JEREMY DOSS TAKES DC'S RV CENTER 100 AT KERN RACEWAY BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA (April 5, 2014) - 2013
SPEARS Southwest Tour Rookie of the Year Jeremy Doss claimed the second "DC's RV Center 100 presented by AmeriPride Services" during an exciting opening night at Kern County Raceway Park.  The new speedway west of Bakersfield also saw wins go to Bill Sedgwick, Eric Olson, and Tyler Bannister.

Brandon White Gets First Series Win

 Bakersfield, CA - Brandon White scored his first career SPEARS Southwest Tour Series win Saturday night in the "Melo's Gas & Gear 125 presented by DC's RV Center" at Madera Speedway.

White, from Eureka, started fifth in the 125-lap event, he led the race early on and then ran in second for most of the race behind defending series champion, Jim Pettit II, before dropping back as far as fourth.  On the final lap, White made the most important pass of his career when he went by Ross Strmiska for third place.  White's pass on Strmiska ended up securing the win for White, as Pettit and Derek Thorn got together while racing for the win, resulting in Pettit spinning and Thorn receiving the automatic penalty for spinning the leader of the race.  Pettit and Thorn placed 11th and 12th respectively.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SRL Media
April 9, 2013

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THORN DOUBLES

Bakersfield, CA - Heading into the "STRANDWOLD BROTHERS 125 presented by HURST Shifters" last Saturday at Stockton 99 Speedway, the big story was 'double-file' restarts for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series.  Leaving Stockton 99 Speedway, the big story was the battle that waged on the track between Jim Pettit and Derek Thorn for the win. When the checkers dropped on lap 125, it was Thorn with his second win of the year, just .9 seconds ahead of Pettit, followed closely by Jacob Gomes, Ross Strmiska and Zane Lovelace.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SRL Media
March 20, 2013

 

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Thorn Wins - Pettit Crushes Track Record

BAKERSFIELD, CA - The season opener is always filled with drama, but as the 2013 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series opener approached the drama was already at a high level.  Madera Speedway had resurfaced the track, which lead to much uncertainty, a big group of rookie contenders and a big field created a lot of anticipation leading up to Saturday's "Melo's Gas and Gear 151 presented by 51 FIFTY Energy Drink".  But as the laps wound down in the 151 lap event, it was defending series champ Derek Thorn holding off 2012 championship runner up Jim Pettit II for the win.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SRL Media
November 20, 2012spearslogo-NEW

THORN IS CHAMPION - GOMEZ WINS BIG

Bakersfield, CA - The final race of the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series saw Lakeport's Derek Thorn win the series title and Twin Falls, Idaho's Jonathon Gomez win the race and the record $15,000 in prize money that came with the win at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2012
SRL Media

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ROSEVILLE TO THORN

Bakersfield, CA - Derek Thorn won his sixth SPEARS Southwest Tour Series race of 2012 with his win Saturday night at the "West Coast Transmissions 125" at Roseville's All-American Speedway.

Saturday's win was Thorn's third career SPEARS Southwest Tour Series victory at Roseville, which extended his championship point lead to 59 points over Jim Pettit II as the series heads to The Bullring on November 17th for the season finale.  Thorn, who resides in Bakersfield, will need a 14th place finish or better to secure the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series championship.

"I just can't thank Byron and Carol Campbell enough for the opportunity to drive this car," Thorn said from the winner's circle Saturday night.  "This car is a lot of fun to drive, Mike (Keen) and all the guys do such a great job preparing the car for every race.  Tonight we had to be patient, and keep our eye on the big picture, which is the championship.  But that caution fell and that let us catch up to the 16 and the 18...the car was still really good and we were able to get the win."

After fast qualifier Zane Lovelace Jr. drew a six car invert, Pettit and Ross Strmiska led the field to the green.  Pettit, looking to gain on Thorn in the championship standings, jumped to the lead followed by Jacob Gomes and Strmiska.  Gomes pressured Pettit early for the lead before settling in behind the Moeller Bros./HUR Engines #18 of Pettit.

The top five of Pettit, Gomes, Strmiska, Eric Schmidt, and Lovelace remained unchanged on the tight Roseville 1/3 mile for the first 47 laps of the race, until Thorn moved passed Lovelace into fifth. Two laps later Thorn was by Schmidt for fourth.

During a long green flag run of 78 laps, the leaders worked their way through traffic, which was no easy task, as battles for position were taking place throughout the field.

By lap 52, Thorn had made it to the top three, but was close to a quarter of a lap behind the leader, Pettit.

When the third caution of the race was dropped on lap 105 for a spin by Jason Gilbert, the top ten were; Pettit, Gomes, Thorn, M.K. Kanke who had moved up from the eighth starting position to fourth, followed by Schmidt, Strmiska, Keith Spangler, Michael Sandoval, Tim Smith, and Cody Hodgson.

On lap 115, Thorn moved into second past Gomes, and began his charge for the lead.  In turn two on lap 115, Thorn put the nose of his Four Star Fruit Ford #43 under the #18 of Pettit.  One final caution would bunch the field up one final time with five to go. Thorn led the restart, followed by Pettit, Gomes, Kanke and Schmidt.  Kanke and Gomes raced side by side for third, until Kanke took the position away coming to the white flag.  At the checkered, it was Thorn, Pettit, Kanke, Gomes, Schmidt, Spangler, Sandoval, rookie points leader Jeff Oleen, Hodgson, and Olympia, Washington's Jared Vorse rounding out the top ten.

Next race for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will be the 2012 Championship Finale, "Sigma Engineering Solutions 154" on November 17th at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Where not only will the championship be on the line, but so will over $60,000 in prize money.

 

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

About the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its twelfth season in 2012, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com. "The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

Follow the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries <http://www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SRL Media
September 14, 2012

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 THORN CONTINUES ROLL AT VEGAS


BAKERSFIELD, CA -- Derek Thorn continued his winning ways in Las Vegas this weekend as he stretched his championship point lead over his rivals by scoring his fifth win of the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series season.  In winning Saturday night's "Century Boatland 125", Thorn extended his championship lead over Jim Pettit II 1198 to 1159.

Thorn started his afternoon by laying down the fastest qualifying time of the day with a 14.584 second lap in the hot Las Vegas sun.  It was Thorn's fifth pole qualifying run of the year.

After a nine invert was drawn, Olympia, Washington's Jared Vorse started from the pole with Manteca's Ross Strmiska on his outside.  Vorse would spin his tires at the drop of the green by honorary starter, John Gomez.  The hesitation of Vorse's forward progress created multiple nose to tail contacts by cars in the inside line, with the result of three cars spinning and mayhem continued on to the back straightway with Jacob Gomes suffering a flat tire after making contact with Craig Raudman. Dave Byrd retired from the race with suspension damage.

Strmiska, who overcame a flat tire and damage to his front end in the final practice session, led the field back to the start finish line.

After the lap 1 caution, Strmiska led the field to the restart, followed by Vorse, Jonathon Gomez, David Mayhew and Craig Raudman.  

Two laps later Vorse charged around Strmiska for the lead.  By lap 7 Mayhew was into the top three in his first SPEARS Southwest Tour Series start of the season.

