BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Jacob Gomes led every lap of Saturday night’s JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout Back in Business 127 at All American Speedway, earning $10,000 in round two of the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series.
Gomes had earlier earned the Performance Friction Brakes Zero Drag Fast Time Award while setting a track record of 12.988 seconds on the third-mile oval.
Gomes’ victory was sweet revenge, as Gomes led this event over Derek Thorn in 2021. Gomes suffered a flat tire with four rounds to go, ending his race and his shot at victory.
Gomes was not to be denied, as he led from the start and was never seriously challenged. Buddy Shepherd started alongside Gomes at the onset of the event and ran in that position for the first segment of the race.
Jeremy Doss started third and Dustin Ash fourth, based on qualifying. The quartet ran in that position until Ash got around Doss on lap 23, as the duo sat on the rear bumper of Shepherd.
Doss pulled a crossover move to maintain second, however, and moved past Shepherd on lap 31. Ash and Trevor Huddleston also got by Shepherd a few laps later. Sheperd pitted a few laps later when Jace Hansen was sent into the spin cycle for a lap-38 caution flag.
A quick caution on the restart saw Dan Holtz around in turn one. The ensuing restart saw Doss and Ash in a side-by-side duel, until Ash overdrove the entrance to turn one, resulting in contact with Doss and Ash spinning in turn two on lap 42. The restart found the field racing clean and green to a competition caution on lap 89.
The green-flag run found Doss holding second with Trevor Huddleston up to third as the top-three separated themselves. By that time Eric Schmidt had advanced from ninth to fourth with Kole Raz also in the top-five, until Hansen displaced him just before the caution.
The final restart saw Hansen battle with Schmidt, before eventually grabbing the position. As the final stanza continued, Gomes pulled away with Huddleston pressuring Doss to his inside on multiple occasions. Hansen was the man on the move, however, as he ran down the duo of Doss and Huddleston, grabbing third as Huddleston battled Doss on lap 118.
Hansen began to close on Doss as the laps ran down, but a bobble in turn one, with three to go, ended his hopes of a runner-up spot.
On lap 127, Gomes crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of Doss for his eighth career victory. Doss was second followed by Hansen, Huddleston, and Schmidt. Kole Raz led the second five, with John Moore, Dustin Ash, Cale Kanke, and Andy Allen rounding out the top 10.
In other action, Dylan Zampa parlayed a card draw of No. 1 into a wire-to-wire win in the SPEARS Pro Late Model Series presented by Sigma Performance Services, which served as a combination race with the local NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Models.
Brandon White was able to take the lead on lap three of 75, to secure $2,000 and the victory in the California Tank and Pneumatics 75.