Toste Dominates at Santa Maria Speedway for First Career West Coast Late Model Shootout Victory

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - 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.

West Coast Late Model Shootout Points (top ten): 1. Tony Toste 1296, 2. Steve Drake 1272, 3. Nick Bartels 1240, 4. Jason Papich 1218, 5. Clay Daly 1101, 6. Rob Sanders 1027, 7. Mike Kirby 962, 8. Bobby Hogge IV 828, 9. Larry Childress 828, 10 Carla Laney 758

Feature (30 laps): 1. 91T Tony Toste, 2. 91P Jason Papich, 3. 11X Steve Drake, 4. 10N Rob Sanders, 5. 2 Bobby Hogge, 6. 32B Clay Daly, 7. 75 Tommy Malcolm, 8. 21 Devin Crockett, 9. 5K Mike Kirby, 10. 00 Jeff Manka, 11. 17C Larry Childress, 12. 77 Nick Bartels, 13. 22B Bruce Duckett, 14. 5W Larry Wise, 15. 84 Jeff Decker, 16. 71 Shawn DeForest, 17. 74 Dennis Souza, 18. 27 Chris Laney, 19. 96 Carla Laney

Dash: 1. 91P Jason Papich, 2. 91T Tony Toste, 3. 10N Rob Sanders, 4. 11X Steve Drake, 5. 2 Bobby Hogge, 6. 5W Larry Wise

Heat One: 1. 11X Steve Drake, 2. 2 Bobby Hogge, 3. 21 Devin Crockett, 4. 75 Tommy Malcolm, 5. 17C Larry Childress, 6. 74 Dennis Souza, 7. 71 Shawn DeForest

Heat Two: 1. 5W Larry Wise, 2. 91P Jason Papich, 3. 32B Clay Daly, 4. 5K Mike Kirby, 5. 84 Jeff Decker, 6. 77 Nick Bartels

Heat Three: 1. 10N Rob Sanders, 2. 91T Tony Toste, 3. 00 Jeff Manka, 4. 22D Bruce Duckett, 5. 96 Carla Laney

Qualifying: 1. 91T Tony Toste 15.689, 2. 11X Steve Drake 15.758, 3. 91P Jason Papich 15.805, 4. 2 Bobby Hogge IV 15.944, 5. 75 Tommy Malcolm 16.055, 6. 10N Rob Sanders 16.174, 7. 5W Larry Wise 16.191, 8. 21 Devin Crockett 16.206, 9. 5K Mike Kirby 16.240, 10. 32B Clay Daly 16.340, 11. 77 Nick Bartels 16.511, 12. 84 Jeff Decker 16.515, 13. 22B Bruce Duckett 16.721, 14. 00 Jeff Manka 16.765, 15. 17 Larry Childress 16.921, 16. 96 Carla Laney 17.671, 17. 71 Shawn DeForest 17.886, 18. 74 Dennis Souza NT