At lap 10, Thorn was up to seventh from his ninth starting position; championship contenders M.K. Kanke and Pettit were eleventh and thirteenth respectively.

The second of four cautions fell on lap 20 for debris in turn 3.  Vorse was still leading, Mayhew second, Strmiska third, Gomez fourth, Thorn up to fifth, Michael Sandoval sixth, Eric Schmidt seventh, Zane Lovelace eighth, Raudman ninth, and Keith Spangler tenth.

On the lap 24 restart, Thorn began his marched to the lead.  Lap 26 he moved to fourth, then past Gomez for third on lap 34, and four laps later he was by Mayhew for second. On Lap 41, Mayhew started to slow and then fell out with electrical problems.

The caution flew on lap 45 for Tim Smith who suffered a flat tire and slowed down the back straightaway.  One lap prior to the caution, Thorn had moved into the lead.

As the field came to the green on lap 49, Thorn was in front, followed by Vorse, Gomez, Strmiska, Schmidt, Pettit into sixth, Jason Gilbert seventh, Spangler eighth, Kanke ninth, and Carlos Vieira in tenth.

By lap 60, Pettit had moved his Moeller Bros./HUR Engines Chevrolet into fourth, two laps later into the top three behind Thorn and Vorse.  On lap 68 the top two championship leaders Thorn and Pettit, were one and two, working traffic during a 47 lap green flag run.

When the final caution of the night fell on lap 96, the top ten were, Thorn, Pettit, Vorse, Kanke, Gomez, Gilbert, Schmidt, Strmiska, Spangler and Raudman.

On the restart, Pettit pressured Thorn for the lead in much the same way the two drivers have battled most of the season. Pettit would get to the rear bumper of Thorn's Four Star Fruit Ford, but that was as close as he would get to capturing the lead from Thorn.

At the checkered it was Thorn for his fifth win of the season, and Pettit second for the fifth time in 2012.  Kanke had moved past Vorse with three to go to finish third for his fourth top three of the year.  Vorse finished fourth, Gilbert fifth, Schmidt sixth, Gomes seventh, Spangler eighth, Gomez ninth, and Strmiska rounded out the top ten.

The next race for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is Saturday, October 13th at Roseville's All-American Speedway for the "West Coast Transmissions 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services".



About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.
About the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its twelfth season in 2012, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com. "The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"
Follow the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries <http://www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SRL Media
August 22, 2012

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THORN WINS FOURTH OF THE YEAR

BAKERSFIELD, CA - SPEARS Southwest Tour Series championship leader Derek Thorn scored his fourth win of the 2012 season, with his victory in Saturday's "Performance Electrical Co. 125".  Thorn extended his championship lead over Jim Pettit II, by adding 10 points to his lead over rival Pettit, who finished second to Thorn for the second straight race.  Thorn now leads the championship chase, 1198 to 1159 over Pettit, M.K. Kanke is third with 1140 points.

After setting the fastest qualifying time for a SPEARS Southwest Tour Series career record 15th time, Thorn drew a six for the invert for the 125 lap main event.

Roseville's Zane Lovelace led the field to the green and jumped ahead of Olympia, Washington's Jared Vorse to lead the first 24 laps.   On lap 25, season opener winner Jacob Gomes took the lead from Lovelace.  Two laps later, Thorn pushed hard to get to second, moving past Lovelace with an inside move.  Pettit was also charging to the front from his fifth starting position.

Thorn moved to the lead past Gomes on lap 31, Pettit worked his way to third on lap 36 by passing Lovelace, then took second on lap 55 with an inside pass on Gomes.

At the half way point of the race, Thorn led, with Pettit second, Gomes maintained third, Lovelace was fourth and Kanke had moved up from his seventh starting position into the top five.

With more than 68 laps of green flag racing, the leaders masterfully negotiated traffic, Thorn leading the way with Pettit in close pursuit.  

A lap 115 caution flag brought the top five together for a ten-lap shoot out to the finish. The top five for the restart were Thorn, Pettit, Gomes, Kanke, and Ross Strmiska.  Jeff Oleen was sixth, Keith Spangler seventh, followed by Vorse, Michael Sandoval and Bobby Hodges rounding out the top ten, with ten laps remaining.

On the restart, Pettit drove low under Thorn.  Pettit put the nose of his Moeller Bros. #18 Chevrolet under the Four Star Fruit #43 Ford of Thorn, but Pettit couldn't make it stick.  At the same time Kanke was working hard on the inside of Gomes for third.

At the checkers it was Thorn recording his fourth SPEARS Southwest Tour Series victory of the year, followed .441 seconds later by Pettit with his sixth top three finish of the season. Gomes was third, Kanke rallied to fourth after going to his back up car due to a Friday practice incident.  Strmiska scored his best finish of the year with fifth, as did Oleen with a sixth.  Spangler, Vorse, Sandoval and Hodges all hung on for top ten finishes.

Next race for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is the "Century Boatland 125" at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 8th.

 

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

About the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its twelfth season in 2012, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com. "The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

Follow the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries.

 

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(THE VACATION-DELAYED) RPM MOTORSPORTS WEEKEND WRAP-UP

 

RPM Motorsports really loves the annual summer road trip to Rocky Mountain Raceway in Utah.   It is a super-fun track to compete on and there were plenty of great extra-curricular activities as well.

To start off the weekend, the SRL organized a fishing derby at the Jordanelle Reservoir sponsored by Berkley Fishing Gear.  Team owner Dan Nikolai and driver MK Kanke teamed up to catch 9 or 11 (which is it?) nice-sized fish, thus proving once again that fish stories are always suspect.  The big news, though, was that crew chief Leon Ruther caught the first fish of his life!  Woohoo!  The sponsors treated the racers so well, with great guides and a super gift bag of fishing goodies which included the fishing poles.  Thanks so much to Berkley for a great morning!

The RPM team had some special guests come to visit at Rocky Mountain Raceway.  It is always a treat to see our friends and former race team owners Mike and Sharon Bonicelli from Colorado Springs, CO.   Additionally, MK had family members from Tucson, AZ and London, England excitedly cheering him on in the 125-lap event.

Getting down to business, the #33 team started well with a third-place qualifying effort.  The team was happy to get its qualifying efforts back on track with its best showing this year.  With a twelve-car invert, the race had some good passing and good competition in the long-green lap periods.  Now competing against the second generation of the Potts' racing family, MK raced hard with Colby Potts for many laps.  Potts showed a lot of composure as MK patiently waited for an opportunity to pass.  Jared Vorse chose to be a bit more aggressive at the 3/8th's mile as the racers were trying to gain the advantage against each competitor.  Kudos to long-time spotter Kenny Dyer for another good job this race, whom MK's sister-in-law dubbed "the voice of reason."   Some nights, a third place finish is a good thing, but this time, the result has only served to motivate the team to redouble its efforts as it seeks its second win of the season.

Thanks to Rocky Mountain Raceway for hosting another fine weekend for the racers and the fans.  Our team took advantage of the opportunity to watch the drag races on Friday night and then enjoyed the amazing fireworks display after the SRL race...though the music could have been turned down a bit!  With the enthusiastic Salt Lake City fans hanging around in the pits after the races, the team surprised fabrication man Mick Edwards with a birthday song rendition while loading up the car.

The Kanke family would also like to acknowledge and thank Bob Newberry for his concern and his kind offer for Cale.   This is the kind of stuff that makes the SRL a good place to hang around.

After various family vacations in the beautiful Grand Tetons, Tioga and elsewhere, we are on to the next race...

The View from RPM Motorsports

The last weekend of June was another fine weekend of racing at Madera Speedway...fun, fireworks  and good racing is always a satisfying combination.

While ultimately settling for third in the race, Frazier Park, CA's MK Kanke had an eventful evening on the track:  a lucky invert draw started him on the pole, had a fire under the hood, and was the relay runner for a Greg Voigt sheet-metal baton.  His side-by-side battle with Dave Byrd was definitely a good time.   The competition ramped up in the last half of the race, leading to an exciting finish for the fans and MK from his view, though he wasn't able to capitalize on all that "excitement" in turns 3 and 4 on the last lap!  Our team congratulates Greg Voigt on a stout night at Madera, finishing fourth, after a tough start to his year.  Good job to Jeff Oleen on his first top-10 of the year.   Bonus:  it was great having Janet Peery in the pits as she has been missed by many.

The Legends Tour continues to be so fun to watch with good, close racing with lots of talented young racers.  Cale Kanke and his team continue to improve in finding speed in the driver and the car.  While running third, his mirror fell off into the pedals and in trying to remove it, somehow he pulled the electrical harness out, losing power.  Kudos to the quick-thinking drivers for navigating around him on that restart.  He was super speedy the rest of the race on the outside line but glory will have to wait for another day.

Our team thoroughly enjoyed the BBQ fundraiser for Motor Racing Outreach.  We are thankful that MRO chaplains Norm and Louise Griffith are supporting our series and look forward to chapel services returning to race days.   Thanks to all the racers who donated to this most important ministry as over $1100.00 was raised.   Yay, God!

We also liked being introduced to the Legends top-10 drivers in points on stage.  Good news was revealed when Lloyd McGhee announced that ProCast would be contributing to the SRL Legends point fund this year!  And Ryan Cansdale is not only racing impressively this year, he's also a nice brother; the scene of a bunch of racers singing "Happy Birthday" to his 11-year-old sister, Cory, was priceless!

The inaugural SRL campout was quite successful as the invitation drew many teams and their RV's.  Camping has always been a joyful part of RPM Motorsports' racing weekends and from the sounds of the other teams around us camped out, we could make a solid guess that a good time was had by all.

Thanks to Madera Speedway's Kenny and Tammy Shepherd for their hospitality to our team and all the racers in SRL Southwest Tour/SRL Legends.  Between track improvements made, their patient commitment to racing and creativity, hopefully they were rewarded as a good crowd was on hand, while west-coast racing continues to rebuild its fan-base.

Now, it's on to the next race...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SRL Media

July 3, 2012

 

 

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LAST LAP PASS NETS PETTIT MADERA WIN

 

BAKERSFIELD, CA - Two-time and defending SPEARS Southwest Tour Series champion, Jim Pettit II, often prides himself on the fact that he and his team "never give up", and Saturday night at Madera Speedway, when Pettit lost the lead late in the race to Derek Thorn, Pettit didn't give up and the net result was his first win of 2012.

With just seven laps remaining in the "Motor Racing Outreach 125", Thorn jumped to the outside of Pettit to try and take away the lead that Pettit had held for the previous 92 laps.  The two raced side-by-side for the lead until Thorn cleared the Moeller Bros./HUR Engines #18 on lap 120.  With just two laps to go, Thorn began to catch the tail end of the field as he closed in on numerous cars all racing for position in the final stage of the race.

On the final flag lap Thorn drifted high in turn 2 attempting to pass a group of three cars that included Ken Benhamou, and the Bob Strandwold Racing teammates of Michael Sandoval and Jared Vorse.  Pettit was now right on the rear bumper cover of Thorn's Four Star Fruit Ford.  As the group exited turn 2, contact between Vorse and Sandoval forced Vorse up the track, which momentarily slowed Thorn's progress. That's all Pettit needed as he drove low under Thorn and onto his 12th career SPEARS Southwest Tour Series win .538 seconds ahead of Thorn at the line.

"The motto of our team is 'never give up'. Duane and the guys work so hard in the shop and at the track, and they deserve this win," Pettit stated in the Madera Speedway winner's circle. "It feels really good to get this win for Quentin (Bammer) and everyone involved with this team.  Derek drove a great race, when he got on our outside I tried, but I couldn't hold him off, but once he got by I did all I could to stay in touch with him.  When the traffic held him up we were in position to make the move and get the win",  Pettit added.

M.K. Kanke started from the pole and held on to finish third, Goleta's Greg Voigt finished a season's best fourth and moved into the top five in the championship, David Ross brought home his second consecutive top five at Madera, Jason Gilbert in sixth, Ross Strmiska seventh, Jacob Gomes eighth, Maryland's Jeff Oleen ninth, with Donny St. Ours rounding out the top 10.

With Saturday's win and the 180 points that came with the victory, Pettit moved into second behind Thorn in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series championship standings, 838 to 819.  Kanke is a close third with 815, and Gilbert is fourth with 800 points.

The next race for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will be the "NAPA Auto Parts 125" at Rocky Mountain Raceways just outside Salt Lake City, Utah on July 21st.

 

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

 

 

About the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its twelfth season in 2012, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SRL Media

June 12, 2012

 

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THORN WINS AGAIN - TAKES OVER POINT LEAD

 

Bakersfield, CA - Derek Thorn drove to his second consecutive SPEARS Southwest Tour Series win of 2012 Saturday night at Stockton 99 Speedway.  The win propelled Thorn into the championship lead after the fourth of ten races that make up the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series championship.

Eric Schmidt recorded the top qualifying time of the day at 13.563 seconds.  Thorn set the third best time in qualifying, and then drew the #2 for his starting position for the "Strandwold Properties 125 presented by Wrapped Graphix".

At the drop of the green Thorn edged ahead of Zane Lovelace to lead the first lap.  Thorn then went on to lead the remaining 124 laps for the victory. The win didn't come easy as the race was slowed by seven cautions.  Jim Pettit II was able to close up to the rear bumper cover of Thorn's Four Star Fruit #43 for each of the seven restarts, but Thorn pulled away from the defending series champion a few laps into each restart.

"We've been coming to Stockton for three years now and this is my first win here," stated Thorn from the winner's circle.  "Our cars have always been fast but we never have been able to avoid problems during the race.  Tonight my Campbell Motorsports team gave me a great car and I'm proud to get the win for our team.  I also want to thank all the great fans here at Stockton who always come out to support our series."

It was Thorn's seventh career SPEARS Southwest Tour Series victory, which ties him with Jason Fensler and Ray Lawson, Jr. for fourth in all-time SPEARS Southwest Tour Series wins.  Only Pettit, M.K. Kanke and Jeff Anthony have more career SPEARS Southwest Tour Series victories.

Chasing Thorn across the line at the checkers were Pettit, Jason Gilbert in third, who recorded his fourth top four in as many races, Dave Byrd, with a season high fourth place finish, and Kanke who rebounded from a lap 97 spin down the back straight to finish fifth.  Rounding out the top ten were Olympia, Washington's Jared Vorse, Scott Sanchez, Michael Sandoval, Tim Smith and Ken Benhamou who all recorded their best finishes of the 2012 season.

Thorn now leads the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series standings with 668 points, followed by Kanke and Gilbert who are tied at 650, Pettit is 4th at 639, Vorse jumped to 5th in the standings with 530 points, Greg Voigt is 6th, Ross Strmiska 7th, Jonathon Gomez 8th, Jacob Gomes 9th, and Dave Byrd in 10th with 502 points.

Next event for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is at Madera Speedway on Saturday, June 30th, for the annual Firework Show and the "Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) 125".

 

sponsors_2012

 

 

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

About the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its twelfth season in 2012, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

Follow the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries <http://www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SRL Media

May 14, 2012

 

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THORN ON A HOT STREAK IN VEGAS

 

Bakersfield, CA - Derek Thorn won his second consecutive SPEARS Southwest Tour Series event at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night in the "GoLiveStream.TV - Blackjack 121".  It was Thorn's first SPEARS Southwest Tour Series win driving for the Campbell Motorsports team.

Thorn started from the 11th position after setting fast time in qualifying at 14.475 seconds, then drawing an eleven invert for the 27-car field.

At the drop of the green Jason Gilbert moved to the lead from the pole position, followed closely by outside front row starter Nick Joanides.  Gilbert, who flew home after Friday's practice to be with his wife Kathryn, as the couple was expecting their first child, then returned to the track on Saturday.

Gilbert, who started the "GoLiveStream.TV - Blackjack 121" second in the championship standings, led until lap 8, when Jim Pettit II took over the lead.  Gilbert would fall back as far as sixth, before rallying back to fourth, for his third consecutive top five of the year.

Pettit maintained the lead until lap 30, when Thorn moved under the defending series champion exiting turn 2.

At the halfway point of the race, Thorn was in control, Pettit second, followed closely by Jonathon Gomez, Eric Schmidt fourth, with Madera winner M.K. Kanke moving up from his 13th starting position into the top five.

By lap 100, Gomez had moved by Pettit for second, Kanke was applying the pressure for third and Gilbert was now looking for a way past Kanke.

With 15 to go, the battle was for third, as Pettit, Kanke and Gilbert were nose to tail.  Kanke looking low on Pettit, with Gilbert looking for an opening.

Eight laps to go, Gilbert found his way by Kanke for fourth, Pettit was now closing on Gomez for second, while Thorn was maintaining his lead.

At the checkers it was Thorn, Gomez, Pettit, Gilbert, Kanke, making up the top five, Olympia, Washington's Jared Vorse in sixth, Schmidt in seventh, Greg Voigt eighth, Keith Spangler ninth and Bobby Hodges rounding out the top ten.

"I want to thank the entire crew, because that's why you do so well, because of the people you have around you. I'm surrounded by really great people and I thank them for putting me in this situation."  Stated Thorn from the Bullring winner's circle.

The "GoLiveStream.TV - Blackjack 121" was part of "The PASS Road To The All-American 400" which awarded the winner of Saturday's race an automatic starting position for the October 6th, All-American 400 at the famed Nashville Fairgrounds.  Thorn will take some experience to the high-bank oval as he finished second in the North-South All-Star 400 in Nashville in 2006.

The next race for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is the "Strandwold Properties 125 presented by Wrapped Graphix" on June 9th at Stockton 99 Speedway.

 

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

About the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its twelfth season in 2012, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

Follow the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries <http://www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries>

 

sponsors_2012

Apr 23, 2012 - Kanke Posts Win at Madera Speedway - Madera Speedway Media Relations

Madera, CA - There was no shortage of racing entertainment when the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour made its way to the Madera Speedway on April 21, 2012 in the Mike Roos Memorial on Fresno Grizzlies Night, featuring the Triple A ballclub's mascot Parker along with the Legends of the Pacific, LunkerDaddy Late Models, Hobby Stocks, MST, Toyota Sedans and 4-Bangers.

With 26 fast-paced SRL cars taking to the track, it was Frazier Park's M.K. Kanke who rose to the top as he claimed the 125-lap main along with $3,000 prize money in the "Melo's Gas & Gear 125" race presented by AmeriPride.

"I really want to dedicate this race to Carol Hansen and Dan Flynn," Kanke said after the main in the winner's circle. "We lost them the last few months and that's what this is all about tonight."

With nine laps left in the main, it appeared Prundale's Jim Pettit II was on his way to victory lane before Kanke passed the defending 2011 SRL series champ and held on for the sensational comeback win. Pettit finished second while Colton's David Ross took third.

Kanke, who finished fourth in the tour's debut race in Stockton on April 7, 2012, had to battle from the back of the field after his car got tangled up with Manteca's Jacob Gomes on Lap 38 and caused a yellow.

"We really had a good car in the beginning but Jacob ended up getting into me a bit and I was sorry to see him get taken out there," Kanke said. "We just took care of our car and went from the back."

"He had some trouble early with that wreck but Mike's a good competitor and always has been," Pettit said. "He's a guy that you always have to count on contending and he had something for the end there where the rest of us didn't. He's been running in that same car for multiple years, so they got their baseline setup pretty good."

Through the first 53 laps, it was Roseville's Zane Lovelace that was clearly in control of the race as he used a fast take-off on the restarts to stay ahead of the field.

After lapping two cars, Lovelace had a comfortable lead with Eddie Secord, of Oak Hills, trailing in second while Dave Byrd, of Los Gatos, was in third.

After a caution on Lap 38, it took Pettit three laps to pass Secord and Byrd to get into second behind Lovelace.

It was on Lap 54 that Pettit caught up to the race-leader and positioned himself into first after Turn 1 on the front straightaway. From that point on, Pettit built a decent-sized lead with Manteca's Ross Strmiska in second and Secord in third.

"This is a brand new car and we've only ran it twice this year," Pettit said. "The first race, we were running third and had a flat tire but got back to 10th. Tonight we had a great car but the right rear just went away on us. That was the difference between him winning the race and us losing."

After a restart on Lap 95, Kanke made his way into the top five with Pettit out in front followed by Strmiska, Secord and Dublin's Jason Gilbert.

With 10 laps left, Pettit's lead had dwindled down with Kanke breathing down his neck.

Despite not leading until the final few laps, it was Kanke that eventually crossed the checkered flag.

"You never worry about (who's in front) until the last 10 laps ever," Kanke said. "Once you're up there, you just keep going. That's all you can do, you have to be patient and take care of your car so you can be there. We got lucky tonight."

It was a tough way to finish the race for a competitor like Pettit.

"We just have to work on our car a little bit better to save the right rear," Pettit said. "We didn't need to be so good early on, if we could back that up a little bit, the late part of the race wouldn't have even been close. We've got a little bit of work to do but we'll be okay."

Gilbert finished fourth overall while Chatsworth's Keith Spangler rounded out the top five finishers.

It was the SRL's first race on the Speedway's newly repaved surface and 12 SRL drivers broke the fast time of 14.320 set by Derek Thorn last season. Thorn broke his own record with a time of 14.009 followed by 11 drivers including Gomes (14.037), Pettit (14.134) and Strmiska (14.198).

"Kenny did an excellent job on this race track and we can run all over now," said Kanke, who's qualifying time was 14.307. "It's way better than it was before and our car is set up for this track. That's what made us persevere tonight."

SRL Media

August 20th, 2011

 

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 PETTIT WINS WILD STOCKTON 99

 

Bakersfield, CA - Jim Pettit II picked up his first SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series win of 2011 Saturday night at Stockton 99 Speedway.  Pettit, the winningest driver in SRL history, took over the lead on lap 107 and held off a late race challenge by Keith Spangler to win the "Jackson Rancheria 135".

"We didn't have the fastest car tonight, but that's not always the case to get the win," stated Pettit from the Stockton 99 winner's circle.  "It's an emotional win for us tonight, as it's the first win since my Mom's passing, so this will be a win we will cherish forever. We struggled all weekend but we weren't as fast as we wanted to be. We didn't have the best racecar, but we won the race, for which I am very thankful. But we won it because of certain situations that occurred on the track."

"For the first time in my racing career, the officials used pink spray paint to mark the tires during qualifying tech and why they did, I'll never know.  I said, 'wow', is it a sign from my Mom?  Pink was her favorite color, like maybe she was rootin' for us and we were going to have a great night tonight." Pettit concluded.

Early in the afternoon, Derek Thorn set the fastest qualifying time for the fourth race in a row.  Thorn then drew a seven for the invert, which moved Brennan Newberry to the pole for the start of the 135-lap event, with M.K. Kanke on his outside.

At the drop of the green, Newberry edged Kanke for the lead entering turn 3, with Joe Farre', Michael Sandoval and Eric Holmes close behind.  An incident involving Idaho's John Wood brought out the first caution of the night before the completion of the first lap.

On the restart, Holmes was on the move, moving up to third by lap 10.  The top five of Newberry, Kanke, Holmes, Farre' and Sandoval remained unchanged until lap 25, when Kanke made an inside move on Newberry into turn 3, and squeezed into the lead as the two leaders exited turn 4.

Five laps later, Holmes moved into second and Thorn made his way into the top five.

The second caution of the race came out on lap 39, when Scott Sanchez cut a tire resulting in a hard hit into the turn 3 wall.   The top ten running order was, Kanke, Holmes, Newberry, Farre', Thorn, Ross Strmiska, Pettit, point leader Jacob Gomes, Carlos Vieira, and Dave Byrd.

Off the restart, Farre' got shuffled to the outside and slide back to 8th.  On lap 52, Thorn and Newberry made contact racing side-by-side in turn 4 battling for third, ending with Thorn spinning in turn 1, resulting in both drivers restarting at the rear of the field.

Strmiska was now up to 3rd, Pettit 4th, Farre' back up to 5th, Keith Spangler was into 8th.

Lap 78, the complexion upfront changed dramatically as the leader Kanke and Tim Smith came together on the front straight resulting in Kanke stopped sideways just past the start/finish line with damage to the right side of the car.  Kanke would restart in 8th position.  On the lap 82 restart, Holmes was on the point, followed by Strmiska, Pettit, Farre', Byrd, Thorn, Spangler, then Kanke, Sandoval, and Vieira in 10th.  Lap 85, teammates Farre' and Thorn made contact to bring out the caution, both would restart at the rear of the field.

On the lap 89 restart, Colby Potts, making his SRL debut, suffered a blown engine resulting in oil on the track.  Holmes slipped up and Strmiska moved to the lead before the caution was displayed.  The track went red while the Stockton 99 Safety Team worked on the oil clean up.

The lap 91 restart saw Strmiska leading Holmes, Pettit 3rd, Spangler 4th, and Byrd rounding out the top 5.  On lap 104, the race changed in a big way once again as the leaders approached Gomes who was off the pace after suffering heavy front-end damage earlier in the race.  As Strmiska charged through the middle of turns 1 and 2, he slowed to avoid Gomes, which resulted in Holmes getting into the rear of Strmiska, resulting in Strmiska spinning.  Holmes was relegated to restart from the rear of the field due to the automatic penalty for spinning the leader.

The stage was set for three of the series veterans to battle for the win. Pettit was now leading and looking for his first win of the year. Spangler, who was now in second and has shown great patience all year, was in position to possibly win his first career SRL event and Kanke was third, hoping to move back into the championship lead as Gomes was down in the running order.

The three veterans raced nose-to-tail, with Spangler better than Pettit through the middle of turns 1 and 2, but Pettit would get a better drive off the corner.  On lap 121, Thorn joined the race for the lead as he closed in on Kanke's bumper.

With less than 10 lap to go, Spangler made an inside move on Pettit in turn 2, but the caution was thrown for the tenth time.  The top 5 for the restart was Pettit, Spangler, Kanke, Thorn and Strmiska.

Back to green, Thorn pressured Kanke, and Spangler continued to close in on Pettit.  As Pettit was coming to the white flag, the final caution flag of the night was thrown, to set up a green-white-checkered finish.

The restart was clean, Spangler did all he could to get to Pettit, but the 2008 SRL champ was able to stay just ahead of the black #37 to claim his first race win of the year.

Pettit's win helped keep his championship hopes alive, and is just 48 points out of first.  Gomes, who entered Stockton as the championship leader is now 41 points back of Kanke for the series lead.  Thorn is fourth in the standings, Strmiska is fifth and Spangler is up to sixth, with three races to go in the series this season.

The next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is Saturday, September 24th at Madera Speedway.

 

About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its eleventh season in 2011, the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

 

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July 26, 2011

SRL Media

 

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GOMES ON ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

AFTER THIRD WIN OF THE SEASON

 

Bakersfield, CA - Manteca's Jacob Gomes reclaimed the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series championship lead with his win Saturday night in the "Century Boatland 115" in front of a capacity crowd at Rocky Mountain Raceways just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gomes started on the outside of the front row after fast qualifier Derek Thorn drew a seven-car invert, but that did not mean it was an easy drive to victory for last year's SRL Rookie-of-the-Year.

After the 2010 SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series champion Jonathon Gomez gave the command of "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" and John Gomez dropped the green flag to start the 115 lap race, Brennan Newberry jumped to the early lead from the pole position, followed closely by Gomes, Joe Farre', David Ross and Ross Strmiska.

By the time the field began to sort itself out on lap 10 on the high banked 3/8 mile, Newberry still led with Farre' up to second, Strmiska third, with Gomes and Justin Westmoreland rounding out the top five.

The first caution of the night fell on lap 15. As Strmiska moved past Farre' for second, the two made contact resulting in both cars coming to a stop high in the middle of turns 1 and 2.  When the smoke cleared and the field was set for the restart, the top 10 running order was Newberry, Thorn up from his seventh starting position, Gomes, Westmoreland, Jared Vorse, Carlos Vieira, Ross, Dave Byrd, Jim Pettit II, and Keith Spangler.

