CHICO, CA (6-25-10) - Grass Valley driver Mark Hall led all 25-laps to win the Feather Falls Casino / Riebes Auto Parts sprint car main event Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. It was Hall's second career 410 winged main event victory at the speedway for the 47-year old father of two. Hall picked up his first win last year. "I was able to get up front and work my way around traffic," said Hall. "The track was really fast tonight and I knew it was going to be hard to pass." Hall started on the front row and held off fellow front row starter Brad Bumgarner all 25-laps. A total of 19 sprint cars entered the nights racing activities.Travis Haugh won the ASCS Midget main event. In fact, Haugh clean swept the night by winning the six-lap heat race. It was an impressive drive considering that it was only his third career start. In both races Haugh beat Britton Bock. Bock had won the most recent main event at Chico. Two-time main event winner this year Dillon Silverman finished third.

Yuba City champion Heather Bartlett won her third main event of the season. Tonight marked the fifth race in 2010 for the street stock division. Phil Marino finished in the second spot. Marino is the only driver to win a main event this year other than Bartlett. Marino has two wins in 2010. Marino pressured Bartlett for all 20-laps but the female champion held a smooth, consistent line and never seemed rattled. "I use a Hans device so I don't have a lot of peripheral vision so i never did see Phil but I knew he was behind me and it was go time all 20-laps," said Bartlett. Joe Longmire finished in the third spot. It was a solid finish for the Longmire bunch who continue to be one of the good guys at the speedway. Mike Slightom scored another top five finish with a solid run to fourth. Former champion Scott Rogers finished in the fifth spot.

Chico's Richard Papenhausen returned to victory lane for the first time in 2010. "It's been a while since I've sat here in victory lane and it feels good," said Papenhausen. The dirt modified 20-lap main event had many twists and turns. Chico driver Mark Abouzeid led the first half of the race. At one point Abouzeid held a straightaway lead over second place driver Wade Kennemore. However, during a yellow flag, Abouzeid quickly darted off the track and retired for the night. This gave the lead to Kennemore. A few laps later Kennemore came to a stop off turn one and relinquished the lead to Papenhausen. From here on out Papenhausen was the dominant car. The real battle was between Jeff Olschowka and Duane Cleveland. These two driver battled with Darin Ruley for most of the race. Olschowka was able to beat Cleveland to the line for second. Ruley finished fourth and was followed by Randy McDaniel.

Mark Hall started on the pole position and led Brad Bumgarner to the green flag. On lap one the first caution flew for Andy Forsberg who stopped in turn one. He was unable to continue. Once the race resumed it was evident the Hall had the superior car. He built up a sizable lead for most of the race and was able to weave in and around slower cars. His only hiccup occurred late in the race when he made contact with Tom Carpenter. Carpenter was making his debut start in a sprint car. When this happened Bumgarner closed in and provided a brief moment of hope for the family that the #88 could pass Hall. A late race red flag occurred when fourth place running Zach Zimmerly flipped off turn four. Zimmerly was impressive again up to that point. The 16-year-old is considered one of the fastest drivers in California. Hall resumed as the leader and led the final four laps with ease. Bumgarner finished about three car lengths behind Hall at the finish line. Third was Dan Menne. Menne was able to hold his own all night and it is always good to see the red #75 at Chico. Jason York was also in the mix all night. York started the night by turning the fastest lap in qualifying. From there York started sixth and finished fourth. Brett Miller started tenth and ran his way up to a fifth place finish. Alissa Geving started 17th and finished in the tenth spot. She passed the most cars tonight. Sean McMahan made his first start in a 410 sprint car tonight. McMahan was fast right out of the gate and made some nice passes tonight. McMahan started 18th and was credited with the 13th finishing spot. In only his first race it was evident to me that this kid has some natural ability inside a race car.

Racing will continue next weekend at the speedway. On Saturday night, July 3, it will be points race number 11. On the next night, July 4th, the King of California sprint cars will be on hand followed by fireworks after the races to celebrate our Independence.