36th Annual “October Classic” Closes SRL Season with Tight Championship Battle
Bakersfield, CA – The 36th Annual JM Environmental Wild West Shootout “October Classic” will close out the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series season, with the series participating in the event for the seventh time. The October 26th classic will take place at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway (CA) and will also include the Spears Pro Late Model Series, Spears Modified Series and the ARCA Menards Pro Series West. A tight championship battle will take center stage with Buddy Shepherd leading Blaine Rocha by a single point. Dylan Zampa is also in the mix, sitting 26 points behind Rocha.
The October Classic began at the now defunct Mesa Marin Raceway (CA) in 1977, with Midwest star Larry Phillips putting his name in the annuls of October Classic winners, with 67 cars in attendance. Midwest stars grabbed the first three editions with Mike Miller and Larry Detjens taking the next two. Jim Thirkettle broke the streak in 1980, but Steve Burgess grabbed the second half of the event that ran two features for the first time. It was the last time a Midwest driver grabbed the prestigious win. The West Coast swept the 1981 “Classic” with Mike Chase and Thirkettle victorious, with 74 Open Competition Stock Cars in attendance.
The event returned to a single race in 1982 and remained consistent to that format for the remainder of its’ history. Thirkettle won the next three editions and remains the only five-time winner of the “Classic”. Dick Cobb broke through in 1985 with Gary Collins and Troy Beebe rounding out the “Open Comp” editions of the “Classic” in 1987.
In 1998, the “October Classic” became a NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Tour event. Gary Manlow surprised the 65 “Tour” cars on hand that weekend, taking home the gold. Mike Chase grabbed the next three editions to rank second in all-time wins with four. Rick Carelli, the High Plains Drifter, grabbed the 1992 version. Steve Portenga, Doug McCoun, Sean Monroe, Chris Raudman, and M.K. Kanke scored their only “October Classic” wins, with two NASCAR “Cup” Series champions Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch grabbing wins in 1998 and 1999.
The 21st century opened with Auggie Vidovich scoring a win over a 50-car field. Darrell LaMoure grabbed his lone Southwest Tour win in 2001, with Eric Holmes, Kevin Vernon, and David Gilliland following. The final “October Classic” at Mesa Marin Raceway found David Gilliland making it two in-a-row over a 30-car field.
The event shifted to Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in 2018, with Derek Thorn earning his first event win. Linny White would take the 2019 version, with Thorn back to Victory Lane in the next two editions. Jeremy Doss broke through in 2022, with Buddy Shepherd grabbing the win one year ago.
Shepherd will enter this weekend’s SRL season finale as the championship leader. He hangs on to a narrow one-point lead over Blaine Rocha. Shepherd also claimed victory the last time the series visited Bakersfield, grabbing the win in June. Those two victories give the 2021 series Rookie-of-the-Year confidence heading into the season finale.
“Going into the “October Classic”, I definitely feel confident with how good we had our car back in June,” Shepherd explained. “A championship would be awesome for us! We had a good run in 2021 for it, before we had some mechanical issues. We are hoping to close the deal out this year.”
Rocha himself has had success at the Bakersfield half mile. Rocha scored a win back in 2017. Last year’s edition of the “October Classic” nearly found the Oakdale, CA driver repeating the feat. Rocha led by a comfortable margin, but had a tire go down with just six laps remaining, dashing his hopes. If he can finish ahead of Shepherd, and inside the top five, he is guaranteed the championship. It is something that has the three-time series winner excited.
“I think we have just as good of a chance as anyone”, Rocha stated in regard to a victory this weekend. “Being back only one point, fuels me like crazy. I have been racing in the SRL for a long time and racing against some of the greatest in the West makes me want to win even more. Kern is a good track for us, and if we can replay last year, we should beat them by a long shot. But I’m going to keep it calm and collected, and we should be where we want to be.”