On the restart, an incident in turn 2 collected the cars of Bakersfield's Tim Smith in the Miller Environmental #99 and Arizona's Scott Rueschenberg.  Smith continued, but Rueschenberg was finished for the night.

M.K. Kanke, who did not make qualifying due to his team having to replace the rear-end of the RPM Motorsports #33 after the final practice session was on the move, up to 13th from his 22nd starting position by lap 25.

As the race moved toward the half-way point, Thorn was looking for a way by Newberry for the lead, Vorse had moved up to fourth, and Kanke continued his march into the top 10.

On lap 43 the complexion of the race changed in a big way, as Thorn made an inside move on Newberry for the lead in the middle of turns 1 and 2, resulting in the Drager/NTS Motorsports Chevrolet of Newberry spinning and Thorn being relegated to the rear for the ensuing restart.

The lap 47 restart saw Gomes' Sunnyvalley Smoke Meats Chevrolet on the point, followed by Olympia, Washington's Vorse up to second, Westmoreland third, Pettit fourth and Vieira in fifth.

At the half-way point of the 115 lap race, Kanke had moved into the top five, with Vieira, Dave Byrd, Spangler, Jonathan Mawhinney, and Maryland's Jeff Oleen rounding out the top 10.

Lap 65, Kanke moved past Pettit for fourth, and Thorn was up to tenth after restarting 18th on lap 47.

After 32 laps of green flag racing, the caution flew on lap 78 for a spinning Bryan Herzog on the front straightaway.  As the field slowed for the fourth caution of the night, the stage was set for a classic SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series battle to the finish.

The top five included the 18 year-old Gomes in the lead, 23 year-old Vorse in second, followed by two of the top veterans of the sport - Kanke and Pettit in third and fourth, with the fastest car of the weekend, the SP Crankshaft #26 of Derek Thorn in fifth.

Back to green on lap 82, Kanke began to work on Vorse for second, and made the pass two laps later.  Three laps later, Thorn muscled by Pettit for fourth, then passed Vorse for third on lap 90.

The top five remained Gomes, Kanke, Thorn, Vorse and Pettit, until lap 106 when Vorse slowed with electrical problems that would end the race for him and his Knight Fire Protection team.  Westmoreland once again joined the top five in his 3M Automotive Aftermarket Ford.

As the laps wound down, Kanke was patiently looking for his opportunity to take the lead from Gomes, while he had a rear view mirror full of Thorn, as the three had distance themselves from the field.

With five to go, Gomes was showing the way, Kanke was on his rear bumper cover and the Rocky Mountain Raceways spectators were on their feet.

On lap 112, Kanke made the move everyone had waited for, as he squeezed his famous red #33 Chevrolet under Gomes entering turn 3, with Thorn in tow.  At the center of turns 3 and 4, Kanke was in the lead by a nose on the inside of Gomes, at the same moment Thorn was attempting to displace Kanke who was now the leader.  Slight contact between Thorn and Kanke was all Gomes needed to drive off turn 4 back into the lead and go on to his third SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series victory of the year.

"Once Kanke got up to second I was nervous.  I knew he had to be fast to come all the way from the back, not to mention he is one of the winningest drivers in our sport," Gomes said after the race.  "I tried to stay focused and not worry about what was going on behind us.  I was trying to not give up the bottom, but he (Kanke) drove under me before we got to the turn.   I'm not sure what happened between he and Derek (Thorn) but when we came off turn 4 we were clear."

"This is one of my favorite wins, we were at a new track and I beat M.K." Gomes added.  "I have to thank all the guys on the team, Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats, Inc. and Annette Dell'Osso for all her work."

The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series next event will be August 20th at Stockton 99 Speedway.

 

 

About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its eleventh season in 2011, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

Follow the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries <http://www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries>

 

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SRL Media

June 27, 2011

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THORN SETS NTR, THEN WINS AT MADERA

 

 

Bakersfield, CA - Derek Thorn set a new track record in qualifying at Madera Speedway on Saturday night, and then lined up sixth on the grid to win the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series "Children's Hunger Fund 125".  It was Thorn's second SRL win of 2011.

When inside front row starter Joe Farre' spun his tires at the drop of the green, it was Eric Holmes who jumped to the lead.  Holmes, who competed at Infineon Raceway earlier in the day, made it to Madera Speedway just in time to qualify the Moeller Bros. Chevrolet in fifth position.

The first caution of the race came at the end of lap 1, when Farre' slipped up in turn 3, and the field took evasive action to miss the Sigma Engineering #54, resulting in the second fastest qualifier on the day, Jared Vorse spinning and having to restart at the rear.

On lap 12, Thorn displaced Ross Strmiska for second, the top five was now Holmes, Thorn, Strmiska, Farre', and last week's winner Jacob Gomes in the Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats, Inc. Chevrolet.   The top five remained unchanged with Holmes, Thorn and Strmiska nose to tail.  The field slowed once again on lap 27 for caution due to a turn 4 incident.

On the restart, M.K. Kanke moved his RPM Motor Sports #33 into the top five.  Farre' was sixth, followed by Jim Pettit, Dave Byrd, Zane Lovelace and Justin Westmoreland.

The caution flew once again on lap 43 due to debris from a flat tire on the #11 New Image Pool Interiors Chevrolet of Bryan Herzog.   The top ten remained unchanged, but Thorn was working on Holmes for the lead.

On the restart, Thorn drove his Superior Crankshaft #26 hard to the inside of Holmes, but Holmes stayed calm on the outside as the two battled side by side for many laps until Thorn finally cleared Holmes for the lead on lap 55, at the same time Strmiska moved past Gomes for third.  Two laps later, Kanke also moved ahead of Gomes into fourth.

At the half-way point of the race, the top ten was Thorn, Holmes, Strmiska, Kanke, Gomes, Pettit who had just moved ahead of Farre', followed by Lovelace and a fierce three wide battle for position among Byrd, Westmoreland and Vorse, who had made his way back up from his lap 1 incident.

The caution flew for the fourth time on lap 90 to check the track for fluid.   Thorn was still on the point, Holmes was second, Strmiska, Kanke and Gomes rounded out the top five, followed by Pettit, Lovelace, Westmoreland, David Ross, and Farre'.  John Wood went to pit lane to be checked for fluid and Vorse hit pit lane for a right front flat.

At lap 100, it was go time for Strmiska as he wrestled second place from Holmes and set his sights on the leader.  Westmoreland was also on the move, taking over sixth place on lap 103.

Strmiska battled Thorn on the inside for the lead.  As the two cars were side-by-side for the lead at the stripe on lap 108, Strmiska's bid for the his first series win would abruptly end as Lovelace's #46 PDQ Automatic Transmission Parts Chevrolet spun high in turn one, and Scott Sanchez spun low in the middle of turns 1 and 2, resulting in Strmiska hitting Sanchez square in the driver's side door.  Both drivers continued, Strmiska suffered front-end damage, as the hood of the #90 Mid Valley Iron and Metals/Mainline Equipment Chevrolet was folded back lying on the windshield.  Strmiska would pit for repairs and return to the track in 9th position.

