EURKEA — The North State Modified Series, presented by Protect the Harvest, ran the first of three points races this season at Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka on Saturday night and it was Kyle Tellstrom of Ukiah scoring the $1,000 victory over North State Modified Series (NSMS) points leader Cameron Austin of Santa Rosa and Robbie Knittel of Lodi.
Austin was fastest during qualifying among a 20-car field and he set a new NSMS Hoosier Tire track record of 16.408 seconds. The previous record of 16.482 was set on Sept 8, 2018, by three-time NSMS champion Darrin Knight of Kelseyville.
Austin drew the No. 6 pill for the starting inversion in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 60-lap feature event. This put Dustin DeRoiser and Randy Houston in the front row, Darrin Sullivan and Tellstrom in row two, and Knittel and Austin in row three.
Houston shot out in front at the start with DeRosier second, Sullivan third and Tellstrom fourth. The race was slowed on lap five when Keith Bloom Jr. and Richie Potts came together, causing Potts to spin in turn four.
Houston motored into the lead again on the double-file restart but DeRosier lost ground in the high groove, giving up positions to Sullivan, Tellstrom and Knittel. Austin swapped places with DeRosier on lap eight.
The lapping process began on lap 14 with Houston weaving high and low to gracefully pick off slower traffic. At the same time Austin got around Knittel for fourth.
Larry Knight, driving the No. 20 car while son Darrin Knight was vacationing in Ireland, looped the car in turn two to bring out the yellow flag for a second time. When racing resumed, Tellstrom stole second away from Sullivan and set his sights on Houston.
Tellstrom caught Houston on lap 24. When Houston’s car drifted high, that was all that Tellstrom needed to drive under him and take the lead. Tellstom began to put distance between himself and his fellow competitors until lap 30 when Knight spun into the infield for caution number three.
At The Gone Fishin’ halfway marker, the running order was Tellstom, Houston, Sullivan, Austin, Knittel, Ian Elliott, DeRosier, Sierra Furia, Jason Philpot, Rich Cobb, Mike Neilson, Bloom, Stuart Campbell, Herman Pulyer, Donovan Cox, Potts, Sal Lopez, Rick Avila, Kylei Keown and Knight.
Two laps later Knight spun for a third time and was black-flagged, according to the 3-spin rule. Lap 38 saw the yellow waving again when Cox lost control and looped his car on the front stretch. Austin drove under Houston for second on the restart and Knittel swapped places with Sullivan. Knittel continued his forward motion and drove under Houston for third place on lap 44. Potts dropped out of the race on lap 51.
With only three laps remaining, Bloom and Keown made contact to bring out the final last caution. Tellstrom drove the final distance to the Sunoco checkered flag. Austin was a close second followed by Knittel, Houston, Elliott, Sullivan, DeRosier, Philpot, Furia and Bloom. DeRosier collected an additional $50 for his seventh-place finish from 707 Graphics in Fortuna.
Elliott won $100 in the Lucas Oil Dash for Cash and DeRosier collected $50 for second. They both took home Lucas Oil products as well as the Scribner jugs.
The Keyser Hard Charger award went to Mike Neilson. Rick Avila picked up the Naake Shocks certificate, and the Frank’s Radios gift cards went to Sullivan, Bloom and Cobb.
The North State Modified Series returns to Stockton 99 Speedway on June 1, and then heads south to Madera Speedway on June 15.
The North State Modified Series is presented by Protect the Harvest, Lucas Oil, Hoosier Tire West, Sunoco Race Fuels, Naake Suspension, Five Star Bodies, Racer Bling, Keyser Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Gone Racin’ Marine, Buckhorn Bar & Grill, and Franks Radios.
NSMS modified rules, procedures, schedule, entry forms and other information are available on the web site www.northstatemodifieds.com.
