STOCKTON — In only his third ever late model start, Mason Beghtel, 16, of Morada, spent most of Saturday night’s 40-lap Stockton Late Model main event battling veterans Sam Solari of Escalon, Greg Potts, and Daniel DeVore, both of Stockton, in the front pack before a crash ended Potts’ evening and an oil leak ruined Devore’s night.

Having inherited the lead by way of Potts’ wreck and a red light, Beghtel still faced one major obstacle in his quest for his first Late Model checkered flag in just his third race: Sammy Solari. The reigning track champion from Escalon, already a two-time winner this year, took the green flag on Beghtel’s bumper, but the St. Mary’s High School student pulled out to a lead and beat Solari to the checkered flag by 1.347 seconds at Stockton 99 Speedway.

“It made me a little bit nervous … but my spotter told me (Solari) has nothing for me, so I wasn’t going to worry about it,” the easygoing Beghtel said.

His spotter was Joe Allen, who also helped guide Beghtel to his first Pure Stock victory last year en route to the division points championship. Beghtel, thanked Allen, every sponsor, and everyone else he could think of in Victory Lane (with a little help from family members standing close by).

Potts drove into the lead on lap 4 and set the pace for the next 25 laps with DeVore running second and Beghtel third, jockeying for position and even running three-wide in the turns.

“We were definitely bumping; all three of us were there,” Beghtel said. “It could have been anybody’s race.”

However, late in the race Potts began to fall off the pace, allowing DeVore to move inside of him to take the lead on the 30th lap, and a lap later Beghtel followed into second. Potts earlier in the race saved his racer from going into a spin twice after being bumped in Turn 4, but as Solari moved inside of Potts, challenging for third on lap 32, Potts and a lapped car of Sacramento’s Floyd Eaton on the outside made contact in the back straight. Potts’ car began shooting sparks, and his wrecked machine finally stopped atop Turn 3, while Eaton stopped along the low wall and caught fire, bringing out a red flag.

As the cars sat on the track waiting for the mess to be cleaned up, officials sent DeVore to the infield with an oil leak. He was able to make repairs and return to the track, but running sixth, ending his chance of winning.

“DeVore and the 2 car (Potts), I probably wouldn’t have gotten past them,” Beghtel said, adding the red light helped cool his tires. “I might have (had) something for them, but I’m not good at passing yet. I’ll say it’s fun now because it all worked out.”

Stockton’s Gary Shafer, making his first start in over a year, finished in third, DeVore was fourth, and Stockton’s Roy Luft was fifth.

Stockton Mini Stock: Track officials pulled the plug on the main event seven laps shy of its scheduled 25 when a five-car crash on a restart left only one car running from the original field of 10, declaring Leilani Sprenkel of Linden the winner.

Sprenkel led the field to the green flag to start lap 19 and was spun out heading into Turn 1 and faced head-on into the oncoming pack. The crash also collected Josh Cross of Manteca, Hank Galatsatos of Lodi, and Scotty Crawford of Stockton.

Stockton’s Natalie Harper, riding Sprenkel’s bumper heading to the green flag, was the only car left running but was placed as the last car on the lead lap and finished fifth. Joe Flowers of Manteca was awarded second place despite spinning hard into the tires protecting the pit exit going into Turn 3, which caused the last caution on lap 19. Cross was third and Galatsatos fourth.

Sprenkel turned the quickest lap of the race on the last lap at 15.686 seconds. She said her car “dogs down a little bit on the start, so that’s why I start slow,” adding, “I don’t really know what happened after that. I got spun out, but I was running good laps before that, and definitely had it if I didn’t get wrecked.”

Street Stock: Lodi’s Brandon Jones made it 2 for 2 this season by cruising to a 2.379-second victory in the 20-lap feature. Jones led from the green flag to the checkered in a race void of yellow.

Trophy dash winner Sam Reynolds of Lockeford was second and Barret Sugden of Stockton third.

“My work hasn’t stopped,” Jones said. “I worked on this car all day. Jeramy Tucker was helping me out a little bit today, and I appreciate it.”

Stockton 99 Speedway returns to action Saturday, May 16, with racing in the Pro Late Model, Grand American Modified, Legends of 99, and Fast Kar Solutions Mini Modified divisions. Ticket prices are $20 for ages 16-59 and $15 for seniors 60 and up, juniors 11-15, and military with an ID. A family pass (two adults, two juniors) costs $55. Kids 10 and under are admitted for free. Parking is free at Stockton 99. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 6 p.m.