Stockton drivers Larry Tankersley and Ethan Rumsey took home wins in the Double Points Night at the Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 3. Both drivers fought hard through tough fields and had great one-on-one battles throughout the night.
Starting with the Stockton Late Models, JoJo Stearns of Stockton once again put his name on the top of the practice charts. He was followed close behind by the recently married driver Ty Carlson from Manteca.
The redraw saw Lincoln native Daniel Devore start on the front row with Carlson to the outside. As the fields fired off into the first set of turns, Carlson got a fender out front as he crossed the stripe and would get clear of Devore on the second lap.
On lap 6, Gary Shafer, Jr. and defending race winner Ethan Nascimento made contact that sent Nascimento up the track in turn two. This would escalate on several restarts later, after the first yellow flag of the race was displayed and slowed the action.
The caution was brought out for a frightening crash for Lodi driver Jeanna Ramos. Her car drove straight into the turn three tire barrier that separates the wall from the pit exit. The front of the car was torn to pieces but the driver was cleared by the track medical staff.
The yellow came back out shortly after the race restarted when Stearns got into the back of Devore. This destroyed the entirety of the front of the Stearns car and ruined his night. Devore got away with only a solo spin and no damage but had to start at the tail of the field.
As the pack came back to life with 33 laps to go, Shafer and Nascimento made more contact. Shafer got into the bumper of Tankersley while battling for the fourth spot and slid up into Nascimento.
The two cars rubbed doors and it sent Nascimento into the backstretch wall ending the chance of back-to-back wins for the young driver out of Ripon. Shafer wound up with a cut tire and was forced to pit for repairs but would maintain his spot on the lead lap.
On the next restart, Carlson and Tankersley had a ferocious battle. They fought side by side for several laps which allowed Devore, who was charging to the pack, to close in on the battle. He got a run exiting turn four and made a bold move three wide for position.
Devore was able to get alongside Carlson for second and Tankersley got clear for the race lead. However, Devore would have to face adversity once more as Carlson got into him in turn one and sent Devore around for a second time.
With 28 to go, Tankersley and Shafer lined up together to take the green. The two battled side by side until Shafer ran Tankersley up high exiting turn four, causing the pack to check up behind them. The result was Chad Holman from Valley Springs getting spun from behind going down the front straightaway.
The following restart would be done under single file conditions and Tankersley drove out to a three-car gap with 20 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Devore sliced his way back through the pack and was up to third with 15 laps on the board.
He hounded the back bumper of Shafer for the next seven laps before finally completing the pass as they exited turn four. Unfortunately for Devore, he ran out of laps despite closing in on the race leader.
After over a month without a victory, Tankersley put himself back in the winner’s circle. In addition, the win solidifies his points lead going into the two-week break before these drivers hit the track again.
“This car works great once we get into a long run and we can start running laps,” Tankersley explained. “A few weeks back, we made a few changes on the car and finished third. We changed it back obviously. There’s a few things we should have done to it, but we’re in victory circle.”
Devore overcame two spins to finish the night in the runner up spot. Shafer completed the podium in third with Carlson and Nick Mello of Galt rounding out the top five. Holman drove back to sixth with Lodi’s Steven Fraser taking home seventh.
Stearns was 26 laps off the pace in eighth after his early wreck.
In the Pure Stock division, a familiar name took home the checkered flag and special 75th Anniversary medallion. To start the day, Lodi’s Brandon Jones took quicktime and lined up in the third position as a result of the invert. This left fellow Lodi driver Bryan Jones to start on the front row with Stockon native Jeremy Tucker.
As the green flag waved, Tucker got through the gears better than Bryan Jones and maneuvered around the outside for the race lead entering turn one. Brandon Jones followed Tucker through to take the second spot away and settled in behind the leader.
Brandon made his move on lap six; he dove to the inside entering turn one and the duo ran wheel to wheel for three laps. Then going into turn one, Brandon powered past Tucker to take the spot away.
