“99” Hotshoe Seeks First SRL Stockton Victory After Half-Dozen Near Misses

Bakersfield, CA – 2006 Spears Srl Southwest Tour Series Champion Eric Schmidt has had a tough beginning to the 2022 season. After a solid fifth at ALL AMERICAN SPEEDWAY – ROSEVILLE CA, he had disappointing finishes at Kern County Raceway Park and Irwindale Speedway. The team decided to skip the “Wild West Shootout” event at Kern, to concentrate on his next visit to The New Stockton 99 Speedway. The former track champion, at the historic ¼-mile facility, will look to add to his five series victories and score his first at Stockton, in the “JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 127” presented by 51 FIFTY LTM” on July 16th.

The 2018 SRL Championship runner-up is very good at Stockton. He has finished in the runner-up position in three of the last four SRL events for which he has attended. Two of those were behind six-time champion Derek Thorn. He has a total of six second-place efforts, amongst his eight top-fives and 10 top-10’s in his 13 SRL starts. He has three Pacific Challenge Series wins in only four efforts and also boasts a win in the Westcar Late Model Challenge Series. His lone NASCAR Southwest Tour Series Stockton start resulted in a seventh-place run, with 36 “Tour” cars on hand. It is a track at which he enjoys competing, after 30 years of the short track wars.

“Stockton is a fun racetrack, but I had no idea I had six second-place finishes there”, Schmidt chuckled. “It is what I know, and I have been racing on short tracks for more than 30 years.”

Schmidt is not only good at Stockton, but he has a track championship at All American Speedway. He holds eight wins in the Pacific Challenge Series in only 20 starts, with a championship in 2013. Those wins include a “Fall Classic” victory at Redwood Acres Raceway and one of his four “Win River 125” triumphs at Shasta Speedway. He scored three victories in the North State Challenge Series for Super Late Models, in only five starts. In 2013, he came close to a win at the “Summer Showdown 200” at Evergreen Speedway, bringing his Super Late Model home second.

Schmidt will look to finally get that first SRL victory on Stockton’s rugged ¼-mile oval on the 16th. With a multitude of success at the facility, Schmidt can’t be counted out for the win. If the law of averages catches up to Schmidt, expect to see the Roseville, CA driver take home the $10,000 check.

Schmidt is thankful to Randy Hedrick and Sierra Speed and Technology, W.A.R. Shocks, and McGunegill Engine Performance.

Admission Gates open at 5:00 pm on Saturday, July 16. Qualifying for the SPEARS SRL Pro Late Model Series presented by Sigma Performance Services will begin at 5:15 pm with the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series following. Opening Ceremonies are up next with racing starting at 6:00 pm. Main Events begin with the Jr. B4 Cylinders, Bombers, SPEARS SRL Pro Late Model Series – “51FIFTY 60 presented by SPS”, B4 Cylinders and wrap up the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series – JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 127 presented by 51 FIFTY LTM”.

For those unable to attend, catch all the action LIVE at www.SpearsRacing.TV. The event will also air on MAVTV at a time and date to be announced later.

Celebrating its twenty-second season in 2022, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.