STEARNS REBOUNDS TO WIN THE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

STOCKTON, Calif. - Stockton’s JoJo Stearns battled his way through the pack to claim the Night of Champions victory. However, the win did not come easy for the youngest champion in the track's Late Model history. He had to overcome a flat tire and work his way past some of the most legendary names to turn laps around the speedway.

Stearns was quick in both practice sessions, leading the first and being scored only behind Tracy’s Justin Philpott in the round. Now, Stearns hasn’t started on the front row in over two years and luck was once again not in his favor to start the night.

The redraw put 12 year old Vito Cancilla of Martinez out front with Justin Philpott to his outside. Manteca driver Bubba Nascimento rolled off in third with Racin’ Jason Agurrie of Atwater in fourth. Stearns would start his battle forward from the fifth position.

A total of fourteen Pro Late Models took the green as the field set sail for 74 laps of action in honor of the late three time series champion Harry Bolletto. On the start, Cancilla was able to get clear of Justin Philpott as Aguirre fell back to the sixth position.

Trouble started on the second lap when Nascimento spun Philpott while racing for the second position. A stack up behind resulted in damage for the David’s Racing Products entry of Ripon native Hank Gaalwsyk. Nascimento was sent to the rear and both Philpott and Gaalwysk returned to the racing surface.

On the next restart, Stearns lined up alongside of Cancilla and powered past the young driver as they exited turn two. He drove out to a five car advantage within the next few laps over Cancilla and now third place running Kyle Gotula of Modesto.

The second yellow was displayed when Chase Lopez from Castro Valley went for a solo spin in the middle of turns one and two. This restacked the pack and set up another caution period when Gotula sent Cancilla up the track entering the third turn.

This created a chain reaction behind the two and Livermore’s Ryan Philpott got spun in the process. During the yellow, David Lewellen of Denair pitted with mechanical issues and would not return to the track. Another restart attempt with 64 laps remaining took place and Stearns got clear with the leading in turn one.

By lap 20, Stearns had driven to a half straightaway lead over the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Nascimento and Justin Philpott were working their way through the field. However, the two got together coming down the backstretch and Justin was turned into the retaining wall of the back straightaway.

Joe Hylton from Manteca got into the wall trying to avoid the wreck and suffered terminal damage to his car. The crash took Justin out of the race, left Nascimento with a torn up front end, and erased Stearns sizable lead over the pack.

With 53 laps remaining, Stearns led the top three of Cancila and Gotula back to green. A few laps later, Hylton was limping around the track with his battered car and came to a halt at the entrance to the pits. This brought out a yellow with 50 laps left.

When the pack got back up to speed, Stearns and Cancilla ran right together. Suddenly, the blistering pace Stearns had showcased disappeared and was replaced with sparks showering from the underbody of the car.

He had cut down a right front tire after running over debris and the yellow flag soon waving over his car that was stopped in turn two. Stearns was forced to make the long drive down into the pits to replace the tire and rejoin the field from the rear.

This left the race wide open and the aggression rose considerably. The next restart saw Gotula punt Cancilla up the track again but this time Gotula slid up with him. This allowed for Nic Bolletto of Ripon to sneak by for the lead to the delight of the crowd.

Moments later, the yellow was shown once again when Cancilla got turned while racing in the pack. He would showcase his displeasure under the caution slowing his car in front of Gotula. Back up front, Bolletto led the race and faced tough competition with 44 laps to go.

He battled hard with Las Vegas native Amilleo Thompson. The Las Vegas Bullring feature winner applied pressure to Bolletto for lap after lap. However as they battled up front, Stearns had slowly worked his way back into the picture and closed in on the leaders.

On lap 37, Stearns got past Thompson and set his sights on Bolletto. Just 4 laps later, the 2022 track champion drove by Bolletto with ease on the inside. Unfortunately, the yellow flag was shown for the seventh time of the evening when Troy Ermish of Tracy spun out in turn one.

It set up a restart with 28 laps on the scoreboard and a subsequent wreck that took out more contenders. As the field roared back through turns one and two, Stearns led while Bolletto and Thompson ran together.

Thompson got into the corner too hard, lost control over the bumps, and sent Bolletto around. This moved Ryan Philpott into second position and set up for the longest green flag run of the night.

Stearns fired off into the first corner with 23 laps to go and he began to check out from the cars behind. With just 5 laps left, Stearns had over a straightaway lead and nothing but clear track ahead. But, just as the race appeared to be won, the caution lights flickered on when Nascimento wrecked off of turn two.

This set up a single file dash back to the checkered and Stearns would not be denied. He got a strong restart and was able to fend off Ryan. He led the final 32 laps of the race and crossed the finish to capture his first win of the season. 

Though on paper it would appear to have been done in dominant fashion, Stearns had to fight and claw his way through the pack twice to earn the 5,000 dollar payday. After grabbing the flag, he took his number six machine around the track in a Polish Victory Lap.

“It means a lot,” Stearns exclaimed. “We’ve been off just a little bit. We finally got through and broke through that little curse we had. And the history behind this race is meaningful not only to me but my dad. He raced against them all, raced champions who were winning championships. It couldn’t have been a better night.”

Ryan Philpott had a strong run to finish second after his spin. Likewise, Cancilla brough his Nascimento Motorsports entry home in the third spot. Belletto battled back to fourth with Thompson behind in fifth. Ermish was the sixth place finisher while Gaalswyk brought his car home in seventh. Eight place was credited to Aguirre as Nascimento and Gotula finished ninth and tenth respectively.

Pure Stocks points leader Brandon Jones of Lodi captured another victory this season. However, it came down to a side by side battle for the lead as the white flag flew. Jones started in position number four by virtue of the invert on the field.

Lodi was also represented by polesitter Bryan Jones. The driver second in points, Jeremy Tucker from Stockton, started to Bryans outside. Brian Miller of Railroad Flats started the main race from the third spot.

Chaos was the word of the race and it ensued on the initial start. As Tucker rocketed past Bryan for the race lead, the Stockton duo of Mason Begtel and Jerry Crawford had an incident. As a result of Brandon making contact with Tucker's car, both Begtal and Crawford had to let off the gas.

The result was Begtel tapping the right rear bumper of the Crawford machine. This sent him spinning into turn 4 and brought out the first and only caution. Once the first was reset, Tucker once again muscled the lead out from Bryan.

Jones led the opening laps with Miller and Brandon in lock step. The top three ran a car length apart for the better part of the main event until Brandon moved by Miller on the inside during lap 16. Just 5 laps later, Brandon ducked to the bottom lane again to try to take away the top spot.

He was able to get a fender ahead and lead lap 22. A circuit later, Brandon had cleared for the race lead, but Tucker made one last effort for the win. He bumped Brandon exiting turn two which allowed him to the inside. Brandon ran Tucker down low heading down the backstretch.

As they entered the final set of corners, Brandon and Tucker were sideways and Miller had to swerve to avoid the leaders. Against all odds, Brandon was able to regain control midway through the corner and slammed the pedal to the floorboard.

This allowed him to come across the finish line with yet another win in 2024. With the victory, Brandon remains undefeated in the Pure Stock class and furthers his points lead. 

“I know I’ve been dominant down here since the beginning of the year,” Jones said when referencing how Miller and Tucker have closed the gap. “These guys are getting faster and figuring it out and it’s making it more tough for me. And I like that, that’s what it's about.

Tucker came home in the second spot while Miller would be credited with third. After the tire smoke cleared, Bryan was scored in the fourth spot. Behind him, Begtel earned a top five run while Crawford finished sixth.

The Nor Cal Mini Stocks featured a dominant performance by Rocklin’s John Sproule. He led every lap en route to his second win of the season. Jordan Mast of Manteca finished right behind Sproule to secure another strong points day.

Mast started the race from the point while Sproule rolled off from the outside pole. As the green flag waved, Sproule used the outside lane to build momentum exiting the second turn. He was able to clear Mast down the backstretch and never look back.

Mast kept the leader honest and applied pressure to the best of his car's ability. He stayed three car widths back of Sproule for all 20 laps but ran out of time to make a move for the win. The checkered flag flew over Sproule who picked up another win and 75th Anniversary medallion.

Mast collected more points to build up his series lead while last weekend's winner Ethan Rumsey of Stockton was third. The 15 year old Stockton driver Natalie Harper put together another top five run and brought her car home in fourth. Andy Rumsey from Stockton rounded out the top five.

Stockton Lelani Sprenkel finished sixth and was behind the wheel of an alternate car while her main vehicle sat idle in the pits. Scott Crawford, also out of Stockton, came across the line in the seventh position.

In the Legends of Kearney Bowl dash, a historic race car found its way to the front of the field. Joe Kirk out of Kingsburg started out front with Bob Hutton from Fresno in spot number two.

As the field roared into the first corner, Hutton took the lead away from Kirk. On lap 3, the car that had started fourth had moved up to second. It was the famous Johnny Brazil car being driven by CJ Stubbles of Grass Valley.

Right behind Stubbles was Discovery Bay driver Rick Brophy. The two worked their way towards the leader and went on to the offensive on lap 7. Stubbles took to the inside lane in turn three and by lap eight had control of the race.

Brophy got past Hutton a lap later and kept Stubbles within sight, but could not make a run for the win. Stubbles came across the line with the win in the same car Brazil had won in so many times before.

Brophy came home in second with Hutton completing the podium. Wayne Kzlustiau out of Fresno finished the race in fourth. The fifth place was awarded to Carey Christman of Selma.

Moving to the Legends of 99 feature, eleven Legends lined up for 35 laps. Stockton’s Kayci Phillips started out front with Donnie Darter of Valley Springs to her outside. Row two was made up by Danville’s Jason Gilbert and Zach Sansom of Liden.

As the race began, Phillips worked her way clear of the drivers behind. However, all eyes were on Tracy driver Brendan Ruzbarksy who started the race in sixth but had worked his way to fourth by lap 2.

Then on lap 3, he made his way to third and would take a look low for second place on lap 4. Phillips could not hold off the charging Ruzbarsky car and he made the pass for the lead on lap 6. Zach Sansom was able to follow Ruzbarsky past Phillips for second but could not close the gap. 

Ruzbarsky never looked back and by the end of 35 laps, had driven to a half lap lead. After a tough finish during the series last outing, Ruzbarsky returned with a vengeance to pick up his first win of the season despite being the series points leader.

Zach Sansom finished in second with Phillips coming home in third. Wyatt Sansom of Linden wound up fourth with Darter rounding out the top five. Gilbert was sixth with Aiden Phillips of Atwater crossing the line in seventh. San Jose driver Logan Elorreaga was eighth and Hayden Stepps of Oakdale finished ninth. Tiffany Enriquez brought her car to tenth place.

The 75th Anniversary season continues next Saturday, August 17th. The Stockton Late Models, Nor Cal Mini Stocks, Grand American Modifieds, NCMA Sprint Cars, and the AAA Energy System Pro-4 Modifieds are set to hit the track with.

Tickets for the event are $20 for adults ages 16-59 and $15 for Juniors between 11-15 along with Seniors from 60 on up. Children below 10 years old as well as parking is free here at Stockton. Pit gates open at 3PM and our Grandstand Gates will open at 5PM. Opening ceremonies start at 7PM with racing to follow. For more information, visit www.stockton99.com or reach out to our staff at 209-466-9999.

Lastly, these events would not be possible without the support of all of a sponsors, Michelo Ultra, Lovotti INC, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire, Raising Canes, Chase Chevrolet, J Milano Co, Baker Roofing, Masellis Drilling, Kleen Blast, Shambin Softwash, Central Valley Community Bank, KAT Country, 104.1 The Hawk, Franks Radio Service, Sunoco Race Fuels, Kelly–Moore Paints, Garton Tractor INC, and Reeve Trucking Co INC.