STOCKTON, Calif. — Dominic Scelzi picked up his 22nd win of this season when he picked off the 25-lap feature at the Stockton Dirt Track on Friday night.Â
The open competition 360 sprint car race opened the Tribute to Gary Patterson at the four-tenths-mile dirt oval at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.
Shane Golobic had to settle for the runner up spot despite having several shots at Scelzi due to restarts. Polesitter Willie Croft led only one lap and held on to take the final podium position. J.J. Hickle and Joel Myers Jr. rounded out the top five.
The feature went two laps before a red flag stoppage as Colby Thornhill took a tumble while battling Croft for the lead. The Washington State youth momentarily took the lead from Croft after starting on the front row, however,r he got crossed up exiting the second turn and did three end-over-end flips.
Scelzi took advantage on the double-file restart to pass Croft in the first turn. One lap later, Kalib Henry caught a rut in the second turn which sent him into Ashlyn Rodriquez which sent both cars airborne.Â
With the field bunched back up after the restart, Golobic moved into the third spot. The red flag would come out again on lap eight, as Austin McCarl flipped off the first turn banking after jumping the cushion.
Scelzi led Croft, Golobic, Hickle, Isaiah Vasquez and Myers Jr. to the restart. The green track would quickly go yellow as Bubba DeCaries stops high in the second turn after he jumped the cushion.
On the restart, Golobic begins working on Croft and makes a successful pass on lap on the front stretch. The next slowdown was charged to Oklahoman Ryan Timms who slows on the track. Thirteen cars took the restart flag as Myers Jr. passed Vasquez for fifth.
The race would slow on lap 16 when Tim Estenton goes over the turn-one banking. The restart would give Golobic a shot at Scelzi but the leader proved to be too strong. One lap later, the yellow would come out as the orange cone got run over in the middle of turns three and four and got kicked all the way to the front stretch where he laid in the race groove.Â
With the race winding down, Scelzi’s lead increased to a two-turn advantage over Golobic. He would bring the family owned Scelzi Motorsports No. 41 across the finish line with a comfortable margin.
The finish:
Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, J.J. Hickle, Joel Myers Jr., Andy Gregg, Isaiah Vasquez, Andy Forsberg, Bubba DeCaires, Shane Hopkins, Tim Estenson, Darren Johnson, Ryan Timms, Austin McCarl, Justyn Cox, David Silvera, Ashlyn Rodriquez, Kalib Henry, Brett Barney, Colby Thornhill, Daniel Whittley