NIKKO PANELLA SCORES OPENING NIGHT WIN AT DUAL AT DELTA

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA (September 4, 2021) – Stockton’s Nikko Panella held off Raisin City’s Mitchel Moles for the $500 opening night win of the Hoosier Tire Dual at Delta Speedway on Saturday night. The Super 600 triumph came during one of four features for the dirt Micro Sprint spectacular in Stockton. Sunday’s finale will crown weekend champions with over $22,000 in total prize money. 110 Micro Sprints were in action at the 1/7th mile dirt oval at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.

Panella took the lead at the start of the 30-lap contest with Moles aggressively closing in. A slider attempt in turn three on lap three was unsuccessful, so Moles tried again on lap four. Panella ran the bottom through one and two and the top in three and four to protect his lead. Mariah Ede of Fresno stopped in turn three for a caution on lap four. Madera’s Logan Trevino went around the outside of Raio Salmon of Fresno for third on the restart. A side-by-side tussle ensued with Trevino clearing her for the position on lap eight.

A ferocious pack of lapped traffic raced in front of Panella by lap 13. Micro Sprint Mart $50 fast-time qualifier Cody Key of Fresno got a run going as he passed both Salmon and Trevino to take third on lap 19. Points leader Caden Sarale of Stockton got into a three-wide duel with Salmon and Trevino for fourth a few laps later. Washington’s Dominic Carter spun in turn four for a caution on lap 25.

Key kept up the strong performance as he looked outside Moles for second on the restart. Moles was unable to close in on Panella, with Panella earning the victory. Moles, Key, Salmon, and Sarale as the top-five. Sarale earned $100 as the Tarlton & Son Hard Charger, advancing from 13th to fifth.

2018 Non-Wing champion Tj Smith of Fresno earned his third win of the season worth $500. Smith led the main event with fast-timer Mitchel Moles in pursuit. Moles briefly showed his nose on the inside before the leaders lined up on the top of the speedway. Colin Kirby of Pleasanthill lost a right rear wheel requiring a caution flag on lap eight.

On the restart, the top-five again went upstairs while Mattix Salmon of Fresno tried to make something happen on the bottom to no avail. The race was red flagged when Johnathon Henry of Stockton flipped in turn one on lap nine. Points leader Caden Sarale of Stockton and Nate Wait of Lodi collided in turn two for the next caution.

Salmon battled with former champion Brandon Carey of Ripon for fifth on the restart while the top-four drove ahead. Moles kept Smith within arms length as they approached lapped traffic on lap 20. Side-by-side traffic in turn four on lap 24 impeded Smith. Moles dove inside of him in turn four on lap 25 but he couldn’t complete the pass. Smith held the lead for the win followed by Moles, Austin Torgerson of Medford, Ore., Carey, and Robbie Lewis. Ashton Torgerson advanced from 16th to sixth for the $100 Hard Charger.

Restricted had an all-Barnes front row, of no relation, with Jett Barnes of Visalia and Isabel Barnes of Brentwood. Isabel grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap feature. Points leader Colton Key of Fresno dove inside Jett Barnes for second before the caution fell for Kellan Harper, Vito Celli, and San Diego’s Deegan Irey colliding in turn two.

Jett Barnes looked outside Isabel Barnes on the restart and took over the lead on lap four. Isabel made a slider attempt the following lap but Jett Barnes kept the top spot. Sacramento’s Austin Wood and Isabel Barnes battled for second in lapped traffic with ten laps remaining. Wood finally cleared Barnes on lap 21 but was nearly a straightaway behind Jett Barnes at that point. Jett Barnes earned $300 ahead of Wood, Isabel Barnes, Cash Lovenburg of Visalia, and Bakersfield’s Taylor Mayhew who set fast-time. Madelyn Gjerness advanced seven positions to be the $100 hard charger.

Oakdale’s Hayden Stepps won her third Jr. Sprints feature of the season, leading all 20-laps for $200-to-win. A caution with five laps to go did not deter Stepps, who topped Josiah Vega, points leader Brody Rubio of Manteca, Blayden Graham of Bakersfield, and Levi Osborne of Millbrae. Bradley Anderson of Lincoln won the $100 Tarlton & Son Hard Charger.

The Hoosier Tire Dual at Delta Speedway continues on Sunday night with drivers meeting at 4:30pm and a complete night of racing to follow. Drivers will be competing for a full purse and more than $8,000 in points fund awards.

