By Gary Thomas
Stockton, CA – November 10, 2020…Roseville’s Colby Copeland and Canales Racing turned in an impressive performance this past Saturday at the Stockton Dirt Track, capping the night by visiting victory lane during the 37th annual “Tribute to Gary Patterson.”
The long-standing event saw a tough 48-car field of Winged 360s venture to the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. The blazing-fast 4/10-mile clay oval hadn’t been utilized since February and ended up getting choppy as the night went on, but Copeland was able to persevere throughout the marathon feature and claim his second triumph of the season.
“It feels great to be down here in victory lane at the Stockton Dirt Track tonight,” Copeland said. “We unloaded fast out of the box and Trevor Canales had this thing on rails right from the get-go. The track was definitely tough and there were a few hair-raising moments out there, but luckily we made it through and can add our name to that Tribute to Gary Patterson win list. I want to thank the Canales family and everyone that supports this team. It’s also really cool to see some people up there in the stands tonight, which makes this even better.”
Copeland began the evening by stopping the clocks for fast time in his group during qualifying, before charging to victory in the opening heat race aboard the Econo Lube N’ Tune & Brakes/ Eagle Companies Inc./ Geico Insurance No. 5C Sprinter. He then drew the front row for the main event and spent the early stages battling with Tristan Guardino for the lead.
The challenging surface certainly made cutting smooth laps difficult and at one point Copeland had to take evasive action to avoid a stalled car in turn one.
Several yellows and even a fuel stop slowed the pace of the contest, but the 28-year-old hung tough and marched away to score his second career triumph at the Stockton Dirt Track. The facility was also the site of Copeland’s first career Winged Sprint Car win, which came back in 2014.
The 5C team brought out a pair of entries during the show with Trent Canales also competing with the Winged 360 Sprint Cars. Canales timed-in ninth overall in his heat race group, ran 10th in the heat race and 14th in the C-main.
As the season winds down upcoming events are still being determined for the Canales Racing team.
Canales Racing and the No. 5C of Colby Copeland would like to thank Econo Lube N’ Tune & Brakes, Eagle Companies Inc., Geico Insurance, American River Overhead Door Inc., FVP, NOS Energy Drink, Northstar Concrete Pumping, Borello Race Engines, Performance Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Les Schwab Tires of Antelope, Harley Davidson of Rocklin and Folsom, Bianchi Farms, Vanlare Steering Repair, A.R.T. Enterprises, Tognottis and Konnected Clothing for their support this season.
Canales Racing and the No. 5T of Trent Canales would like to thank Econo Lube N’ Tune & Brakes, Geico Insurance, American River Overhead Door Inc., FVP, NOS Energy Drink, Northstar Concrete Pumping, Borello Race Engines, Performance Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Les Schwab Tires of Antelope, Harley Davidson of Rocklin and Folsom, Bianchi Farms, Vanlare Steering Repair, A.R.T. Enterprises, Tognottis and Konnected Clothing for their support this season.
Canales Racing Tribute to Gary Patterson Recap-
Colby Copeland:
Qualified (1st in Group), Heat Race (1st), A-main (1st)
Trent Canales:
Qualified (9th in Group), Heat Race (10th), C-main (14th)
Upcoming Races-
TBD
Social Spotlight-
To follow along with Colby Copeland and Canales Racing be sure to like the No. 5C team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Canales-Racing-115829665102935/
GT Promotions-
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Image courtesy of M&M Racing Photos