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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cooksey scores
Big Dog #2 win at Altamont against huge field
Steven
Blakesley / Westcar Late Model Series
Gridley,
Calif. –
Doff
Cooksey Jr. of
Brentwood,
CA picked up his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
Western Late Model win of 2008, Sunday afternoon, at
Altamont
Motorsports Park as part of the Noceti Grupe Inc. Big Dog #2.
Cooksey, the 2007
Rookie of the Year, won the 75 lap feature ahead of Carson City,
NV’s Bobby Hodges and claimed $2000 for the win.
An outstanding
car count of 39 took part in the exciting action on a comfortable
day at the fastest half-mile in the west.
Cooksey, after
winning an earlier heat race, led the huge starting grid to the
green flag. Cooksey’s momentum was slowed on lap six when Al Vogel
of Ukiah, Brock Monroe of Escalon, and several other cars tangled in
turn one.
Big Dog #1 winner
Jason Fensler of Modesto, CA stalled in turn four with mechanical
problems to draw the caution on lap 10.
On the restart,
points leader Jason Gilbert of Pleasanton and Justin Philpott of
Tracy battled heavily, with David Philpott also in the fray.
Gilbert moved
into second and the caution flew again on lap 14 when Guy Guibor of
Manteca spun in turn four.
The leaders set
forth on a long green flag run with heavy lapped traffic. Cooksey
and Gilbert ran nose-to-tail in a heated battle.
On lap 32, a
large accident broke out into turn four as the field checked up.
Michael Wendt of Lodi rammed into the back of Vito Ranuio of
Stockton. Andrew Livengood of
Richmond was also
collected. Livengood and Wendt were forced to retire for the
afternoon.
A series of
cautions followed, with state points leader Joey Stearns of Stockton
suffering mechanical problems and loosing four laps. 2006
Stockton
champion Guy Guibor also surrendered to car issues for the second
straight event.
After a fourth
consecutive caution, Tri-Holiday winner Tim Spurgeon of Danville was
removed for the event for rough driving with Dallas Glenn of Fresno.
Glenn and Sprugeon tangled in turn four with Glenn suffering race
ending damage.
The eventful race
continued its drama on lap 68. With seven laps remaining, Gilbert
and Madera Speedway points leader Kyle Gottula of Modesto made
contact into turn one. Gilbert was sent spinning and Gottula was
sent to the rear of the field.
On the restart,
All American Speedway points leader Gary Glenn of Orangevale went to
work on David Philpott for second, but the second position proved to
be a curse. Glenn and Philpott made contact, with Philpott spinning
and Glenn being black flagged.
The young Cooksey
held on for the final four laps in a thrilling finish that satisfied
the home fans.
Cooksey was
followed home Bobby Hodges of Carson City, NV. Hodges edged out a
hard-charging Carlos Vieira from
Merced
who started 31st. Gilbert and 2000 Irwindale Speedway
James Weston of Goleta rounded out the top-five.
Finishing results for Big Dog #2 "All American Racing" 75
Note:
Bolded entries are cars earning Westcar points
1. 57 Doff
Cooksey Ariel Control Brentwood, CA
2. 89 Bobby
Hodges Nevada Automotive Test Center Carson City, NV
3. 78 Carlos
Vieira
4. 44 Jason
Gilbert AltamontRacingGear.com Pleasanton, CA
5. 15 James
Weston Auto Pro Racing Engines Goleta, CA
6. 57h David
Hulsey Groth Bros. Chevrolet Manteca, CA
7. 05x David
Philpott
8. 73 Ken
Benhamou SAS German Auto San Ramon, CA
9. 71 Kyle
Gottula
10. 57m Wes
Miller
11. 28 Johnny
Morrissey RenoHiFi.com Tahoe City, CA
12. 3x Chet
Danburg Carson City, NV
13. 8 Joey
Stearns
14. 50 Gary
Glenn
15. 27 Vito
Ranuio
16. 3 Ron
Robeck Robeck’s Welding Milpitas, CA
17. 5 Brian
Koski Groth Bros. Chervolet Pleasanton, CA
18. 05 Justin
Philpott
19. 7 Kris
Keller Carson City, NV
20. 4 Brandon
Trevethan
21. 35 Greg
Hock
22. 9 Lisa
Riordan Silicon Valley Express Scotts Valley, CA
23. 86 Tim
Sprugeon Speedzorb Danville, CA
24. 21 Dallas
Glenn Fairway Financial Fresno, CA
25. 61 Guy
Guibor
26. 20 Rod
Winfree
27. 2 Michael
Wendt Wendt & Sons Construction Lodi, CA
28. 4 Andrew
Livengood West Construction Richmond, CA
29. 31 Mark
Squadrito
30. 5 Jason
Fensler
31. 67 Rudy
Marquez
32. 5u Al
Vogel Vogel’s RV Ukiah, CA
33. 13 Brock
Monroe
34. 23
Christopher Crompe
35. 38 Bryan
Hitchock
DNS: Gary
Franks, Ryan Thomason, Chris Bammer
Westcar Late
Model Series is online at
www.westcarseries.com |
