No, a hurricane didn’t blow through Stockton on Saturday night, July 25, though the leftovers at Stockton 99 Speedway sure resembled one.
Stockton 99’s second Night of Destruction of the season filled a big, energetic crowd with tire smoke, roaring engines from drifting hot rods and spectator drags, more smoke, wheelie-popping Harleys, still more smoke, flames in the front stretch and yes, even more smoke. The ever-popular boat trailer race capped the action-packed night, leaving battered boats, toppled trailers and mangled machines strewn about the quarter-mile paved oval – and the infield, too.
“It was a lot of fun,” KC Prill of Live Action Motorsports said while holding the trophy after winning his third boat trailer race. Prill, with help from his passengers, piloted a 2008 Chevy Suburban, entry number “7d2,” around the oval and through the infield figure 8, plowing through several other entries for the victory and leaving a big mess for the clean-up crew.
A Ford Explorer, one of the usual suspects in the boat trailer races, maneuvered between an overturned 30-foot camper in turn 3 and the infield barrier to send a beached boat into the air as the crowd roared its approval.
“It’s even better” to drive in the event, Prill said when asked about the crowd’s cheers and reactions to the constant mayhem.
Jeff Abrahamson, who partners with Prill at Live Action Motorsports, described boat trailer racing as “relatively cheap and fun.” He said Facebook Marketplace is a good place to find the next boat, or almost “any roadside in Stockton.” Abrahamson had a Larson outboard on his trailer Saturday night, towed by his wild-looking 1998 Chevy van.
“If you hit something hard enough, you can hear the crowd,” he said. “Usually, that’s me, and it’s my own boat.”
Abrahamson said the team is always looking for boats and for people to transport the boats.
“If it’s me and the wife (Michelle), I’ve gotta make four trips, and two trips going back,” he said.
Abrahamson encouraged potential boat trailer racers to call Live Action Motorsports at 209-223-1080 or visit the shop at 13200 Jackson Gate Road in Jackson.
Saturday night’s program also included drifting exhibitions, a motorcycle stunt team and spectator drags. Here are the highlights:
Outlaw Drifting Series: Robert Pascua showed up with 14 drivers that turned Stockton 99’s quarter-mile paved oval and the infield figure 8 into a drifting playground.
Over two screaming, no-holds-barred sessions, the Outlaw Drifting Series slid into and out of the turns, fishtailed down the front and back straights, spun doughnuts – ad-libbed and choreographed – and had the crowd cheering their approval.
“It’s a bunch of guys that used to be outlaws that have changed, and we have conformed and came into the actual racing scene, trying to keep drifting on the track and off the street, giving kids somewhere where they can go check their cars, build their cars and drive them the way they built them to be driven,” said Pascua, who took over and rebranded the operation in 2016 and described himself as “one of those guys that was chasing places to go.”
Home base for the series is the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, and Pascua expected upward of 80 cars for a drifting event there Sunday. Saturday night’s exhibition marked their fifth appearance for a Night of Destruction at Stockton 99.
Pascua explained with the fairgrounds being wide open, up-and-coming drifters “are actually able to learn, actually able to make mistakes. And with them being able to make mistakes, they’re able to grow.”
The Outlaw Drifting Series has been performing every six to eight weeks throughout the year since 2016, according to Pascua.
Spectator drags: Tom Calmese of Valley Springs put his luxurious 2026 BMW M5 wagon, with a monster 717-horsepower engine under the hood, in the winner’s circle, beating several opponents in one-lap dashes around the quarter-mile paved oval, including a holeshot-happy Tesla in the final.
Calmese used to run at now-closed Sacramento Raceway, and buddy Jeff Abrahamson of Live Action Motorsports told him about the spectator drags at 99. Calmese decided to check it out.
“I’m gonna race the BMW. I think I can win,” he remembers thinking.
But how does one balance racing another vehicle around a tight quarter-mile paved oval – with concrete barriers on each side – with protecting a brand new BMW he’s had just a few months?
“At a moment’s notice,” Calmese said, the trophy resting in the passenger’s seat next to him. “You’ve got to decide on the fly.”
The fans definitely had their favorites in the drags. A Nissan beating a Camaro went over well with the crowd. The races featured lots of smoke and drifting as most of the engines roared – well, not the Tesla’s.
Motorcycle stunt team: Jason Pullen, wife Angela, their team of nine Harley riders with Jason Pullen Stunts of San Francisco and other friends and family enjoyed a tasty spread in the pits between two high-energy sessions at Stockton 99.
Earlier, and later, the team entertained the crowd with spark-throwing wheelies, rumbling doughnuts, no-hands riding, sitting backward on their bikes and more as they took over the front stretch. One young rider performed upright 360s aboard the team’s “roll bike,” to the delight of the crowd. Jason and Angela’s young daughters even got in on the action in a two-seat go-kart – built by Jason.
The second session culminated with a team member pouring gas across the track and setting it aflame for the others to ride wheelies through.
Jason Pullen said he did shows with Stockton 99 Promoter Tony Noceti “years ago,” and they reconnected.
“I’ve been doing it about 25 years,” Pullen said. “We got a group of people, different riders, different talent. We trust these guys, and we made a show out of it. I have a 9 to 5. It’s a passion.”
Stockton 99 Speedway is right back in action on Saturday, Aug. 1, with the Night of Champions Tribute to Harry Belletto featuring the Stockton Late Model division along with the NorCal Legends Series and Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modifieds. Ticket prices are $25 for ages 16-59 and $20 for juniors ages 11-15, seniors 60 and over and military with an ID. A family pass (two adults, two juniors) costs $70, and an all-ages pit pass is $50. Kids 10 and under are admitted for free, and parking is free at Stockton 99. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m.
Stockton 99 Speedway would like to thank its sponsors: Black Oak Casino Resort, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Shamblin Softwash and Pressure Washing, Hoosier Racing Tire, Community West Bank, Raising Cane’s, Bass Pro Shops, J. Milano Co. Hardware, Franks, N&S Tractor, Masellis Drilling, Sunoco Race Fuels, Lovotti Air, Garton Tractor, Kleen Blast and Tracy Ford.
