Kenny Shepherd / STM, LLC
Thank You for 2011!

(11.22.11) - As I'm working on plans for the 2012 season I would like to take a minute and express my sincere appreciation to the sponsors, owners, drivers, crew members and fans that supported our race tracks during the 2011 season. I enjoy running the race tracks, and I really enjoy the big events, but most of all I appreciate the relationships, and friends I have in our sport.

I would also like to thank our staff for the excellent job they performed all season long. From the ticket sales, to the folks running the races and everyone in between it is a real pleasure working with you.

I would especially like to thank everyone that attended the banquet, it was a wonderful time and a great way to end a racing season that so many of us should be very proud of. The focal point of the banquet has become the Children's Hospital Raffle, but this year we also added a fund raiser for the Harmon family, and I feel it speaks volumes about the quality of character in our racing family that even in such tough times our sport can be so giving.

In the last year we lost Mike Roos, John Morris, and Bill Harmon. I know I feel personally touched by each of them and their dedication to our sport, and I feel an obligation to charge forward in the most positive manner I can as a tribute to each of them. We are working on major improvements at both the Madera and Chowchilla Speedway's, and we are assembling two great schedules for each of race tracks for the 2012 season.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season, and I look forward to seeing you at a short track race in 2012!

Kenny Shepherd

Nichols, Pierovich, and Vanderpool Reap Harvest Treasure
by Gerald Laurie

The Open Wheel portion of Madera Speedway's Annual Harvest Classic produced some exciting racing Saturday Evening on the 1/3 mile paved oval. The show featured USAC Western States Sprint Cars, BCRA Midgets, and Supermodifeds. Also on the card were the USAC West Coast Focus Midgets and the Focus Young Guns series, but those will be covered elsewhere.

The first featured class to challenge the banking was the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets in time trials. Eight cars took times with Chad Nichols(17) setting the pace at 14.120 seconds followed by Nick Chivello(27) at 14.248 and Nick Foster(1) at 14.559.

Next up for Qualifications were the United States Auto Club Sprint Cars. Scott Pierovich(14) set fast time at 13.640 seconds followed by Tony Hunt(56) at 13.642 and Audra Sasselli(77) at 13.739.

The Supermodifieds were the final Open Wheel Class to challenge the clocks with Kyle Vanderpool(3) setting fast time at 12.686 seconds. Jim Birges(32) at 12.887 and Dave Bostrom(98) at 13.152 rounded out the top three. Dan Vanderpool and Kenny Kinchen did not take times due to practice incidents involving brake problems (Vanderpool) and a suspension failure and wall contact (Kinchen).

Head to head competition began with the BCRA Heat race. Gary Conterna was scheduled to go off the pole followed by Floyd Alvis, Michael Snider, Nick Foster, Jr. Nick Chivello, Chad Nichols, and Grant Koontz. Conterna elected to move to the rear and this moved the inside line forward. At the green Chivello and Nichols went three wide for two rows to get to the front. Chivello led lap one over Nichols, Snider, Foster, and Alvis. Nichols took the lead and Foster passed Snider on lap two. Lap three saw Alvis move Snider back another spot before Snider lost the left rear wheel and tire to bring out the yellow. The restart moved Conterna up to fifth and on lap five, Foster passed a slowing Chivello for second. Alvis got by Chivello on lap seven and Conterna did the same on the final lap. Finish was Nichols, Foster, Alvis, Conterna, and Chivello

The Sprint cars ran two eight lap heat races and the first lined up Don Emory and Gordon Rogers in Row one followed by Cody Gerhardt, Jeff Ensign, Audra Sasselli, and Scott Pierovich. Ensign jumped through the middle of row one and took the lead coming off turn two to lead lap one over Rogers, Sasselli, Gerhardt and Pierovich. Sasselli took second on lap two, Gerhardt grabbed third on lap three, and Pierovich took fourth on lap five. The final order was Ensign, Sasselli, Gerhardt, Pierovich, and Rogers.

Sprint Car heat number two featured Bill Logan, Tim Skoglund, Tim Barber, Chad Nichols, Tony Hunt, and David Diaz. Skoglund led lap one from his outside position with Hunt jumping to second from the third row followed by Barber, Nichols, and Logan. Hunt blasted to the lead on lap two. Barber got around Skoglund on the third circuit, when the yellow flew for Diaz coasting to a stop on the front stretch. Nichols took third on the lap four restart and that was the extent of the passing. Hunt took the lap eight checkers followed by Barber, Nichols, Skoglund, and Logan.

