JIM PETTIT CLAIMS THIRD 2007 SRL TOURING SERIES VICTORY WITH WIN AT THE THIRD ROUND OF THE CALIFORNIA HOTWOOD TRI-HOLIDAY SERIES

Source: SRL Media Relations/cs
Date: 09/02/2007

MADERA, California − Patience is truly a virtue in racing and veteran SRL driver Jim Pettit (Prunedale, CA) in his Top of the Hill Performance 03 car taught a lesson in patience Saturday night at Madera Speedway. With a 7th place starting spot after the invert, Pettit waited back in the pack until about lap 30 when he made his move, storming to the front to cruise to his 3rd SRL victory of 2007.

The SRL main event was full of excitement and had many twist and turns, especially in the first twenty-five laps. The field had not even got past turn two when the 09 car of Brennan Newberry (Bakersfield, CA) had transmission problems, spun and got into the 21x car of Kyle Gottula. Kyle tried to keep his car on the track as Newberry went to the pits, but eventually brought out the yellow in lap 4 with a flat tire sending him to the pits as well.

After a successful restart, the 02 car of Tracy Bolin (Valley Springs, CA) looked to be much quicker that the rest of the field and took the lead at lap 5. And while Tracy continued to stretch his lead out front, things got interesting in the back of the pack. Gottula in the 21 car, who had rejoined the field after a quick change of his flat in the pits, looked fast and quickly was ready to begin making his move back through the pack. However, Gottula didn’t exercise patience and got into the 14 car of Hilmar’s Carl Pearce spinning him out at lap 11. Pearce recovered quickly and was right back into it with Gottula taking him out at lap 19. Both drivers were done for the night per SRL officials for their extra-curricular activities on the track.

Meanwhile the battle up front continued to change a bit with Bolin still in the lead but with a hard charging Troy Ermish in the 38 Alfred Matthews car moving into 2nd ahead of pole starter Bryan Herzog. A couple laps later Herzog had to head to the pits with a flat tire dropping him, for the time being, out of the front pack.

After the yellow that came out from the Pearce and Gottula incident, the field doubled up for the restart only to have three more cars caught up together. This time the 23 car of L.A.’s Dan Holtz had a mechanical issue on the restart, checked up and ended up getting tangled up with Rick Ruzbarsky (Tracy) in the 7 car. This quickly ended the night for Holtz. Miraculously, Ruzbarsky’s car was not damaged as bad as it looked and his talented pit crew was able to get him back out on the lead lap before the race went green. Unfortunately also caught up in this incident was the 5 car of new comer Troy Tramell who was competing in his first SRL race. He was also not able to return to the race. Tramell recently moved to the Sacramento area from the state of Washington.

Then just two laps later at lap 21, the final major incident of the race occurred when Ermish in the 38 car slowed a bit, was tapped from behind and ended up getting into the 1 car of SRL points leader Dave Byrd. Ermish remained on the track but his car did not perform as well the rest of the night. Byrd made a brief stop for some quick repairs and re-joined the field for what ended up being a 15th place finish behind Ermish.

Around lap 30, with Tracy Bolin (02) pulling away from the pack of drivers out front, Pettit (03) began to make his move. By lap 40 Pettit was in 4th place behind Bolin, Jeff Belletto (6), and Greg Voigt (4). Pettit and Voigt had a tight battle for the 3rd spot before Pettit found himself in 3rd at the half way point of the 100 lap main event. By lap 60, Pettit was battling hard with Jeff Belletto for the 2nd spot when the 70 car of Dan Culliane spun in the middle of turns 3 and 4 right in front of Belletto allowing Pettit to easily capture the 2nd spot.

The skilled drivers of the SRL continued to show what good racing looks like in the second half of the 100 laps with a tight battle out front between Pettit and Bolin, and a battle for third between Voigt, M.K. Kanke (33) and Herzog who had battled back toward the front after the early flat tire. A third pack that included Greg Potts (31), Mike Mendenhall (10) and Jeff Belletto (6) were battling just as hard for the 6th place position.

But by lap 74, Pettit was pulling away from Bolin and Voigt by at least the length of the straightaway and the only battle left to be decided was for 3rd place. Kanke (33) had moved to 4th by lap 79 and eventually reeled in Voigt by lap 86 to capture 3rd.

Jim Pettit cruised on to victory and showed the SRL field and the fans that you can’t win the race until the last lap. Patience, saving your tires and picking your spots along with large amounts of veteran talent added up to victory number three of the 2007 SRL season and two out of three of the California HotWood Tri-Holiday Series for the veteran Pettit!

Trophy Dash: Steve Belletto in the California HotWood Chevrolet 30 car started at the pole in the trophy dash and held first place from start to finish winning the Performance Electric Company Inc. Trophy Dash after fending off main event winner Jim Pettit who finished 2nd. Following Belletto and Pettit were the 4 car of Greg Voigt and fast qualifier Jeff Belletto in the 6 car out of Modesto.

Other Awards: The Mid Valley Iron and Metals Hard Luck Award went to Brannan Newberry who lost his transmission in lap 1 after a strong qualifying run. Rookie Bryan Herzog of nearby Clovis, CA in the 11 car won the Mid Valley Iron and Metals Pole Start Award. M.K. Kanke in the 33 car came from a 16th place start to finish 3rd to win the Performance Electric Inc. Hard Charger award. Jeff Belletto in his California HotWood 6 car was the Five Star Bodies Fast Time Award winner with a fast qualifying time of 14.650.

Remaining 2007 SRL Racing Schedule:

October 20th Shasta Raceway Park

About the Stockcar Racing League (SRL):

The SRL is one of the premier stock car racing series in the country. The series has patterned itself after NASCAR’S Elite Series with beautifully prepared cars and support vehicles, and identifiable team uniforms. This seventh season looks to break all attendance records, attracting over 70 seasoned drivers from all over California and the southwestern states. Local and regional stock car fans can also cheer for new stars that will someday drive the machines of NASCAR. The series is a training ground, not only for drivers but for crew chiefs, mechanics and engineers. This series is great for fans who love door to door racing on some of the fastest oval tracks in the West.

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend