Kyle Keller wins first career CARS Tour West Pro Late Model race at Stockton 99 Speedway

Kyle Keller won his first career CARS Tour West Pro Late Model race Saturday at Stockton 99 Speedway, regaining the lead late after fading from the pole in a caution-filled 125-lap feature.

“Giannini and Mayhew were really fast, but they got into each other there,” Keller said. “I knew I just had to capitalize on that last restart with Beeler. Every adjustment we made got better and better.”

With points leader Keelan Harvick not in the field this weekend, Keller entered 20 points back and leaves Stockton as the Pro Late Model points leader.

“We gained the points lead, got the pole, and came away with the win. I think that’s a positive.”

The Las Vegas native said the competition in CARS Tour West is just as tough as when he ran full time in ARCA West last season.

“Coming from ARCA West last year full time to CARS Tour West, I feel like it’s the same competition,” Keller said. “Winning against this group is just as tough.”

Keller led the field of 14 cars to the green flag, but the race never settled in. A spin on Lap 3 for James Hamlin brought out the first caution, followed by a spin by Hans Beeler in Turn 3 on Lap 30 and another incident involving Kyle Grottula on Lap 40.

Jaron Giannini took control on Lap 40, using a slide job off Turn 4 to clear Keller for the lead, with Taylor Mayhew moving past Keller a lap later for second. Giannini opened up a gap of over a second and controlled the pace through the middle stages and into the halfway break.

After the halfway break, a caution turned into a red flag on Lap 68 when Robby Sawyer got into the back of Eric Schmidt off Turn 4, turning Schmidt into the outside wall and collecting Scott Sanchez, ending both of their nights. The incident stopped the race for cleanup, and Sawyer was handed a two-lap penalty for aggressive driving.

Additional cautions followed, including incidents involving Hans Beeler, Adam Coonfield, and Vito Cancilla, continuing to disrupt any chance at a long green-flag run.

Up front, Mayhew was the only driver consistently able to challenge Giannini. The two were strong in different parts of the quarter-mile, with Mayhew better running low Turns 1 and 2, Giannini on the high lane through Turns 3 and 4. Mayhew had multiple looks off Turn 2 and got to Giannini’s bumper, but couldn’t clear him as Giannini carried momentum through Turns 3 and 4.

The pair built nearly a three second lead over Mike Beeler in third as Beeler and Keller battled lap after lap behind them. That changed on Lap 108 when Giannini and Mayhew made contact on the backstretch.

Mayhew got the run he needed off Turn 2 and went for the crossover, getting into Giannini’s rear bumper and sending him into the outside wall. Giannini’s car came to rest in Turn 3, ending his night early with heavy damage. Mayhew continued but was sent to the rear for his involvement, with Giannini showing his frustration after the incident.

That handed the lead to Mike Beeler, a Modesto native racing in his home event, with Keller lining up alongside for the restart. Beeler held the top spot briefly before the race saw its second red flag.

On the following restart, contact between James Hamlin and Mayhew off Turn 4 brought out the second red flag, ending Mayhew’s night.

On the final restart with 15 laps to go, Keller went to the bottom through Turns 1 and 2 and cleared Beeler on exit, one of the few successful bottom lane passes all night, to take the lead back.

From there, Keller pulled away over the closing laps and never gave Beeler another opportunity, with Beeler finishing second.

“It’s just great to be out here,” Beeler said. “Fun running with you guys. I want to thank my crew for giving us a really good car. She did a really good job.”

Sawyer entered the night third in Pro Late Model points and rallied back after his two-lap penalty to finish third.

“I felt like we had a solid top three car out of the gate,” Sawyer said. “It’s just so hard to pass, and I just drove through him unfortunately. We definitely have a really good race car moving forward in 2026, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Hans Beeler finished fourth, with Vito Cancilla rounding out the top five.

CARS Tour West Pro Late Models- Impact Transportation 225
Stockton 99 Speedway
April 18, 2026

1. Kyle Keller
2. Mike Beeler
3. Robby Sawyer
4. Hans Beeler
5. Vito Cancilla
6. James Hamlin
7. Adam Coonfield
8. Taylor Mayhew
9. Jason Giannini
10. Tim Spurgeon
11. Kyle Gottula
12. Eric Schmidt
13. Scott Sanchez
14. Alex Lessor