MADERA, CALIFORNIA (August 13, 2016) – Darrin Knight and Jeremy Doss both extended their points leads, taking touring series victories on a busy night at LoanMart Madera Speedway. Knight, from Kelseyville, CA, and Doss, from Upperlake, CA, both hail over 250 miles north of the 1/3rd mile speedway. Knight won the Sunoco Fuels 60 for the North State Modifieds, presented by Protect the Harvest, while Doss’ win came in the Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com.
NORTH STATE MODIFIEDS
Knight’s win in the North State Modifieds was convincing as he led Charlie Collins in a close duel throughout the closing laps. Nick Lyons started on the outside pole and took the lead from Terry Deal on the initial start. Charlie Collins and Mike Collins navigated the pack from eighth and sixth starting positions respectively. Knight lined up on the fifth row with June 11th North State Madera winner Jason Philpot of Sacramento alongside. Knight was quickly on the move and was up into third on lap five using the outside line.
Knight then took over second with Charlie Collins up third behind him by lap ten. Four rounds later Knight moved to the high side and made the outside pass on Lyons to gain control and take the lead.
Knight, Lyons and Collins staged a nice battle before a red flag when Benny Moon lost an engine in turn one. Knight chose the outside groove on the restart and jetted ahead again. Collins went to work on Lyons for second. The battle continued until Lyons was finally shuffled to the outside line and freight trained back to sixth position.
At the halfway point of the 60 lap race Knight held the lead with Charlie Collins in hot pursuit. Philpot was next followed by Mike Collins, Darrin Sullivan, Lyons, Joe Rhodes Jr, Sierra Furia and Terry Deal.
Heavy lapped traffic in the final five laps of the race allowed Collins within half a second but never closer. Knight got the $1000 win over Collins, Philpot, Mike Collins, and Darrin Sullivan. Lyons eventually finished sixth followed by Rhodes, Furia and Kevin Coburn. Josh Stewart and Benny Moon suffered mishaps and did not finish.
In the Lucas Oil Dash for Cash Coburn collected $100 for the win, with Moon getting $50 for second.
Knight clocked in fastest at 14.940 seconds to earn the Penney Racing Supply/Sunoco Fast Time Award. He also took home the Wenteq Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
Lyons collected the Naake Suspension award, and the DJ Safety Certificate went to Rhodes. The Scribner Plastics went to Stewart and Moon.
The North State Modified Series rolls back into Ukiah Speedway on August 27th for the American Racer PRS 60.
The The North State Modified Series is presented by: Protect the Harvest, Swartz Diesel, Lucas Oil, Sinister Diesel, Penney Racing Supply, American Racer Tires, Naake Suspension, Sunoco Fuels, Five Star Bodies, Wrap Star Pro, Wenteq, Scribner Plastics, DJ Safety, and the Buckhorn Bar and Grill.
SUNOCO/PENNEY RACING SUPPLY TIME TRIALS: Darrin Knight (14.940), Jason Philpot (14.970), Charlie Collins (15.037), Darrin Sullivan (15.098), Mike Collins (15.164), Sierra Furia (15.180), Joe Rhodes (15.215), Josh Stewart (15.293), Nick Lyons (15.8410, Terry Deal (15.579), Benny Moon (15.658), Kevin Coburn (15.660)
LUCAS OIL DASH FOR CASH: Kevin Coburn, Benny Moon, Terry Deal, Joe Rhodes, Josh Stewart, Nick Lyons
SUNOCO FUELS 60: Darrin Knight, Charlie Collins, Jason Philpot, Mike Collins, Darrin Sullivan, Nick Lyons, Joe Rhodes, Sierra Furia, Terry Deal, Kevin Coburn, Josh Stewart, Benny Moon
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PCS LATE MODELS
Doss’ win was his 18th career victory in the series. Jason Romero made his first career Madera start after sweeping both Roseville races this year. He led practice, set a new track record at a 14.162, and proceeded to win the American Racer Tire dash for a set of tires and the pole position.
Romero’s pole was short lived at the start of the feature as Valley Springs’ Tracy Bolin swept around the outside to lead lap one. Romero fell into the clutches of Doss for second in a back-and-forth battle until Doss spun with contact from Ross Strmiska on lap five. Lodi’s Matt Wendt suffered a flat right front tire and slight damage trying to avoid the spin. Mike Beeler also was caught up in the incident.
Doss took over the lead from Bolin on the restart and Herzog used the restart to get around Jeff Bishofberger for third. Travis Milburn started turning up the heat as he got around Chris Scribner for sixth on lap 24 and then overhauled Shannon Mansch for fifth on the outside on lap 32.
The Herzog and Bischofberger battle was very physical with the drivers snaking three-wide through lapped traffic. The long 34 lap green flag run ended on lap 40 for a brief caution. Lap 41 proved to be difficult to overcome with a series of spins. Most notably Matthew Wendt suffered damage when he tangled with Strmiska.
Colby Potts suffered heavy front end damage to his Camaro and a few laps later tangled hard with Don Swartz‘ Mustang for a lap 45 caution. Potts was done for the evening.
All the following restarts were single file which gave Doss a cushion over the continuing battling between Bolin and Herzog. Herzog got around on the outside for second on lap 49 to turn his attention to Doss. Mansch spun with contact from Strmiska for a lap 51 caution that set up the battle to the finish.
Herzog made his mark, diving inside Doss several times and making contact in turn four to lead lap 55. Doss charged back on the outside to lead lap 56 and would not be deterred as he drove away for a 1.7 second win ahead of Herzog, Bolin, Bischofberger, and Romero for a comeback run to fifth.
By Steven Blakesley and Nadine Strauss, (707) 274-1662
