Hamm Earns 50th Career Win at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The Bullring’s 50-win club has a new member. Doug Hamm of North Las Vegas, Nev., emerged victorious in the 35-lap NASCAR Modifieds feature for his 50th career win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway short track on Saturday night. Hamm is just the fifth driver in Bullring history to earn the milestone, joining Scott Gafforini (66), Phil Goodwin (58), Dustin Ash (56) and Justin Johnson (52) in the prestigious club (Photo credit: Richie Abbott/Instant Images).
Hamm won the race by .519 of a second over Brian Reed and had a lot of people to thank in the Winner’s Circle.
“I can’t do it without the great help of the shop, A.J., Chris and the Pfundsteins,” said Hamm, who has three NASCAR Modifieds wins this season. “They did a hell of a job on this car, and I’m just lucky to drive it. I did a half backward victory lap tonight not to celebrate, but because we lost a couple people this past month, and I was thinking about them tonight.”
Jimmy Parker Jr. earned his second NASCAR Super Late Models win of the year after pulling away from the field down the stretch in the division’s 50-lap race. Parker Jr., the season points leader, made contact with three-time 2018 winner Tyler Fabozzi during a highly competitive first 20 laps before putting 8.244 seconds between himself and the rest of the field in the end.
“First and foremost, sorry Tyler Fabozzi,” said Parker Jr., whose first win of the season came on March 24. “I don’t like to race dirty. He got me on the backstretch and checked up going into (turn) three, and I checked up and tried not to hit him, but I got him. Good thing he didn’t spin out, and I don’t like to race that way.
“After that first win a while back, I didn’t know if I was going to get another one. I’m just tickled pink.”
In the race of the night, Mason Sargent passed Sam Jacks on the final turn in the NASCAR Super Stocks 25-lap feature to earn his first win of the season. Sargent nipped Jacks by just .287 of a second to earn a trip to the Winner’s Circle.
“It feels good,” said Sargent, who also finished fourth in the NASCAR Modifieds race. “I’ve got to thank my dad and my uncle, and we work day and night on these cars to get them ready for race day. My mom and my sister are always coming out here, and my grandma and grandpa live two-and-a-half hours away in Barstow, but they always try to make it down here.”
Vinny Raucci Jr. took his third consecutive checkered flag in the NASCAR Bombers class, crossing the line 3.310 seconds ahead of Tim Maserang in a caution-plagued 25-lap feature. Points leader Kyle Jacks recovered from an early spin after making contact with Raucci Jr. to finish third.
“I just drove my butt off,” Raucci Jr. said. “I got the run on the inside (of Jacks), and what I’ve learned is that, if my front bumper is at your B pillar, I have the line. He came down, I backed off a little bit, he hit me, I hit him, and he spun up to the wall.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ but it’s a racing incident.”
In the USLCI Legends 25-lap feature, veteran Jason Irwin took the checkered flag 2.833 seconds clear of Jace Jones for his third victory of the season. Irwin stands sixth on The Bullring’s all-time wins list with 37 Saturday night triumphs.
“The Bullring is a good place to race, and tonight our Legend car was pretty good,” Irwin said. “We weren’t quite where we wanted to be in practice and ended up qualifying second, so we made a little bit of an adjustment for the main (event), and it was a lot better. We knew once the sun went down, the track would tighten up a little bit and come our way.”
Amilleo Thomson won his second straight USLCI Bandolero Outlaws feature after finishing 2.007 seconds ahead of Cameron Guy, while Landon Gresser remained perfect in the USLCI Bandolero Bandits division after claiming his sixth win of 2018. Racer X continued his dominance in the Skid Plate Cars division, winning by more than 20 seconds ahead of William Good.
Next event: Racing will return to The Bullring for the Chris Trickle Classic on Saturday, June 16, with a pair of NASCAR Super Late Models races and a pre-race autograph session highlighting the evening’s action. Children 12 and under get in free with a ticketed adult.
Tickets are available on www.LVMS.com or by calling 800-644-4444.