MADERA, Calif. — Manteca brothers Eric and Ethan Nascimento each visited victory lane during Saturday’s late model action at Madera Speedway.
Eric Nascimento won a dramatic and exciting Lunkerdaddy Pro Late Model 80-lap feature while Ethan Nascimento led all but the opening lap to take the 70-lap 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model triumph.
Eric led the 20 starters to the green flag in the Pro feature. Outside pole sitter Jay Juleson fell backwards in the early laps. Incoming points leader Jadan Walbridge ran as low as ninth in the first 10 laps as well.
The first caution flew on lap nine for Monty Tipton stalling on the backstretch in his series debut.
Dylan Zampa charged from fifth to second on the restart while three-wide action took place around the seventh position. The top six cars ran bumper to bumper in a narrow line around the bottom of the one-third-mile speedway. Tyler Herzog and Jason Aguirre made contact on the backstretch which led to Aguirre stopping in turn four for a caution on lap 29.
Eric chose the inside on the restart and led lap 30 by a nose over Zampa.
Zampa then cleared Nascimento on lap 31 around the outside for the lead. Kyle Keller peeked inside Eric for second to kick off many laps of battling between the pair. Zampa led Eric, Keller, Sean Hingorani and Ethan into the lap-50 break for adjustments.
All three Nascimento Motorsports cars required attention to their front brakes. Ethan had to give up fifth and restart 18th after entering the pits again for additional repairs before the green flag flew.
Zampa chose the outside over Eric to hold the lead on the restart. Hingorani drove past Eric for second on lap 56. Ethan’s car went up in sparks with apparent brake issues, slamming the turn three wall for a caution on lap 66.
This restart saw Zampa choose the inside against Hingorani. Hingorani had a big run off turn two and tried to cross to the inside on the backstretch to no avail. They collided on lap 70, sending Zampa spinning and relegating both drivers to the rear of the field.
Utilizing an open motor combination against the GM 602 crate engines, Eric inherited the lead and picked the outside to fully capitalize on the power under the hood. Juleson and Kasey Kleyn crashed in turn three on lap 72 while battling for seventh. Their caution led to a series of brief and minor cautions on lap 72.
The race finally got underway with an eight lap run with Keller attempting to drive underneath Eric for the win. They went side-by-side down the backstretch on the final circuit.
Keller dove inside and got up alongside Eric exiting the final corner.
They never touched and Eric cleanly topped Keller by a scant .191 second margin at the checkered flag. Walbridge preserved his points lead by outfoxing Jacob Smith for third. Herzog came back to snare fifth from Kercie Jung over the final run as well.
Walbridge will enjoy a small lead of roughly five points over Keller with two rounds to go in the series.
Ethan won his third consecutive 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model Series feature, tightening the championship fight with Kasey Kleyn and points leader Robbie Kennealy.
Kenna Mitchell drove around the outside of Ethan to lead lap one by .003 seconds before the two made a little bit of backstretch contact. Ethan led lap two while Mitchell drifted backwards to sixth on the outside line.
Drivers in positions third through sixth ran on top of each other throughout the first 40-lap segment. Joey Kennealy drove away from the quartet in the final 10 laps of the opening stage. Ethan led Kleyn, Joey Kennealy, Monty Tipton and incoming points leader Robbie Kennealy into the break.
Emerging from the break for adjustments and MAVTV interviews, Ethan charged ahead with the lead. Kennealy got sideways in turn two and fell back to sixth. His brother Robbie Kennealy used the close battling to advance past Tipton for third.
Mitchell followed suit and the race was on between Mitchell and Robbie for the third position. Mitchell used the front bumper to lean her way past Kennealy with two laps to go. Kennealy answered back with hard contact into turn one on the final lap.
Both drivers were relegated to the end of the lead lap in the final finishing order.
Tipton avoided the fracas to finish third for his career-best finish.
Ethan topped Kleyn by nearly four seconds. Tipton, Joey Kennealy and a career-best fifth place finish for Caden Cordova were the balance of the top-five.