CHICO, CA (7-31-09) - It's been the year of the veterans in the 410-sprint car Friday night Feather Falls Casino point championship series. The series point leader is 43-year old Elk Grove driver Bobby McMahan. Earlier this season McMahan won his first race at Chico since 1996 in a 410-sprint car. Tonight Mark Hall did him one better. Hall had never won a 410-sprint car main event at Chico. That's saying something for a driver who is in the midst of his 29th year of open wheel racing. His win could have summed up the old phrase, "better late than never." The 45-year old driver from Grass Valley led 24 of the 25 laps to secure his first ever 410 sprint feature win at Chico. This win now gives him four career wins at Chico but the previous three were all 360 sprint car wins. According to Hall's friends and the stats we could find it also marked Hall's first win in a 410 cubic inch sprint car since at least the late 80's. Even with his first ever 410 win at Chico Hall emerged from his racecar in his normal cool demeanor and his easygoing personality. "Yeah it feels good to finally get a 410 win at Chico," said Hall. "The last few weeks we have found something to really make this car work. The track was real fast and I knew that you had to stay pretty much locked down through the middle of the turns. I felt if I did that it was going to be hard to pass me."Colby Copeland ran a great race. The second year driver was glued to Halls bumper for most of the race. Copeland, in fact, led the first lap of the race before Hall passed him on lap two. Copeland's night ended when he crossed the finish line in second. Yet, he forgot to go to the scales after the race and was disqualified. It was a sour ending to a great night of racing for him.

Jonathan Allard earned the right to start outside of the front row for the 25-lap race. However, during warm ups something broke in the motor and Allard would not make the start of the race. This moved Hall into Allard's spot, outside the front row. Copeland took the lead on the first lap but Hall passed him during the next lap. On the track it was a two-car race between Hall and Copeland. They built up a descent-sized lead over third place on back. Vacaville driver Joey Magaruh made a rare start in the Jacob Spath owned #KR14 and drove a solid race. For all 25 laps he held onto the third spot but once Copeland was disqualified he finished second. Following Magaruh all night was Chico's Brad Bumgarner. Putting last weekend's misfortune behind him, Bumgarner seemed to have a new focus and drove his heart out. He officially finished in the third spot. Kyle Hirst rounded out the top five on the track but finished fourth. Hirst was coming off last weekends big Gary Patterson Memorial win at Chico. Bobby McMahan moved up the most spots. He originally started in the eleventh spot and wound up with a fifth place finish.

John Michael Bunch earned the hard luck award for the night. Coming down to receive the green flag Bunch smacked the front grandstand wall and flipped. He was uninjured but visibly upset. The only other stoppage during the main event occurred on the original start when Kyle Harris spun off the track.

Jonathan Allard and Harris each won their respective heat races.

Sean Becker earned his first fast time award of the year by turning a lap of 11.654.

The author would like to say thanks to Tom Fisher and Robert "seadog" Seaman for their stats and information about Mark Hall.

It was one of those races that words cannot describe. In fact, the dirt modified main event was the most exciting race of the year at Silver Dollar Speedway. The night featured the highest car count of the year, 19, and produced as memorable finish that I can remember. Out of nowhere Ryan McDaniel passed both Mark Abouzeid and Matt Duste on the final lap to steal the win. McDaniel's win ended Abouzeid bid for six wins in a row wins at Chico. While McDaniel's win didn't allow Abouzeid to have the "Hollywood Ending" that it was shaping up to be, his pass for the win will live on in memory as one of the most dramatic finishes of all-time in the dirt-modified division.

What made it so good? Mark Abouzeid came into the race on a hot streak. He had won all five main events raced during the Feather Falls Casino point championship series. The drama continued to build when Abouzeid took the white flag as the leader and in search of his sixth win in a row. Obviously the final lap did not go according to plan for Abouzeid. With help from Handy Racing Promotions and The Danielsen Co. extra money was put into the purse for this division. With the extra money and the media hype all week about Abouzeid's streak it produced the highest car count for the season. The biggest factor of all might have been the brilliant decision by the officials to make the main event 25-laps. Usually the modifieds go 20 laps or shorter depending on car counts. With the extra cash and more cars the early afternoon decision was to add the five laps. What a show it turned out to be.