The 2021 Hoosier Tire Dual at Delta is supported by Elk Grove Ford, Southern Pacific Farms, Roseville Precision, Tarlton & Son, Driven Performance, Micro Sprint Mart, 22 Metal Works, Ten-J Chassis, Trophy City, Borden’s Auto Parts, Kimo’s Car Wash, NorCal Builders, DTF Performance & Speed, and Forbidden Motorsports.

Delta Speedway Stockton thanks Financial Center Credit Union, Interstate Truck Center, Lovotti Air, 22 Metal Works, Van De Pol Petroleum, Kludt Oil, Starr Property Management, Solari’s Backhoe Service, PMP Chassis, Genova Bakery, Hoosier Tire, and Performance Electronics for their support of the 2021 season.

For more information on Delta Speedway presented by Financial Center Credit Union, follow us online at http://www.deltaspeedwaystockton.com or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

September 4, 2021 Hoosier Tire Dual at Delta Night #1

SUPER 600 (30 LAPS)

1. 73-Nikko Panella[1]; 2. 13-Mitchel Moles[3]; 3. 15-Cody Key[4]; 4. 21-Raio Salmon[5]; 5. 24-Caden Sarale[13]; 6. 5-Mattix Salmon[8]; 7. 121-Caeden Steele[10]; 8. 20-James Andrichuk[7]; 9. 7T-Logan Trevino[2]; 10. 21G-Gauge Garcia[11]; 11. 12-Alex Panella[9]; 12. 10J-Dominic Gorden[17]; 13. 88-Austin Torgerson[15]; 14. 34-Devon Courtnier[14]; 15. 44X-Jeffery Pahule[22]; 16. 02-Ashton Torgerson[12]; 17. 32A-Colton Huelsmann[20]; 18. 2-Hailey Wood[21]; 19. 51-Dalton Parreira[18]; 20. 88C-Dominic Carter[16]; 21. 24S-Izaak Sharp[19]; 22. 14E-Mariah Ede[6]

NON WING (30 LAPS)

1. 8G-TJ Smith[3]; 2. 13J-Mitchel Moles[1]; 3. 88-Austin Torgerson[4]; 4. 55-Brandon Carey[6]; 5. 85-Robbie Lewis[2]; 6. 02-Ashton Torgerson[16]; 7. 5-Mattix Salmon[7]; 8. 05R-Brandon Riveira[12]; 9. 22M-Dan Mognaga[18]; 10. 66X-Broedy Graham[9]; 11. 20-Dalton Hill[21]; 12. 67-JJ Loss[11]; 13. 74-Adam Elbert[17]; 14. 82-Zacary Brooks[14]; 15. 77-Sage Bordenave[15]; 16. 44T-Austin Taborski[13]; 17. 10J-Dominic Gorden[19]; 18. 3D-Caleb Debem[22]; 19. 32-Caden Sarale[8]; 20. 35W-Nate Wait[10]; 21. 10-Johnathon Henry[20]; 22. 83K-Colin Kirby[5]

RESTRICTED (25 LAPS)

1. 55-Jett Barnes[1]; 2. 2A-Austin Wood[6]; 3. 30-Isabel Barnes[2]; 4. 21-Cash Lovenburg[3]; 5. 2-Taylor Mayhew[8]; 6. 33-Andrew Smith[10]; 7. 63-Colton Key[4]; 8. 77K-Kyle Fernandez[5]; 9. 55J-Jayden Huppert[12]; 10. 95-Nathan Ward[7]; 11. 4-Teagan Moles[15]; 12. 55X-Lucas Mauldin[14]; 13. 14G-Madelyn Gjerness[20]; 14. 7J-Lucas Johnson[19]; 15. 33G-Caden Gotelli[17]; 16. 84-Deegan Irey[11]; 17. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[16]; 18. 5-Kellan Harper[9]; 19. 29V-Vito Celli `[18]; 20. 69-Jordan Mast[13]

JR SPRINTS (20 LAPS)

1. 98-Hayden Stepps[1]; 2. 75-Josiah Vega[2]; 3. 25R-Brody Rubio[4]; 4. 66B-Blayden Graham[3]; 5. 9J-Levi Osborne[5]; 6. 13V-Braxon Vasconcellos[8]; 7. 96-Briggs Davis[6]; 8. 38J-Jackson Tardiff[9]; 9. 25A-Bradley Anderson[12]; 10. V5-Vito Cancilla[10]; 11. 99-McKenna Morgan[11]; 12. 10D-Dean Skrifvars[7]; 13. 24N-Nathan Fernandez[14]; 14. 55X-Maya Mauldin[13]

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Steven Blakesley is a motorsports announcer and public relations specialist with more than 15 years of experience. His biggest pet peeve is race fans who only enjoy one form of racing over all others.