The Supermodified Eight lapper was scheduled to go with Kyle Vanderpool on the Pole, flanked by Jim Birges and followed by Dave Bostrom, Andy Ferris, Carl Johnson in his limited 360 Super, and Dan Vanderpool. Vanderpool's brake problems had not been completely resolved and the result was wall contact in turn three during tire warming hot laps. Before the green flag, Bostrum opted to start in the rear as this was his first head to head Supermodified competition in nearly forty years. Birges got a great start at the drop of the green and led lap one over Vanderpool, Ferris, Johnson and Bostrum. Bostrum slowly worked out the passing lines and moved around Johnson on lap four and then took third when Ferris spun on lap six for a yellow/checkered finish. Birges took the heat over Vanderpool, Bostrum, Johnson, and Ferris.

The first Feature Event of the evening was the Midget 30 lapper. This race featured a six car invert with Gary Conterna and Floyd Alvis in row one. Michael Snider, Nick Foster, Jr., Nick Chivello, and Chad Nichols completed the invert. Rounding out the field were Grant Koontz and Rick Hollbrook. On the start, Nichols performed a disappering act in row three and magically reappeared in the front of the field on the backstretch. Nichols led lap one over Foster, Alvis, Chivello, and Snider. Chivello grabbed third from Alvis on circuit two and then displaced Foster from second on lap four. Meanwhile Nichols was headed for a different time zone. After ten laps, the order was Nichols, Chivello, Foster, Alvis, and Snider. Foster peeled off to the pits on lap eleven thereby elevating Conterna to fifth, albeit a lap down.

The second ten laps were uneventful except Nichols proceeded to lap the field except for Chivello in second place. The yellow finally flew on lap twenty-two when Conterna spun in turn four. On the restart, Chivello seemed to be able stay a little closer to Nichols, but could never challenge for the lead. At the finish, Nichols led Chivello by 2 seconds, with Alvis, Snider, and Holbrook rounding out the top five

The USAC Sprints started 12 cars for their feature with the top six inverted. Leading the fast guys was Tim Barber followed by Jeff Ensign, Chad Nichols, Audra Sasselli, Tony Hunt, and Scott Pierovich. Starting behind the invert were Cody Gerhardt, Tim Skoglund, Gordon Rogers, Bill Logan, Don Emory and David Diaz. The outside line won the initial battle with Ensign leading lap one over Barber, Sasselli, Nichols, and Pierovich. Pierovich took fourth on lap two. He then took third and Hunt took fifth on lap three. Pierovich was second by lap four and Hunt took fourth on lap five. Order at that time was Ensign, Pierovich, Barber, Hunt and Sasselli. Pierovich moved to the front and Sasselli reclaimed fourth a lap later and the top five after ten laps were Pierovich, Ensign, Barber, Sasselli and Hunt.

The second ten laps saw Sasselli displace Barber for third on lap eleven and then Hunt appropriated fourth on lap fourteen. Gerhardt then got Barber for fifth on lap twenty. At twenty laps, Pierovich held a commanding lead over Ensign, Sasselli, Hunt, and Gerhardt. The yellow finally flew on lap twenty two when Barber coasted to a stop with problems. A restart allowed Sasselli to get by Ensign into second and then another yellow flew for a spin by Rogers. This time Hunt got around Ensign on the restart. Order at the end of thirty laps was Pierovich, Sasselli, Hunt, Ensign, and Gerhardt. The lap forty order was identical and then Nichols passed Gerhardt on forty-one to move into the top five. And that was pretty much the race. The checkers flew on lap fifty with Pierovich leading Sasselli, Hunt, Ensign, and Nichols.

The Supermodified feature lined up the remaining five cars for a thirty lap gallop through time. Bets in the tower ranged from 6 minutes and forty seconds to seven minutes and thirty seconds for the time the race would take if it went nonstop. The lineup had Kyle Vanderpool and Jim Birges on row one followed by Carl Johnson, Andy Ferris, and Dave Bostrom. This time Vanderpool got the good start and led over Birges, Johnson, Ferris and Bostrum. Lap three saw both Ferris and Bostrum pass Johnson. And then Bostrum took third on lap ten. Order was Vanderpool, Birges, Bostrum, Ferris, and Johnson. Over the next twenty laps, the distance between Vanderpool and Birges accordianed back and forth, with Birges never able to mount a serious challenge for the lead. With these two lapping the entire field and Ferris heading to the pits on lap 26, the real excitement was how quickly they would finish. When it was over, Vanderpool had completed the thirty lapper in six minutes, 39.821 seconds. That made my guess of 6:40 look pretty good. Finish was Vanderpool, Birges, Bostrom, Johnson, and Ferris.

With races coming up in Anderson, Roseville and Irwindale over the next few weeks, it looks like I'll be on the road a bit to cover the Californai Open Wheel Scene.

Madera Speedway Harvest Classic, Sept. 17, 2011
BCRA Midgets
Qualifications: 1. 17 Chad Nichols, 14.120; 2. 27 Nick Chivello, 14.248; 3. 1 Nick Foster, Jr., 14.559; 4. 6K Michael Snider, 14.884; 5. 83 Floyd Alvis, 14.926; 6. 18 Gary Conterna, 15.806; 7 5 Grant Koontz, 16.286; 8. 20 Dan Parker, N/T; 9. 6 Rick Holbrook, N/T.
Heat: 1. 17 Nichols; 2. Foster; 3. Alvis; 4. Conterna; 5. Chivello; 6. 5 Koontz: Snider.
Feature: 1. 17 Nichols; 2. 27 Chivello; 3. 83 Alvis; 4. 6K Snider; 5. 6 Holbrook; 6. 6 Holbrook; 7. 18 Conterna; 8. 5 Koontz; 8. 1 Foster.

USAC Sprint Cars
Qualifications: 1. 14 Scott Pierovich, 13.640; 2. 56 Tony Hunt, 14.642; 3. 77 Audra Sasselli, 13.739; 4. 50X Chad Nichols, 13.896; 5. 3F Jeff Ensign, 13.956; 6. 3T Time Barber, 14.076; 7. 40 Cody Gerhardt, 14.124; 8. 60 Time Sloglund, 14.231; 9. 94 Gordon Rogers, 14.259; 10. 98 Bill Logan, 15.052; 11. 50 Don Emory, 15.638; 12. 93 David Diaz, N/T.
Heat 1: 1. 3F Ensign; 2. 77 Sasselli; 3. 40 Gerhardt; 4. 14 Pierovich; 5. 94 Rogers; 6. 50 Emory.
Heat 2: 1. 56 Tony Hunt; 2. 3T Tim Barber; 3. 50X Chad Nichols; 4. 60 Time Skoglund; 5. 98 Bill Logan; 6. 93 David Diaz.
Feature: 1. 14 Pierovich; 2. 77 Sasselli; 3. 56 Hunt; 4. 3F Ensign; 5. 50X Nichols; 6. 40 Gerhardt; 7. 60 Skoglund; 8. 94 Rogers; 9. 3T Barber; 10. 50 Emory; 11. 98 Logan; 12. 93 Diaz.

Supermodifieds
Qualifications: 1. 3 Kyle Vanderpool, 12.666; 2. 32 Jim Birges, 12.887; 3. 98 Dave Bostrom, 13.152; 4. 8 Andy Ferris, 13.765; 5 07* Carl Johnson, 14.350; 6. 17 Dan Vanderpool, N/T; 8. 56 Kenny Kinchen, N/T.
Heat: 1. 32 Birges; 2. 3 K. Vanderpool; 3. 98 Bostrum; 4. 07* Johnson; 5. 8 Ferris; 6. D. Vnderpool.
Feature: 1. 3 Vanderpool; 2. 32 Birges; 3. 98 Bostrum; 4. 07* Johnson; 5. 8 Ferris.
* 360 Supermodified


David Sanchez / STM, LLC Media Relations
Hot Night at the Madera Speedway for Midland Tractor

Madera, CA (8.27.11) - 100 degree weather greeted fans at the Madera Speedway on this hot August night. The racing would prove to be as hot on this last of the local based races for the 2011 Madera Speedway Schedule, as September marks the start of the season ending mega show schedule for the speedway. Double points were on the line for all drivers in the championship races.

The headliner of the local show is the LunkerDaddy Late Models and the point leader is Howard "Ho Ho" Holden. Holden is the third point leader of the season, in fact it was Matt Erickson that was the early point leader, then it was Bill Nason that had the point lead, but after getting faster and faster Holden is now the front runner. Elliot "Big Show" Stjerne is the driver with the most wins of the 2011 season, but needs a big night with this double point format to close in on Holden.

Aaron Mullins and Emma Tucker started on the front row in the 40 lap LunkerDaddy Late model event and Mullins took the lead with Mayer right on him. Mayer slipped by the bottom to take the lead, then Holden followed Mayer. Jason Aguirre moved into third with the C.J Dizney in fourth, Elliot Stjerne was caught in the back, but looked very patient. On lap 12 of the 40 lapper Stjerne moved into the top five, but Ray Mayer was very fast in first place, and Holden, Aguirre and Dizney were all very fast in the top four presenting a problem for Stjerne.

