Tucker ran second and third in a tight battle for much of the race – much of it side by side or bumper to bumper – until Reynolds got into Tucker during a grind for position on lap 18. Tucker then drove up into Reynolds in turn 4 on the same lap before Reynolds spun in the back stretch on lap 19. Reynolds made it back onto the track to place second. Tucker was black-flagged and exited to the pits.

NorCal Mini Stock: Points leader Ethan Rumsey of Stockton jumped to the front on the first lap and led the duration of the 35-lap main event for his fourth victory this season with a victory margin of 2.313 seconds. Rumsey clocked the only lap under 16 seconds during the race at 15.908.

Manteca’s Joe Flowers, fast qualifier Leilani Sprenkel of Linden and Barrett Sugden of Stockton waged an entertaining battle for second early in the race with Flowers hanging on for second while Sprenkel passed Sugden on lap 34 for third.

Several people in the crowd tried to alert Rumsey of a small fire inside his right front wheel as he sat in Victory Lane.

“It’s just rubber. Who cares?” Rumsey said.

The winner said he had problems all day and made several adjustments to the car.

Rumsey now holds a commanding 35-point lead in the season standings over Stockton’s Natalie Harper heading into the season finale on Oct. 11.

Next Up: The first of two Championship Night events is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 11, with double points in the Pro Late Model, NorCal Mini Stock, Pure Stock, Legends of 99 and Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified divisions.

Tickets cost $20 for ages 16-59 and $15 for seniors ages 60 and up, juniors ages 11-15 and military with an ID. Kids 10 and under get in free, and parking is free at Stockton 99. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 6 p.m. Visit stockton99.com for information.