West Coast Late Model Shootout
Santa Maria Speedway
September 1, 2013
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Toste Dominates for First Career West Coast Shootout Victory at Santa Maria



by Stephanie Odom
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (September 1) - West Coast Late Model Shootout points leader Tony Toste took advantage of his outside pole position, leading wire-to-wire at Santa Maria Speedway for his first career series and track victory. Nineteen cars were on hand for the second Labor Day weekend event, the 20th annual Danny and Sandie Simkins Memorial.

Teammate to Tony Toste, Jason Papich started on the pole of the thirty lap feature event and filed into second place when the green flag dropped holding off Steve Drake and Rob Sanders. By lap seven, leaders were racing through lapped traffic and Toste had pulled away from the field. Drake pressured Papich for second before the evening’s only caution came out on lap 19 for Shawn DeForest. Under the yellow previous night’s winner, Jeff Decker, came to a stop on the backstretch with mechanical failures.

Toste led the field slowly back to the green flag. Drake continued to pressure Papich while Larry Wise and Sanders battled for fourth. Clay Daly got into the mix, entering turn three low and sliding in front of Wise for the position. Bobby Hogge began moving his way forward running along the top of the track and moved to the bottom to pass Daly. Toste had pulled away and took the checkered flag ahead of Papich, Drake, Sanders, Hogge, Daly, Tommy Malcolm,  Devin Crockett, Mike Kirby and Jeff Manka.

“That was probably one of the most fun cars I have had in awhile,” commented Toste in Victory Lane. “I had a great time and it was a lot of fun, it was an awesome track. My daughter has won here twice and I have never been able to. It’s nice to get my first win here.”

The West Coast Late Model Shootout will return to action on September 20th and 21st at Peoria, Arizona’s Canyon Speedway Park for the Terry Belcher Classic. For more information visit www.WestCoastLateModels.com.

The West Coast Late Model Shootout and Chris Kearns Presents would like to thank the following for their support this season: Taffera Jewelers, RoadRunner Fabrication, Pearsons Auto Wrecking, Drake Farms Transportation, Toste Construction, Toste Grading and Paving, Papich Construction, Victory Circle Chassis, Victory Circle Custom Fabrication and Machining, West Coast Boring, Hoosier Tires, Five Star Grafix, VP Racing Fuel, A-1 Spring & Supply and Holders Air Conditioning and Heating

A-Main  
1 91T Tony Toste Pismo Beach, CA
2 91P Jason Papich Santa Maria, CA
3 11X Steve Drake San Luis Obispo, CA
4 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA
5 2 Bobby Hogge Salinas, CA
6 32B Clay Daly Watsonville, CA
7 75 Tommy Malcolm Corona, CA
8 21 Devin Crockett Arroyo Grande, CA
9 5K Mike Kirby Torrance, CA
10 00 Jeff Manka Phoenix, AZ
11 17c Larry Childress Bakersfield, CA
12 77 Nick Bartels El Segundo, CA
13 22B Bruce Duckett Mesa, AZ
14 5w Larry Wise Bakersfield, CA
15 84 Jeff Decker Morgan Hill, CA
16 71 Shawn Deforest Hayward, CA
17 74 Dennis Souza Pescadero, CA
18 27 Chris Laney Torrance, CA
19 96 Carla Laney Torrance, CA

Dash  
1 91P Jason Papich Santa Maria, CA
2 91T Tony Toste Pismo Beach, CA
3 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA
4 11X Steve Drake San Luis Obispo, CA
5 2 Bobby Hogge Salinas, CA
6 5w Larry Wise Bakersfield, CA

Heat #1  
1 11X Steve Drake San Luis Obispo, CA
2 2 Bobby Hogge Salinas, CA
3 21X Devin Crockett Arroyo Grande, CA
4 75 Tommy Malcolm Corona, CA
5 17c Larry Childress Bakersfield, CA
6 74 Dennis Souza Pescadero, CA
7 71 Shawn Deforest Hayward, CA

Heat #2  
1 5w Larry Wise Bakersfield, CA
2 91P Jason Papich Santa Maria, CA
3 32B Clay Daly Watsonville, CA
4 5K Mike Kirby Torrance, CA
5 84 Jeff Decker Morgan Hill, CA
6 77 Cody Laney Torrance, CA

Heat #3  
1 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA
2 91T Tony Toste Pismo Beach, CA
3 00 Jeff Manka Phoenix, AZ
4 22D Bruce Duckett Mesa, AZ
5 96 Carla Laney Torrance, CA

Event Photos courtesy of Ray McCann