ROSEVILLE >> A record 20 modifieds participated in race No. 5 of the North State Modified Series on Saturday night at the All American Speedway in Roseville. When it was all over, Michael Morrison Jr. of Redding walked away with the big $1,000 winner.
Jay Linstroth of Citrus Heights came in second, Darrin Knight of Kelseyville was third, Richie Potts of Petaluma was fourth, and Nick Lyons of Loomis rounded out the top five in the feature race.
Only five-tenths of a second separated the 20 competitors in time trials where Ricky Bowers of Mentor, Ohio, earned the Swartz Diesel fast time award of 13.873 seconds. Sacramento”s Jason Philpot was next at 13.947 followed by Potts at 13.999, long-tow Keegan Walmer of Charlotte, North Carolina, at 14.006, and Morrison Jr. at 14.052.
The five-car invert put Morrison on the pole next to Walmer. Morrison forged ahead at the start of the Road Safety 60 with Walmer and Potts hot on his tail. Don Swartz had to retire to the pits for a flat tire on lap 3. With no yellow to slow the field, Morrison continued his run until lap eight when Philpot and Potts made contact, causing Potts to spin in turn four. Philpot”s car sustained enough damage to end his run early. Potts continued at the rear of the pack. Before racing could resume, Walmer, while running second, went to the pits to repair a dragging nerf bar but returned without losing a lap.
The restart saw trouble at the back of the pack as Walmer and CJ Christman mixed it up in turn one. Linstroth pitted for a tire change under this caution but also returned before the green fell again. Six more laps went down before another yellow flew, with Morrison out in front of Ricky Bowers, Rich Cobb, Codi Braund and Dave Campbell. This time it was Christman who slowed the field when his car broke down and had to be towed to the pits.
Darrin Knight passed Braund for fourth on lap 18 and picked off Cobb the following round just before another yellow flew for a Nick Lyons spin. Morrison continued to hold off Bowers and on lap 21 Campbell swapped places with Braund. Yellow flag No. 5 waved on lap 29 when Campbell slammed Cobb hard, causing Cobb to spin. When racing resumed Knight drove under Bowers for second with Guy Young passing Braund for fourth. Meanwhile Linstroth was working his way back and he rejoined the frontrunners at the midway point.
Lap 32 saw another caution when Walmer”s car lost power and stalled in turn one. At the same time Campbell retired his car to the pits and Corey James was black-flagged for a dragging nerf bar. Once again Morrison led the way with Knight in second, Linstroth inching under Bowers for third, Potts fourth and Young fifth. Linstroth began his outside run on Knight on 41 and four rounds later he completed the pass and set his sights on Morrison, who had built a 10-car-length distance between himself and the rest of the field.
Bowers” car suffered mechanical woes and pitted on lap 46, moving Potts to fourth and Lyons to fifth. Linstroth tried to catch up but Morrison was too far out in front and drove to a convincing victory.
The final North State Modified Series points race is Sept. 20 at All American Speedway in Roseville. Visit NorthStateModifieds.com or the North State Modifieds Facebook page for more information.