On the restart Mayer held off Holden and Aguirre, and everyone else was side by side running hard. The four car battle helped Mayer build a good lead as Aguirre, Holden, Stjerne and Dizney boxed with each other. Aguirre was unable to hold Stjerne off and it was only Mayer between Stjerne and the checkered flag on lap 25. Mayer got loose and Stjerne took the lead on lap 34 of the 40 lap main event.

Stjerne won the main with Aguirre second, Holden third, Mayer fourth and Dizney rounding out the top five.

Jillian Holden was up on the wheel in the Hobby Stock class taking the lead from track point leader Chuck Aguirre and she ran the same times as the veteran Aguirre. They raced hard for the entire race with Aguirre glued to her back bumper, he moved to the top side of the track on lap 13 of the twenty lap race and went for the patented Aguirre move. On lap 17 they caught traffic really making things intense, as fans were on their feet as Holden was holding on by an inch. Aguirre made a cross over move and got under her on the last lap, the two were side by side at the finish line, but it was Holden that won by a foot!

In the Toyota Sedan Class the point battle is as tight as it gets, and with the double points on the line fans knew this was going to be a real throw down of a race. Jarred Tickel had a slim 9 point lead over Donnie Large when the night began, and on top of this they started side by side in row three of the main event. Tickel and Large wasted no time driving to the front while battling hard with each other, but it was Don Davey that led lap one! Jared Tickel had to fight past a hard driving Bud Tickel on his way to the front. Jared Tickel took the lead from Davey on lap 6, but Large was looming on third place. Ronnie Roberts was in second and in front of a hard charging Large, but was not able to hold off the 100 car of Large for long.

It was now lap 11 and large was lined up on the back door of Tickel, fans could cut the tension with a knife as Large was pressing and Tickel was making no mistakes. Lap twenty of the race passed and the two point leaders were still glued to each other, they caught lap traffic and Large was all over Tickel. The action was wild when they went four wide, and three wide fighting for the lead on lap 27 of the 30 lap race. Large took the lead and Tickel hit the wall after contact with a lapped car.

On the restart Large drove away from the field, while Tickel was having trouble as he hit the wall again trying to get by a lapped car. Tickel finished 5th, while Large won the main event and the bonus points that went along with the win.

Midland Tractor night is a fun night at the fastest third mile in the west, and the Madera Speedway had a special treat for the fans as the ground pounding 410 Super Modified of Kyle Vanderpool made several practice laps showing off some of what fans will see at the Harvest Classic on September 17th!

John Bowersox led the field to the green flag in the MST main event, and he set the pace for the early portion of the race. Kevin Thompson pulled into second and chased Bowersox down. John McCollum Jr. decided to make it a three way fight as you could throw a blanket on all three leaders on lap six. From lap 6 through 8 the two leaders ran side by side, but on lap 8 McCullom Jr. spun coming out of turn four bringing out the caution. On the restart Thompson took the lead from Bowersox, and it was now Bowersox putting pressure on Thompson. Thompson was so smooth he never made a mistake and took the win in the MST class.

Midland Tractor was the title sponsor for this local event and Tyler Johnson wasted no time getting to the front spot in the 4-Banger class driving as steady as a John Deere tractor runs, but Mitch Pasquale and Billy Condon were right on his back bumper fighting for the second spot. Cooper took second place on lap eight and set his sites on Johnson in the 15 lap main event. Cooper was faster than Johnson with two laps to go, Cooper looked outside, they caught lap traffic and Johnson was able to hold off the charging Cooper for the big win in the 4-Banger main event.

Next race is Sept 16th and 17th at the Madera Speedway featuring Super Modifieds, USAC Sprints, BCRA Midgets and multi-engine tractor pulls!



THE FINAL ROUND OF THE LUCAS OIL MODIFIED SERIES' NORTH-SOUTH SHOOTOUT IS COMING TO THE TOYOTA SPEEDWAY AT IRWINDALE
BY DAVE GRAYSON

The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, will drop the green flag on the second, and final, round of their Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout, August 13th, at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, the fastest half mile oval in the southwest.

This highly lucrative two race shootout pits the talents of teams from the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, currently racing in southern California, Arizona and Nevada, against their counterparts from northern California, Idaho and Washington. Hence the name North-South Shootout.

