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Civil War Series "Pacific Sprint Cup" will kick off 56th Gold Cup

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"] HRP Photo of Steve La Mothe[/caption]

CHICO, CA (9-3-09) - Every race that the Hoosier Racing Tires Civil War Sprint Car Series presents during the year is always spectacular. On Wednesday, September 9 that is sure to be the case once again as series will open the 56th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions with the annual "Pacfic Sprint Cup Invitational."

This special Wednesday night event will feature the top 32 drivers in the Civil War Series standings in the highest paying event of the season for the series that competes at six different California tracks between the months of March and October annually. The series is host to California's most talented 360 cubic inch powered sprint car drivers.

Entering Wednesday's high dollar event, defending Civil War Sprint Car Champion Sean Becker of Sacramento leads the point standings by an outstanding margin. Becker is 78-points ahead of Rohnert Park's Brett Rollag entering this 10th round of series competition.

For Becker, nearly any track on the tour has been the site of good fortune over the past two seasons. Silver Dollar Speedway, however, is the track the Oroville native considers home when it comes to dirt track racing. Becker grew up at the Silver Dollar high banks. He learned the ropes of racing under the wing of his father Delno Becker who raced both dirt modified and sprint cars on the famed quarter-mile track.

Becker is no stranger to the Silver Dollar clay, he has numerous victories here and has championship titles in the Silver Dollar Speedway weekly series as well as the Golden State Challenge Series in addition to his 2008 Civil War title that he won aboard the Scott Miller owned #2sb he will pilot Wednesday night.

"This team works so hard to make this car perfect for me at any track we race," said Becker. "But it is always special for me to come back to Silver Dollar Speedway for the Gold Cup. We're looking forward to a great run on Wednesday night and I'll be back for the 410 show as well."

Rollag is in second place and is poised to complete his best ever season in the Civil War Series. A former Civil War Rookie of the Year as well as a Silver Dollar Speedway Rookie of the Year, Rollag has had many successful laps around the dark Silver Dollar clay. In the 2009 series he has three top five finishes to his name and six top tens. He sits 78-points behind Becker and is 30-points ahead of Sacramento's Herman Klein.

Klein has been a top runner all season long in the Civil War campaign with three top five finishes. Chico's own Stephen Allard is fourth in standings. Allard, driving the Dorothy Lee #4 car this season was chasing Becker for the series title for much of the early portion of the season. Following an ill fated event at Petaluma Speedway the team sat out of the 10th round of competition but has maintained fourth in the standings. The former Silver Dollar Speedway track champion is sure to be a contender in Wednesday's event.

Myles Bishop of Escalon is fifth in the standings with a single top five finish. Placerville's Jimmy Trulli is sixth place. Trulli has had great success at the annual Gold Cup, finishing as the highest 360 sprint car against the 410's multiple times. Former series champion Mike Henry is seventh in the ranks with a win and four top five finishes. Former fourt time champion and former Pacific Sprint Cup winner Andy Forsberg of Auburn is eighth over Loomis hot shoe Kyle Hirst. Both Forsberg and Hirst have had strong success in 2009 in limited appearances on the tour.

All seating for the Wednesday night event is general admission at Silver Dollar Speedway. The gates will open at 5 p.m. on Wednesday night with qualifying beginning at 6:30. The winged sprint cars will share the spotlight with the Wingless Sprint Car Invitational event. For additional information on the upcoming Gold Cup Race of Champions, visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com online. Further information on the Civil War Series can be found at www.civilwarsprints.com

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