Dylan Zampa has had only one bad finish in 2024, but it came at Colorado National Speedway (CO), finishing 13th. He sits 27 points out of the championship lead. His last two events on the schedule saw the NAPA, CA racer finish second at Redwood Acres Raceway (CA) and Stockton 99 Speedway (CA) in September. The 2022 Kulwicki Driver Development Program champion will need to step it up one position, while having his championship rivals finish outside the top five. But Zampa has his sights set on a win, while letting the championship results take care of themselves.
“We are approaching the “October Classic” like every other race”, Zampa commented as to the team’s outlook to the renowned event. “We are trying to bring the best possible car to the track each and every race. Coming off of two second place finishes, we are trying to get that one spot better. It would mean a lot to me to have my name added to such a prestigious list of winners.”
Scott Sanchez and Jacob Gomes round out the top five positions in the championship chase. Those two drivers also find themselves locked in a battle for the series lead in all-time series starts. Sanchez currently leads the battle with 139 starts, including the last 69 in-a-row. Gomes sits one back of the former Livermore, CA resident with 138. Coincidentally, they also sit second and third in all-time series winnings list, with Gomes leading at $286,333 to Sanchez’s $128,550.
The Spears Pro Late Model Series will compete in the “October Classic” for the fourth time. Previous event winners include Jeremy Doss, Dylan Zampa, and Sean Woodside. Christian Bazen leads the championship standings with Nash Youngren, Seth Wise, Kabe McClenny, and Scott Youngren the top five. Lawrence Massone, Chase Lopez, Nicholas Leonard Jr, and Kylie Glick will all make their series debut this weekend. They will race for $2,500 in the “October Classic Visit Bakersfield presented by LiUNA”.
The Spears Modified Series will make their fifth visit to Kern for the “October Classic”. The first winner was Jeremy Doss in 2020. Doss repeated in 2021 with Jaron Giannini grabbing the glory in 2022. Last year saw Travis Thirkettle complete his dominant season by claiming the checkered. Holly Clark leads the championship standings followed by Kyle Jacks, Jeff Longman, Scott Winters, and Aaron McMorran. The Modifieds will race for $2,000 in the “October Classic presented by LiUNA and Motor City Buick GMC”.
The ARCA Menards Pro Series West will also participate in the 36th annual event. The “West” Series made their debut at Mesa Marin’s “October Classic” in 1990 with Mike Chase the winner. The series competed in 13 “Classics” at Mesa Marin before the speedway’s closure after the 2005 season. Those additional events were run in 1991, 1993 – 2000, and 2003- 2005. The “West” series returned in 2018 to compete alongside the Spears SRL Southwest Tour at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. They also competed in 2019 and 2020. Derek Kraus was a two-time winner, with Taylor Gray winning in 2020.
Saturday, October 26th will see the Spectator Gates open at 4:00 PM. Qualifying is set to begin at 4:00 PM with the Spears Modified Series, Spears Pro Late Model Series, Spears SRL Southwest Tour and ARCA Menards Pro Series West taking laps in that order. There will be an on-track autograph session at 5:30 PM. Opening Ceremonies begin at 6:00 PM. The Modifieds will open the Main Event action with the $2,000 to win “October Classic presented by LiUNA & Motor City GMC”. The Spears Pro Late Model Series will follow with the “October Classic Visit Bakersfield presented by LiUNA” worth $2,500 to win. The Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series will race for $10,000 in Round #3 the JM Environmental Wild West Shootout Series “October Classic”. The “NAPA Auto Parts / NAPA NightVision 150 presented by West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame” is next for the ARCA Menards Pro Series West. Drag – A – Boat Destruction Race and a Fireworks Grand Finale will wrap up the evening’s activities.
The 36th Annual “October Classic will roll off on October 26th and will pay $10,000 to the winner. It will be the 24th season finale for the series, as well as the third and final round of the “JM ENVIRONMENTAL, INC. Wild West Shootout Series”. Champions for both the series title and mini-series title will be crowned on Saturday night. An additional $2,500 will be paid out to positions second through fifth, for the Super Late Models, thanks to Raymond’s Trophy & Awards.
Celebrating its twenty fourth season in 2024, 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”.
