Madera Speedway Media Release - April 19, 2008
Jeff Downey - Media Relations

Joey Stearns Adds New Name to Western Late Model Win List at Madera Speedway on Saturday Night

After a week hiatus, Madera Speedway got back to racing on Saturday with the Infineon Raceway/Mad Housewife's Night featuring a packed schedule including NASCAR Whelen Weekly Racing Series Western Late Models, American Limited Stock Cars (ALSC), Hornets, Toyota Sedans, Mini Cup, Baby Grands and the Spectator Racing Series. The night was capped off with the first Destruction Derby of 2008.

Madera Speedway saluted Infineon Raceway Saturday night, which is celebrating 40 years of historic racing action in the Sonoma Valley during the 2008 season. In addition, all ladies who arrived at the Speedway were admitted free of charge.

Highlighting the show was 50 laps of heart-pounding NASCAR Whelen Western Late Model racing where, for the third time in three races, a new winner found victory circle at the end of the race.

Stockton's Joey Stearns nailed his first victory of the season, fighting off a hard charge from both Monterey's Dave Byrd and Kyle Gottula of Modesto. Gottula won Madera's last Western Late Model race, held at the track on April 5th.

“I was hoping to make it two in a row but it just wasn't there for us,” said Gottula. “Joey drove a good race. I got into him a little bit so I'd like to apologize for it.”

Donnie Darter of Manteca and Stockton's Ross Strmiska had the fans on their feet with early door to door racing. Darter, in just the second start of his Western Late Model career, pulled ahead of Strmiska and led most of the first 34 laps of the race. Strmiska eventually made it a show again, pressing Darter for the lead on lap 30 and getting around the racer from Manteca on lap 34.

A lap 35 restart opened the door for Stearns and Modesto's Kyle Gottula to move to the front and pressure Strmiska. An incident on lap 42 involving the #99 of Donnie Darter set up a three lap shoot out to crown the champion of the third Western Late Model race of the season.

Contact between Strmiska and Kyle Gottula sent Strmiska to mid-pack on the restart, leaving Gottula and Dave Byrd to battle for the second position behind Joey Stearns.

Byrd put the heat on Stearns but could not make the pass, finishing second followed by Gottula, Strmiska and fastest qualifier Modesto's Harry Belletto.

“It was great hard racing with a bunch of great guys,” said fan favorite Dave Byrd who was making his first appearance at the track in 2008.

The #99 of Stockton's Brian Vosburg took the checkers in an action packed 30 lap ALSC event - the third ALSC race of the season. Vosburg, who won the ALSC season opener, battled with the #91 of Stockton's Dennis Saunders Jr throughout the middle of the race before taking the lead on lap 20.

Vosburg also had to hold off a serious challenge from the #41 of Clovis's Howard Holden in the last three laps of the event. After some intense racing, Holden, who won the second ALSC race on April 5th, finished one-third of a second behind Vosburg, who took his second win of the season.

“That was pretty fun out there,” said Holden. “Brian got me and I missed the setup a little bit this week - we will see what we can do next week.”

Vosburg finished the second race of the season in last place with a bent frame. Despite the win, Vosburg admitted after the race that he thought his car still had some problems.

Former Western Late Model driver Sammy Solari made his presence felt at the track on Saturday night, piloting his first American Limited Stock Car of the season. Solari, of Ripon, ran the second fastest qualifying time earlier in the afternoon and managed to take the checkers in the ALSC Trophy Dash.

Solari's contact with Saunders late in the race relegated him to a tenth place finish. Dennis Saunder's Jr finished sixth.

The top five was rounded out by Roger Selsor of Fresno, Lloyd Bamping and Stockton's Ben Lewis.

The Toyota Sedans took to the track for the second time this season with Jason Kerns of Fresno notching the fastest qualifying time early in the afternoon. Kerns, who won the first event of the season, looked like he was going to be a non-factor in the race after suffering through early mechanical problems.

Second fastest qualifier, Stan Hankins of Fresno, took an early lead but was dogged by the #51 of Madera's Randy Fleming Sr. throughout the race.

Two mid-race cautions kept the field tight and also allowed Kerns to creep back into the event, getting behind Hankins and Fleming Sr on a restart on lap 14.

Contact between Fleming Sr and Kerns resulted in Kerns having to go to the rear of the field on the second to last lap of the race and put Fleming Sr back in the sixth position on the restart.

