Photo Courtesy Jason Wedehase

Via Madera Speedway PR

MADERA, CALIFORNIA (June 29, 2017) – 2015 RPM Mortgage Pro Late Model champion Buddy Shepherd of Bakersfield sent a strong message to the MAVTV-televised field on Saturday, dominating en route to $5,000 and the 125 lap Summer Speedfest victory at Madera Speedway. Shepherd's win is his third so far in the five races of 2017.

An all-new podium greeted fans of the 51FIFTY Energy Drink Jr. Late Model series as well in a busy night at the one-third mile oval.

Shepherd led 122 laps and endured countless restart battles with June series winner Logan Zampa of Napa, CA in the process. The two high schoolers were the class of the field throughout the evening.

After the front row was changed due to Rick Thompson surrendering his pole position in a backup car, it was Zampa at the front of the pack. Things were rough at the beginning when the night's Jr. Late Model winner Eric Nascimento, Jr. wrecked hard into the front stretch wall at the conclusion of lap one. Zampa led the first

Zampa led the first three laps before Shepherd led by a nose at the conclusion on lap four. A big melee on the backstretch included Shelden Cooper spinning and several cars suffering varying impacts including Quintin Harris, Thomas Suarez, and Mark Squadrito.

Shepherd picked the inside for the restart and rocketed ahead of Zampa as much of the leaders scrambled to the outside line. Henk Gaalswyk spun in turn four but did a complete 360 and continued on. Jr. Late Model graduate Jarrett Gilmer was part of a wild two-by-two battle for fifth that had him inside Kevin Thompson.

Gilmer cleared Thompson and went up high which opened the door for Bakersfield's Racin Vernon. Vernon took fifth on lap 12. Lapped traffic proved a challenge with the big 26 car field as Zampa tried to navigate while fielding pressure from Austin Herzog and Dillon Tucker. The next caution came out for Gilmer spinning in turn two. Tucker used the restart to swoop around Herzog for third before a hard crash with Loren Kutz tagging the turn one gate. Tucker then had to go to work on the inside of Herzog which proved to Herzog's favor as he took third back.

11th starting Matt Erickson cracked the top-five and went after Tucker. Tucker, Erickson, and Garland Tyler staged a nice battle for the position after a series of cautions that brought the race near lap 50. On lap 44, Erickson nosed inside Tucker but couldn't complete the pass before a lap 45 caution for a spin.

Tucker finally got the positioning he needed to get past Herzog for third on the outside with Tyler and Erickson also fixing to do the same. Herzog fell to fifth before sliding up in front of Erickson.

At the race's lap 75 break, Matt Erickson changed a right front tire and had to restart at the rear of the field. After a pair of cautions for spins, a surprise as Modesto's Kyle Gottula had charged the rear of the field and emerged in fourth position ahead of Tucker. Gottula had a significant crash in practice that set his weekend backwards and required him to start on a provisional. Gottula went after Herzog for third on lap 83 but they made contact and Gottula fell back by five car lengths. Kevin Thompson was engaged in a wild battle right in front of the hard charging Erickson. Thompson's night ended with a hard crash in turn three that included Glen Cook. Gottula got another shot at Herzog and took advantage to take over third just past lap 100.

A tremendous three-way battle involved Tucker, Erickson, and Tyler for fifth that thrilled the fans for several laps. Things to heated involving Gottula and Herzog for third when they tangled in turn one and Gottula did a complete 360. Both cars continued but the caution was thrown and both cars had to restart at the rear with five laps to go. Shepherd tried both the high line and the low line during the numerous restarts. His final attempt on the outside snookered Zampa, who was overhauled by Tyler for second.

Howard Holden had run around tenth throughout the event and suddenly found himself alongside Tucker in a spirited battle for fifth.

Shepherd took the comfortable $5,000 victory ahead of Tyler, Zampa, Erickson, and Tucker by a nose over Holden. Herzog drove back to eighth at the finish.

In 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model competition, Jesse Love IV looked poised for his fourth win as he snatched fast-time away from Kolby Berry who had gone 4-0 in qualifying in 2017. But a trio of new faces emerged with Eric Nascimento, Jr. getting his first win with Bakersfield's Kabe McClenny a career best second and Danville's Anthony Guiamano a career-best third in the 75 lap race.

