Scott Winters Returns to Spears Modified Series Victory Lane

Bakersfield, CA – Scott Winters has been winning in the Modified Division since the 90’s. But it has been since 2016 since he has won in the Spears Modified Series (formerly Lucas Oil Modified Series) at Rocky Mountain Raceway (UT), a streak that spanned 30 starts. But that streak ended Saturday night, for the four-time North State Modified Series champion, after his sixth series win at Redwood Acres Raceway (CA) in the “Spears Manufacturing 75 presented by MAVTV”. Winters drew the number one pill to start from the pole and never looked back in a dominating performance.

“I’m really happy for the Farrari / Kramer Racing Team to win this thing”, Winters expressed. “Our boss Wayne couldn’t be here this week, so we miss him a lot. We wish he could have celebrated this with us. The whole weekend we were fighting drive issues. So, you name it on this car, the team worked hard to get drive in the car. We made a last few adjustments this morning, we thought we will give it a shot with what we’ve got, so they must have got it right.”

Cameron Austin started the official action by earning the RaceCals Fast Time Award for the evening. Holly Clark turned the second quickest lap with Winters third, Kylei Keown, Sierra Furia, and Rich Cobb were the final redraw participants. Winter drew the number one pill to start on the pole, and jumped quickly to the lead, with Austin in tow in second. The two leaders separated themselves from the pack ahead of Cobb, Keown, Clark and Furia. Cobb got freight trained, and fell back, as Clark was able to get by Keown on lap 23. Furia followed several laps later, after an extended battle. The field then held position until the Competition Caution flew on lap 40, with Winters leading Austin, Clark, Furia, Keown, Kyle Jacks and Sammy Nuno.

The restart saw Winters back out front after a battle with Austin. Clark took advantage and moved under Austin, battling for second. Clark would grab the edge and take up chase of Winters. Meanwhile, Keown was able to battle back by Furia. But on lap 60, they exchanged positions once again. As the laps clicked off, Winters was able to slowly inch away from Clark, who maintained a similar lead over Austin. On lap 75, the checkered flew for Winters, who claimed the $2,500 victory in front of a healthy crowd. Clark brought her #17 home second, with Austin, Furia, and Keown the top five.

Despite the win looking easy from the outside, it was not without concerns for his fellow competitors, as Winters stated, recalling the lap 40 restart.

“Austin set Fast Time and Holly was second quick, and I knew they were fast cars. We were running in that first portion, and saving a little bit, knowing that break was going to come. So, I wasn’t sure how much they were holding back. Once I heard I was clear by two, three, four, I felt that “oh, we can back it down a little bit and save for a future caution.”

Clark was making her first appearance at the Redwood Acres 3/8-mile. She was fast in qualifying, but started fifth after the redraw. With her position near mid field, the team knew they would have to conserve tires before making a run later in the race.

“We started fifth after qualifying second, so we knew we had a fast car. It was just finding opportunities (to advance) where we could and not forcing anything those first 40 laps, waiting for that first (competition) caution to come out”, Clark explained. “We weren’t really pushing anything, trying to save tires. With that caution, I was able to pull back up and get past Cameron there. That was really a help for us. Then I was trying to catch Winters there, but our car just got a little too loose there at the end, and I couldn’t get him.

Clark continued with her assessment of the facility and the help she received over the weekend, “It is so much fun racing this track and learning the tire and learning the track. I think my dad for doing so well this weekend. So, thanks to him and my mom. It was a great time, and I am excited to come back.”

Results: 1. Scott Winters, 2. Holly Clark, 3. Cameron Austin, 4. Sierra Furia, 5. Kylei Keown, 6. Sammy Nuno, 7. Kyle Jacks, 8. Eric Price Jr., 9. Dustin DeRosier, 10. Semi Tour, 11. Rich Cobb, 12. Sal Martinez, DNS. Tom Elam

Story, PC: K. Peters, Spears Modified Media