STOCKTON, Calif. – Reigning Delta Speedway champion T.J. Smith returned to victory lane for his first win of the year on Friday night, topping Mitchel Moles in a thrilling duel.
The opening night of the Summer Sizzler at Delta Speedway presented by Financial Center Credit Union welcomed nearly 90 micro sprints, with the adjacent San Joaquin County Fair serving as the backdrop.
Dalton Hill led the $500 to win Non Wing feature from the pole, while 2016 champion Brandon Carey made a bold maneuver from the outside to try to advance from his sixth starting position. Chris Hinkle spun in turn three and luckily did not get hit by any of the other drivers, but the caution waved on lap three.
Smith attempted the same outside maneuver on the restart and advanced up alongside Hill for the lead. Smith took the lead on lap seven in a big drive for the 2018 California Speedweek champion.
The top four all went upstairs, while Matt Sargent tried his chances on the bottom.
Lapped traffic became an issue at the halfway mark, while Moles grabbed second from Hill. Hill then had an entertaining battle with Carey. They came together in turn three which sent Hill spinning but he did a 360 degree spin to continue on.
Debris from a cone required a caution on lap 22 that slowed the exciting action.
The restart pitted Smith versus Moles, who leads the state of California with numerous victories this year. Initially Moles appeared to be outfoxed by Smith. Moles then closed in using the outside line.
With two laps to go, Moles looked down low and they were nearly side by side at the white flag. Smith blocked the bottom heading into the final corner to take the much-needed win.
Moles was second ahead of Carey, Sargent, and Michael Laughton.
Moles answered back, however, with a strong performance to win the Super 600 $500 to win feature. The initial start saw Brentwood’s Mike Barnes go wheels up and lose his front wing. Moles charged to the top on the next start attempt to lead lap one.
Caden Sarale moved into second with Raio Salmon in tow, while Nikko Panella drifted from second to fourth.
The caution flew when Lee Brewer spun in turn three on lap three. Moles encountered lapped traffic by the ninth lap of the race, with Sarale and Raio following him from the low line. 2014 champion Travis Labat and 2018 California Speedweek champion Dylan Bloomfield tangled in turn one to slow things again on lap 16.
Cody Christensen spun coming to green to force a restart, and Corey Day pounced on Salmon to take third.
Day and Salmon went back and forth for third, while Sarale tried to nose inside Moles. Moles managed to fend him off for the win, with Sarale second, followed by Salmon, Day, and Panella.
Driven Performance continued its perfect season in the Delta Speedway Restricted division as Devon Courtnier scored his first career Delta victory on Saturday night. Courtnier entered the night third in the championship standings and won from the pole position.
After a caution necessitated a complete restart, Courtnier motored away with the lead. Deeper in the order, a skirmish saw Pahule go four wheels off the ground and fast-timer Brandon Rivera retired with damage likely related to the incident.
Pahule somehow maintained fifth position, but found himself far behind the top four. The caution flew on lap 10 for the safety cone being hit in turn four, nullifying Courtnier’s advantage over Gauge Garcia.
Courtnier paced the field comfortably, but opened up the bottom for Garcia into lapped traffic on lap 18. Garcia couldn’t capitalize on a tricky race track. Courtnier led Garcia, points leader Logan Trevino, James Andrichuk, and Avedisian at the finish.
Jett Barnes of Visalia persevered over numerous caution flags to win his third Jr. Sprints main event of the year in three attempts.
The field went three-wide into turn one, with Hayden Stepps trying to jump from third to first. A big accident developed into turn three, with both Cash Lovenburg and Lucas Mauldin flipping. Tracy’s Logan Taylor flipped in turn four as the field slowed for the red flag as well. All three remarkably continued on.
On the restart, Brody Rubio spun in turn four and collected four other cars causing a melee for another red flag. Barnes took the lead from Taylor on lap two and built up a sizeable lead before a caution on lap nine erased his advantage in lapped traffic.
Several other caution flags flew, but nothing was going to stop Barnes as he took the win ahead of eight-year-old Taylor Mayhew, making his Delta debut.
Colton Key capped the top-three, ahead of Kyle Fernandez and Cash Lovenburg.