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| Jacob Gomes won the SRL Southwest Tour event last September (Jason Wedehase photo) |
Via Madera Speedway Media
MADERA, CALIFORNIA (June 4, 2019) – Two of the most prestigious short track touring series in the country will co-headline the Lucas Oil Summertime Horsepower Nationals, when the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour and Spears Manufacturing Modified Series compete at Madera Speedway on Saturday night. The Southwest Tour 125 presented by 51FIFTY LTM and the Modified Series 75 presented by K&N Filters will feature drivers from across the western United States racing for over $50,000 in prize money.
Both events will be televised for later broadcasts on MAVTV, both produced by the Madera Racing on MAVTV crew. The Southwest Tour Series are the fastest stock cars that compete at the speedway and are enjoying one of their strongest car counts in their 19th season of racing.
Four-time series champion Derek Thorn of Bakersfield, CA headlines the Southwest Tour entry list on the heels of a victory in the series last event at the Las Vegas Bullring. Popular Manteca driver Jacob Gomes, the 2015 champion of the tour, won the most recent SRL event at Madera last September.
Other past winners at Madera on the entry list include 1999 NASCAR Southwest Tour winner Craig Raudman, who is in his farewell season in 2019 driving for Dave Reed Racing. Veteran Bob Lyon won under the NASCAR banner in 2000 while Carlos Vieira has a pair of Pacific Challenge Series wins at the venue.
Several graduates of the 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model Series will be competing including two-time champion and eight-time winner Jesse Love, age 14, and six-time winner and current Nut Up Pro Late Model points leader Austin Herzog, age 16. Eric Nascimento, Jr. is another Madera Speedway graduate who is battling for the 2019 Rookie of the Year honors.
The Modified portion of the activities is shaping up to be a duel between Ryan Schartau of Montclair, CA who earned his first career victory this year at Las Vegas, and former champion and two-time Madera winner Dylan Cappello of Peoria, AZ. They rank second and third in the standings respectively.
The current entry list of nearly 20 cars shows Cappello and October winner Justin Johnson of Las Vegas, NV as the only previous winners at the one-third mile oval. Johnson is a two-time NASCAR state champion and finished second in the 2018 Modified standings. 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model Series alum Kyle Keller of Las Vegas leads the rookie battle.
Madera’s Hobby Stock division will also be competing, led by 2018 champion Steve Schermerhorn. A fan favorite, the Legends of Kearney Bowl bring out their rolling museum of vintage super modifieds from the past with routinely large fields as well.
Action gets started on Friday evening with practice from 5 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Saturday’s program begins with pit gates opening at 1:00 p.m. Practices run from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. with qualifying and heat races to follow. The SPEARS Southwest Tour will qualify at 6:00 p.m. with opening ceremonies and main events to follow.
Tickets for this busy evening of touring stock car racing are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors, $10 for youth ages 6-12, and kids five and under are free!
For more information about Madera Racing on MAVTV please visit www.racemadera.com or www.mavtv.com. For more information on Nut Up Industries please visit www.nutupindustries.com and for more information about 51FIFTY Energy Drink visit www.51fiftyenergydrink.com
Madera Speedway is presented by major partners Nut Up Industries, 51FIFTY Energy Drink, iPull-uPull, and Color Fast Industries. Contingency sponsors include Five Star Bodies, Maita Motorsports, McCallister Precision Marketing, and StopTech Brakes.
Madera Racing on MAVTV airs Thursdays every week. The show airs at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. PST and is also available on the Lucas Oil Racing TV app. The first episode of 2019 will air on Thursday June 6th featuring the $5,000 to win opening round for the 2019 Nut Up Pro Late Model Series.
