CHICO, CA (6-11-10) - Youth was served Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway when Zach Zimmerly, who just last month turned 16 years old, passed Brent Kaeding on lap 23 and went on to lead the final seven laps to notch his first career King of California main event. To put the win in perspective, consider that Kaeding has the most all-times wins art Chico with 88. Kaeding is also the series' 13-time champion. Zimmerly was not even born when Kaeding was winning sprint car championships. "This is an amazing moment for me," said Zimmerly in victory lane. " It was cool to pass a guy like Brent Kaeding to get my first Golden State win. I need to thank my family and the McMillen family for all they have done for me and also to Jonathan who has taught me a lot of sprint car racing this year."The race also served as the 27th annual Tribute to Gary Patterson. With the win, Zimmerly's name is now added to the long list of great sprint car drivers who have won this race in memory of one of the best drivers to ever strap into a sprint car. The goose bump moment of the night happened when Zimmerly roared down the back straight on the final lap. As he entered turn three and the win was in sight, the fans at Silver Dollar Speedway rose in unison and gave the youngster a standing ovation as he came out of turn four and then crossed the finish line. These are the moments and memories that make this sport so special and I was happy to be a part of it.

Another thing that struck me as really special was the victory cool down lap. It was was nice to see Brent Kaeding pull along side Zimmerly and congratulate him for almost the full lap. Third place finishing Jonathan Allard also pulled along side Zimmerly and congratulated the young phenom.

Once all three drivers parked on the front straight, Kaeding was the first one out of his car to give Zimmerly a hug. "This kid has been fast all year," said Kaeding being interviewed by Gary Thomas. "It was only a matter of time before he picked up his first win." Allard also gave Zimmerly a lot of praise. "He drove by Brent and me like we were standing still. He is a good kid with a good family and I'm also happy for Duke and Scott McMillen in helping him progress as a driver," said Allard. On a personal level, Allard has been somewhat of a mentor for Zimmerly since he has been racing in California.

Brent Kaeding led the 22-car starting field down to the green flag. Kaeding took the lead into turn one over fellow outside front row starter Brett Miller. Mason Moore was able to get around Miller on the first lap and move into the second spot. Sean Becker was one of the drivers who charged at the early part of the main event. Becker started in the eighth spot but by lap eight he had charged into second.

Lap three was a scary one for Alissa Geving. The two-time Petaluma track champion got squeezed into the front straight away wall. The car took the brunt of the damage and Geving limped away. The yellow came back out on lap six when hard charging Kyle Larson spun off the track in turn two. Larson returned to the rear of the field and worked his way back to an eighth place finish.

Zimmerly's march towards the front really did not start until lap 13. Up to this point he had started in the sixth spot and was running in the fifth spot. In one lap Zimmerly moved from fifth to third and set his sights on Becker in second. Zimmerly passed Becker on lap 20 and moved into the second spot. It took him just two more laps to get to the inside of Kaeding and passed him going into turn one. Zimmerly zoomed down the back straight and had already built a three car length lead.

The final stoppage of the night took place on lap 26. Jonathan Allard and Tim Kaeding each had started deep in the field. Kaeding did not have a stellar qualifying time and Allard had to come out of the B main. Both were able to slice and dice their way up to the front and on lap 25 they were battling over the third spot. Going through turn one Allard was on the high side and Kaeding ran through the middle. Allard had to hit the brakes to avoid another car and this got his car loose. His front end swung around just a bit and this caused Kaeding avoid Allard and he began to spin. As Kaeding did a 180 spin the rest of the field was coming by. Unfortunately Brett Miller had nowhere to go and clobbered Kaeding's car. Miller flipped upside down but was uninjured. Both cars were done for the night.

With a clear track ahead of him Zimmerly cruised to a comfortable lead on the restart. Kaeding and Allard were left to duke it out for second. Kaeding was able to hold off Allard for the second spot. Sean Becker came home in the fourth position. It was a solid finish for the #51 team. Chico's Jason York held his own all night. York dominated the 12-lap B main event. He started the main in the ninth spot and did a wonderful job to finish fifth.

The hard charger of the night went to Andy Forsberg. The whole could have been considered a disaster after he missed his qualifying spot and got one lap at the end. Brake problems forced Forsberg to miss the B main event. He then fought his way to a fifth place finish in the B main. He started the feature event in the 21st spot. For the next 30 laps Forsberg put on a passing display that saw him charge into the top five before falling back to a sixth place finish at the checkered flag.

Evan Suggs started the night off by turning the fastest lap in qualifying.

Suggs lap was a 11.458. Heat race winners included Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, John Michael Bunch and Mark Hall. A great turnout of 32 King of California sprint cars turned out for their 14th point race of the year.

Also on hand was the ASCS Midgets. Dillon Silverman looked to make it three for three this year for main event wins. Silverman did the best he could and held off Britton Bock for most of the 15 lap main event. On lap 11 Bock made his move and took the lead away from Silverman. Bock led the final four laps for the win. It was a good job by the midget drivers as they raced all 15 laps without a caution. Bock also won the eight lap heat race for the division. Travis Haugh raced from sixth to a third place finish in the feature. JR Williams, Rick Young and Lonnie Alton completed the run down for the midget main event.