ROSEVILLE >> Jason Philpot of Sacramento survived an aggressively-run season opener to capture the inaugural Sinister Diesel Gene Welch Classic during the North State Modified Series on Saturday night at All American Speedway in Roseville.
The event memorialized Welch, a man who was very instrumental in auto racing in Northern California for many decades.
The North State Modified Series (NSMS) is presented by Protect the Harvest,
Twenty-four modifieds entered the event but both Joe Rhodes Jr. and Cody Thomson blew their engines during hot laps, dropping the starting field to 22. The eight-car invert put 2015 Lakeport Speedway champion Mike Collins of Lakeport and North State Modified defending champion Darrin Knight of Kelseyville in the front row.
Michael Mitchell and 2014 NSMS champ Jay Linstroth started in row two, with Eric Price Jr. and Philpot next in line. Before even one lap was completed, Bryan Denton’s car was nudged from behind, sending him sideways in front of the mid-pack runners. With nowhere to go, Terry Deal t-boned Denton’s car, raising it up and over in what looked like slow motion while the other cars scattered. Four cars were lost in the incident including Denton, Deal, Nick Lyons and Darrin Sullivan.
When racing finally got underway again, Knight forged ahead with Linstroth and Mitchell driving by Collins for second and third. Philpot and Rich Lindgren were jockeying back and forth for fifth with Richie Potts, Rich Cobb and Keegan Walmer next in line. The lapping process gave Knight a slight advantage at mid-race, but on lap 39 the yellow flag came out when Sal Lopez got loose and almost hit the turn three concrete.
Linstroth and Knight made contact on the restart, with Knight spinning in turn four. This left Collins in the lead with Philpot second and Cobb third. Philpot took the lead for good on a lap-45 restart and survived three more cautions to win the race. Collins bobbled on the white flag lap, allowing Cobb to steal second place. Collins finished third, inches behind Cobb with Lindgren, Walmer, Mitchell, Tyler Wentworth, Eric Price and Codi Barba next in line.
Neither Knight nor Linstroth finished the race.
The next NSMS event is May 7 at the Shasta Speedway in Anderson.
Lindgren won the Sunoco/Penney Racing Supply time trials with a fast time of 13.832 seconds. Mitchell won the Lucas Oil Dash for Cash.
The North State Modified Series is sponsored by Protect the Harvest, Swartz Diesel, Lucas Oil, Sinister Diesel, Penney Racing Supply, American Racer Tires, Naake Suspension, Sunoco Fuels, Five Star Bodies, Wrap Star Pro, Wenteq, Scribner Plastics, DJ Safety, and Buckhorn Bar & Grill.
