WILLIAMS — The fifth annual awards banquet honoring the top 10 drivers in the 2018 North State Modified Series, presented by Protect the Harvest (NSMS), took place Saturday night at Granzella’s Banquet Hall in Williams.
Business manager Nadine Strauss acted as master of ceremonies. Speakers included Rick Avila representing the 2018 Driving Out Cancer tour, Shake Sulikyan from the ValleyCare Charitable Foundation Cancer Services, and series co-promoters Jeff Stephens and Bob Strauss.
Kris Price of Sacramento was crowned NSMS champion in his first full year of competition on the touring series. Price captured four feature wins in 2018, including the season opener at Shasta Speedway and the July race at All American Speedway. He backed that up with a win at Redwood Acres Raceway, and then set fast time and took home the big Lloyd Burton Against the Wind Modified Challenge trophy at Shasta Speedway. He finished second once, third twice and fourth once. Price took home $1,200 in cash plus a $1,000 Lucas Oil products certificate.
Second-place honors went Dustin DeRosier of Cloverdale. He finished in the top 10 in eight out of nine races in 2018. He cracked the top five on five different occasions. DeRosier donated 10 percent of his winnings to the Driving Out Cancer fund at each race, and was the largest contributor among NSMS drivers to this worthy cause.
The other half of the Price Racing team, Eric Price II, finished third overall in points this year. Price jumped from fifth to third in points in the final NSMS event when he won the Hoosier NSMS October Classic at All American Speedway. He also chalked up two seconds, one third and a fourth during the season.
Fourth place went to Kelseyville’s Eric Johnson, who also finished fourth in 2017. After his bad luck at Shasta this season, he finished a solid second at Madera. His three top-five finishes included a second, a third and a fourth. He had seven top-10 finishes and earned money in three Lucas Oil Dashes for Cash.
The NSMS 2016 Rookie of the Year, Darrin Sullivan of Kelseyville, ended up in fifth place overall. He was the winner of the September race at Redwood Acres Raceway. He also had six top-10 finishes.
Finishing in sixth place was Terry Deal of Roseville. Deal’s season bests were a second-place finish at both Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka and Ukiah Speedway. He had six top-10 finishes.
Seventh place went to Cameron Austin of Santa Rosa. Austin was the youngest driver in the series but drove like a veteran. He raced both a modified and a Legends Car during 2018 and showed he has real talent. Austin was the winner of the Lucas Oil Summertime Horsepower Nationals at Madera Speedway on June 9. He placed in the top five six times, including one first, two seconds, one third, one fourth and one fifth.
Jason Philpot of Sacramento along with his family and crew attended the NSMS award ceremonies for the first time after his eighth-place finish in 2018. Philpot registered his first NSMS win at Redwood Acres Raceway in May. He also was the quickest car to qualify at Roseville’s All American Speedway. Philpot never finished lower than eighth and had four top-five finishes.
Ninth place overall went to Ian Elliott of Lakeport. It was his first full season running NSMS and he did well enough to earn the 2018 North State Modified Sunoco Rookie of the Year title.
Rick Avila of Pleasanton rounded out the top 10 drivers in 2018. Avila was the key player in the Driving Out Cancer awareness program that continued throughout the season. Through his weekly presentations and with the help of collections chairman Sheri Knight, the drivers, crews and race fans, a total of $5,570.38 was awarded to Shake Sulikyan for the ValleyCare Charitable Foundation Cancer Services.
Keith Bloom of Redding received the 2018 NSMS Keyser Manufacturing Hard Charger Award.
The top four in points were awarded Lucas Oil Products certificates. Fifth through 10th received gifts from Five Star Bodies, Scribner Plastics and Lucas Oil.
Recognition went to all the NSMS officials as well as series sponsors Protect the Harvest, Lucas Oil, Ward Land Management & Development, Hoosier Tire West, Naake Suspension, Sunoco Race Fuels, Five Star Bodies, Racer Bling, Keyser Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, and Frank’s Radios.
