STOCKTON, Calif. — Philip Shelby won both modified features during the Stockton Dirt Track opener on Saturday evening.Â
Shelby drove his white No. 29h A Mod to the win in the 25-lap feature right after taking the win in his No. 86 Sport Mod in a 20-lap grind.Â
Heavy hitters Bobby Hogge IV and Ryan McDaniel brought the A Mod field to the green with Hogge taking the advantage coming out of the second turn. The race would only go two laps before a red flag stoppage due to a Raymond Lindeman wreck on the backstretch. With a double-file restart, the Hogge-McDaniel duel continued until McDaniel’s race ended on the fifth circuit.
Hogge looked on his way to a win for his new car owners but pulled off the track while leading on lap six. Jeff Faulkner would inherit the lead but a lap-11 caution for a Michael Paul spin bunched the field back up. On the restart, Shelby would blow by Faulkner in the third turn to make would end up the winning move of the race.
Shelby would not let up on his race pace and lapped up to fourth place Buddy Kniss on the final circuit. Faulkner would hold off a fast-closing Josh Combs to take second.
Shelby and Andrew Pearce put on an impressive battle in the Sport Mod 20-lap feature. Shelby was the early leader after starting on the pole but he would be pressured by Pearce near the halfway point. After a side-by-side duel for two laps, Pearce would take over the point.
A fourth-turn bobble by Pearce allowed Shelby to get back around him. Pearce no longer had the speed he had early and would have to contend with Ryan Smith. Those three were the class of the field and would finish the 20 laps in that order.