The first caution came on lap 12 when Kash Holman of Valley Springs lost an engine and oil spilled across the racing surface. After a brief break, Brandon and Tucker lined up to take the restart. Brandon held off Tucker for that restart and a second after a solo spin from Mason Beghtel of Stockton.
Begtel spun a second time on lap 15, setting up a late race restart between the top two in series points. However, Brandon Jones continued his perfect night and fired off strong as the green flag waved. He got clear of Tucker and drove off to collect his fifth straight win.
Tucker came home second once again in 2024 with Jerry Crawford from Stockton scoring a third-place run. Bryan Jones put his car into the fourth spot while Begtel completed a top five effort.
In the Grand American Modified feature, drivers lined up for a 50-lap main event, the longest of their season. Lakeport native Ian Elliott was the fastest man of the day, setting a fast lap of 14.511 seconds during practice. He rolled off in the fifth spot to start the race as Sacramento’s Calvin Hegje paced the field to the green.
Hegje led the opening 20 laps as he, Elliott, and Scott Winters of Tracy separated themselves from the rest of the pack. On lap 21, Elliott ducked to the inside of Hegje as he headed down the front straightaway. He held his car right on the white line through turns one and two and wrestled the lead away.
A lap later, Winters followed suit and got around Hegje. From this point on, the top five drivers held serve and they ran a clean race. No on track incidents occurred, and all 50 laps went green to the finish.
Elliott picked up his first win of the season and became the third different winner in the Grand American Modifieds. Winters came home in the second spot with Hegje finishing the podium. The Coonfields completed the rest of the top five with Adam Coonfield of Modesto in fourth and Aaron Coonfield from Riverbank scoring fifth.
The Nor Cal Mini Stock race featured an intense two car battle for the win that lasted for over 10 laps. In practice, Manteca’s Jordan Mast set the pace for the night with his fastest lap at 16.308 seconds. Right behind him was defending race winner Ethan Rumsey of Stockton who ran a 16.317. These two were less than a tenth of a second apart in qualifying and ran virtually identical during the feature.
Due to the invert, Sonora native Steve Ford started on the pole position. He led the field to the green flag, but was overpowered by Rumsey entering the first turn. Mast started the night in third and was unable to get around Ford until lap eight. By then, Rumsey had driven off to a five car-length advantage.
Four laps later, Lelani Sprenkel from Stockton lost control while battling hard for the third position with Ford. She spun the car around in the middle of turns one and two but sustained no damage. On the next restart, Rumsey and Mast both drove away from the pack while Sprenkel got past Stockton’s Natalie Harper and went right back to work on Ford.
The final 12 laps ran green and the leaders ran nose to tail for each of the remaining circuits. Mast took his number 69 machine to the inside of Rumsey entering the corners, but was unable to break the momentum of the number 14 car.
Rumsey picked up his second consecutive win this season and did so leading all 25 laps of the main event. Mast continues to build on his points lead, earning bonus points for quicktime and a strong second place finish.
“It means the world,” Rumsey stated when asked about scoring the win after the battle with Mast. “I’m thankful for Jordan getting his car fixed, because I really wanted that competition and it was there.”
Ford brought his Mini Stock home in third position, just holding off a hard charging Sprenkel. Harper quietly put together another good points night finishing in the top five for the third race in a row. She’ll climb to second in series points as Manteca’s Joe Flowers did not enter the feature.
Racing returns once more on Saturday, Aug. 10 for the Night of Champions. Pro Late Models, Pure Stocks, Nor Cal Mini Stocks, Legends of 99, and the Legends of Kearney Bowl action. An autograph session with several former champions awaits race fans who join in the celebration of the 75th Anniversary Season. Tickets for the event are $25 for adults ages 16 through 59 and $20 for juniors between 11- and 15-years-old, along with seniors from ages 60 on up. Children below 10 years old as well as parking is free at Stockton. Pit gates open at noon and Grandstand Gates will open at 5 p.m.
Opening ceremonies start at 6 p.m. with racing to follow. For more information, visit www.stockton99.com or call 209-466-9999.
