October 8, 2022, Anderson CA… Defending North State Modified Series champion Scott Winters of Tracy dominated the action at Shasta Speedway Saturday night by first turning the quickest lap at 16.342 seconds, earning the O’Reillys Auto Parts Fastest Qualifying Award, and then leading all but nine laps to win the ninth annual “Lloyd Burton Against the Wind Modified Challenge.”
The 60 lap event was in honor of Lloyd Burton, the founder of the Northern California Auto Racing Alumni (NCARA) and long-time supporter of auto racing in the Chico-Shasta area.
The six car invert put Oregon driver Devin LaHorgue along side Cloverdale’s Dustin DeRosier in the front row for the start of the 60 lapper, and when the Johnny Miskill green flag dropped, DeRosier powered into the lead. Anderson’s Keith Bloom dove in hard on the high side and took second away from LaHorgue on lap two. Bloom continued his outside run, pulled next to DeRosier on lap five, and completed the pass to pace the field the following round.
Meanwhile Winters came from sixth starting to third and set his sights on the front runners. Winters also chose the outside lane to make his move, running a side-by-side battle with Bloom for three laps before making the winning pass on the tenth circuit.
In mid-field both Rich Cobb and Richie Potts drove by Jordan Smith for fifth and sixth before Smith spun in turn two to bring out the first of two yellow flags. The double-file restart saw Bloom dive in hard, but Winters kept his pace to maintain his lead.
On lap 37 Orion Mosher’s car came alive and he passed both LaHorgue and Tom Elam on the same go-around. Moments later LaHorgue retired his mount to the pits.
After six more laps DeRosier’s engine let loose with his car stopping on the front stretch. This set the stage for another restart with Winter’s cautiously sustaining his lead.
Cobb, who had previously set second fast time (16.626), lost power on lap 46, but continued to run at the back of the pack. This put Potts in third and Mosher in fourth behind Winters and Bloom. The final 10 laps went without incident with Winters the happy winner over Bloom, Potts, Mosher, Elam, Cobb and John Baker. Sal Lopez was an early drop out with suspension problems.
Winter’s received his award and $1500 check from the Burton family, and his name will be engraved on the custom-made perpetual trophy that will now be housed in the NCARA Hall of Fame rolling museum. This was Winter’s third NSMS victory in 2022, and it was enough to earn the third NSMS championship for the Ferrari-Kramer racing team.
Potts and Bloom won $100 and $50 respectively in the Scribner Jugs Dash for Cash. The two O’Reilly’s Hard Charger Awards went to Potts and Mosher for their season-best NSMS finishes at third and fourth.
The Naake Suspension certificate was awarded to Mosher, and gift certificates from Frank’s Radios went to the three Oregon drivers Rich Cobb, Devin LaHorgue and Tom Elam.
The next event for the North State Modified Series will be the championship awards banquet on January 15 at Granzellas in Williams.
The North State Modified Series would not be possible without the support of Anderson Logging of Fort Bragg, Hoosier Tire West, Sunoco Race Fuels, Naake Suspension, Mark & Sharon Baldwin, Ray Elliott, Doyce Eaton, Scribner Plastics, McMurray & Sons Roofing, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Scribner’s Plastics and Frank’s Radios. Special thanks to the NSMS hosting race tracks Shasta Speedway, Redwood Acres Raceway, Madera Speedway and Stockton 99 Speedway.
