WS: Roseville II: Erich Schmidt race report

Another strong NASCAR West performance for Schmidt

ROSEVILLE, CALIFORNIA. (October 19, 2010) -- 2006 SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour champion and 2007 All American Speedway Late Model champion Eric Schmidt continued to show off his impressive speed at the Roseville speedplant by finishing third in the TOYOTA / NAPA Auto Parts 150 on Saturday night.

Schmidt drove the Luberliner Oil Filters / Team Viva Chevrolet for Motorway Motorsports in conjunction with Frank Jordan's Golden State Racing. The foray into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West was just the fourth career start in the series for Schmidt.

After several successful testing days in the #88 car, Schmidt was well-prepared for race day. The veteran driver ran in the top-ten in both practice sessions before timing in fifth quick in time trials with a 13.860 second lap around the track.

The Bill McAnally Racing Promotions-backed event brought another packed house to the speedway, with a standing-room-only crowd on hand. With a partial crowd on hand pulling for their track champion, Schmidt rolled off fifth out of the 23 cars for the 150 lap event.

Schmidt was shuffled back to seventh on the start and then even further back as he was a victim of a wild crash in turn three that gathered up much of the field.

Restarting in 14th position, Schmidt patiently worked his way through the field and avoided multiple crashes. By a lap 57 restart, he was knocking on the door for a top-ten run. Schmidt quietly navigated the field to crack the top-five on lap 81.

Things started to get busier for Schimdt as he began to challenge the leaders. After a three wide battle with rookies Michael Self and Luis Martinez, Jr., Schmidt still found himself running in fifth.

A strong set of restarts late in the race allowed Schmidt to challenge Paulie Harraka for the third position. Schmidt went outside the 2008 All American Speedway champion to take over third on lap 147.

The third place finish marks Schmidt's second career top-five finish after a second place run in 2009. He also started fifth in the 2008 NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West season opener and ran in the top-three before being spun late in the event.

-source: golden state racing