GILBERT WINS AGAIN IN THRILLING 100 LAP FEATURE AT ALTAMONT

Source: AMP Media Relations/sb
Date: 07/27/2008

Points leader Jason Gilbert of Pleasanton scored his fourth win of July and and fifth of the 2008 season, winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Models (w/ Westcar stars) 100 lap feature as part of “Sponsor Appreciation Day” at Altamont Raceway.

Sammy Solari of Salida found his way to victory lane for his fifth victory of the season in the American Limited Stock Car division, while San Francisco’s Robert Kennedy won a wire-to-wire Grand American Modified feature.

Tyler Thomas of Penryn was credited with the Future Champions Development Series, while Jake Morgenstern and Richard Hull shared Formula-4 victories.

Gilbert took the lead from Guy Guibor of Manteca on a lap 90 restart, after following him for nearly 57 laps. Guibor led a race-high 77 laps before surrendering the lead.

Tim Spurgeon of Danville led the opening laps against the 27 car starting grid, with a total of 31 cars on site for the day’s activities.

Carson City, NV teenager Bobby Hodges took the lead on lap nine off of turn four.

An immediate caution flag slowed Hodges’ progress, when 2007 track champion Justin Philpott hit the wall on the backstretch. While Philpott tried to gather up the damaged car, 2007 Rookie of the Year Doff Cooksey of Brentwood was forced into the dirt.

When the dirt cleared, Cooksey had made a miraculous save to only have minor damage, but Philpott and Manteca favorite David Hulsey were eliminated.

On the pending restart, Guibor applied heavy pressure to Hodges, with Hodges making a mistake into turn three and overshooting the corner. This allowed Guibor to assume the lead.

A caution on lap 20 allowed Gilbert to get around Spurgeon and then pass Hodges, setting his sights on Guibor.

Guibor, Gilbert, and Hodges raced closely as the race moved into the later stages.

A serious looking crash on lap 48 saw Lisa Riordan of Scotts Valley suffer a suspension failure on the backstretch, and the resulting contact with Clovis’ Trevor Schlundt eliminated both from the race.

The field was restarted with ten laps to go after Justin Philpott suffered a flat tire, giving Gilbert his chance to make a move.

Hodges made a bold move on the outside in the shuffle up, but paid for the heroics and fell to fourth. Mark Holman, 2007 NASCAR state champion, made the pass on Hodges on lap 94 for third.

At the line, the top-five were Gilbert, Guibor, Holman, Hodges, and Greg Potts of Morada.

Sammy Solari spent just four laps on his rivals in the American Limited Stock Cars, before carving through the field and taking the lead for good. Solari hung on for a satisfying win after an infraction in the prior ALSC event.

Tim Rappa of Hayward found himself in the middle of several mix-ups, but battled back to finish fifth.

The final ten laps were a shootout, with four cars dueling for second place. Joe Morgenstern of Livermore ended up with the position, over Chico young gun Thomas Vosburg. Richard Harper of Stockton and Rappa rounded out the top-five.

San Francisco’s Robert Kennedy ran side-by-side with points leader Todd Lynch of Tracy in a surprisingly exciting Grand American Modified feature, despite low car count.

Lynch went to Kennedy’s outside, and the two ran wheel-to-wheel for ten straight laps.

On lap 20 in the 30 lap event, they ran identical laps times.

When it came down the checkered flag, Kennedy had outmatched Lynch by just a hair.

Todd Lewis of Riverbank rounded out the running cars.

Colby Potts of Morada won the overall race for the Future Champions Development Series, a Late Model series for drivers ages 14-16 on the Altamont quarter-mile.

But Tyler Thomas of Penyrn was credited with the win for recording the fastest lap-time during the event. Thomas ran a 14.699 second lap to lead the field.

The Formula-4 division, on the Altamont 1.1 mile road course, is usually relatively caution-free and incident-free. But Saturday’s racers came out aggressively, with both races turning into slam-bang showdowns.

Long-time front runner Bob Wilson was relegated to finishes of second and fourth, while Jake Morgenstern won the first 10 lap event and Richard Hull won the second 10 lap event.

Altamont Raceway goes dark next Saturday evening before returning for another exciting racing program, featuring the United States Auto Club Sprints, Midgets, and Ford Focus Midgets, plus NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Models will compete in two 50-lap main events on the half-mile oval.

NCMA Limited Sprints action will round out the jam packed program.

For ticket information and event times, visit the track website.

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