STOCKTON, Calif. – Delta Speedway presented by Financial Center Credit Union ushered in the season with their first points race attracting nearly 100 entries at the seventh-mile dirt oval.
Leading the charge was 2018 Super 600 runner-up Raio Salmon and former Non-Wing champion Brandon Carey, both of whom scored victories.
Carey’s win came over a Non-Wing turnout that included 39 cars. Four heat races and two b-mains narrowed the field to 22 starters for the 30 lap feature. Caden Sarale led the first seven laps of the race with company from Carey. A caution on lap six set up Carey’s opportunity to take the lead. The race stayed green for much of the contest.
A brief caution for a spin on lap 26 gave fellow former champion Dan Mognaga a shot at Carey but he was unable to take the top spot. Carey paced Mognaga by .756 of a second across the stripe for the $500 win ahead of 2018 champion T.J. Smith, Sarale and 2014 Super 600 champion Travis Labat.
Salmon used her signature bottom feeding moves to lead all 30 laps for the $500 Super 600 win. Former track champion Jake Andreotti tried to run the top throughout the feature to challenge but wasn’t able to make any head way. Nikko Panella had a hard crash into the turn four wall on lap 23 to surrender fourth position on the track. Brad Hannum made some late moves to advance from fifth up to third on the top side.
Fifteen of the 16 starters finished on the lead lap with Salmon winning by .389 of a second ahead of Andreotti, Hannum, double-duty racer Sarale, and Keith Day, Jr.
Logan Trevino won the Restricted feature by leading the final 16 laps of the 25 lap main event. The race paid $300 to win. Twenty-one Restricted drivers were in action with pole sitter Jeffrey Pahule, Jr. pacing the early action. An incident involving Jackson Kohler and Sage Bordenave slowed things on lap one.
Trevino took over the lead on lap nine with Pahule settling into second. A series of cautions did not deter Trevino as he took a .888 of a second victory with Pahule topping Reilee Phillips for second. Devon Courtnier and Mattox Salmon rounded out the top-five.
Jr. Sprints had one of their best turnouts for a points race in recent memory with 17 entries ready to do battle. A flip for newcomer Axle Scroggins slowed things down on the first lap in turn three. Lucas Mauldin came from sixth on the grid to lead on lap four ahead of Peyton Whitehouse.
Another incident on lap 10 brought the field together, but Mauldin managed to pull away from Cotlon Key for a strong advantage the finish. Kyle Fernandez, TK O’Brien, and Whitehouse finished up the top-five in the $200 to win race.