The young drivers are to be commended for handling near 100 degree temperatures at race time. Love led from the get-go after winning the pole in the redraw. Tanner Reif of Las Vegas slid up into the third position past Berry after a series of early cautions.

Love jumped out to a five car length lead on teammate Hailie Deegan who anchored a five car pack for second place. A second pack included Nascimento who had puffs of smoke from mechanical problems from earlier in the weekend.

As the sun began to fall behind the speedway on one of the hottest nights of the season, drivers continued to noticeably fight loose conditions. Berry began to challenge Reif for third as he felt pressure from behind him with McClenny. Berry and McClenny both drove by Reif, who then was passed by Nascimento also. Reif dropped back to sixth in front of Idaho's Zach Telford.

Berry was the car on the move until a caution flew on lap 19 for Reif spinning in turn four. Berry used the restart to snooker Deegan for second and continue his march forward. Deegan was passed by McClenny before a caution involving Allison Gay and Jesse Burks. Nascimento jumped inside McClenny for third but McClenny held the outside for several laps to defend the position.

Berry hounded Love and gave him a shove on lap 30. Four laps later, Love went up the track in turn four and surrendered the lead to Berry. Nascimento jumped on top of the top-two in a three car duel in the final ten laps of the opening segment. Deegan was involved in a significant crash in turn one with lapped car Allison Gay and Telford that ended the first 50 lap segment two laps early.

Coming out of the break, Austin Edwards, who had run as low as tenth, briefly challenged Anthony Guiamano for fifth. That battle for fifth increased to a four car battle about half a track behind the top-four leaders. Love stayed glued to Berry's bumper and on lap 61 the duo came together with Berry spinning in turn four. Both cars had to restart at the rear. Nascimento assumed the lead ahead of McClenny and Guaimano and the trio never looked back. Austin Edwards came back to fourth with Deegan coming back for another top-five as well. Kolby Berry finished eighth with Love in ninth in a big shakeup for the points standings as well with three rounds to go.

The Mini Cup feature may have stolen the show with Tyler Reif of Las Vegas getting a crowd-pleasing win after battling hard with Joey Stearns of Stockton.

Stearns led the opening five laps with Reif in tow. Reif tried several maneuvers before they collided twice in turn three sending Stearns for a spin. Both drivers had to restart the 20 lap feature from the rear.

Aiden Phillips led three laps before Stearns and Reif were back up front again. This time Reif spent many laps seizing up Stearns until they started a door banging duel that lasted two laps side-by-side. After a few hard lumps and door banging, Reif took over on lap 16 and never looked back over Stearns, Phillips, Kale McClenny, and Joseph Holliday.

A tremendous 10 car turnout of combined Toyota Sedans and F4s gave the race fans plenty of side-by-side racing. Jason Kearns led the first six laps before a caution brought the field back together. Former open wheel standout Tim Skoglund of Fresno parted the seas to take the lead before points leader Mike Marley challenged. Marley peeked inside on lap 18 but couldn't complete the deal.

Skoglund successfully drove away from Marley for a 1.123 second win followed by Jason Lawton, Jason Kearns, and Tim Curtis.

Up next for Madera Speedway is the Children's Hospital Kids Night Presented by JBT FoodTech this Saturday! It will feature Madera Late Models, Madera Hobby Stocks, F4's, Toyota Sedans, MST, and the Jr, Late Model 25 lap exhibition race.

Madera Racing on MAVTV continues every Thursay night at 8 p.m. Eastern / 5 p.m. Pacific. Madera Speedway racing is also available on the LucasOilRacing.TV app

For more information about Madera Racing on MAVTV please visit www.racemadera.com or www.mavtv.com. For more information about RPM Mortgage and to obtain loan information please visit www.rpmwins.com and for more information about 51FIFTY Energy Drink visit www.51fiftyenergydrink.com

Photo Courtesy Don Thompson

Via PCS Media

UKIAH, CALIFORNIA (July 29, 2017) - Reno's Randy Hedrick became the sixth different winner in as many races as he scored the victory in Saturday night's 75 lapper at Ukiah Speedway for the Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com The 2017 series has competed at five different race tracks with no clear cut favorite as the championship has just three races remaining.

Hedrick's win came in large part due to late race theatrics involving the lead cars on the tight quarter-mile bullring at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. Hedrick assumed the lead on lap 64 and held off a charge from points leader and 2015 champion John Moore of Granite Bay, CA for the win. Not only was Hedrick the sixth different winner but he was the fifth first-time series winner with John Moore's July win at Stockton the only win this year by a driver with a victory under his belt.

