RAIO SALMON RETURNS TO VICTORY LANE WITH DELTA SPEEDWAY TURKEY BOWL XXIV WIN
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA (October 28, 2023) – Raio Salmon of Fresno made her first win of the last several Micro Sprint seasons a big one, scoring the $2000 Turkey Bowl XXIV presented by East Bay Tire Super 600 victory on Saturday night at Delta Speedway. Salmon used her signature low line move to snare the coveted win in Stockton’s annual year-end event. Photo by Maxwell Patrick Imagery
“I knew they were going to be on the top and I don’t typically like to run on the top so I stayed on the bottom. Right place at the right time really. I knew when I caught lapped traffic I wasn’t going to go to the top. Getting the yellow flag really helped me,” Salmon said. “It’s been a really long season this year and last year. Just really exciting!”
Mattix Salmon of Fresno won the Pole Shuffle then led the opening lap of the 40-lap feature. Arizona’s Jayden Huppert spun in turn two for the first caution of the race. On the restart, Mattix Salmon was chased closely by multi-time champion and Friday winner Caden Sarale of Stockton. Salmon spun into the infield, yielding the lead to Sarale on lap five.
Sarale and Grass Valley’s Izaak Sharp ran on the top of the 1/7th mile speedway while Salmon was committed to the bottom. Lapped traffic on lap 15 allowed Salmon to edge closer. She took over second then grabbed the lead exiting turn four on lap 17. Sharp and Sarale then tangled for second, leaving Sarale on his side in turn four for a red flag the following lap. Andi Jones and Brayson Gillio of Hanford collided in turn two with Austin Torgerson suffering contact as well. Gillio was unable to continue.
Raio Salmon paced the final six laps for the win followed by Torgerson, 2022 champion Nikko Panella of Stockton, Jeffrey Pahule of Brentwood, and San Diego’s Deegan Irey.
2023 Non-Wing and Super 600 champion Austin Wood of Sacramento overcame motor issues on Friday night to prevail in Saturday’s 40-lap Non-Wing feature worth $2000 to win.
Sarale won the dash for locked in cars and led the feature from the pole position. Action was halted on lap five when Caden Stoll of Fresno bounced off the wall and flipped down the speedway, collecting Stockton’s Brent Brooks in turn one.
Wood won a duel for the second position on the restart. He ran down Sarale, overtaking him fo the top spot on lap 14. They crossed over down the backstretch with Wood holding the lead from the top side. Sharp stopped in turn four to bring out the yellow flag on the lap 16. Wood charged ahead on the following restart before another caution for an issue involving Shawn Laeber on lap 22. Wood yet again thundered away from the pack but it was again nullified when Ryan Carter of Manteca flipped on lap 23.
Sarale made a bid for the lead with a pair of slide job attempts but Wood maintained command of the race. Wood darted to a 1.670 second advantage for the Turkey Bowl win followed by Sarale, Pahule, Torgerson, and Panella.
2023 Delta Speedway Restricted track champion Nathan Ward of Bakersfield won his second consecutive Turkey Bowl, leading all 30 laps for the $1000 win. The win was his sixth Delta Speedway checkered flag of the year and 19th of the season.
Vito Celli of Stockton won the Knock Out race among locked-in drivers to start on the pole alongside Ward for the main event. Ward soared around Celli for the lead on the opening circuit and never relinquished it. A brief yellow on lap 20 was the only thing that slowed down the Restricted division in a fast-paced 11 minute and 55 second race. Celli finished out the weekend with a strong second place effort. Friday winner TK O’Brien of Manteca was third over former Jr. Sprint champion Brody Rubio of Manteca and Pleasanton’s Kellan Harper.
Heston Stepps of Oakdale successfully held off 2023 track champion Briggs Davis of Manteca for the Jr. Sprints Turkey Bowl win worth $1000. Stepps and 2022 Turkey Bowl winner Maya Mauldin of Rancho Murieta split the heat race action. Stepps earned the pole for the main event by winning the dash.
Davis finished second in the 25-lap race ahead of Connor Penix of Clovis, Friday winner Haven Sherman of Citrus Heights, and Samnatha Dozier of Vacaville.
The Turkey Bowl XXIV concludes the 2023 Micro Sprint season at the Delta Speedway presented by Valley Strong Credit Union at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.
The 2023 Turkey Bowl XXIV is presented by: American Crane Rental, Auto Industrial Paint, Battery Bill, Dino Tomassi Fabrication, Elk Grove Ford, Engler Machine and Tool, Forbidden Motorsports, G-Baby Specialties, Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash, Masellis Drilling, Maxwell Industries,
Micro Sprintmart, Motivated Racewear, NorCal Builders Inc, Oak Farm Vineyards, Panella Race Engines, Panella Trucking LLC, PMP Chassis, Righetti Enterprises, Seros Racing Engines, Starr Property Management, Teletech Communications, and United Rentals!
Delta Speedway Stockton thanks Valley Strong Credit Union, Interstate Truck Center, Pape Kenworth, Hoosier Tire, Scully’s Air, Rancho San Miguel Markets, Eagle Grit, Winner’s Bingo, Genova Bakery, Belkorp Ag, Van De Pol Petroleum, Baker Roofing, Clean Brothers, and RacingJunk for their support!
Delta Speedway Results – October 28, 2023 Turkey Bowl XXIV Championship Night
SUPER 600 (40 LAPS)
1. 21-Raio Salmon[5]; 2. 88-Austin Torgerson[7]; 3. 73-Nikko Panella[6]; 4. 44X-Jeffery Pahule[12]; 5. 84-Deegan Irey[13]; 6. 4-Jett Yantis[10]; 7. 19-Nate Matherly[19]; 8. 32A-Colton Huelsmann[15]; 9. 24S-Izaak Sharp[8]; 10. 19X-Tucker LaCaze[17]; 11. 10R-Rylee Whitehouse[4]; 12. 7A-Andi Jones[16]; 13. 33-Andrew Smith[18]; 14. (DNF) 11M-Keaton Mantella[14]; 15. (DNF) 21B-Brayson Gillio[3]; 16. (DNF) 24-Caden Sarale[2]; 17. (DNF) 5-Mattix Salmon[1]; 18. (DNF) 55J-Jayden Huppert[11]; 19. (DNF) 77-Ceil Howe[20]; 20. (DNF) 12-Alex Panella[9]
NON-WING (40 LAPS)
1. 2-Austin Wood[5]; 2. 32-Caden Sarale[1]; 3. 44X-Jeffery Pahule[3]; 4. 88-Austin Torgerson[4]; 5. 73-Nikko Panella[8]; 6. 4-Jett Yantis[2]; 7. 02-Ashton Torgerson[13]; 8. 77-Sage Bordenave[15]; 9. 26-Kale Drake[12]; 10. 22E-Evan Dixon[9]; 11. 20-Dalton Hill[7]; 12. 28K-Kevin Carter[17]; 13. 83K-Colin Kirby[14]; 14. 3-Trace Adams[18]; 15. 1SJ-Ryan Carter[19]; 16. 27-Shawn Laeber[16]; 17. 24S-Izaak Sharp[6]; 18. 2C-Caden Stoll[10]; 19. 82-Brent Brooks[11]; 20. 95-Nathan Ward[20]
RESTRICTED (30 LAPS)
1. 95-Nathan Ward[2]; 2. 29V-Vito Celli `[1]; 3. 76-TK OBrien[3]; 4. 25R-Brody Rubio[5]; 5. 5-Kellan Harper[8]; 6. 120-Niko Simoes[9]; 7. 98-Hayden Stepps[7]; 8. 54A-Aniyah Scott[12]; 9. 9J-Levi Osborne[6]; 10. 77K-Kyle Fernandez[11]; 11. 38J-Jackson Tardiff[10]; 12. 37X-Cole Bezio[16]; 13. 2E-Elijah Elder[13]; 14. 77L-Landon Jones[15]; 15. 16S-Bryson Sozinho[14]; 16. 55J-Illiana Bezio[18]; 17. 28-Johnny Streeter[17]; 18. 55X-Lucas Mauldin[4]
JR SPRINTS (25 LAPS)
1. 99-Heston Stepps[1]; 2. 96-Briggs Davis[3]; 3. 3P-Connor Penix[2]; 4. 12-Haven Sherman[6]; 5. 25DD-Samantha Dozier[7]; 6. 24N-Nathan Fernandez[5]; 7. 11E-Easton Wright[8]; 8. 55X-Maya Mauldin[4]; 9. 92-Jett Bacigalupi[9]
2023 Delta Speedway Schedule (Subject to Change)
April 8 Opening Day
April 22 Race #2
May 6 Race #3
May 20 Race #4
June 23 & 24 Race #5 & 6
July 4 Speedweek**
July 8 Race #7
July 22 Race #8
July 29 Race #9
August 19 Race #10
September 2 & 3 Race #11 & 12
September 16 Race #13
October 7 Race #14
October 27 & 28 Turkey Bowl XXIV**
**Non-points races