The creation of the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout was the result of several months of planning by officials from the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, the Madera Speedway the site of the round one race and the Toyota Speedway At Irwindale. Everyone involved thought it would be a great idea to create a special racing series that combined the open wheel modified talents of drivers from two distinct areas of the western states. Dart Machinery LTD loved the idea so much they stepped up in a very big way and sponsored the two race shootout.

This special racing series generated a lot of attention long before the green flag fell on the first race. That's because the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout is a very lucrative proposition. The 75 lap main events, featuring a very full field of cars, is backed with a combined purse of $10,000, with $1,500 going to the driver who parks his car in the Sunoco Race Fuels victory lane. Any driver in the main event field is guaranteed $300 for just taking the green flag.

In addition to the highly lucrative purse from these two races, the driver who scores the highest amount of points in the Shootout will receive a set of small block heads from Dart Machinery for either a Ford or Chevrolet engine. Additionally the points champion will receive his choice of either a set of of PRO-1 or Iron Eagle Heads, steel or aluminum. The value of this special prize is approximately $1,000. In the event of a tie in the final points results, and that is very possible, the tie breaker will be based on the highest finisher at the August 13th race at the Toyota Speedway At Irwindale according to a recent announcement from Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series Promoter Greg Scheidecker.

Recognizing that the overall state of the national economy has brought increases in travel expenses, the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series this year implemented a tow money program. The teams in the Winner's Circle Program, those who are in top ten of the series's points standings, will receive $200. Teams in points positions 11 through 20 will receive $150. Additionally Scheidecker announced this week that the modified teams from the north will also receive $150 in tow money to help with the expenses of the long journey from the northern areas to Irwindale.

In the extremely exciting July 16th debut of the series, held at the Madera Speedway, Rich Lindgren, and his Sacramento based Fire House Racing team, scorched the competition and led all 75 laps of the feature. However he didn't have an easy time of it. During the final eight laps of this race modified veteran Scott Winters, another north driver, caught the race leader. Coming off of the final turn of the final lap, with the checkers waving in the air, the two drivers were literally door to door with southern California's Jim Mardis right behind them. The Madera fans, many of whom were seeing the Lucas Oil Modified Series for the first time, were literally on their feet jumping up and down from the excitement of this race.

Imagine what the excitement level is going to be August 13th at the Toyota Speedway At Irwindale, the fastest half mile oval in the southwest. This state of the art racing facility, located near Los Angles, has long straightaways and sweeping turns. It's very conducive for passing and that's going to mean plenty of side by side action.

Greg Scheidecker announced that there will be a needed change to his series' standard racing format for the Irwindale race. Traditionally the series runs 75 full green flag laps and does not count yellow caution flag laps. However taking into consideration the larger size, and faster speeds, that comes with racing at Irwindale, yellow flag laps will be counted during the August 13th 75 lap feature. This is to insure that the element of fuel mileage doesn't impact the final outcome of the event.

"I think our 75 lap event at Irwindale is going to be a great race," Scheidecker said. "We are going to count yellow flags there even though that's not the normal procedure for our modified series. But since it's our first time going 75 laps on that large of a track, we want to make sure that everybody has enough fuel. We're not a pit stop style of racing. With that in mind, we're doing a lot of things to raise the comfort level. I'm looking forward to going to Irwindale and I think we'll upwards of 25 and maybe even 30 cars", he added.

For more information regarding round two of the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout, dial up the series official website at www.lucasoilmodifieds.com.

The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, is strongly supported by a highly potent marketing concept known as "Team Lucas." Team members include: Lucas Oil Products Inc, Magnaflow Exhaust Products, E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, K&N Performance Filters, GEICO, CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food, MAV-TV, Dart Machinery LTD, Rockstar Energy Drink and Master Craft Safety Equipment.

The series is also powered by a group of contingency sponsors featuring: Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tire West, Budweiser, Blue Water Resort and Casino, Sunoco Race Fuels, Frank's Radio, Racing Plus, Roush Yates Performance Parts and J E Pistons.


LINDGREN AND FIRE HOUSE RACING SCORCHES LUCAS OIL MODIFIED COMPETITION AT MADERA SPEEDWAY
BY DAVE GRAYSON

Rich Lindgren, and his Fire House Racing team, made their official debut in the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink and won round one of a special two race series: the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout held July 16th at the Madera Speedway: the fastest one third mile in the west. Lindgren led all 75 laps of the feature but had his hands filled with heavy competition from Jim Mardis and Scott Winters all through the event.

The Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout was the result of several months of planning by officials from the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, the Madera Speedway and the Toyota Speedway At Irwindale, the site of the second race set for August 13th. Everyone involved thought it would be a great idea to create a special racing series that combined the open wheel modified talents of drivers from the northern portion of the western states along with their southern counterparts where the Lucas Oil teams race on a regular basis. Dart Machinery LTD loved the idea so much they stepped up in a very big way and sponsored the two race shootout.

This special event immediately garnered a lot of attention due to the lucrative details. The purse, for each of the two events, is $10,000 with $1,500 of that going to the race winner. Any driver who takes the green flag in these 75 lap main events is guaranteed $300 for just starting the race. Recognizing the state of the economy, and its impact on travel, series officials also presented the teams with tow money to help with the cost of getting to Madera.

But to take advantage of this opportunity, the drivers had to earn a starting spot in the Dart Machinery LTD 75. That process began Saturday afternoon with qualifying when the south teams fired the first salvo of the shootout. It was Austin Barnes who pocketed the $100 bonus for setting the Budweiser fast time. The Escondido-California teen driver blistered the Madera oval with a lap of 15.238 seconds with a speed of 78.672 MPH. Qualifying set the line up for the six car Dart Machinery trophy dash. That event, and the $200 bonus, was won by Las Vegas driver Aaron McMorran.

The healthy car count created the necessity of a B Main to complete the starting line up. Fallout-California driver Mike Salm earned the $100 bonus for winning the 20 lap GEICO B feature. Once the B main was completed the line up for the Dart Machinery LTD 75 was now set and a field of 23 cars, representing the finest open wheel driving talent from the western states, were ready to officially launch the North-South Shootout.

In the final moments prior to the start of the Dart Machinery 75, eventual race winner Rich Lindgren caught a huge break. The Lucas Oil pre race inversion ceremony turned up the number 7. The shift created a true north-south line up and moved Lindgren from seventh to the pole position along side of Aaron McMorran. The second row was comprised of Jim Mardis and Mike Regalman while Doug Hamm and Scott Winters created a north-south duo in row three.

At the initial green flag Lindgren made what eventually would turn out to be the winning race move and jumped into the lead. However, he wasn't going to get a free ride to the Sunoco Race Fuels victory lane. Mardis made quick work of moving into second and glued himself to the race leader's rear bumper. The only time the race rhythm of this north-south tandem was disrupted was due to the yellow caution flags, a total of six all during the first half of the race.

Throughout much of this event Mardis displayed a great deal of patience, and saved his tires, while maintaining a close proximity to the race leader. On lap 57 Mardis decided it was go time and began putting the pressure on Lindgren. While Mardis was coming on strong, so was Scott Winters. The northern California driver, and a former two time modified champion at Madera, moved into third on lap 63 and aimed his sights on Mardis. Realizing that Mardis wasn't going to make the mistake of giving up any racing room on the inside, Winters made a beautiful pass on the outside and crossed over into second.

By now there were only eight laps remaining in the race and Winters began pressuring Lindgren for the win. Once again he attempted a winning pass on the outside, on the final white flag lap, and pulled alongside of LIndgren much to the delight of the spectators who had abandoned sitting in their grandstand seats quite a few laps ago. The pair were side by side coming into turn four, with the checkers in the air, when Lindgren made a defensive move to try to stop Winters from completing the outside pass. Winters made it clear that he was in it to win it and didn't give an inch despite grazing the front stretch wall as they completed the final lap.

Mardis followed them across the line in third while watching and waiting to see if there was going to be a final moment situation that might hand him the win. Austin Barnes was fourth while Mike Regalman completed the top five. In some post race contingency awards, Winters received a $100 bonus for the Magnaflow Exhaust Products clean pass award. Also receiving post race kudos was Brian Collins for winning the E3 Spark Plugs hard charger award. Collins, who started 16th in the field, earned that $100 bonus for some steady driving that netted him a tenth place finish.

After parking his #45 modified racer in the Sunoco Race Fuels victory lane, a very happy race winner said "it was awesome winning this deal. Our Fire House Racing team has been doing really good in the past several races. It was a pleasure to travel down here to race with the Lucas Oil guys and an even bigger pleasure to get this win. We're looking forward to going to Irwindale and doing a repeat."

Commenting on that final lap, wheel to wheel, duel to the checkers with Winters, he said "he's a really good competitor. I had no idea that he was that close on the outside of me. I really don't like to win races like that but, when it's the last lap going for the checkered flag, you do what you have to do. The good thing is no body's car was torn up and he still finished second. Like I said, I don't like to win like that. I thought we had the dominant car tonight and I just can't give up the race to one of the best modified drivers in both northern and southern California. He's in a class of his own whenever I race against him and to beat him is just an awesome goal for me and my team."

