Winters picks up where he left off

EUREKA — After a 10-lap, side-by-side battle with Eric Price of Meridian for the lead, 2022 North State Modified Series champion Scott Winters of Tracy pulled ahead on lap 50 of the 60-lap feature race and drove to a $2,000 victory in the Dave McMurray Sr. Memorial race on Saturday evening at Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka.

Presenting the memorial trophy to Winters was McMurray's widow, Kate McMurray.

Brandon White of Eureka set fast time for the night with a 16.435-second lap, with Sierra Furia of Ukiah next at 16.473, Winters at 16.628, Kylei Keown, also from Ukiah, at 16.750, and Lakeport driver Ian Elliott at 16.819.

The invert for the feature was eight, and the start saw Windsor's Sammy Nuno, who was driving the only 602 engine car in the race, forge ahead of Sal Martinez of Kelseyville at the drop of the Johnny Miskill green flag. Nuno pulled away, leaving the battle for second place between Martinez and Price. Price tagged Martinez in the rear on lap seven, and two rounds later Martinez pushed high and Price was able to fill the hole and move into second place.

By this time Nuno had put a healthy distance between his car and the rest of the field. As Price was playing catch-up, Furia went to the outside in an attempt to pass Keown. Her efforts were stopped by the lapped car of John Baker, and Furia lost two spots to White and Winters. White picked off Keown on lap 16 for fourth place, and Winters followed his line and settled into fifth.

Furia went to the outside again on 18 and passed Keown. Lap 22 saw both White and Winters dive under third-place runner Martinez. Price caught Nuno on lap 25, but Nuno was able to maintain his lead.

The race slowed for a lap-36 spin on the backstretch by Orion Mosher. The double-file restart saw Price take the lead. When Nuno went high, both Winters and White slipped under him to move into second and third, respectively. Two rounds later Furia made the pass on Nuno to take over fourth.

The yellow flag dropped again on lap 40 when Nuno's car broke loose in turn four, collecting Elliott and Martinez. Elliott parked his car, but Nuno pitted to change a flat tire and returned to the race.

The next 10 rounds saw a side-by-side battle between Price and Winters. With only 10 laps to go, Winters finally took the lead. Both White and Furia drove under Price in the closing laps, and at the Sunoco checkered flag it was Winters, White, Furia, Price and Keown. Rounding out the top 10 were Martinez, Mosher, Baker, Nuno and Elliott.

Winters won both the O’Rielly's Dash for Cash and the Hard Charger Award. The Scribner jugs went to Winters and White. Nuno won the 10-lap heat race followed by Martinez and Price.

The next stop for the North State Modifieds is Shasta Speedway in Anderson on June 24.

The North State Modified Series would not be possible without the support of Hoosier Tire West, Sunoco Race Fuels, Anderson Logging, Naake Suspension, Racer Bling, Mark & Sharon Baldwin, Doyce Eaton, Scribner Plastics, McMurray & Sons Roofing, Frank's Radios and O’Reilly's Auto Parts.

— Submitted by Nadine Strauss

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