LINSTROTH FOR REAL AT STOCKTON 99
Saturday 4-14-01
By: Jim Shiels
Jay Linstroth of Citrus Heights put the skeptics at bay this night with his second feature win in a row in the NASCAR sanctioned Grand American competition on Stockton 99 Speedway’s famed quarter-mile paved oval.
Linstroth, in only his 9th ride in his Ellis Modified, got the benefit of an outside front row start and a first lap lead after Chief Official Jim Cook ordered the two original starters to be set back for failure to obey starting procedures.
A yellow flew on lap-two as Bob Reichmuth of Manteca and Robert Knittel of Lodi tangled in turns three & four. Linstroth continued to lead on the restart followed by Steve Stacy of Stockton and Steve Daniels of Orangevale, with Jason Philpot of Sacramento coming to third on lap-seven.
A 10th-lap yellow came out as Danny Contessotto got spun in turn-one by fellow Stockton Pilot Jeff Thomas with both heading to the rear to take the restart. The red fell on the next pass as a boxcar style wreck took place under the flagstand that involved eight cars and took twenty minutes to untangle.
Stacy beat Linstroth to the line by inches on the next green, but the lead was short lived as Linstroth surged back to the front for good and ran a steady line, forcing Stacy to burn up his tires on the low side and finally to fall back to settle for second at the checkered. Philpot held on for third, followed by Paul Henry of Groveland, and Jason Kerby of Stockton.
Philpot had the quick time at 14.205, and won the dash event, with the Semi-Main win going to Reichmuth.
A North versus South Ultra Wheel Super Truck shoot-out took place this week with Mark Laeger of Temecula taking the first-lap feature lead and holding strong through five yellows before bowing to Greg Alder of Manhatten Beach on the 44th lap.
Highly favored Mike David of Modesto pulled to second on lap-60 but wound up at the back after a spin in turn-one. Four more yellows fell before lap-90 when the drivers settled down to a serious ten-lap final shoot-out that saw the win go to Jon Campbell of Laguna Hills. Kevin O’Niel of Long Beach ran second followed by Adler, David, and Jake Hodges of Simi Valley.
Davis was the fast man on the night with a 14.716 clocking and came back to win the trophy dash.
The ‘bash & crash’ Pure Stocks put on a wild show with Tracy Bolin of Valley Springs taking the first lap feature lead in their 20-lap contest and running unchecked to the first yellow on lap-eight as Joe Stearns of Stockton spun in turn-two. Steve Hall of Manteca spun in the same spot two laps later to draw the second yellow as Bolin led a fast front line consisting of himself, Ray Davis of Galt, Danny Guibor of Manteca, and John Medina, also of Galt.
Bolin got off the fourth turn too hot and spun on the 12th-lap allowing Davis to grab the lead with Doug Lane of Stockton coming to second. Lane made several high-low moves to get past Davis but settled for second at the checkered followed by Kannai Scantlen of Stockton, Guibor, and Semi-Main winner Jeff Ahl of Lodi, who continues to impress the fans with his improvement over last season.
Medina, Lane, Guibor, and Chad Holman of Stockton won heats, with the dash win going to Medina. Adam Ramsdell of San Jose won the C-Main.
A group of six 5/8th scale Baby Grands were on hand to compete in their first ever Stockton events, and the 5/8th-scale Winston Cup look-a-likes made full use of their 1300 cc powered racers in a fifteen second per lap, ten-lap feature event.
Jayson LeFever of Sacramento was the initial leader, bowing to fast timer Mark Smith of Tracy on lap-four. Tracy took the checkered first followed by Don Houston of Patterson, LeFever, Dave Figuerido of Tracy, and Jeff Baron of Rohnert Park. Smith made it a perfect night by winning the heat and dash events.
Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 North Wilson Way, a quarter-mile west of Highway 99.
