Sammy Solari held another checkered flag in his hands Saturday night, June 27 at Stockton 99 Speedway and immediately looked ahead to returning to the garage to work on his Pro Late Model machine in preparation for the Ron Strmiska Firecracker 90 set for Friday night, July 3.
The Escalon driver took the lead from Daniel DeVore of Stockton on the sixth lap and led the rest of the way in the 40-lap race to capture his third Stockton Late Model main event this season and fifth overall.
Solari noted after splitting twin 30-lap feature victories with Mason Beghtel on June 13 his Stockton Late Model racer – the black No. 22 – was “not as good as it needs to be. We gotta go home and work on it,” the reigning track champion said.
The team did, and it showed on June 27. Solari was quickest in both practice sessions, and he dominated the all-green flag main event in beating Beghtel to the checkered flag by a comfortable 3.272 seconds on the quarter-mile paved oval.
“It was good all day,” Solari said. “I was really surprised we weren’t fast qualifier. We had to get back to square one and found a few things we were missing. It was a good little hot rod. I gotta give it to my guys that help me. They’re 100 percent dedicated.”
Beghtel, of Morada, and Stockton’s DeVore waged an entertaining door-to-door battle for more than 10 laps with DeVore running second on the high line and Beghtel third down low. Beghtel eventually passed DeVore for second in turns 1 and 2 on lap 22.
Afterward, Solari turned his attention back to his Pro Late Model racer – the “white car” – to prep for the Firecracker 90. He collected yet another winner’s barstool for winning the race last year.
“I think I’ve got five barstools,” Solari said.
With no Pure Stock main event, Brandon Jones of Lodi started the Late Model main in his Pure Stock car and recorded five laps before pulling off the track. Jones has won all three Pure Stock races this year.
Grand American Modified: Scott Winters of Tracy moved inside to pass early leader Sammy Nuno of Windsor on lap 9 and maintained the edge on a restart before driving away to his second victory this season.
Winters won the 30-lap feature by 1.57 seconds over Nuno, followed by Riverbank’s Aaron Coonfield and Modesto’s Adam Coonfield in third and fourth, respectively.
Winters logged the quickest lap of the night (14.437) during the main event. He said starting outside on the second row, he “wasn’t sure how that was gonna roll, but we had a hot rod under us and once we got up to second, I was able to make the move on Sammy and put it up front.”
Carl Pearce won the trophy dash.
Legends of 99: Kyle Labrie of Merced passed race-long leader Patrick Geiger of Clovis in turn 2 on lap 22, with Geiger spinning in the process, and went on to score his first victory in the 30-lap main event.
Labrie beat Justin Gantt to the checkered flag by .281 of a second with third-place Kaine Betancourt of Hickman and fourth-place Lawrence Massone of Linden both within a second of the winner. After falling to seventh with the spin, Geiger charged back to finish fifth.
Geiger, who turned the quickest lap of the class (15.404) during the main event, and Labrie ran 1-2 from the wave of the green flag until Labrie made the pass.
“I backed out of every move I had for 10 laps before” making his move, Labrie said. “Lapped traffic played a role in that. I didn’t mean to get into him. We’ll talk about it back there I’m sure and get everything figured out. I know he’s not necessarily happy with me right now, but Patrick Geiger, we’ll work it out.”
Andy Rumsey won the trophy dash in a new car.
The July 3 holiday program will also include racing in the Legends of 99 and Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified classes plus post-race fireworks. 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 $60. Kids 10 and under are admitted for free, and parking is free at Stockton 99.
Purchase tickets at https://july3_s99.eventbrite.com.
Stockton 99 Speedway would like to thank its sponsors: Black Oak Casino, Tracy Ford, Queirolo’s Heating and Air, Raising Cane’s, O’Reilly Auto Parts, J. Milano, Dell’Osso Family Farm, Genova Bakery, Reeves Sand and Gravel, AllPro Powder Coatings, Herc Rentals, High Voltage Graphix, Hitch House, Hoosier Tire, L5 Farming, Stockton Fence, Garton Tractor and White Cap.
Stockton 99 Speedway
Results for June 27
Stockton Late Model (40 laps): 1. Sammy Solari, 2. Mason Beghtel, 3. Daniel DeVore, 4. Todd Corral, 5. Tony Vincent, 6. Roy Luft, 7. Brandon Jones, 8. Floyd Eaton.
Legends of 99 (30 laps): 1. Kyle Labrie, 2. Justin Gantt, 3. Kaine Betancourt, 4. Lawrence Massone, 5. Patrick Geiger, 6. Erin Brandt, 7. Ethan Rumsey, 8. Andy Rumsey, 9. Lillie Cook, 10. Barrett Sugden, 11. Leilani Sprenkel.
Grand American Modified (30 laps): 1. Scott Winters, 2. Sammy Nuno, 3. Aaron Coonfield, 4. Adam Coonfield, 5. Calvin Hegje, 6. Carl Pearce, 7. Sam Winkler, 8. Rick Avila.