With 10 laps to go, the top five were Thorn, Holmes, Kanke, Westmoreland who was looking for a way around Kanke, and Gomes who carried a four-point championship lead entering the race.

As the laps wound down, the leaders were hanging on, trying to maintain their respective positions.

At the checkers, the top ten of Thorn, Holmes, Kanke, Westmoreland, Gomes, Pettit, Strmiska, Ross, Byrd and Farre' were all on the lead lap.

Thorn picked up his fourth SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series career win, Holmes had finished in the top three twice in one day at two different tracks and Kanke moved backed into the championship lead.

Next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is July 23rd, as the series make its first ever appearance at Rocky Mountain Raceway just outside of Salt Lake City, UT for the "Century Boatland 115".

 

 

About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its eleventh season in 2011, the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

 

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SRL Media

June 21, 2011

 

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GOMES WINS TWO IN A ROW

 

Bakersfield, CA - Saturday night Jacob Gomes drove to his second SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series victory of 2011, with his win in the "Mid Valley Iron & Metals 150" at Stockton 99 Speedway.  Gomes, driving the Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats, Inc. #16 Chevrolet held off veteran M.K. Kanke by .35 seconds for the win, and moved to the top of the current SRL championship standings.

Gomes' victory was the second of his SRL career, and second in a row as he won on May 14th at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  The 18 year old from Manteca lead just five laps in Saturday nights 150 lapper, but it was all he needed to pick up the win and the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series points lead.

At the drop of the green it was Mike David out front until a lap two caution when Kanke, Carlos Vieira, and Jared Vorse all got collected in an incident when the front of the pack checked up going into turn 1.  Two cars pitted for repairs, with Vorse having to retire due to a broken rear end. Vieira's Fifty-One Fifty team had to remove the nose of the his car but returned to the field, and Kanke was able to remain on the track with some damage to the back of the car while falling one lap down.

On the restart, Zane Lovelace lead the field, with David in second, followed by Eric Holmes, Gomes, Ross Strmiska and fast qualifier Derek Thorn.

SRL Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year candidate, Lovelace, would continue to pace the field, followed closely by David, until Strmiska and the #1 Approved Memory/Heritage Cattle Chevrolet of David made contact in turn 2, resulting in the second caution of the night and both cars restarting at the rear of the field.

On the lap 27 restart, it was still Lovelace, followed now by Holmes, in the Moeller Bros. #18, Gomes, Thorn who was on the move, Jim Pettit II who started in 12th position was now up to 5th.  Dave Byrd was 6th, Joe Farre' 7th, Justin Westmoreland 8th, Keith Spangler 9th, and Michael Sandoval rounding out the top 10.

On lap 35, Thorn would muscle his way past Gomes as the two cars made hard contact in turn 4, with Thorn taking the position entering turn 1.  Five laps later Thorn moved in front of Holmes for second.  Then on lap 60, Thorn slowed to pit with a broken track bar.

With 10 laps to go until the competition yellow would be displayed for the half-time break, the top five were Lovelace, Pettit, Holmes, Gomes, and Westmoreland who had come all the way from 13th starting position.  One lap later Holmes started losing positions with a tire going down, but was able to stay on the lead lap until the lap 75 break.

At lap 75, the field followed the Buick Regal Pace Car onto Pit Lane, to get service from their respective teams.

After the five minute break, the cars rolled back on track, the top 10 was; Lovelace, Pettit, Gomes, Westmoreland, Strmiska, Spangler, Kanke, John Wood, Ken Benhamou, and Dave Byrd.

Back to green, the top three began to pull away.  With Pettit showing patience with Lovelace, and Gomes anxiously waiting for Pettit to make his move for the lead.

At lap 90, the top three remained unchanged, with Strmiska back up to 4th and Kanke up to 5th.

Lap 105, Pettit started to apply the pressure to Lovelace, Holmes had moved up to 8th, Byrd charging up to 9th.

Ten laps later, Kanke was making on charge past Strmiska, and Holmes moved past Westmoreland for 6th.

On lap 139, Holmes and Strmiska were battling for position through 3 and 4, continued contact down the front straight and into turn 1.   When both cars started to spin, Strmiska gathered it up and continued, Holmes spun and restarted as the last car on the lead lap.

With ten to go, the top five were, Lovelace, Pettit, Gomes, Kanke, and Byrd.

It was go time for the leaders, with five to go Lovelace slipped up in turn 2, Pettit put the nose of his Golden Gate Petroleum/ Swift Springs Ford under Lovelace.  Slight contact was made and Lovelace's PDQ Transmission Parts Chevrolet slowly spun.  SRL rules state any contact with the leader resulting in the leader spinning, is an automatic penalty to the rear of the field.

Now, it was the top two in the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series championship standings set to battle it out for the win.  The veteran Kanke, right on the bumper of the defending SRL Rookie-of-the-Year, Gomes.

Back to green, Kanke applied the pressure, but Gomes would put his Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats, Inc. Chevrolet in the winner's circle for the second consecutive race, and took over the points lead after four of ten events.

Next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is this Saturday night at Madera Speedway, in the "Children's Hunger Fund 125".

 

 

About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its eleventh season in 2011, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

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SRL Media

May 17, 2011

 

 

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GOMES WINS BIG IN VEGAS

 

Bakersfield, CA - Eighteen-year-old Jacob Gomes won his first career SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series event Saturday night at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  His victory in the StreamPayPerView.TV "Blackjack 121" was in just the seventeenth career SRL start for the young Manteca driver.

"We've had a great car all year and we finally got our first win.  We've been trying so hard, this series is so tough and it feels really good to get our first SRL win."  Gomes said from the winner's circle.

On his way to victory, Gomes chased early leader Derek Thorn, had to hold off the charge of Jim Pettit II late in the race, and then a closing M.K. Kanke to win by 2.43 seconds.  The win moved Gomes into championship contention, just 4 points back of the championship leading Kanke and 6 points ahead of Pettit who is third in the SRL standings.

"We were so close last year to getting that first win, but we broke while leading the race at Orange Show, we've waited a long time for this.  I have always liked the Bullring, it's a great track, now I can't wait for Stockton."  Gomes concluded.

At the drop of the green it was Maryland driver Jeff Oleen, who jumped out to the lead, followed closely by local favorite Bear Rzesnowiecky.  Oleen in his first career SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series start was driving an NTS Motorsports Chevrolet as teammate to Brennan Newberry.

The first caution of the race fell on lap six, as the top 10 cars ran nose to tail through turns 1 and 2, contact between the Moeller Bros. Chevrolet of Eric Holmes and the RPM/PSI Chevrolet of Kanke, resulted in Kanke spinning and restarting at the rear of the 22 car field.

Back to green, Thorn began to pressure Oleen attempting to wrestle the lead away.  Caution again fell on lap 12, as 2006 SRL champ Eric Schmidt spun in turn 2.  On the restart, Oleen held the lead, until point leader Thorn charged into the lead on lap 15.   Oleen slid into second and onto Thorn's bumper, followed by Ross Strmiska, Rzesnowiecky, and Gomes.  Thorn and Oleen ran 1-2 for the next 28 laps, until the Thunder Valley Resort Casino / Dell'Osso Family Farms Chevrolet of Gomes moved past Oleen for second.

