Darrin Knight, family and crew at the North State Modified Series banquet (Photo By Carrie Lauenroth)

Williams, CA. January 14, 2017 - The third annual awards banquet honoring the top ten drivers in the 2016 North State Modified Series, presented by Protect the Harvest, (NSMS) was held Saturday night at Granzella's Banquet Facility in Williams, CA. Business Manager Nadine Strauss acted as master of ceremonies and speeches were given by series co-promoters Jeff Stephens and Bob Strauss.

Darrin Knight of Kelseyville was crowned NSMS champion for the second consecutive time. Knight was the Wenteq hard charger twice, the fast qualifier 3 times, and laid claim to 3 main event victories during the season. He followed that up with five other top-5 finishes.

Second place honors went to Charlie Collins of Upper Lake. Collins captured back-to-back events at Ukiah Speedway and All American Speedway. He was a three-time recipient of the Sunoco/Penney Racing Supply Fast Qualifier award. Other than his 2 wins he had 3 -2nd place finishes and 2 other top 5's.

Third overall was Darrin Sullivan of Kelselyville. He was also the winner of the 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award. Mike Collins of Nice chalked up fourth place. Collins will be taking a break from racing next year to help out on Sullivan's pit crew.

Fifth place went to Codi Barba of Cobb. Barba supported both an NSMS modified and a Nor-Cal Pro-4 modified last year. Sacramento's Jason Philpot finished sixth and was noted as the “winningest” driver with four NSMS victories in 2016.

Sierra Furia of Lakeport finished in seventh place and earned the Most Improved Driver award. She finished in the top 10 six of the 8 races that she ran. Veteran driver Richie Potts of Petaluma was eighth.

Rich Cobb of Klamath Falls, Oregon was the ninth place finisher, and tenth went to Nick Lyons of Loomis.

Recognition went to the series sponsors including Protect the Harvest, Lucas Oil, Sinister Diesel, Wenteq High Performance Race Car Parts, Swartz Diesel, Penney Racing Supply, American Race Tires, WrapStar Pro, 5-Star Bodies, DJ Safety, Sunoco Race Fuels, Naake Suspension, Buckhorn Bar & Grill, Scribner Plastics and Renner Petroleum.