By NOAH REED

Special to the Bulletin

STOCKTON — Stockton drivers Larry Tankersley and Ethan Rumsey took home thrilling wins in the Double Points Night at the Stockton 99 Speedway. Both drivers fought hard through tough fields and had great one-on-one battles throughout the night.

After topping the speed charts in qualifying, Stockton’s JoJo Stearns was relegated to the fourth row for the start of the 50-lap main after the redraw put Lincoln native Daniel Devore on the front row along with Stockton’s Ty Carlson to the outside. As the 11-car field fired off into the first set of turns, Carlson got a fender out front as he crossed the stripe and would get clear of Devore on the second lap.

On lap 6, Stockton’s Gary Shafer Jr. and defending race winner Ethan Nascimento, of Ripon, made contact that sent Nascimento up the track in turn two. Both cars were unharmed, but their incident would escalate into something more serious several laps later.

The caution was brought out just one lap later for a frightening crash involving Lodi driver Jeanna Ramos. Her car drove straight into the turn 3 tire barrier that separates the wall from the pit exit. The front of Ramos' car was torn to pieces, but the driver was cleared by the track medical staff.

The yellow came back out shortly after the race restarted when Stearns got into the back of Devore. This destroyed the entirety of the front of the Stearns car and ruined his night. Devore got away with only a solo spin and no damage but had to start at the tail of the field.

As the pack came back to life with 33 to go, Shafer got into the bumper of Tankersley while battling for the fourth spot and slid up into Nascimento. The two cars rubbed doors, sending Nascimento into the backstretch wall and ending his chance of back-to-back wins. Shafer wound up with a cut tire and was forced to pit for repairs, but would maintain his spot on the lead lap.

On the next restart, Carlson and Tankersley had a ferocious battle for the lead. They fought side-by-side for several laps, which allowed Devore, who was charging to the pack, to close in on the battle.

Devore got a run exiting turn four and made a bold move to make it a three-wide fight for position. Devore was able to get alongside Carlson for second and Tankersley got clear for the race lead. However, Devore would have to face adversity once more as Carlson got into him in turn one and sent Devore around for a second time.

Tankersley would survive several more restarts to put himself back in the winner’s circle and solidify his points lead going into the two-week break before these drivers hit the track again.

“This car works great once we get into a long run and we can start running laps.” Tankersley explained. “A few weeks back, we made a few changes on the car and finished third. We changed it back, obviously. There’s a few things we should have done to it, but we’re in victory circle.”

Devore overcame two spins to finish the night in the runner-up spot. Shafer completed the podium in third with Carlson and Nick Mello of Galt rounding out the top five.

The Nor Cal Mini Stock race featured an intense two-car battle for the win between Manteca’s Jordan Mast and Stockton’s Ethan Rumsey that lasted for over 10 laps.

Mast set the pace for the night with his fastest qualifying lap at 16.308 seconds, but due to the invert, Sonora native Steve Ford started on the pole position.

Ford led the field to the green flag but was overpowered by Rumsey entering the first turn. Mast started the night in third and was unable to get around Ford until lap 8. By then, Rumsey had driven off to a five-car-length advantage.

A caution that restart four laps later reset the field four laps later saw Rumsey and Mast both drive away from the pack. The final 12 laps ran green, and the leaders ran nose to tail for each of the remaining circuits.

Mast took his No. 69 machine to the inside of Rumsey entering the corners but was unable to break the momentum of Rumsey and was forced to settle for a hard-fought second-place finish just ahead of Ford while Rumsey picked up his second consecutive win this season by leading all 25 laps of the main event.

“It means the world,” Rumsey stated when asked about scoring the win after the battle with Mast. “I’m thankful for Jordan getting his car fixed, because I really wanted that competition and it was there.”

In the Pure Stock division, a familiar name took home the checkered flag and special 75th Anniversary medallion. To start the day, Lodi’s Brandon Jones took quick time and lined up in the third position as a result of the invert. This left fellow Lodi driver Bryan Jones to start on the front row with Stockton native Jeremy Tucker.

As the green flag waved, Tucker got through the gears better than Bryan and was maneuvered around the outside for the race lead entering turn one. Brandon followed Tucker through to take the second spot away and settled in behind the leader.

Brandon made his move on lap 6, he dove to the inside entering turn one and the duo ran wheel to wheel for 3 laps. Then, going into turn 1, Brandon powered past Tucker to take the spot away. He would never relinquish the lead, as he took the victory ahead of Tucker and Stockton’s Jerry Crawford.

In the Grand American Modified feature, drivers lined up for a 50-lap main event, the longest of their season. Lakeport native Ian Elliott was the fastest man of the day, setting a fast lap of 14.511 seconds during practice. He rolled off in the fifth spot to start the race as Sacramento’s Calvin Hegje paced the field to the green.

Hegje led the opening 20 laps as he, Elliott, and Scott Winters of Tracy separated themselves from the rest of the pack. On lap 21, Elliott ducked to the inside of Hegje as he headed down the front straightaway. He held his car right on the white line through turns one and two and wrestled the lead away.

A lap later, Winters followed suit and got around Hegje. From this point on, the top five drivers held serve and ran a clean race. No on-track incidents occurred, and all 50 laps went green to the finish.

Elliott picked up his first win of the season and became the third different winner in the Grand American Modifieds. Winters came home in the second spot with Hegje finishing the podium.

Racing returns once more next Saturday, Aug. 10th for the Night of Champions. Pro Late Models, Pure Stocks, Nor Cal Mini Stocks, Legends of 99, and the Legends of Kearney Bowl action await a tribute to the past. An autograph session with former 99 Speedway track champions Jeff Belleto, Dan Reed, David Philpott, Larry David, Pete Anderson, Manteca’s Guy, Danny Guibor, and Dave Byrd await race fans who join in the celebration of Stockton 99 Speedway’s 75th anniversary season.