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Eric Schmidt Wins
Coors Light 100 at Mesa Marin Raceway
Source: SRL Public
Relations/Eddie Alves - Date: May 17, 2005
Bakersfield, California - Mesa
Marin Raceway hosted round number three of the SRL Wild West
Late Model Shootout Saturday night in Bakersfield, California.
Roseville’s Eric Schmidt won the 100 lap “Coors Light 100” as
he earned his first career SRL victory. Finishing second was
Santee’s Mike Mendenhall, followed by 2004 Series Champion
Steve Belletto of Modesto, Troy Ermish, as Harold Rieker Jr.
rounded out the top five. “It was a great night for our entire
team. It was a great team effort. The car was consistent all
night, it was not the fastest but we were there at the end.”
Schmidt said.
Jason Fensler entered the race with an 11 point lead over Joey
Zampa. Fensler qualified fifth as Randy Hedrick grabbed his
first career SRL pole with a lap of 19.088 seconds around the
fast high-banked half mile. Ken Boyd qualified second
(19.095), Troy Ermish continued his consistent qualifying
effort with a lap that took 19.117 seconds. In just his second
career SRL qualifying attempt Mike Mendenhall qualified fourth
and stopped the clock at 19.139 seconds. Fensler had
mechanical problems during qualifying and the team elected to
change engines before the start of the “Coors Light 100”. Eric
Schmidt qualified sixth, Joey Zampa seventh, Jeff Anthony
eight, Jim Courage Jr. ninth as Dave Byrd rounded out the top
ten.
For the second race in a row Dave Byrd sat on the pole for the
race as Hedrick drew a 10 as the invert for the “Coors Light
100”. Byrd and Jim Courage Jr. led the strong field of 22 to
the green flag as Courage jumped to an early race lead after
the completion of lap one. Fensler started in the rear of the
field as he changed engines before the start of the race and
Hedrick also went to the rear as he hit the wall during the
trophy dash and resulted in suspension damage to his Monte
Carlo.
Courage and Byrd ran first and second until lap 15 when Joey
Zampa passed Byrd to take over the second position. Meanwhile
Jason Fensler charged his was up to the eight position after
starting in the 22nd position. Jeff Anthony took third away
from Byrd as Schmidt followed to take the fifth position. On
lap 20 Zampa started to pressure Courage for the lead as he
then completed the pass on lap 22 as Schmidt once again
followed into second. Lap 23 saw Jason Fensler move into third
as Courage slipped back to fourth as Jeff Anthony ran fifth on
lap 25.
Zampa and Schmidt ran side-by-side ad Schmidt was credited
with leading lap 26 as Zampa resumed the lead on lap 27.
Fensler followed closely behind in third. Mike Mendenhall
jumped into forth place after winning the trophy dash earlier
in the evening. Steve Belletto picked up five position by lap
30 as he ran sixth as the race still ran caution free. Fensler
snuck passed Schmidt to take over second as he had his eyes
set on race leader Joey Zampa. Fensler was not able to get
around Zampa until lap 60 with the nights first caution came
out for fluid on the track, which Zampa spun out in and hit
the wall. The race was red flagged briefly for track cleanup
and Fensler inherited the lead. Schmidt ran second then passed
Fensler for the lead on lap 66 as Mendenhall ran third, Steve
Belletto fourth and Troy Ermish fifth. Mendenhall passed
Fensler for second on lap 67 as Fensler fell back with a slow
leaking tire.
Harold Rieker Jr. moved into the fifth position on lap 72
after starting back in the 19th position. Ten laps later
Rieker moved into fourth, but was passed by Ermish with three
laps to go to finish fifth. Meanwhile Schmidt, Mendenhall, and
Steve Belletto ran in a tight pack as the race got closer to
the end. Schmidt was able to hold on late charges from
Mendenhall and Belletto as he was on first career SRL Wild
West Shootout race. “Hopefully more wins will come, this is
our second year in the series and it took us longer to get
here then we thought it would, but we finally did it.” A very
excited Eric Schmidt said in victory lane. “We made some big
changes in last night’s practice and today as well. We made
sure we stayed out of trouble, kept the car in one piece and
finished second.” Mendenhall said. After finishing third and
moving back into the top five in points Steve Belletto said
“The car was good all night. We needed a few more cautions to
keep up with the leaders as we had our work cut out for us
starting in the middle of the pack. We’re ready to go back to
Stockton, we always run well their.” Troy Ermish finished
fourth as he takes over the series point lead with a seven
point lead over Jason Fensler heading into Stockton 99
Speedway on May, 28th. Harold Rieker Jr. earned the Casciaro
Homes Hard Charger Award and finished fifth.
Jeff Anthony held on for sixth as Victory Circle Chassis and
Parts Rookie of the Year contenders Rusty Buholz and Jeremy
Wood finished seventh and eight. 2004 Rookie of the Year Mark
Smith finished ninth as Jim Courage Jr. finished tenth after
leading early.
For the first time in his career Fremont’s Troy Ermish sits on
top of the point standings. Fensler trails Ermish by seven
points. Ken Boyd sits in third points, 20 out of first place
after qualifying second at Mesa Marin and finishing 16th four
laps down. Joey Zampa falls three spots to fifth. With
Schmidt’s win he moves to six in the standings followed by
Mark Smith, Rusty Buholz, Jim Courage Jr., and Dave Byrd.
The SRL Wild West Shootout heads to Stockton 99 Speedway in
Stockton, California on Saturday, May 28th.
Average race speed: 87.692 MPH
Best lap time: 19.064 Speed 94.410 MPH (Jim Courage Lap 3)
Margin of Victory: 1.455 seconds
For more information visit the SRL Wild West Shootout’s
website at http://www.srllatemodels.com
Davey Hamilton’s SRL “Wild West Shootout” would like to thank
their 2005 Sponsors, which include: Afco, Apex Financial
Group, Bassett Racing Wheels, Brodix Inc., Casciaro Homes,
Dynatech, DPI, Eibach Springs, FRE, Five Star Stock Car
Bodies, Frank’s Radio Service, G. P. Fabrication, Hoosier Tire
West, Impact Racing, Fensler Racing Inc., Paul Oil Co., Perry
Race Cars, Peterson Fluid Systems, Pit Stop USA.Com, Sunoco,
Total Seal Inc., U. S. Brake, and Victory Circle Chassis and
Parts. |