Lindgren also made it a point to thank his Fire House Racing sponsors which included A 1 Remediation Service, Service Master Clean, Regional Buildings Inc, Central Auto Parts, Transmissions by Hal and Capital Auto Parts.
Fire House Racing is a subject near and dear to the heart of team owner Jeff Stephens. This team is comprised of Sacramento area fire fighters. Winning round one of the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout at Madera was a very special retirement gift for Stephens. On July 7th he officially retired after 30 years of dedicated service at the Sacramento Metro Fire Department.

In victory lane the very happy team owner said "I'm telling you, Rich and the crew did an outstanding job. I've been in some big fires during my career, but I'm absolutely shaking tonight. This is a very big win for us. We were at the right place at the right time tonight and we got some good breaks. The south guys drove us clean and I think it's going to be anybody's game when we get to round two of the Shootout at Irwindale."

Following his second place finish Winters, driver of the Ferrari Farms #24 modified, said "Madera is a very racy track, but sometimes abrasive on the tires so you have to really watch tire management here. With the pre race invert of seven it was difficult to move up early so finally, half way through the race, I decided to go up to the top of the track and we almost pulled it off. A lot of the guys have a tendency to go to the bottom and hold the bottom up. That means you've got to find a place to pass by going to the top and working the outside."

Despite having to settle for a third place finish, Jim Mardis was all smiles after the race. "Our Rockstar-Makita car was pretty decent tonight. I've never raced here before, just like at Irwindale last month, but Madera seems to have a lot of character. Overall it was a fun night. There's some bumps on the track and it's seems to be really technical. I wasn't sure what to expect from a 75 lap run here but I think we hit the set up pretty close. We ran second most of the race but a lapped car kind of got me there at the end and Winters got by us. All in all, it was a good night. We picked up some points, the car's in one piece and we'll go on to Irwindale."

Mardis is the reigning Lucas Oil Modified Series champion as well as the current points leader this year. He made it a point to say a huge thank you to his team of sponsors that has played such an important role in his team's success: Rockstar Energy Drink, Makita Industrial Tools, Blue Water Technologies, Arce Engines, Scoreboard 2 Bar and Grill and Premiere Wraps.
There was a lot of enthusiasm in the pit area among the race teams regarding the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout. The response from the Madera racing fans was huge most of whom saw a Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series event for the first time. There was also an equal amount of pride and enthusiasm from the series promoter, Greg Scheidecker, and its race director, Bill Rozhon.

In some post race comments, Rozhon said "for our guys to come here to Madera and race with the northern teams was something to see on and off the track. Everybody raced each other very good, the competition was close and I was thrilled about the sense of camaraderie among everybody. There was a combination of the north and the south in the top five and that's the way it should be. We're not any better than the north and I don't think that the north is any better than our guys. I'm just thrilled that Lucas Oil, Rockstar Energy Drink and especially Dart Machinery allowed us to come up here. I think tonight was a real ice breaker. I really think this Shootout could become the start of getting something unified so these guys could race each other from Washington to San Diego. I think that's very important for the modified series right now."

A very pleased Greg Scheidecker said "this has got to be not only one of our best races of the year, but probably all time. There was just so much passing going on throughout the field. These modified drivers from the south, if we ever get the opportunity to come back here, will be coming back with a vengeance and will be well prepared. I'm glad to see the north cars do as well as they did with that first and second place finish, but I can tell you right now that the guys from the south are not going to let this lay."

In the process of setting up the dates for the two races in the Shootout, series officials carefully looked at the schedules from other speedways, who promote modified racing, to insure there would be no schedule conflict. However approximately two weeks prior to the Madera race, series officials were surprised by a schedule change at the All American Speedway, in Roseville-California, who decided to add the modifieds to their July 16th line up. The result was a lower than expected count, eight cars, from the north teams.

Commenting on this situation, Scheidecker said " there were a whole lot of unknown factors here. It was really disappointing to me that we were not able to come to some type of agreement with the All American Speedway and that's a shame. Believe it or not, Lucas Oil is looking at the big picture for all modified racing. We're not selfish. The north teams that were here will tell you that the attitude towards everything we did to work with them was second to none. But overall I'm just really ecstatic that we were able to jump over some of the hurdles to present this show. Again, there were a lot of unknowns here but now of lot of questions have been answered . We'll come back and I think we'll have a little different type of show. I truly believe the spectators got their money's worth tonight."

