Erickson’s late pass secures another Madera stock car victory

Matt Erickson resumed his domination of Madera Speedway stock car racing Saturday night, making a late pass to win the Open Late Model 100-lap feature.

The driver from La Grange passed Ryan Philpott of Tracy on lap 97 and went on to his fourth $1,000 victory in five events. (He was runner-up in the other race.)

Erickson missed the last late model race at the track (not part of the open series) while serving a suspension earned during the July 2 race for using an illegal rev limiter.

Saturday night, Erickson started seventh and steadily moved up in a competitive race that saw four different leaders. Fast-qualifier Bryan Herzog of Clovis led the most, from lap 21 through 72, before dropping out and finishing 15th in the 22-car field.

Philpott finished second, less than a half-second behind. Garland Tyler of Modesto was third, Rick Thompson of Fresno fourth and Dillon Tucker of Madera Ranchos fifth.

Twelve-year-old Dezel West of Las Vegas won the 50-lap Junior Late Model race. He led all the way in the series for drivers ages 10-16 but was challenged at the finish by 13-year-old season points leader Austin Herzog (Bryan’s son) who rose from sixth starting in the 14-car field.

Other winners were Bert Stephens (MSTs), Joseph Riechmuth (Super Hobby Stocks), Tim Curtis (Toyota Sedans) and JoJo Stearns (WSRA Mini Cups).

King of the West – Shane Golobic of Fremont won Saturday night’s sprint car feature at Placerville Speedway.

Season points leader Kyle Hirst of Paradise in the Easton-based Tarlton Racing car led 17 of the 30 laps on the quarter-mile oval, but he was hampered over the last 10 laps after banging the outside cushion hard, leaving his right rear hub full of the Placerville red clay. Still, he finished fourth, one spot ahead of his main rival for the championship, Bud Kaeding of Campbell in the Oakhurst-based Williams Motorsports car.

Et cetera – Dominic Scelzi of Fresno had his best weekend of racing since heading to the Midwest in May, scoring a second and a sixth in Ohio Sprint Car Series action. Carson Macedo of Lemoore and Cory Eliason of Kingsburg are also barnstorming through the Midwest this summer.

This story was originally published July 31, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Erickson’s late pass secures another Madera stock car victory."