Smith return to winning form with Delta non-wing victory

2018 Delta Speedway Non-Wing champion Tj Smith won his first Delta feature win since July 27, 2019, scoring the 30-lap win ahead of 2019 champion Caden Sarale during Saturday night’s fifth points race at the 1/7th mile dirt oval. The Financial Center Credit Union-backed bullring at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds also saw a breakthrough win for Brody Rubio in the Jr. Sprints.

Smith topped Sarale in time trials by just .034 seconds but neither driver was able to win their heat races. A zero inversion played to their favor and lined the duo up on the front row for the $500 to win, 30-lap feature. 

Stockton’s Sarale jumped ahead to the early lead before Smith was back into command on lap seven. Lapped traffic played a factor in the finish, giving Sarale a shot underneath Smith coming to the finish line. Smith persevered for the narrow .071 second victory – perhaps the closest of the season at Delta – ahead of Sarale. Cody Gray finished a close third ahead of Brian Gilbert and Ripon’s Brandon Carey.

An outstanding 22-car turnout came out to compete in the Super 600 competition, also worth $500 to the winner. 2018 champion Nikko Panella led an incredibly fast qualifying session at 9.400 seconds. The top 20 qualifiers all qualified into the nine second bracket for one of the fastest qualifying sessions in speedway history.

All three heat race winners – Colton Huelsmann, Cody Key, and Rickey Sanders – ran nine second laps as well. A four car invert placed 2019 champion Caden Sarale on the pole alongside 2019 Plaza Park champion Corey Day. Sarale charged ahead with the lead and faced a challenge from Panella in lapped traffic. Sarale drove ahead once more to take the win, ahead of Panella, Day, Sanders, and Raio Salmon.

“Big A” Austin Wood of Sacramento won his second Restricted main event of the year. Tracy’s Brandon Riveira led qualifying before round four winner Colin Kirby started on the pole position for the 25-lap feature. Wood leapt from fifth starting position into the lead by lap two. Wood topped Isabel Barnes of Brentwood by 1.5 seconds at the checkered flag with points leader Mattix Salmon finishing third. Kirby was fourth ahead of Reilee Phillips. Phillips overcame an earlier incident to salvage a top-five.

Brody Rubio of Manteca led all 20-laps for his first Delta Jr. Sprints win. 2019 season runner-up Kyle Fernandez finished second while seventh starting Hayden Stepps finished third. Stepps’ third place finish boosts her to a four-point advantage over 2019 champion Lucas Mauldin in the standings. A special 15-lap non-points race was held for $200 in cash with Stepps claiming the victory as well.

Delta Speedway presented by Financial Center Credit Union continues on August 22nd with the sixth points race for all four of the track’s regular Micro Sprint divisions.

For more information on Delta Speedway presented by Financial Center Credit Union, follow us online at www.deltaspeedwaystockton.com or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Delta Speedway presented by Financial Center Credit Union thanks Interstate Truck Center, Lovotti Air, Van De Pol Petroleum, Kludt Oil, Hoosier Racing Tire, Starr Property Management, Performance Electronics, Genova Bakery, Bruno’s Peppers, Motion Media, and Panella Trucking for their support.

Jr. Sprints – 20 laps
1. 25R-Brody Rubio[1]; 2. 77K-Kyle Fernandez[4]; 3. 98-Hayden Stepps[7]; 4. 55X-Lucas Mauldin[5]; 5. 5-Kellan Harper[2]; 6. 10P-Peyton Whitehouse[3]; 7. 88M-Makayla Tatoole[6]; 8. 96-Briggs Davis[8]; 9. (DNS) 20-Jonathan Andrichuk

Non-Wing – 30 laps
1. 14-Tyler Smith[1]; 2. 32-Caden Sarale[2]; 3. 4G-Cody Gray[15]; 4. 4-Brian Gilbert[3]; 5. 55-Brandon Carey[4]; 6. 06-Blake Bower[5]; 7. 29M-Austin Stone[11]; 8. 77-Sage Bordenave[13]; 9. 55X-Nikko Panella[16]; 10. 74-Adam Elbert[18]; 11. 84B-Zacary Brooks[8]; 12. 2-Brody Petrie[14]; 13. 35W-Nate Wait[10]; 14. 52-Joe Silva[21]; 15. 4Q-Mike Graves[17]; 16. 27D-Don McLeister[19]; 17. 5K-AJ Kesler[20]; 18. 10-Johnathon Henry[7]; 19. 85-Robbie Lewis[6]; 20. 44X-Drew Laeber[9]; 21. 21K-Kyle Mentch[12]

Restricted – 25 laps
1. 2A-Austin Wood[5]; 2. 30-Isabel Barnes[4]; 3. 5-Mattix Salmon[6]; 4. 83K-Colin Kirby[1]; 5. 88-Reilee Phillips[2]; 6. 05R-Brandon Riveira[9]; 7. 10R-Rylee Whitehouse[10]; 8. 67-JJ Loss[7]; 9. 88T-Matthew Tatoole[3]; 10. 63-Colton Key[12]; 11. 20-Otto Perreira[8]; 12. 76-Triton OBrien[11]

Super 600 – 30 laps
1. 24-Caden Sarale[1]; 2. 73-Nikko Panella[4]; 3. 41-Corey Day[2]; 4. 17-Rickey Sanders[12]; 5. 21-Raio Salmon[6]; 6. 10JR-Cody Key[8]; 7. 32A-Colton Huelsmann[10]; 8. 14X-Cody Christensen[7]; 9. 12-Alex Panella[5]; 10. 1-Travis Labat[11]; 11. 7T-Logan Trevino[9]; 12. 83V-Tim Vaught[20]; 13. 20-James Andrichuk[15]; 14. 2-Hailey Wood[14]; 15. 27-Ron Singh[17]; 16. 19-Nate Matherly[16]; 17. 34-Devon Courtnier[3]; 18. 44X-Jeffery Pahule[13]; 19. 91C-Colby Greig[19]; 20. (DNS) 22M-Brett McColloch; 21. (DNS) 1ST-Lee Brewer; 22. (DNS) 25B-Blaine Baxter

Delta Speedway PR