Sharing the level of enthusiasm was Kenny Shepherd, the promoter of the Madera Speedway, who said " I think this night was everything that we imagined it would be and probably even more. We started doing some open style shows with the modified's northern group probably back in 2007 and 2008. We are basically a central territory here at the Madera Speedway with most of the teams located north of us and of course the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series is located south of us so we're kind of an island. But those open style shows back then really didn't work out, we drew 13 to 16 cars. But I always envisioned that with the quality of the Lucas Oil tour going head to head up here I thought we would get exactly what I saw tonight and I think the racing was even better than what I thought it would be. I was at the front gate after the race tonight and the fans walked by and said great show, awesome, when are they coming back?"

After a highly successful evening at the Madera Speedway the stage is now set for round two of the Dart Machinery LTD North-South Shootout to be held August 13th at the Toyota Speedway At Irwindale. Based on everything observed at Madera this second event, on the fastest half mile oval in the southwest, should be one spectacular racing evening for everyone: especially the fans of modified racing.

The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series is strongly supported by a highly potent marketing concept known as "Team Lucas." Team members include: Lucas Oil Products Inc, Magnaflow Exhaust Products, E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, K&N Performance Filters, GEICO, CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food, MAV-TV, Dart Machinery LTD, Rockstar Energy Drink and Master Craft Safety Equipment.

The series is also powered by a group of contingency sponsors featuring: Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tire West, Budweiser, Blue Water Resort and Casino, Sunoco Race Fuels, Frank's Radio, Racing Plus, Roush Yates Performance Parts and J E Pistons.


David Sanchez / STM, LLC Media Relations
Madera Red, White and Blue Spectacular

Madera California (6.25.11) With the Spears SRL Tour cars as a back drop the Madera Speedway exploded with a patriotic fireworks display that thrilled fans of all ages. This event was colored in red, white and blue from the flags in every tour car, to the singing of the National Anthem, to the fireworks display that began with the pledge of allegiance.

The Spears SRL Southwest Tour had a tough act to follow as the staff at the Madera Speedway went off the deep end with a stunt show that destroyed a perfect 2000 Jaguar. Stunt man deluxe Johnny Rollover hit the ramp at seventy miles an hour and after the smoke cleared from the wreck there was a battery, a radiator and all kinds of other parts scattered all over the Madera Speedway, wow, what a wreck!

Once the green flag dropped it was clear that the SRL Southwest Tour cars were the headliner in this event as Eric Holmes took the lead and amazed the fans with the blazing speed of the tour cars. Derek Thorn broke the track record in qualifying and was on a mission to get to the front of the pack. M.K. Kanke and Jim Petitt battled their way to the front of the pack as well, so did Ross Strmiska and Justin Westmoreland. A storm was building and everyone could feel it.

Holmes was finally caught by the young charging star Derek Thorn and things got real intense, real fast. Using his car like a piece on a chess board Holmes kept Thorn on the bottom of the track and was able to hold him off on several attempts. Finally Thorn had enough of the chess match and put a fender on Holmes then he jumped past him taking the lead.

While all of this action had the fans focused on the front of the pack Ross Strmiska had worked his way to the front and was fast, I mean like win the race fast. Strmiska had to fight Holmes to get by as Thorn did, and Thorn built a huge lead thanks to this battle for second.

Ross Strmiska is a past Madera Speedway Champion that has many laps around the tricky third mile known as the fastest in the West, and it appeared as he saved his tires better than anyone else as he ran down the car of Thorn by lap 115 of the 125 lap event. He dropped under Thorn with just a few laps remaining to make the pass for the lead, but a lapped car moved down into his path causing a wreck that would end his bid for the win.

Thorn held off a charging Eric Holmes after the restart to take the win. Holmes was second, with Kanke third, Westmoreland fourth, and Jacob Gomes rounded out the top five.

Six other classes competed in this great event including a record purse race for the SRL Legends cars. Darren Amerdon won the $1,200 paycheck for the SRL Legends race in crowd pleasing fashion with a display of some very special driving talent.

Elliot Sterjne won the 40 lap LunkerDaddy late model race, Kevin Thompson won the MST event, Del McIntosh won the Sedan race, Lloyd Bamping won the Hobby race, and Mile Humphreys took the 4-Banger race!

The next major event for the Madera Speedway is the Lucas Oil Horsepower Nationals on July 16th featuring Super Modifieds, North verses South pavement modifieds, BCRA Midgets, Dirt Super Late Models, and the Two Track Stock Car Series.