Aton and Johnson capture inaugural Pit Stop USA Sprint Car Series feature wins
PETALUMA, CA – The Pit Stop USA Sprint Car Series kicked off its inaugural season at Petaluma Speedway in dramatic fashion on Saturday night with two first-time feature winners celebrating victory at the 3/8 mile oval. With a very strong field and a rapidly changing racing surface, the Pit Stop USA Sprint Car Series Winged 360 Sprint Car division premier feature was anything but predictable.
Brett Rollag started off the evening by capturing fast time. Heat race wins went to Billy Aton, Bradley Terrell and Geoff Ensign. Then it was Benicia’s Billy Aton who had the dialed-in the right setup for the hooked-up track and went on to win the 25 lap Pit Stop USA Winged 360 Sprint Car Series feature. Aton started the feature in the third position and grabbed the lead on lap 12 when leader Richard Bailey, driving a brand new and beautifully prepared A.R.T. chassis got into the wall trying to get around a lapped car ending his night. Bailey had commented earlier in the evening that this was the first all new car he had ever driven and he looked to be the car to beat before his night abruptly ended against the turn two wall.
Trouble also found second place contender Shawn Wright when he cut down his right rear tire trying to pass the same lapped car handing the hard charging Aton the lead. Aton led the remaining laps with Jeremy Phillips, Adam McCarthy, and Trent Canales in hot pursuit over the next six laps. McCarthy later dropped out of the event coming to a stop against the turn 2 wall. Aton was never seriously challenged in the final laps and was declared the winner after Art McCarthy, Jr. flipped in turn 1 bringing out the red on the white flag lap. Kenny Drew was also involved with nowhere to go getting tangled up with McCarthy’s car in the late race incident. This marked Aton’s first career victory at Petaluma Speedway and he looks to be a contender for the Pit Stop USA Sprint Car Series Championship.
Jeremy Phillips finished second and Trent Canales finished third all the way from his 11th starting position. Fast-qualifier Brett Rollag finished fourth, and rounding out the top ten were Billy Butler, Kirk Simpson, Kenny Drew, heat winner Bradley Terrell, Matthew Haulot, and Art McCarthy Jr. Bradley Terrell and Geoff Ensign both captured heat race wins.
The Pit Stop USA Wingless Sprint Car Division also saw a first time Petaluma Speedway winner as Stockton’s DJ Johnson captured fast time, a heat race win and led the 25 lap feature from flag to flag in a dominating performance. Napa’s Joe Stornetta ran second for the first 10 laps until Zack Lynskey slipped past and held the second place position for the final 15 laps. Stornetta held the third position followed by Klint Simpson, Scott Hall, Bill Cornwell, Scotty Dupont, Gary Nelson Jr., Dustin Baxter, and Bret Barney.
PIT STOP USA WINGED 360 SPRINT CARS
Fast Qualifier: Brett Rollag 14.565.
Heat 1: Billy Aton; Trent Canales; Brett Lay; Jeremy Phillips; Richard Bailey; Rollag; Chase Wood.
Heat 2: Bradley Terrell; David Lindt Jr.; Art McCarthy Jr.; Billy Butler; Chase Johnson; Kirk Simpson.
Heat 3: Geoff Ensign; Shawn Wright; Cole Wood; Adam McCarthy; Kenny Drew; Matthew Haulot.
Main Event: Aton; Phillips; Canales; Rollag; Butler; Simpson; Drew; Terrell; Haulot; Art McCarthy; Johnson; Adam McCarthy; Chase Wood; Ensign; Bailey; Wright; Cole Wood; Lay; Lindt.
PIT STOP USA WINGLESS SPRINT CARS
Fast Qualifier: DJ Johnson; 16.345.
Heat 1: Johnson; Zack Lynskey; Bret Barney; Klint Simpson; Tim Barber; Scotty Dupont; Kyle Bakkie; Trevor Schmid.
Heat 2: Billy Aton; Donny VanLare; Scott Hall; Joe Stornetta; Bob Newberry; Nick Larsen; Gary Nelson Jr.; Colton Slack; Dustin Baxter.
Main Event: Johnson; Lynskey; Stornetta; Klint Simpson; Hall; Bill Cornwell; Dupont; Nelson; Baxter; Barney; Barber; Larsen; Schmid; Aton; Bakkie; VanLare; Slack.
Best regards,
Ed Coughenour
President
C&C Racing LLC
Phone: 707-781-3062
FAX: 707-781-3081