Hankins survived the two lap shoot out taking the checkers followed by John McCollum Jr. of Stockton. Fleming Sr passed two cars in the final two laps of the event to grab a respectable third place finish.

The win gives Hankins a first and third place finish in the first two races of the season.

Eight yellow and black Hornets took to the track in the popular series for 20 laps of racing. After a full inversion, second fastest qualifier Jeff Dizney, a rookie from Madera, wasted no time in getting to the front of the field, taking the lead on the second lap.

Dizney, who looked like he was going to cruise to a victory, was eventually challenged by the #14 of Miles Humphreys who took the lead on lap 18. The two drivers, battling side by side, swapped leads several times until Humphreys of Clovis passed the stripe a nose ahead of Dizney.

Dizney showed no remorse for finishing in the second spot.

“Man, that is the most fun you can have with your clothes on,” said Dizney after the race

Manteca's Dawn Darter, wife of Western Late Model driver, Donnie Darter, took the familiar number of #99 around the track for the fastest lap in the qualifying session. Darter finished fourth in the main event. The top three was rounded out by Madera's Dillion Jackson, also a rookie.

The Dizney-Humphreys battle looks like it will be a good one to watch going into the heart of the 2008 Madera Speedway schedule. The two drivers finished second and third in the first race of the season, with Dizney getting the edge on Humphreys in that contest.

The Mini Cup cars visited the Speedway for the first time Saturday night with Rocklin's John Bowman putting on an impressive performance - running the second fastest qualifying time and leading 23 of 25 laps to take his first win of the season at Madera.

The Mini Cup cars are driven by racers eight to 16 years old and are half-scale replicas of NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. They are setup similar to their full-size counter parts and can reach speeds of over 70 mile per hour.

Bowman, who finished second in the Trophy Dash earlier in the afternoon, was followed past the stripe by Danville's Max Unterbach and Brent Curran of Antioch. Curran won the Trophy Dash while Unterbach finished in the third spot.

Fastest qualifier, Chase Grigsby of Rio Linda finished in the fifth position, one place behind the #33 of Sacramento's Robbie Roy.

The Baby Grands, another an opportunity for younger drivers to hone their skills, also hit the track at Madera Speedway on Saturday. The Baby Grands are 2/3rds the scale of real stock cars and can be driven by competitors as young as 14 years old.

The Baby Grands' 10:1 horsepower-to-weight ratio gives them impressive speed on the track with lap times in the low 16 second range - just as fast as the American Limited Stock Cars - and faster than the Toyota Sedans and Hornets.

Manteca's Jake Gomes proved to be hard to beat, running the fastest qualifying time and leading most of the race to take the checkers in the 25 lap event.

“I am second in the nation right now,” said Gomes after the race. “But I got beat by a 25-year old [in Florida] so that is not so bad.”

Michael Ray of Modesto finished in the second position with Citrus Height's Dillion Hutchison rounding out the top three. Jake's brother, Josh Gomes, finished sixth.

Spectator Racing Series driver, Bill Vieselmyer, took advantage of a lap 6 restart to jump ahead of fastest qualifier, Dan White of Lodi, to take the lead in the 15 lap event. Vieselmyer, of Merced, tangled with White on lap 10 and was sent to the rear of the field after spinning in Turn 1.

White emerged as the winner of the second Spectator Racing Series to be held at the track this year. Vieselmyer finished in the fourth spot with Stockton's Rick Roberts, Sr. and Elex McKinny also of Stockton finishing in the second and third spots respectively.

Madera's national anthem singer, Mike Miller, also participated in the event.

The Spectator Racing Series program is brand new for 2008. The program gives fans without any racing experience the opportunity to drive a racecar at the Madera Speedway and even compete in an actual event as part of a Saturday night program. The Madera Speedway provides all the equipment including helmet, fire suit, neck brace and of course the car!

The cost for hitting the track in one of the special Sunday afternoon sessions is only $49.95 and full participation in a Saturday night event - including practice, qualifying and a 15-lap race - is only $299.95.

The Destruction Derby that capped off the night had two co-champions emerge after the carnage was over: Kenneth and Ryan Chivers.

Racing action continues at the track next Saturday night, April 26^th, with the Gerhardt Classic. Racing on tap includes 100 laps of USAC Midgets with a three wide start, NASCAR Whelen Weekly Racing Series Western Late Models Twin 50's ($2,000 to win), ALSC, 360 Super Modifieds, and Modified Super Toyotas.

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