STOCKTON — Sam Solari was in complete control of Saturday night’s 40-lap Stockton Late Model feature at Stockton 99 Speedway for the first 35 laps, but a late caution allowed Danny DeVore to steal the win for his second victory of the season and third of his career.

Starting alongside Stockton’s Mason Beghtel on the front row of the nine-car grid, Solari of Escalon immediately catapulted to the lead at the drop of the green flag and steadily began to distance himself from the rest of the field. His sizable advantage suddenly evaporated on lap 35 when a three-car spin in the middle of the pack brought out the second caution flag of the race.

Beghtel was all over Solari’s bumper after the single-file restart, eventually clipping him coming out of Turn 2 of lap 38, causing both of them to lift. DeVore, who was now lurking close behind in third, seized the opportunity to knife under both for the lead.

“I saw them bump and slow up, so I stuck my nose in there, and somehow I came out in front,” explained DeVore, 23. “Truthfully, with that big gap between me and second, I didn’t think we had a chance. I was just hoping for a yellow.”

Now in the lead, the second-generation driver out of Stockton was never challenged over the final laps as he cruised to the win by .725 seconds over Beghtel. Modesto’s Todd Corral finished in third, just ahead of Ripon’s Tony Vincent, while Solari suffered a cut tire on the final lap and limped home in fifth.

“We got lucky tonight. In racing, you are kinda rolling the dice every time, and sometimes the car works well at the end of the race, and sometimes it doesn’t,” said DeVore as he celebrated with his dad, Buzz DeVore. “My dad busted his butt all week to get this car working the way it does. We work so hard for this, and it is so rewarding to win.”

Despite his disappointing night, Solari continues to lead in the season point standings but saw his advantage over Beghtel cut to just four (415-411), while DeVore moves to within 35 of him at 380 with three races remaining.

Grand American Modified: Adam and Aaron Coonfield of Modesto and Riverbank, respectively, were all smiles, as the twin brothers celebrated their 1-2 finish in the 30-lap Grand American Modified main.

Unlike the previous week, where Aaron turned Adam in the trophy dash, Adam went wire to wire over Aaron despite being pressed by him for the lead throughout the race without any incidents.

Division points leader and winner of all three previous races this season Scott Winters of Tracy started the race in fifth and spent the first 20 laps fighting his way into contention. After a long battle, he finally passed Calvin Hegje of Sacramento for third, but his late-race charge fell just short as he crossed the finish line on Aaron Coonfield’s bumper.

"I saw (Aaron) back there; he was filling up my mirror, but after last week he wasn’t going to touch me today,” said Adam. “I kinda got the Scott Winters gift tonight. He starts up front a lot and just takes off, but today it was a role reversal, and I started up front, and here I am with the trophy.”

Winters was the night’s fast qualifier at 14.61 seconds and, along with Adam Coonfield, won his heat race while Hegje captured the trophy dash.

NorCal Legends: An eight-car invert put fast qualifier Wyatt Sansom in the fourth row of the 16-car starting field for the Legends feature, but it hardly mattered as the Linden driver roared through the field to take the top spot from Stockton’s Justin Gantt just eight laps into the 40-lap race.

Chad Nascimento, who started alongside Sansom, clawed through the traffic to pass Gantt for second a lap later, but even with a couple of caution restart opportunities, the Manteca driver was never able to mount a serious challenge to Sansom and settled for second, well ahead of Stockton’s Gantt.

“It was a good race. Chad gave us some good competition,” Sansom said. “We definitely got a little lucky on those restarts. We were on the bottom, and that was the place to be.”

The race was red-flagged for a scary wreck on lap 4 which saw pole sitter Kayci Phillips tangle with Kaine Betancourt, both of Stockton, on the front straight, causing Phillips to crash hard into the Turn 1 wall after losing her front left wheel. Fortunately, neither driver was injured.

Nascimento’s runner-up finish spoiled a perfect night for the young driver, who also set the fast qualifying time with a 15.372-second lap before capturing his heat and the trophy dash. Sansom and Chase Lopez of San Leandro were also heat winners.

Sansom now holds a commanding lead in season points after brother Zach, who entered the night trailing him by just three points, missed the race due to prior commitments.

Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified: Stockton’s Barrett Sugden snapped Freddy Irvin’s season-long five-race winning streak in a 25-lap dogfight that entertained the crowd from beginning to end.

Sugden grabbed the lead from Irvin on lap 6 and spent the remainder of the race fending off Irvin’s relentless attacks, which included several hits to his rear bumper. Irvin finally banged his way ahead of Sugden briefly on lap 23, but Sugden recovered to regain the lead on the following lap and then held on for dear life to take the checkered flag by a car length. Stockton’s Mike Brooks Jr. finished third.

“I knew I had to make the car as wide as possible because this thing was falling off and (Irvin) had a better car,” Sugden admitted after exchanging congratulatory hugs with Irvin in victory lane. “I have been driving my ass off for this, and I finally got it done. I hope we put on a good show for you guys.”

Stockton 99 Speedway is right back in action next Saturday, Aug. 22, with Pro Late Model, Pure Stock, Legends of 99 and Legends of Kearney Bowl racing.

Ticket prices are $20 for ages 16-59 and $15 for juniors ages 11-15, seniors 60 and over and military with an ID. A family pass (two adults, two juniors) costs $55. A pit pass costs $50 for all ages. Kids 10 and under are admitted for free, and parking is free at Stockton 99. Gates open at 6 p.m. with racing at 7. Visit stockton99.com or call 209-466-9999.