ANDERSON >> Darrin Knight of Kelseyville nailed down his fourth victory of the 2015 North State Modified Series (NSMS) season with a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday night at the Shasta Speedway in Anderson.
It was the eighth points race of the season for NSMS, which is presented by Protest the Harvest and Swartz Diesel. Local favorite Kyle Bordon of Cottonwood finished a strong second to Knight while Jason Philpot of Sacramento, Guy Young of Redding and Tripp Gaylord of Golden, Colorado, rounded out the top five.
Gaylord, second in the series point standings entering Saturday’s action, regained the lead with his feature finish and his qualifying time of 15.953 seconds over the 20-car field, which earned him another Sunoco/Penney Racing Suppy Fast Time Award. It just missed setting the track record of 15.948.
At the start of the Sinister Diesel 60-lap feature, Borden and Knight shared the front row although Knight pulled in front on the first turn and never looked back. Philpot passed Young for third place on lap two with Wes Miller fifth and Gaylord sixth. Philpot poked his nose under Borden the following round but Borden closed the door. Charlie Collins, Rich Lindgren, Michael Mitchell and Nick Lyons joined the top 10 by lap 10.
Four circuits later the first yellow flag flew when rookie drivers Kelsie Martin and Darrin Sullivan made contact and spun in turn two. Sal Lopez slapped the wall trying to avoid the stalled cars. Lopez was towed to the pits, ending his run.
The restart saw Knight forge ahead of Borden again. At the same time, Young swapped places with Philpot as Gaylord drove under Miller. Bobby Hirschbock snuck by Lyons to assumed the 10th spot on lap 16. Lyons’ car drifted high allowing Michael Morrison, Cody Braund and Randy Houston to move up. Morrison tried to make things happen on the high side only to lose ground as Lyons and Richie Potts were in a battle of their own. Morrison got back around Lyons at the Economy Heating & Air halfway point.
First-time driver James Johns’ car suffered a flat and pitted on lap 41 and Houston’s car overheated to end his run on lap 42. With only four laps to go, Miller lost ground to both Lindgren and Mitchell while maneuvering through lapped traffic.
Knight had a comfortable lead until the closing laps when one of his tires began to lose air pressure. That allowed Borden to close the gap and begin his late-race challenge. Knight lad the field to the white flag with Borden tight on his bumper. As the pack was coming around for the final time, Hirschbock’s engine let loose, causing him to spin in turn four to bring out the yellow-checkered flag. NSMS rules state that if there is a yellow or red after the leader takes the white flag the race is over.
The final finishing order was Knight, Borden, Philpot, Young, Gaylord, Lindgren, Mitchell, Miller, Collins, Braund and Morrison, all on the lead lap.
Potts collected $100 in the Lucas Oil Dash for Cash with Braund getting $50 for second. Gaylord earned the Wenteq Hard Charger Award, Morrison won the Naake Suspension award, and the F.R.E. Certificates went to Braund and Sullivan.
Braund, the series points leader entering Saturday’s action, slipped to second place behind Gaylord.
The next NSMS race is Sept. 6 at Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka. For more information go to the North State Modified Series Facebook page or visit northstatemodifieds.com.
