PETERSEN MEDIA
Saturday night Justin Sanders ended a dry spell in a big way. Being shutout of victory lane since sweeping through Speedweek Northwest at the end of July, Sanders made his return memorable as he became the first driver to ever sweep the Tribute to Gary Patterson in Stockton, CA winning the Sprint Car Challenge Tour and NARC feature events.
“It has been a while since we have been able to win, and to get back in victory lane in this capacity is pretty cool,” Justin Sanders said. “It’s great for our sponsors, and for the guys who help us out on this car.”
Sanders was dominant from start to finish in both classes on Saturday night as he earned quick time honors overall with NARC and fast time honors in his group with the SCCT aboard the Farmers Brewing/Mittry Construction/North County Plastering backed No. 2x.
Lining up in the second row of his heat race in NARC 410ci action, a lighting fast surface saw the Aromas, CA driver was able to get off to a great start as a big move in turns one and two saw him settle into second.
With a strong qualifying run behind him and run from 4th to second in his heat, Sanders qualified for the Dash in 410ci action, before racing from fourth to third in SCCT heat race action and stamping his ticket into the Dash with that series as well.
Leading from start to finish in the Sunnyvalley Meats Dash with NARC, Sanders solidified himself as the pole sitter for the 25-lap feature event before running second in the High Sierra Industries Dash with SCCT and put himself on the front row of the 30-lap finale.
With the NARC feature up first, the initial start saw Sanders get sideways on the front stretch and fall back to fifth, but the yellow flag flew and negated the start and returned Sanders to the front row.
Getting the jump over Tim Kaeding on the next start, Sanders was shot out of a cannon and set a blistering pace as a mist began to fall over the speedway. Quickly finding the rear oof the field, Sanders was perfect through traffic as he never faltered or broke his momentum.
In a dominating performance, Sanders went on to secure the win and quickly turn his attention to 360ci action as he hoped to mirror his performance.
Making some adjustments to his Farmers Brewing No. 2x 360ci powered entry after learning a few things in the NARC race, Sanders was equally as good when the Ed Entz green flag dropped.
Beating Dominic Scelzi into turns one and two, Sanders was again gone. Dominating the field, Sanders picked up exactly where he left off in the NARC ‘A’, however lap traffic would hinder him on a pair of occasions which allowed Shane Golobic to close in.
On lap 25, Golobic pulled alongside Sanders briefly, but as traffic slowed Golobic, Sanders kept the hammer down and went on to cap off a memorable night in Stockton, CA as he captured his 13th and 14th wins of the season.
“Our 410ci car has been really good all year, and this was a huge night for our 360ci car,” Sanders said. “I still think we have a little tweaking to do, and I am hoping we can make it to Merced Speedway in a couple of weeks to try again.”
Justin and his team would like to thank Farmers Brewing, Mittry Construction, North County Plastering, Alkaline88, Andy’s Construction, Roadside 24hr Service, Wicked Cushion, Roger’s Diner, Factory Kahne, BG Labels and Tee’s, Walker Performance Filtration, Dixon and Son Tires, Ernie’s Service Center, East Lake Village, FK Rod Ends, Triple X Race Co., DMI, Keizer Wheels, Wings Unlimited, Ti64 Titanium, AIS Heating and Sheet Metal, Fred Lint and Family, JonSan Racing, Sandblast Service, G&N Construction, Steitz Towing, Durden Construction, Ernie’s Service Center, and Steve Duppman Racing for their continued support in 2022.
ON TAP: Sanders is tentatively scheduled to return to action November 22nd and 23rd in Merced, CA.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races-72, Wins-14, Top 5’s-46, Top-10’s-56
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Justin Sanders by visiting his website, www.teamsandersmotorsports.com.