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| Matt Erickson extended his Open Late Model points lead (Photo Courtesy Don Thompson) |
MADERA, CALIFORNIA (August 27, 2016) - Domination was the theme for the two MAVTV-televised Late Model divisions in Saturday's show at LoanMart Madera Speedway. Both races were won by their points leaders. Matt Erickson put on a strong clinical performance lapping up to third for the Open Late Model victory while Dezel West won his second consecutive 51FIFTY Junior Late Model race.
Three-time winner Austin Herzog of Clovis set a new track record in Jr. LM qualifying with a 15.194 second lap but had to start fourth after the redraw. Redwood Valley's Kolby Berry led the first five laps from the pole position with Las Vegas' West, 12, on his rear bumper. West looked inside several times but Berry was able to roll the top effectively to maintain the lead.
After a big of door banging, West took over to lead lap six. Las Vegas' Kyle Keller had a pair of spins to bring out cautions on lap nine and 12. Herzog worked his way past April winner Austin Edwards on the outside for the third spot. Herzog then challenged Berry in a very entertaining battle where he tried the outside on several occasions and also looked low.
A restart on lap 16 was the exclamation point of the race. Edwards and Canadian Ben Silliker made hard contact on the front stretch with Silliker's front wheels off the ground. Berry and Herzog came together on the backstretch with Herzog climbing the wall before the pair to a stop. Edwards had to pit for repairs while Silliker continued on in second. Herzog and Barry were done for the night.
Jarrett Gilmer took over second from Silliker before the race's halfway mark on lap 25. The running order was virtually unchanged throughout a non-stop final 25 laps with West blitzing to a 3.056 second victory ahead of Gilmer, Silliker, Alison Gay, and Keller.
Erickson's strong win was not an obvious outcome after the first 50 laps of the LoanMart Open Late Models were completed. He started the 22 car, 100 lap feature in tenth position after the redraw from qualifying second. Polesitter and fast time qualifier Rick Thompson led the first four laps of the race while Modesto's Garland Tyler jumped up to second inside Glen Cook.
Tyler Herzog spun in turn two for a yellow flag on lap four. The restart proved pivotal as Thompson got a slight jump on Tyler and moved up the race track coming out of turn four. Tyler got into the back of Thompson heading into turn one, sending Thompson for a spin. Both drivers were sent to the rear.
The melee handed Cook the lead but it was short lived as David Ross took the top spot using the inside line. A multi-car crash slowed things on lap nine and Logan Zampa and Ryan Philpott worked past Cook on the following green flag.
By the 17th lap Erickson was looking inside Dillon Tucker for fifth position, but the two made contact in turn three causing Tucker to spin and sending Erickson to the rear for involvement. Ross slowed dramatically on the gas for the next restart and fell out with a blown engine, giving Zampa the lead position to be the fourth different leader in the show.
Zampa ran a great race up front while Philpott and Cook staged a side-by-side duel of former Altamont racers. Philpott finally broke through to make it a battle between Cook and Tyler for third. Erickson chipped away at the pack and was into the top ten by lap 29. He quickly made his way to fourth by lap 41.
A caution period for a multi-car incident in front of the leaders in turn four gave Erickson his shot, as he went to the outside of Philpott to charge from fourth into second place. Erickson proceeded to hound Zampa in a thrilling fight for the lead. Zampa held off a pair of big slidejob attempts from Erickson to lead into the halfway break.
The second half of the race did not take place until three hours later, when the track had cooled substantially and was under darkness. Zampa's lead quickly went away as he picked the outside for the restart and Erickson took over the lead with Philpott going into second as well. The top six cars pulled way with Cook falling back to seventh. Cook ended up drifting all the way to the rear of the field with unknown mechanical problems.
Heavy lapped traffic was the name of the game by lap 61 and for the remainder of the event with Matt Erickson continually increasing his lead on the pack. The lead increased to nearly ten seconds at one stage. Philpott ran solidly in second place while the fans were treated to a great race between Zampa and Tyler for third. The rookie the veteran ran side-by-side in and out of traffic for the entire remaining laps of the race.
An incident involving Tyler, Zampa, and the lapped car of Chris Lyon brought out a yellow checkered at the conclusion of lap 100. Erickson won over Philpott, Dos Palos' Ryan Hart, Madera Ranchos' Dillon Tucker for a career best fourth, and Jason Aguirre of Atwater in fifth.
Chuck Dozhier had a well-deserved win in the Super Hobby Stocks to tighten the points chase in Madera's stock car division. Thomas Suarez had a hard hit to bounce off the front stretch wall as the field rolled to the green for the 30 lapper with Dozhier taking the lead from third starting position. Points leader Joseph Reichmuth worked his way up to second but was unable to close the gap on Dozhier before a caution on lap 21 for Eloy Bazan spinning from third.
Reichmuth seized the opportunity running side-by-side with Dozhier for the next four laps with neither driver giving an inch. The battle ended when Reichmuth spun in turn three on lap 25. Dozhier cruised to victory over former Madera Modified driver Jesus Hernandez of Fresno with Reichmuth winning a photo finish over Suarez for third.
The youth drivers in the California Mini Cups put on another great race with Adam "The Bullet" Lemke of Hollister picking up the 20 lap win. Calvin Hegje started on the pole but Lemke led from third by the end of the first lap. Points leader Jackson Dukes ran his way forward up to third by the close of the feature but Lemke held off Hegje for a .805 second victory with Dukes having to settle for third after a slow restart near the finish. Joseph Holliday and Aaron Thomas were the balance of the top-five.
Erik Woods broke the Jillaun Holden grip on the Toyota Sedan division by taking the victory in the 25 lap main event. Holden led the first six laps before Woods took the lead on lap seven. Woods managed to keep the top position all the way to the end for a .269 second win. Tommy Wreckless Thomas Magray was third. Lucy Carmona entered the night second in the points but had a crash into the inside K Rail in the heat race that ended her night prematurely.
Clovis' Kevin Thompson continued his drive for a fourth track championship in MST by defeating Bert Stephens for his ninth main event win of the year. There were several restarts after minor spins but Thompson was able to keep Stephens at bay throughout the duration of the race. Dennis Brannon rounded out the top-three.
LoanMart Madera Speedway continues on September 3rd with Hampton Inn and Suites Night at the Speedway. Madera Late Models, Madera Hobby Stocks, NCPRO 4 Modifeds, MST's, Toyota Sedans, 4-Bangers, and the Jr, Late Model 25 lap exhibition race make up the racing card!
Race fans can catch up on LoanMart Madera Speedway action every Thursday with "Madera Racing" on MAVTV at 8 p.m. Eastern / 5 p.m. Pacific. Thursday's edition will feature the July 30th race for the 51FIFTY Jr. Late Models plus the BCRA Midgets portion of the July 9th Gerhardt Classic.
For more information visit www.RaceMadera.com
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