Gomes now set his sights on Thorn, who had built a ten-car length lead.  Lap 55, the caution came out for a spin by Scott Sanchez and Dave Byrd. The top 10 were Thorn, Gomes, Oleen, Strmiska, Pettit, Jared Vorse, Rzesnowiecky, Jonathan Mawhinney, Holmes and Kanke.

Back to green, Strmiska slipped up off turn 2 and Pettit moved up to fourth.  Three laps later Pettit moved his Top of the Hill/Golden Gate Petroleum Ford to the inside of Oleen for third.  Oleen, now up in the second groove, couldn't get back down in line until six cars went by him, Oleen was ninth before it sorted out.

Caution came out again on lap 64, with Thorn leading, Gomes applying the pressure, followed by Pettit, Strmiska, and Olympia, Washington's Vorse up to fifth.

On the re-start, contact was made among Pettit, Strmiska, Vorse and Mawhinney, as they were nose to tail coming off turn 4 for the re-start.   Vorse was shuffled high, allowing Mawhinney to take over fifth.

The top three ran bumper to bumper, with Gomes running just inches off the bumper cover of Thorn's SP Crankshaft Toyota, as Pettit backed off to watch the battle unfold for the lead.

Lap 80, Gomes got a drive under Thorn coming off turn 2, and edged ahead entering the Bullring's turn 3, Pettit took advantage of the opportunity and followed the 18 year-old on the inside to go by Thorn.

Gomes in the lead, Pettit second, followed by Thorn, Strmiska, and Mawhinney with 31 laps to go.

By lap 100, Thorn had sled back to fifth, Mawhinney was up to fourth.  Gomes was stretching his lead over Pettit, while the leaders were working lapped traffic.

Three laps later, the red flag was displayed, as Thorn's car erupted into flames coming off turn 4, due to a blown oil line, Thorn exited the car quickly but his night was over, as well as his lead in the championship standings.

Drivers still on the lead lap at this point in the race were, Gomes, Pettit, Strmiska, Mawhinney, Kanke, Vorse, Holmes, Schmidt, who had worked his way back up after a spin on lap 12, Keith Spangler, Oleen, and Joe Farre' making his first start of 2011.

With 19 laps to go, Pettit tried to keep pace with Gomes, but Gomes was the class of the field and slowly put distance on the 2008 SRL champ.  On lap 106, Kanke droved under Strmiska for third.

With 10 to go, Gomes was extending his lead, Kanke was making up ground on Pettit, and Mawhinney was trying to move under Strmiska for fourth.

With 3 to go, Kanke ran deep into turn three to take second away from Pettit.  White flag, Kanke was trying to close on Gomes, but Gomes went on to secure his first career SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series victory.  Kanke second, Pettit third, followed by Mawhinney, Strmiska, Vorse, Schmidt, Holmes, Spangler and Oleen rounded out the top ten.

After three events, Kanke took over the top spot in the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series championship standings with 500 points; Gomes is now second with 496, Pettit third at 490, Strmiska at 456 and Thorn stays in the top five with 451 points.

Next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is Saturday, June 4th at the historic Stockton 99 Speedway.

 

 

 

About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its eleventh season in 2011, the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com.  "The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

Follow the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries <http://www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries>

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The second race of the 2011 SRL Legends Tour took place at All American Speedway in Roseville, California.  If it weren't for an invert of ten cars, Cale Kanke in the 33 car would have been on the pole with his fast time of 15.421.  However, that's not how things worked.  The ten car invert put Jessica Walker's #21 on the pole.  After a clean start, Walker took the lead, and the 15x car of Dallas Shane dropped into second.  Walker got a big jump, and got a comfortable lead along with it.  Austin Reed in the 14 went low and took second from Shane, which also opened the door for Micah Parmer in the 96 and Cale Kanke in the 33 to pass him by.  Parmer looked high to get around Reed, but couldn't quite get enough.

On lap seven, Reed got around Walker for the lead, but then got passed right back and left the bottom open for Parmer and Kanke, falling back to fourth.  Dallas Shane then got loose and looped his car on the backstretch on lap ten, bringing out the first caution of the night.  That first caution was where the chaos began.  About to return to green flag racing in a double file restart on lap ten, trouble broke out.  Once the flag dropped, everybody got right on the gas.  However, Kanke was just a bit faster than Walker on the start.  The two hit bumpers, sending Walker spinning going into turn one.  Kanke got out of it, but seven other cars weren't as lucky.  Chase Majdic's #42, Joe Leduc's #20, Jeremy Doss's #75, Bob Kuebler's #5, Ryan Mosher's #52, Walker, and Shane were all involved.  Two tow trucks had to come out to clear up the damage.

During the caution laps, the 25B of James Bickford pulled into the pits.  Kanke was sent to the rear of the field, but with the amount of cars lost, it wasn't too big of a setback,  putting him in fifteenth.  Bickford then re-entered the track and slotted in behind Kanke.  After a long string of caution laps the red flag finally came out.  Because of the wreck, Parmer inherited the lead, Reed ended up in second, the 22 of Jeremy Wood, who qualified second, found himself in third, Robby Czub's #05 was fourth, and Tony Mangini's #7 rounded out the top five.  Mosher's car was too damaged to come out, so it had to stay in the infield for the remainder of the race.

After a smooth restart, Parmer rolled into the lead, Wood got past Reed for second, and Reed fell into fourth as Czub passed him for third.  Parmer and Wood began to pull away from the rest of the field and found themselves side by side, battling for the lead.  Wood got past Parmer and Czub and Reed then joined the two.  Wood got a lead of about two car lengths and lapped the 19X car of Brian Mallin in the process.  Meanwhile, Reed got around Czub for third place.  Greg Baxter in the #25 machine, who was running towards the rear of the field, spun out, but was able to get on it again to prevent a caution.  Wood got a big lead on Parmer, and Parmer broke away from the third and fourth place cars.

While all of this was going on, Kanke's red 33 car began working its way back through the field.  The 74M car of Luis Tyrell made his way up into fifth place, which was the highest he had been since the start of the race.  However, Tyrell's momentum and Wood's big lead came to a stop when Bickford's 25B spun coming out of turn four, bringing out another caution.

At this point in time, Wood was leading, Parmer was in second, Reed was third, Czub was in fourth, and Tyrell remained in fifth.  On the restart, Wood got the slightest bit loose, which was just enough to let Parmer take the lead and Czub to take second.   Reed tried to take third from Wood, but just couldn't get enough.  Lap twenty-eight rolled around, and seven laps remained.

The top three of Parmer, Wood, and Czub all broke away from the rest of the field.  Kanke had come from fifteenth, and was battling for seventh place.  Lap thirty one finally came around, and Wood got by Robby Czub for second place.  By the time the white flag rolled around, Parmer and his #96 car had a comfortable enough lead to stand another 1/3 mile around All American Speedway and bring home a first place trophy.  When the checkered flag dropped, Micah Parmer had himself a victory, Jeremy Wood was second, Robby Czub was in third, Austin Reed wound up in fourth, and Luis Tyrell found himself rounding out the top five.

 

 

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Spears Srl Southwest Tour