GOTTULA EARNS WIN NUMBER SIX AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

Source: Madera Speedway Media Relations/db
Date: 07/27/2008

Madera Speedway closed out a busy month of July on Saturday, July 26th, with Hot Rod & Hog Run Car/Bike Show and Kids Night, presented by USG. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series program featured Western Late Models, American Limited Stock Cars, Toyota Sedans, Hornets, Mini Cup, Baby Grands, Western Racing Association Vintage Sprints/Midgets and a very special Spectator Racing Series race.

Preceding the night’s main events, the fans were treated to a parade lap for the classic cars, motorcycles and restored fire trucks, from the fireman’s muster taking place on the adjacent grounds. After the parade a large batch of excited kids flocked onto the main straightaway for the annual Kid’s Night Big Wheel races.

Following all of the prerace activities and fun, the 1/3 mile oval track was cleared and it was time to get down to the business at hand.

The "Old Guard" was at it again in the Western Late Model feature as veterans Dave Byrd, age 50 of Monterey and Harry Belletto, age 65 of Modesto, battled it out for the early lead in the 50-lap main. Belletto was able to take over the top spot following a lap 8 caution and looked to be on his way to his second win of the year as Kyle Gottula, age 21 of Modesto, desperately tried to stay with him.

Gottula’s perseverance paid off when Belletto got squirmy coming out of turn two of lap 36. Belletto’s bobble created just enough space to allow Gottula to sneak by him for the lead and ultimately the win.

"I drove the wheels off of it tonight and everything seemed to work out perfect. He (Harry Belletto) got a little loose and it opened the door for me," said Gottula, who now has six wins on the season. "It was going to be tough for me to get by him if that hadn’t happened."

Jeff Belletto, Harry’s son, was also able to get past his father in the closing laps to snare second place. Byrd, the winner in two of the last three races, finished fourth and Stockton’s Joey Stearns rounded out the top five.

"I was hoping we might put on a little show for the fans and go after the win with my dad, but it just wasn’t meant to be," said Belletto. "Kyle got by me on the restart and as he was a little too strong to catch. It was still a lot of fun racing my dad though."

Stearns now holds a slim three point (862-859) lead over Gottula in the battle for the 2008 track championship at Madera. Jeff Belletto remains hot on their trail with 853 points.

The American Limited Stock Cars (ALSC) put on perhaps their best show of the season as the 50-lap feature produced more scratching and clawing than a Danica Patrick-Milka Duna post race pit chat.

Fresno’s Larry Pasquale valiantly held the lead through the early portion of the race as the multitude of the field battled for position behind him. Pasquale was finally forced to relent and surrender the top spot to a hard charging Matt Erickson, who got by underneath him.

Erickson, of Coulterville, held the lead for the rest of the race while Modesto’s Dennis Saunders Jr., track points leader Howard Holden of Clovis, trophy dash winner Nic Belletto of Modesto and last week’s first time winner Jason Aguirre of Atwater, all continued to jostle for position behind him.

Saunders would be the odd man out after he was tapped from behind on lap 41 and hit the wall. Saunders misfortune allowed Holden and Belletto to capture the two remaining ALSC podium positions.

After the race Erickson celebrated his first win of the season with perhaps the most impressive tire smoking doughnut display of the entire season to date.

"I have had some bad luck here because every time I think I can win one something seems to always happen, but we finally made it stick tonight," said Erickson, who could not find the sponsor money to run a late model as he had originally planned to do this season. "I am still hoping to get the late model out here and grab a top five before the year is over."

Once again Fresno drivers Stan Hankins and Jason Kerns renewed their season long rivalry in the Toyota Sedan division on Saturday. With a 10 car invert, the pair started from near the back of the 14 car field in the 25-lap race, but it didn’t take them long to get to the front thanks to a couple of exciting three car wide passes where they split their victims.

Kerns got to the front first and held off Hankins, the defending division champion, for the remainder of the race. The victory was Kerns’ fourth of the year, matching Hankins’ season total, although Hankins remains on top of the Toyota Sedan season standings by a 253 to 227 margin.

"We have had some bad luck recently getting turned around while trying to come through the field after a big invert and I thought we might get bit again tonight, but luckily I was able to make a clean pass on the outside," said Kerns. "I think I have about 800 miles on these tires so I really had to squeeze everything I could out of the car to pull it off."

It looks as though there is just no stopping defending division Hornet champion Miles Humphreys, of Clovis, as the 68-year-old racing great grandpa racked up his seventh consecutive victory on Saturday.

Despite being hindered from a 100-pound weight penalty, Humphreys fought his way through the pack before making a tough inside pass on Madera’s Jeff Dizney for the lead. Dizney refused to go quietly as he gamely battled back, trying both high and low to retake the lead, but his efforts proved fruitless as Humphreys held him off by half a car length at the checkered flag.

"That was tough. We don’t have a lot of horsepower to begin with in this class and the extra weight caused the car to handle a little differently tonight plus the starter squirted my windshield with water about lap 19," laughed Humphreys. "I don’t know what they are going to do to me next time."

Dizney won one of the two Hornet heat races while Humphreys captured the trophy dash and his heat for a perfect night.

The 1/2 and 2/3rd-scale stock car replica WSRA Mini Cup and Baby Grands put on a pair of very exciting races on Saturday.

The Mini Cup race featured multiple changes for the lead capped off by the bold move of Antioch’s Brent Curran who dove under Sacramento’s Robbie Roy and Woodland’s William Camara in one quick swoop during the closing laps of the 25-lap main. Camara tried a three wide comeback maneuver, only to spin and bring the race to a close on a checkered-yellow.

Manteca’s Jake Gomes saw his huge early race advantage in the 25-lap Baby Grand feature quickly disappear when a yellow-caution popped out on lap four. After Modesto’s Michael Ray go the jump on the restart, it took until lap 18 for Gomes to track him down and retake the top position.

Although Ray would remain on his tail for the rest of the race, Gomes held him off to capture his fourth straight win of the season at Madera and eighth overall. Josh Gomes, Jake’s younger brother, finished in third behind Ray.

The evening started off with a very special Spectator Racing Series event featuring the "Heroes of the Past." Carty Schlundt, Jerry Thompson, Harry Crawford, Chester Keoppel, Tom Barber and Dick Whalen were among the former local legends that participated in the 15-lap race.

Although it has been years since any of the drivers had been behind the wheel in competition, it did not take long for their competitive juices to start flowing as they battled like it was the closing laps of the Indy 500.

Keoppel emerged as the early leader and appeared to be heading to victory until he was politely "bump drafted" out of the way by Thompson on lap 11. However, Thompson could not hold off a late charge by Crawford, who slipped past underneath him on the final lap to take the victory and bragging rights that went with it.

"I hated to pass Thompson because he drove me to the track and that is my ride home tonight," said Crawford after the race with a huge smile. "We are all ready to do this again. I hope you have us back."

Looking ahead, by popular demand, Boots and Bikini Night will be back to Saturday, August 2nd. The Western Late Models will go at it in twin 50-lap features for Round #4 of the popular HotWood 750 Series along with the American Limited Stock Cars, Modified Super Toyotas, Toyota Sedans, Hornets and Spectator Racing Series. In addition, there will be a bikini contest and the Mike Robbins Band will be performing.

The Madera Speedway is conveniently located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west side of Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit.

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