Making his season debut at the 99 Speedway, Chad Holman of Salida had no trouble shaking off the rust as he outdueled former two-time track champion Justin Philpott, of Tracy, for the victory in the 30-lap Stockton Late Model feature on Saturday night, Sept. 15.
Holman started on the pole of the 16 car field and was able to grab the lead at the drop of the opening green flag over the former two-time track champion. Philpott would spend the rest of the race chasing Holman, pressing him especially hard over the final 10 laps.
After taking the white flag Philpott made a last ditch attempt to pull out the win by diving under Holman coming out of turn 4, but he was unable to hold his line and slid across the finish line sideways to salvage second place.
Stockton’s Gary Shafer Jr., Escalon’s Christian Roche and season points leader Sam Solari of Escalon rounded out the top five.
Lining up alongside of Lodi’s Justin Stone in the front row, second generation driver Justin Scantlin, of Valley Springs, was able to charge into the lead on the opening lap of the of the 11 car starting field for the Bomber feature.
Stone patiently waited for an opportunity to attack Scantlin and successfully did so just before the midpoint of the race. He remained in control for the remainder of the event forcing Scantlin to settle for second place just ahead of Clovis driver Kyle Singleton.
The 99 Speedway will not be back in action until Saturday, Oct. 20 when the regular season comes to a close on Championship Night, which will feature a 100 lap event for the Stockton Late Models plus the Bombers, B-4s and Mini Cups.
The Stockton Dirt Track, located on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, will be hosting two big nights of Monster Truck Madness on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5 and 6.