BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Jacob Gomes led all 100 laps in route to his second consecutive SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series triumph Saturday night at Kern County Raceway Park.
Gomes took home $10,000 for the victory in the Winter Showdown Golden State Peterbilt 100. The win catapulted the 2015 series champion into the championship lead ahead of now second place Jace Hansen.
Hansen came home second to tie his best series finish with Buddy Shepherd third, John Moore fourth and Jeremy Doss the final car in the top five.
Gomes was excited to add his name to the previous winners of the Winter Showdown, which included stars Bubba Pollard (2), Derek Thorn (2), Kyle Busch and Ty Majeski.
“It’s great to get added to it, and to be a part of every name on that list”, Gomes stated. “I’m just happy to join some of the best racers in the history of the country, and I’m just so happy to be on it now. It will mean a lot to me over the years, to be doing what we’re doing now.”
Gomes began the day scoring his 10th PFC Brakes Zero Drag Fast Time Award with a time of 17.519 seconds on the half-mile paved oval over the 18-car field.
Gomes used the preferred outer groove at the start to take the lead from Shepherd. Shepherd and Doss battled for second for several laps, as Gomes slowly pulled away.
Halfway through the run to the lap-40 Competition Caution, Shepherd began to close on Gomes and made it to his bumper on lap 30, but could not make a move before the yellow 10 laps later.
Upon the restart, Gomes pulled away, as Doss once again challenged Shepherd for second before the 2021 rookie of the Year could clear Doss. Gomes and Shepherd pulled away from the three-car battle for third, involving Doss, Hansen and Cale Kanke.
Once again, Shepherd began to close on Gomes for the lead, but ran out of time, when the second competition caution waved on lap 80.
The final restart found Jace Hansen using the preferred outer groove to battle to the outside of Shepherd, clearing him a lap later.
Meanwhile John Moore was on the move from his sixth-place restart. On lap 84, Moore and Doss made contact, shooting Doss up the track, as he now battled Huddleston for fifth. As Gomes and Hansen pulled away, Moore pulled to the inside of Shepherd on lap-90 in the battle for third.
Simultaneously, Huddleston battled to the inside of Doss for fifth as the intensity picked up. Gomes pulled away for the victory in front of Hansen. Shepherd was able to hold off Moore in a near photo finish.
After the event, Hansen was happy with his second-place finish.
“I thought we were a top-five car at the beginning of the race! But knowing there were going to be a couple of competition yellows, I just tried not to use the thing up through the first eight laps. The last restart went our way luckily. We will need to do some more homework to hang with the 16 car (Gomes).
Seth Wise won a thrilling battle with Dylan Zampa to claim the $5,000 top prize in the Pro Late Model event.
Travis Thirkettle dominated the SPEARS Modified Series 60-lap feature.
The events were broadcast by SPEED SPORT affiliate, SpearsRacing.tv.
The finish:
1. Jacob Gomes, 2. Jace Hansen, 3. Buddy Shepherd, 4. John Moore, 5. Jeremy Doss, 6. Trevor Huddleston, 7. Cale Kanke, 8. Dan Holtz, 9. Blaine Rocha, 10. Jordon Riddick, 11. Andy Allen, 12. Scott Sanchez, 13. Jim Wulfenstein, 14. Dustin Ash, 15. Linny White, 16. Eric Schmidt, DNS. Zach Telford, DNS. Andre Prescott
Keyword: Gomes Conquers Winter Showdown