CHICO, CA (7-25-09) - On Saturday night Silver Dollar Speedway remembered the late, great Gary Patterson with the 26th annual race in his honor. Patterson was born in Whittier, CA but spent most of his life calling Sacramento home. In this area Patterson is revered as a true Outlaw racer, picking and choosing his races while not chasing any sort of a point championship. His son Jimmy said, "My dad was a purse picker. He would run where the money was." I'm sure "GP" had a smile on his face while watching this years race when Kyle Hirst rolled into victory lane. Hirst is a driver who this year is picking and choosing his races not based on a schedule but where he and his team feel that they have the best chance of winning the most money. Tonight, they made the right decision. Hirst took the lead from Brett Miller on lap 14 and cruised to his third career King of California win. With the Patterson family in victory lane Hirst also received a $1,000 bonus from them giving him a nice lump sum of $4,000 for the win. "This feels great," said Hirst in victory lane. "I have heard all the great stories about Patterson and I feel honored to win this race in his memory."Brett Miller hung on to finish in the second spot. It was his career best Golden State finish. The crowd witnessed quite an impressive driver from Tyler Walker. Even though the original line-up showed Walker starting fourth and finishing third, it was not as easy for him as it looked. On the original start Walker was involved with a crash when front row starter Colby Copeland tipped over. Walker had nowhere to go and bumped into Copeland's parked car. This sent Walker to the rear of the field for the next restart. Walker did not give up and for the next 30 laps charged through the field, passing 18 cars to finish third. With his win last night Walker will carry the King of California point lead into the final three races of the year. Walker also will receive an extra $900 from Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows for securing the most points during the two-day show at Chico. The surprise winner of the night might had to be Eric Trask. The Oregon driver made only his second start Saturday at Chico but it was a good one. He shocked everyone by earned fast-time honors with an 11.982. By doing so he picked up an extra $300 from the Thomas family. It was a nice gesture from the family who epitomizes the heart and sole of sprint car racing in Northern California.

Twenty-two drivers took the original green flag from starter Don Dunlap. Yet, the red came out quickly when Copeland ended up on his lid and collected Walker. This moved Kyle Hirst to the outside of the front row joining Brett Miller. On the second attempt is was Miller with the advantage and the race stayed green until lap six when hard charging Zach Zimmerly got upside down in turn four. He was running in the top five at the time of his accident. On the restart the mover and shaker was Kyle Larson. The top rookie contender started in the fifth spot but by lap seven he passed Hirst for second and was charging towards Miller. Larson was letting it all hang out by throwing his car up on the high scary side. Unfortunately on lap eight the high side bit Larson. He went into turn one and hit what looked to be a combination of a rut and cushion sending the 83v upside down off the racetrack. It took him a bit to get out of the car but he did emerge from the damage racecar and walked away under his own power.

On the restart a driver that was quietly moving up in positions was Jason Staler. He originally started in the 13^th spot. On lap six he had already moved into fifth and by lap nine he was scored in the fourth spot. While his charge ended there it was nice to see the "big guy" have another strong run. A series of cautions slowed the event from lap nine to thirteen. It was the lap thirteen caution that changed the look of the race. Up to this point Miller had successfully held off Hirst and then would stretch his lead out. Yet, on this restart Hirst was able to get a better start and passed Miller going down the back straight. Hirst took the lead on lap 14. From there the roles were reversed. Hirst was now the one who was extending his lead and leaving Miller behind.

Lap 16 brought out at first a yellow then a red when Tyler Wolf's #19 came to a stop entering turn one with some sort of rear end failure. Then without warning his car erupted in a ball of fire around the fuel cell. To their credit the safety fire crew did an amazing job in getting to the scene quickly and putting out the hot fire. It was a great moment for our dedicated safety crew.

On lap 22 the heartbreak moment of the night went to Brandon Carey. Up to this point he was doing an amazing job holding onto the fourth spot. It was quite a turnaround from the previous night when he didn't make the feature event. Then it all went south. On lap 22 something broke in the left rear wheel and he came to a stop in turn two. My heart went out to him when he exited the car and was visibly upset while looking at the wheel.

The final scary moment of the night happened on lap 27 when seventh place running Brent Kaeding slid off the track in turn two. While going into turn one there was a big fire explosion and he quickly turned off the track. The red flag was needed to get safety crew to scene. Brent was shaken up but out of harms way. Miraculously he and his crew were able to roll the car into the work area and Kaeding would rejoin the field for the final start.

Hirst led the final three laps with ease and picked up the emotional win. Miller and Walker joined Hirst on the podium. Jason Statler and Jonathan Allard each ended up with top five finishes. Jason York had a nice finish to come home in the sixth spot. Robbie Whitchurch impressed with a seventh place finish. The Chico driver started the race in the tenth row. Brent Bjork finished eighth after starting in the 17^th spot. Two veterans Bobby McMahan and Mark Hall rounded out the top ten. McMahan won the 12-lap B main event.

Heat race winners were stopped on the front stretch and interviewed by Gary Thomas. Each winner then took two trophies donated by ManCamp and Twin Cities Trophy's into the main grandstand and gave them to the young children in attendance. The four winners were Brent Kaeding, Mark Hall, John Michael Bunch and Brent Bjork.

Brett Miller won the dash and also had the pleasure of giving two trophies away.

The non-wing sprints were also on hand tonight. Ten cars made the start and in the end it was Billy Wallace winning the 20-lap race. It was his second win of the year during the Feather Falls Casino point championship chase. Second spot went to Travis Moore. Point leader Jimmy Pettit came home third. Jay Youngman finished in the fourth spot. Scott Hall's car had the number 56 on it in tribute to the Walt Ross car the Gary Patterson drove. He finished in the fifth spot. Kody Smith won the first heat race while Wallace took the win in heat two.