Cole Moore set the Sunoco Fuels Fast Time with a 12.575 second lap and followed that up with the American Racer Tire Dash win for a set tires to earn the pole for the feature. Moore paced Modesto's Mike Beeler, the 2014 series champion, throughout a strong 56 lap green flag run that saw the duo stretch out a nearly half lap lead on third place Matt Wendt of Galt. Grass Valley's Austin Gant drifted back to fifth under the run after running as high as third.

The caution flew for John Dalerio stalling his Dodge while trying to exit the speedway. Moore was overhauled by Beeler on the restart and eventually dropped to sixth with a tire going down. A caution on lap 63 allowed Moore to pit and rejoin the race. The ensuing attempts at a restart proved to be the boiling point as John Moore and Beeler failed for a successful restart twice and were subsequently put back to the second row by series officials.

Hedrick and Wendt assumed the front row with Hedrick taking over the lead and Beeler snaking into second. Beeler closed within .327 seconds of Hedrick at the stripe with Wendt third ahead of John Moore and Myles Anderson. Gant finished sixth with Cole Moore one lap in arrears in seventh.

The championship fight now sees John Moore leading Mike Beeler by ten markers with Cole Moore's hopes fading to a 30 point deficit. Matt Wendt and eighth-finishing Jack Wood round out the top-five. Wood continues to be the leading rookie in the series for 2017 as well.

The Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com continues August 12th with their second visit of the year to the fast-paced Madera Speedway in Madera, CA.

For more information on the Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com, visit www.PacificChallengeSeries.com or follow them on Facebook or YouTube

The Pacific Challenge Series is presented by: Penney Racing Supply, Penney & Associates, American Racer Tires, Radio Law Talk, Compact-It, Northwest Compactors, Naake Suspension, Sunoco Fuels, Five Star Bodies, BrakeOMeter, Lefthander Chassis, ARP Bodies, Joes Racing Products, Bassett Wheels, Frank's Radio, WrapStar Pro, and Blakesley Sports Media. All PCS Super Late Models race ABC Bodies or Muscle Car bodies on American Racer Tires with Sunoco Racing Fuel.

2017 Pacific Challenge Series Schedule

March 18th - Madera Speedway (Madera, CA) Winner: Carlos Vieira

April 15th - All American Speedway (Roseville, CA) *POSTPONED, NEW DATE TBA*

May 6th - Shasta Speedway (Anderson, CA) Winner: Derek Copeland

May 20th - Stockton 99 Speedway (Stockton, CA) Winner: Jeff Bischofberger

June 17th - All American Speedway (Roseville, CA) Winner: Cole Moore

July 1st - Stockton 99 Speedway (Stockton, CA) Ron Strmiska Memorial Winner: John Moore

July 29th - Ukiah Speedway (Ukiah, CA) Winner: Randy Hedrick

August 12th - Madera Speedway (Madera, CA)

September 2nd - Stockton 99 Speedway (Stockton, CA)

October 14th - All American Speedway (Roseville, CA) *2017 Championship Finale* w/ North State Modified Series & NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West)

Pacific Challenge Series Round 6: Ukiah Speedway results
Finish Car Driver Hometown Sponsors
1 29 Randy Hedrick Reno, NV Sierra Speed
2 6 Mike Beeler Modesto, CA Beeler Industries
3 1 Matthew Wendt Lodi, CA Cali Style Customs
4 27 John Moore Granite Bay, CA JM Environmental
5 28 Myles Anderson Fort Bragg, CA Anderson Logging
6 75 Austin Gant Grass Valley, CA Empire Steel Buildings
7 20m Cole Moore Granite Bay, CA JM Racing
8 18 Jack Wood Loomis, CA Velocity Racing
9 5 Chris Scribner Loomis, CA Quick Quack Car Wash/Scribner Plastics
10 14 John Dalerio Redwood Valley, CA Premier Auto Body Repair
11 37 Sierra Furia Kelseyville, CA Furia Construction

Sunoco Fuels Fast Time: #20 Cole Moore 12.575
American Racer Dash (Set of Tires): #20 Cole Moore
Penney Racing Supply Hard Charger: #28 Myles Anderson
Lap leaders: 20 Cole Moore 1-56, 6 Mike Beeler 57-63, 29 Randy Hedrick 64-75