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Created: Wednesday, 29 September 2010 13:27

Written by Dan

KANKE WINS AT MADERA

Bakersfield, CA - After a near perfect year in 2009, defending SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series champion M.K. Kanke has had a trying year in 2010. Kanke's first half of the season showed four DNF's (Did Not Finish), one win and one DNS (Did Not Start) due to undergoing surgery.

But, Kanke's win on Saturday night at Madera Speedway is a good sign that his year is turning around. Kanke and his RPM Motorsports team found themselves in the winner's circle for a series high third time in 2010.

New track record holder, Eric Holmes (14.440), drew an 8 invert for the starting line up, which put Kanke's familiar red #33 Chevrolet on the pole for the start of the "Mid Valley Iron & Metals 125".   

At the drop of the green, Kanke pulled ahead of outside front row starter Brennan Newberry.  Down the back straight Auggie Vidovich made it three wide entering turn three.  Championship contenders Derek Thorn and Jim Pettit made contact, and at the stripe it was Kanke, Newberry, Jacob Gomes, Clay Wattenbarger and Pettit.

Caution was out on lap 5 for a spin by Eagle, Idaho's Jon Wood.  Fast qualifier Holmes pitted during the caution and did not return. Back to green it was still Kanke leading with a side-by-side battle for 8th between Ross Strmiska and Vidovich.  Jonathon Gomez was on the move from his 14th starting position.  Gomes started applying the pressure on Newberry for second, the two raced side-by-side for the next three laps until Gomes fell back in line, where fellow K&N Young Guns contender Wattenbarger then challenged him for the third position.

Lap 25, Kanke maintained the lead followed by Newberry and Gomes.  Pettit had just moved past Wattenbarger to move the Bakersfield driver back to fifth.  Vidovich was sixth, Thorn seventh, followed by Strmiska, Ryan Reed and Troy Ermish.

On lap 30, Pettit moved passed Gomes for third, two laps later the 2008 SRL champ displaced Newberry for second.

Joe Farre' made hard contact into the turn 1 wall on lap 39 to bring out the second caution of the night.  The top five running order was Kanke, Pettit, Gomes, Vidovich and Newberry.  Ryan Foster, Kevin Callahan and Dallas Montes all pitted during the caution period.

On the lap 43 restart, Kanke and Pettit jumped out ahead of the pack with Pettit applying the pressure for the lead.  Two laps later the caution flew again for a spin by Wood.  While the track crew checked the track for oil, Strmiska pitted, Vidovich stalled at the bottom of turn 1 and retired for the night.  

The windshield of the #16 Thunder Valley Casino Resort Chevrolet of Gomes was covered with oil which led to Pettit being called to the pits to be checked by the SRL Officials.  Pettit's famed #03 Ford was leaking gear oil and his Golden Gate Petroleum team went to work to get Pettit back on track.

Pettit made it back on track before the green fell on lap 48, with the top ten running order of Kanke, Gomes, Thorn, Newberry, Gomez, Reed, Wattenbarger, Carlos Vieira, Keith Spangler and Madera's own Justin Westmoreland.

The caution flew, and then the red flag was displayed on lap 54 for a multi-car incident on the front straightaway that included, Westmoreland, Vieira, Pettit, and Eddie Secord.  Pettit and Secord continued, Westmoreland and Vieira were finished for the night.

On the restart the veteran Kanke (age 48) was followed by six drivers with an average age of 20; Gomes (17), Thorn (24), Newberry (20), Gomez (27), Wattenbarger (21), and Reed (16).   All running cars remained on the lead lap at this point in the race.

Kanke and Gomes pulled away slightly, Thorn was running unchallenged, Gomez was pressuring Newberry for fourth, Spangler was up to sixth.  A few laps later Newberry made hard contact exiting turn 2 and began to drop back.  Pettit was charging back through the field and was up to fifth position by lap 83.

On lap 87 the fifth caution of the night flew for debris in turn 3.  Back to green for just two laps when the caution reappeared for a spin by Dallas Montes who was suffering from brake problems.

Green again on lap 95, top five was Kanke, Gomes, Thorn with pressure from Gomez and Pettit.

Lap 100, the top five remained unchanged followed by Spangler, Strmiska, Newberry, Ermish, and Foster.

Lap 107, Pettit's rear end final let go entering turn 3, Spangler had to get on the brakes hard to avoid Pettit's slowing Ford, Newberry then made hard contact into the rear of Spangler.  Pettit was finished for the night, Spangler and Newberry continued with heavy damage to the front end of Newberry's Syndex Ready Mix/Metal Mulisha #29 Chevrolet.

As the laps wound down, Kanke received pressure from Gomes, with Gomez and Thorn locked at the door handles racing for third.

Kanke held on for his third win of the year, Gomes collected his best SRL finish and Gomez slipped passed Thorn on the last lap for third and extended his point lead.  Gomez now leads the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series standings over Pettit by 71 points, with Thorn at 73 back of the lead.

Next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is Saturday, October 16th at Roseville's All-American Speedway.

About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series: Celebrating its tenth season in 2010, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.  http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/ . "The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series...Where the Champions Race"

About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves.  SPEARS' maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution.  For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com.

Follow the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series on facebook (Spears Srl Southwest Tour) and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRLSWTourSeries.