15-Year-Old Hingorani Scores Spears Pro Late Model Win at Stockton 99 Speedway
Bakersfield, CA – Sean Hingorani made his second Spears Pro Late Model Series presented by Sigma Performance Services start count, bringing home a $2,000 victory in the “51FIFTY 60 presented by SPS” at Stockton 99 Speedway Saturday night. Hingorani drew the outside pole position and led every lap to score his first series triumph, becoming the fifth different winner in seven 2022 series events. The win came in the #13 Nascimento Motorsports Pro Late Model, on a 104-degree day at the historic ¼-mile oval, where caution flags were in abundance. It was a team effort that led to the 15-year-old’s victory.
“This was my second start in the series, and we had a really good racecar today, thanks to Nascimento Motorsports”, Hingorani stated. “I couldn’t have done it without them. The car was so good. We were struggling with motor temperatures a little bit throughout the race, but we were able to keep it cool enough to finish out the race there, and we were able to get it done. I couldn’t be more happy to get this win.”
Jason Romero started the day setting Fast Time for the series, with a lap of 14.214 seconds, beating Logan Zampa and Dylan Zampa by 0.055 seconds, as the brothers ran the exact same lap. Seth Wise, Hingorani, Tanner Reif, JoJo Stearns, and Tyler Reif rounded out the redraw participants, as Bubba Nascimento just missed the cut in the 21-car field. Tyler Reif drew the pole to start the race, with Hingorani alongside. Seth Wise grabbed the number three spot with Stearns P4.
On the initial green, Hingorani grabbed the lead from the outside line, never to be headed. Tyler Rief followed, but the caution quickly came out on lap three for a hard hit for Spears Modified Series star Travis McCullough. Another caution flew on lap-six involving Madera Speedway competitors Matt Erickson and Howard Holden. Another caution on lap nine found Hingorani leading Tyler Reif, Seth Wise and Jason Romero, who started fifth. The restart found Romero taking third from Wise, but on lap 17, Romero had a tire go down in Turn 3, resulting in an incident that found front runners Wise and Dylan Zampa with damage to their Pro Late Models.
The reshuffled line-up found Hingorani leading Tyler Reif, Logan Zampa, JoJo Stearns, Hans Beeler, and Tanner Reif. Sterns got around Zampa on the restart, as the field raced to another yellow on lap 24 for a Henk Gaalswyk Jr. spin in Turn 1. The ensuing restart saw Zampa back to third, as he pressured Reif for the runner-up position as the sixth caution flew on lap 27 for a Dominic Lopez spin on the back straight. Another restart saw Zampa gaining an outside run on Reif, as the younger Reif brother battled Hingorani for the lead, trapping himself on the low side. Zampa was able to pull off the outside groove pass before caution number eight flew on lap 29, for a hard hit to the Turn 3 wall for Mike Regelman. The incident also collected Matt Erickson and Christian Bazen, who also retired due to damage.
The final restart finally found the field settling down, as Hingorani once again pulled out to a lead from his outside starting position. Zampa chased the young teenager, but was unable to put up a serious challenge. Tanner Reif was the driver on the move, as he was able to get by his younger brother Tyler, before lap 40. Seth Wise was also making progress after his early race accident. He broke back into the top-five with a pass of JoJo Stearns on lap 48. Romero followed Wise, as both were recovering from Romero’s early flat tire. Dylan Zampa was able to get by Stearns in the closing stanza, as Hingorani crossed the finish line on lap 60 with his first series victory.
With a plethora of cautions, the outcome was highly influenced by Hingorani’s ability to choose his restart position. The young driver continually chose the outer groove for those restarts, which seemed to be one of the keys for his win.
“I know most people don’t start on the outside here, but my car was working up there, so it worked once there on the original start, so we stuck with it throughout the race”, Hingorani explained.
Logan Zampa was able to claim the runner-up spot with Tanner Reif charging from eighth starting to finish third. Tyler Reif held on for fourth with Seth Wise driving his bent-up Pro Late Model back to fifth from the rear. Jason Romero recovered for sixth, as did Dylan Zampa in the seventh position. JoJo Stearns crossed the line eighth with Sheldon Cooper and Hans Beeler completing the top-10, in the 21-car field.
The next event for the Spears Pro Late Models will be at Irwindale Speedway on September 17th, giving the teams some time to repair their cars. They will be joined by the Spears SRL Southwest Tour and Spears Modified Series.
Results:
- Seam Hingorani, 2. Logan Zampa*, 3. Tanner Reif*, 4. Tyler Reif*, 5. Seth Wise*, 6. Jason Romero, 7. Dylan Zampa*, 8. JoJo Stearns, 9. Sheldon Cooper, 10. Hans Beeler, 11. Mike Beeler, 12. Henk Gaalswyk Jr., 13. Dominic Lopex, 14. Bubba Nascimento*, 15. Matt Erickson, 16. Christian Bazen*, 17. Mike Regelman, 18. Howard Holden, 19. Ryan Martin, 20. Sam Solari, 21. Travis McCullough
*Sigma Performance Service Young Gun
