STOCKTON — In almost a carbon copy repeat of last week’s Stockton Late Model race, JoJo Stearns once again overpowered the rest of the field for a dominating wire-to-wire victory in Saturday night’s Pro Late Model feature at the 99 Speedway.

After setting the pace in qualifying, Stearns, of Stockton, elected to sit on the outside of Modesto’s Mike Beeler in the front row of the undersized seven-car field to start the 50-lap main.

When the green flag dropped to start the race, Stearns immediately bolted to the lead coming out of Turn 2 on the opening lap, and while Beeler, Ripon’s Hank Gaalswyk, and Tracy’s Troy Ermish jostled with each other for the second spot, he gradually pulled away, amassing a half-lap lead by mid-race.

“We actually struggled a bit in practice, the car was bottoming out, and we had to go to work on it and figure it out,” the 2022 track champion would confess following the race.

With no one able to challenge him for the lead, Stearns slowed his pace just a bit over the final 25 laps to conserve his equipment. Thanks in part to the race going caution-free, he was able to cruise to the checkered flag by a healthy 8-second margin over Ermish and Gaalswyk, who were both able to get around Beeler just after mid-race.

“I was focused on getting a good start, and we got it. I checked out from there and just concentrated on being smooth and consistent, and we brought it home,” Stearns said. “I started saving our stuff in case there was a late race caution, but luckily, we didn’t have one because it definitely would have spiced things up if we did.”

In his quest for two track titles this season, Stearns now holds a commanding 33-point edge over Gaalswyk in the season standings for the Pro Late Model class, with only the “double points” season finale on Oct. 12 remaining on the schedule. And thanks to his win last week, Stearns also holds the lead in the Stockton Late Model division, which will conclude with a “double points” race to close out the 2024 season on Saturday, Oct. 19 by a much narrower three-point margin over defending track champion Larry Tankersley of Stockton.

Tracy’s Scott Winters picked up his fourth win of the season in the 40-lap Grand American Modified feature, but it was a far cry from his normal domineering fashion.

Starting from the pole, Modesto’s Adam Coonfield held the early lead as Windsor’s Sammy Nuno patiently stalked over the first 17 laps of the main. Nuno was able to finally slip under Coonfield for the lead just before a back marker spun out, bringing out a caution that would completely change the complexion of the event.

When the race resumed, a mad scramble ensued at the front of the eight-car field, which culminated in a wild wreck on the front straight after four cars unsuccessfully tried to exit Turn 4 side-by-side with Coonfield getting the worst of it. After getting tapped from behind by Sacramento’s Eric Price, his car darted to the right and climbed on top of Nuno’s front hood before careening hard into the Turn 1 wall.

Fortunately, Coonfield was unhurt, but his car was done for the night. As his car was being towed off, Coonfield walked over to Price, who was now parked near the finish line after the race was red-flagged to clean up the mess and voiced his displeasure of the aggressive tactics before angrily heading back to the pits with the urging of track officials.

With the front of the field now completely reshuffled for the restart, Tracy’s Scott Winters, who had been running a distant fifth for most of the race, suddenly emerged out in front. He would remain there over the final laps, as Nuno and Price tried in vain to chase him down.

“Great night. I knew we had a good car, and if we could just get out in front, I knew I could win it,” Winters said, before adding with a smile, “The yellow was definitely helpful, though.”

Things went much smoother in the 35-lap Legends race, where Tracy’s Branden Ruzbarsky had a relatively easy time of it, as he picked up his second win of the season.

Starting from the outside of the front row in a 10-car field, Ruzbarsky quickly jumped out into the lead. Despite a couple of cautions that tightened the race up, he was never seriously challenged as he cruised to the victory over brothers Wyatt and Zach Sansom, both or Linden.

“That high line from the front row was really good for me on the starts. It gave me a big advantage going into Turn 3 and after that I just pulled away,” Ruzbarsky explained. “It was almost unfair.”

After finishing runner-up to Lodi’s Brandon Jones on numerous occasions this season, Stockton’s Jeremy Tucker finally broke through to claim his first win of the season in the 25-lap Pure Stock main.

Tucker grabbed the lead on the opening lap as Brian Miller, of Railroad Flats, and Jones attempted to chase him down. Jones, who has already amassed seven wins this season, would move by Miller with three laps to go, but he was never able to get close enough to Tucker to make a run on him and was forced to settle for an unfamiliar second-place finish. 

“This is amazing,” Tucker exclaimed after doing a smoking burnout down the front straight that would make John Force envious. “He (Jones) is one heck of a race car driver, and I have been trying so hard to beat him. We always race each other hard, and that is what it is all about.”

Patrick Geiger, of Clovis, edged Kyle Labrie by inches in a photo finish to the 25-lap, non-points paying Mini Super Toyota main, and Kaine Bettancourt beat Andrew Williams to capture the 15-lap Bandoleros race.

The Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series Late Models & Pro Late Models returns to the Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 21. The program will also include the NorCal Legend Series, AAA Energy Systems Pro-4 Modifieds and NCMA Sprint Car Series.