Tracy Press

Two racers earn their first career USAC wins at Altamont Motorsports Park.

Porter Smith of Aztec, N.M., and Shane Golobic of Fremont claimed their first career U.S. Auto Club wins Saturday at Altamont Motorsports Park.

Smith won the Western Sprints feature, while the 16-year-old Golobic took the Western Midget win in his first Altamont start. Brendan Langlois won a wire-to-wire USAC Ford Focus feature, and Pat Ariaz of Manteca won the Northern California Modified Association Limited Sprints main event.

Smith took the lead in the Western Sprints race from Eric Humphries of Chowchilla on Lap 26 after a race-long duel. The opening 24 laps went caution-free before Scott Clough of Placerville slowed with an apparent flat tire. Humphries was shuffled back quickly on a Lap 26 restart.

At the line, it was Smith over Ryan Kaplan of Chico, with Chase Scott in third. Nick Rescino Jr. of San Francisco and Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg rounded out the top five.

In his dramatic win, Golobic sneaked past leader Paul Zimmerly of Ridgefield, Wash., on the final lap. Early race leader Daniel Bedford of Brentwood, had his momentum slowed by a chain-reaction pileup on the backstretch on Lap 3.

It was the first victory for Golobic. Others in the top five were Zimmerly, Evan Margeson of Seattle, Bedford and C.J. Sarna.

Fourteen-year-old Jessica Brunelli of Hayward led all but the final lap in the 30-lap USAC Ford Focus feature. Brendan Langlois made his move on the inside to take the lead on the final lap, while Brunelli ended up tangling with Alex Bowman. The top five were Langlois, Mike Maier, Ian Millie, Jeff Oleen and points leader Justin Hommel.

In the NCMA Limited Sprints 20-lap main, it took Pat Ariaz 12 laps to conquer race leader Rob Hammond of Morgan Hill. At the end, Ariaz was followed by Hammond, David Goodwill of Napa, Jeff Burrows of Manteca and Ed Amador.

The next event at Altamont Motorsports Park will be July 5, with the second round of the Tri-Holiday Classic Series. Competition will include a 100-lap event for the SRL Flashco Southwest Tour and a 100-lap event for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Models. Also on tap that evening will be American Limited Stock Cars, Future Champions Development Series, and Formula-4s.

• Information provided by Steven Blakesley, Altamont Motorsports Park. For more, visit www.altamontracing.com.

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