Rhonda Costa/For the Nevada AppealTroy Regier (in driver's suit) with S&S Motorsports team, from left, John Stewart, and co-owners Tom Silsby and Steve Shaw in Winner's Circle after the 38th annual Vukovich Classic race at Madera Speedway Saturday. Not pictured, Mike Burts.
MADERA, Calif., " The battle waged Saturday at Madera Speedway in Madera, Calif., for the 38th annual Vukovich Classic pitted several of today's best supermodified drivers against each other. It is surely a race that will be talked about for years to come.
Hoping recent chassis and set-up changes to the Carson City-based S&S Motorsports racecar were effective, co-owners Steve Shaw and Tom Silsby still tweaked here and there the car's set up to gain better handling for driver Troy Regier of Dinuba, Calif. The hard work by the team paid off handsomely as Regier drove one of his best races to add another Vukovich Classic trophy to his collection.
"This race was the most fun and one of the best races I've had in a long time," Regier said. "(It was) one of my best races ever."
The S&S Motorsports team dedicated its win to B.J. Barnhurst and Courtney Lewis, two longtime supporters of the supermodified racing series, both who recently passed away.
With 15 supermodifieds taking the green flag for the 50-lap main event, Pat Whittet of Boise, Idaho took the early lead after beginning on the front row. Lonnie Adamson of Salt Lake City challenged and gained the lead 11 laps out. As Jim Birges, who hails from Fresno, charged inside of Whittet for the fifth position, Birges tapped the inside of Whittet causing Whittet to spin in turn 2. At the restart it was Adamson in the lead, Bobby Dalton of San Martin,Calif. in second, Regier third, A.J. Russell of Clovis, Calif. fourth and Birges fifth.
The battle for second ensued between Regier and Dalton with Regier inching his way inside Dalton on lap 14 for second. Regier quickly set his sights on Adamson as the crowed cheered for their local favorite. Both Adamson and Regier worked through lapped traffic, splitting between cars on the straightaways and through the turns. As Adamson and Regier were counting down the laps, Birges had made his way to them to make it a three-way fight for the lead.
On lap 39, as Adamson approached the lapped car of Lance Jackson, Regier chose the low line going down the back stretch blocking Adamson behind Jackson taking the lead in turns 3-4.
As the caution flew on lap 43 for Whittet as he spun, Regier found Birges on his tail in the second spot. On the restart, Birges got a better jump on Regier coming out of turn 4 and inched his way past for the lead. Not going down without a fight, Regier came back on the inside and the two battled side-by-side as the crowd came to its feet for the remainder of the race.
Regier pulled ahead of Birges on lap 45 and kept about a half-car length advantage over Birges until lap 48 when Birges began to run out of fuel and dropped back several car lengths. At the checkered flag, Regier won his ninth Vuky Classic and 76th main event win with Birges taking second and Adamson finishing third.
Rounding out the field were Jeff Russell of Boise, Dalton, A.J. Russell, David Tuey, Lance Tatro, Kyle Vanderpool, Whittet, Jackson, Willie Northammer, Kenny Kinchen, George Greenway and Larry Hinz.
"I truly thought Jim had me (on the restart of lap 43)," Regier said. "He raced me clean as Lonnie did. Early on I thought Lonnie had this race. He was real smooth and his car was good.
"This win was amazing. I ran the hardest and fastest I could those last few laps. Jim and I just kept dueling side by side. I used up my tires fighting Jim. I barely had enough to squeak out the win, but man, did it pay off. That was pretty exciting."
Shaw said even though the car isn't performing as well as they would like, with the hard work of the crew and Troy's driving, they got the win.
"Troy drove such an excellent race, he takes full advantage of whatever he can and of the car to get up front and win the race," Shaw said. "And the other drivers did an excellent job, too.
"We have to give thanks to Mike and John, our crew, and Troy, for doing a good job for us. And our sponsors, Ron Burdg (Sierra Racing Products), Capital City Auto Parts (NAPA), Regier Farms and Donn Simons.
"This was a great race for us, the fans and the series."
"My car was better in the turns (than Regier's) but we were both equal coming off the turn," Birges said. Birges raced after recently having surgery for a broken ankle and three broken vertebrae in the center of his back.
"I feel good," he said after the race. "No worse than if I hadn't raced. When I got Troy on that restart, I thought I had him. But his car was working well on the bottom of the track and he got me back. This was a great race for the fans."
Kinchen won the first trophy dash of the evening with Birges winning the second. Northammer won the first heat race with Jackson taking second and Tatro third. Adamson won the second heat with Regier finishing second and Jeff Russell third.
"I'd like to see anyone try to race as well as Troy did tonight," Silsby said of his driver. "He just drove his butt off tonight. And we still don't have that racecar where he wants it, or where we'd like it to be."
"Troy made a brilliant move on Lonnie," said Mike McCann, owner of Adamson's ride. "That was a hell of a race."
"My car was loose in the race and I made a couple of adjustments to it while under caution," said Jeff Russell. "I got it a little better and held on to finish fourth, but it was a battle."
The Supermodified Racing Association next races a two-day race Memorial Day
weekend, May 23-24 at Meridian Speedway in Meridian, Idaho. For information, visit www.smrasupermods.com.