Abouzeid won the second heat race and by doing so secured the outside front row starting spot. At the start of the main event Abouzeid passed pole sitter Daniel Dozier Jr. Hard charging Matt Duste moved into the second spot on lap two. Abouzeid and Duste then charged through the racetrack and put on quite a battle for the lead. Ryan McDaniel started fifth but on lap five he moved into the third spot. Darin Ruley also moved up some spots and by lap five he passed four cars to slide into the fourth spot. On lap eight Michael Paul Jr. moved from his eight starting spot into fifth. For the next ten laps the top five did not change.

Lapped traffic was chaotic for the leaders. Some cars were getting lapped every three to four laps. This made the leaders work even harder and ultimately helped create the fantastic finish. Duste used the lapped traffic to perfection and on lap 16 made a move around Abouzeid for the lead. Duste went on to the lead the next five laps. On a normal night the race would have been over but not tonight. Abouzeid returned the favor to Duste on lap 22 to retake the lead. At this point McDaniel had caught up to the rear of Duste. With three laps to go Abouzeid was having trouble getting by the slower cars. All of this commotion would set up the final lap. Abouzeid took the white flag as the leader. Going into turn one he set the car through the middle of the track. Duste dove to the bottom of Abouzeid. Abouzeid was also dealing with the slower cars and seemed to get on the brakes allowing Duste to become even with Abouzeid through the turns. This is when McDaniel went to the top of the racetrack. It worked like a dream. While Abouzeid and Duste were bound up on the bottom, McDaniel had clear sailing on the top. McDaniel took the lead going down the back straight. Abouzeid made one final charge and drove his car in as deep as he could in turn three. McDaniel had enough of a cushion to sail his car through the final turns and win his 51st career main event. Abouzeid's car pushed up the track and he fell to third at the finish. Duste came home in the second spot. Ruley was also right in the mix and finished about a second behind the winner.

HRP would like to thank all the drivers who participated in the night. Thanks are in order for Eli Zucker and the whole Danielsen family. The dirt modifieds return on August 14 for their next point race.

Patrick Weger thrilled the fans at Silver Dollar Speedway Friday night when he executed a perfect slide job going into turn three on the last lap. Weger got a run coming off turn two on race leader Kevin Bender and as the two raced down the back straight Weger dove to the inside to try and complete the educated pass. Up to this point Bender had led all 24 laps of the main event. Weger drove to the inside of Bender, slid up the track and somehow held on to come out of turn four with the lead and ultimately the win. It was as thrilling a pass as we have seen in a long time at Chico. Bender had to feel disappointed but still should be proud of a second place finish. Derek Rosse did a fine job and finished third. A nice 20 car field joined the 410 winged sprints and dirt modifieds during point race number 17 at the ASA sanctioned Silver Dollar Speedway.

The Dwarf cars had quite the opening ceremony tonight. They were allowed to go four wide in saluting the fans at the speedway. It looked very cool as the mighty dwarf cars roamed around the speedway in the four-wide parade lap. This group of drivers are always a pleasure to deal with and offer some of the best racing in all of Northern California. The series also does a great job with the Frisbee toss right after their hot lap sessions are complete The drivers stop on the infield and throw Frisbee's into the grandstand.

Two red flags were needed before even one lap was complete in the 25-lap main event. Leroy Kay flipped in turn one on the original start. Also having issues was Billy Wilson who hit the front wall a ton. Both drivers were able to walk away. Bender got the jump over fellow front row starter Billie Canham. Bender is always a tough driver to beat and tonight he looked to be once again in top form. Patrick Weger started in the fourth spot but by the second lap he was in the runner up position. Weger was all over Bender for the lead until a caution flew on lap six for Tim Jenkins. When racing resumed it was Bender still leading the way. At times Weger closed in but was never able to get close enough to complete the winning move. The pass for the win happened when Bender took the white flag as the leader. Weger got an amazing run out of turn two on the bottom. Weger then drove it in deep and slid up in front of Bender. Weger was able to keep the car straight and drive on towards the checkered flag. Weger beat Bender back to the stripe by 0.326 seconds. Rossee had the best view of the finish and he came home third. Skip Hempler was a newcomer to the track and looked comfortable by coming home in the fourth spot. The always fast Mike Grenert rounded out the top five finishing order. Kudos to Ryan Winter in the main event. He started 13th and finished seventh. Winter rebounded from a heat race flip that was as nasty of a dwarf car wreck as we have seen in recent memory. Winter jumped in a different car and raced his way towards the front.

Brian Quilty and Patrick Weger were the heat race winners.

The dwarf cars return on August 14 to the Silver Dollar Speedway.