MADERA, Calif. – Four-time SPEARS Southwest Tour champion Derek Thorn added to his long list of accomplishments with his 37th victory in Saturday’s 125-lap event at Madera Speedway.
Thorn’s win did not come easy as he withstood challenges from current Nut Up Pro Late Model points leader Austin Herzog.
Thorn was one of only two cars into the 13 second range on the one-third mile asphalt oval during qualifying. His 13.839-second lap topped Linny White’s 13.999-second run. The redraw of the top eight qualifiers placed White on the pole underneath rookie Tyler Fabozzi with Thorn starting third.
Fabozzi used the outside to grab the lead position off the start. September Madera winner Jacob Gomes went up in smoke to end his night early for a caution on lap 12. After a red flag for clean-up, racing resumed with Fabozzi picking the outside and maintaining the lead.
White stayed glued to Fabozzi’s bumper with the battle intensifying by lap 29. The battle ended when White tagged Fabozzi into turn three, sending him spinning for a lap 34 caution. Fabozzi blended into fourth while White was penalized to the rear in the 20th position.
The incident thrust Thorn into the lead while 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model graduates Jesse Love and Herzog, with 15 wins between them at Madera, battled for third. A caution waved when Bob Lyon spun out of a three-wide battle for eighth in turn one.
Craig Raudman entered the fold, running the outside line to pass both Cole Moore for second and then tag the rear of Thorn in a bid for the lead. Herzog had a good view for the battling and started to edge inside Raudman by lap 75 for the second position.
During the extended green flag run, lapped traffic became a factor by lap 84 which erased Thorn’s sizeable lead. Love’s night ended up abruptly when his car retired to the infield with white smoke. The race stayed under green, however, and the lapped traffic continued to affect Thorn. Side-by-side traffic allowed Herzog to close within a car length of the top spot. Suddenly, Carlos Vieira spun from 12th at the tail end of the lead lap and Thorn narrowly avoided him before the caution fell.
The race restarted with 18 to go with Thorn leading Herzog and White, who had climbed up to third after the earlier incident. Thorn managed to drive away from Herzog, who engaged in a side-by-side duel with White for second.
The caution waved again on lap 120 which gave Herzog one last shot at Thorn. Herzog got slightly sideways coming to the line, and Thorn dashed away for the $5,000 victory. Herzog had a career-best Southwest Tour finish of second ahead White, 2018 Rookie of the Year Cole Moore, and two-time Madera Pro Late Model winner Blaine Rocha.
The co-feature on Saturday night saw the Spears Manufacturing Modifieds presented by Lucas Oil in a 75-lap contest. Peyton Saxton grabbed his first career series win in just his second start, claiming the $3,300 win.
Out of state drivers Jeff Longman and William Guevara led the field to the green flag. After a spin by Travis McCullough slowed the initial start, things got underway with Guevara leading the way. Fast-time qualifier Hunter Corbitt of Sacramento spun for a yellow on lap three. Saxton used the caution to take the lead on lap four from Guevara.
McCullough’s misfortune continued when he crashed hard into the front stretch wall to end his night. His teammate Eric Nascimento, Jr. pitted multiple times for repairs to right side damage as well. When the racing resumed, Longman fell backwards to outside the top-five. Eleventh starting Ryan Schartau, the most recent winner on May 4 at Las Vegas, drove into fourth by lap 12. Tenth starting Cody Kay was up to fifth as well.
Eddie Second started his attempts to get around former series champion Dylan Cappello for second. Meanwhile, Kyle Keller retired with mechanical issues on lap 28. A multi-car incident slowed the action when Corbitt tagged 18 year-old recent High School graduate Jeremy Kay in turn two, with Kay spinning to collect both Nascimento and Doug Carpenter. Carpenter was done for the evening as a result of the damage.
Cappello looked inside Saxton on the restart before taking the lead on lap 44 after some sliding and contact. Saxton grabbed it back on lap 45 and they remained side-by-side for the next three laps before Saxton was solidly ahead. Secord ran all over Schartau for third behind them.
Secord finally managed to get past Schartau on lap 65, but couldn’t close down on the leaders. Saxton took the comfortable lead ahead of Cappello, Second, Corbitt, and Schartau. Schartau and Cappello will be locked in a near dead-heat for the points lead when the series heads to its next race at Kern County.
The supporting Hobby Stocks race was a satisfying one for Steve Schermerhorn as the 2018 champion stamped his authority on the pack by lapping the entire field. Schermerhorn was the only driver to complete all 30 laps while another recent High School graduate Manny Gonzales Jr. defeated Dean Gould, driving a Late Model truck, for the second position.