CHICO, CA (7-30-10) - It's always nice to see new faces in victory lane. With all the financial burdens and stressful times associated with getting a race car to the speedway, it is a great feeling interviewing first time winners in victory lane. Tonight we welcomed in Jimmy Pettit, Duane Cleveland and Patrick Weger after all won their respective main events. Pettit's win was the most dramatic as he inherited the lead with three laps to go and held on for the win in the wingless division. Cleveland had a strong battle with Randy McDaniel until lap 10 when McDaniel pulled off the track with a broken rear end. Weger took advantage of a rough driving penalty accessed to another driver and took the top spot on a restart. He held on to get the 20 lap win in the dwarf car division. In all, 20 wingless, 10 dirt modifieds and 12 dwarf cars raced under points race #16 during the Feather Falls Casino / Riebes Auto Parts championship series.Jay Youngman took the lead of the first lap in the wingless main event. The 20 lap affair started 18 drivers. The race was slowed by three failed attempts to get the first lap in. Once the field spread out the race took form and the drivers provided a lot of side by side racing. Youngman led the first seven laps but was shadowed by Terry Schank Jr. Schank Jr. was able to pass Youngman for the lead on lap eight. Two drivers running the top side of the track that were making big strides were BJ Martin and Mason Myers. Martin is as talented as they come for wingless racing and was racing for the lead on lap nine. Martin actually passed Schank Jr. for the lead but just then a caution waived. This put Martin back behind Schank Jr. and Youngman. On the restart, Martin missed the cushion and drifted off the track losing many positions. Martin never gave up and worked his way back to a fifth place finish. Myers started in the 13th spot but by lap nine he was fifth. Myers and his brother Cody used to be regulars at the track and it was nice to see at least Mason back on the track. Cody is also a talented wingless racer.

Schank Jr. continued to lead but by lap 15 it was evident that his right rear tire was going flat. On a lap 17 restart, Schank Jr. went into turn one and slid up the track. Youngman saw this and dove the bottom but misjudged his speed and his car slid up over the embankment in turn one and stopped. Under this yellow the black flag came out and was waived at Schank Jr. for the flat tire. Schank Jr. went to the pit area and gave up the lead. This is when Jimmy Pettit was in the right spot at the right time. Pettit was the new leader. During the final three laps he held off a charging Myers for the win. It was his first win of the year for the defending track champion. "I give all the credit tonight to my best friend Larabee. Ron took off for Iowa this week and I was lucky enough to have Larabee come and set up the car. Man this thing was perfect tonight," said Pettit in victory lane. Myers finished second and had a great run towards the front. Brett Youngman hung around the top five all night and finished third. Jeremy Hawes has always impressed me as a driver and tonight worked his way into a fourth place finish. BJ Martin rounded out the top five.

Randy McDaniel led the field down to the green flag during the 20-lap dirt modified main event. McDaniel is the current point leader with three wins this season. Following McDaniel was Duane Cleveland. These two champions put on a great show for the first 10 laps of the main event. Unfortunately for McDaniel and the crowd he had problems on lap nine that forced him off the track and to the pit area. The battle for the lead was now a one man show. Visitor Robby Sawyer looked great in his heat race win and now was sitting second behind Cleveland. Yet, Sawyer had problems that forced him off the track also. This moved Mark Abouzeid up to challenge Cleveland. But on lap 13 Abouzeid went off track and was done for the night. Wade Kennemore was the new second place driver. By the time this all unfolded Cleveland was up front all by himself. The final few laps saw Cleveland enjoy a sizable lead and easily win the main event. "The track was perfect tonight and it's the most fun I have had in a long time driving this car," said Cleveland. "I hated it for Randy because we were having a great race. I want to thank all the fans for being here tonight."

Jeremy Blackshere led the the dwarf car main event to the green flag. Yet, it was Kevin Bender who took the lead on the second lap. As always the dwarf cars put on a great show. They constantly battled for the lead. Tonight was no exception. On lap six Blackshere was the new leader. On lap eight Mike Grenert was the the new leader. On the next lap Blackshere was officially scored back into the lead. On the next circuit, Grenert bumped into Blackshere going into turn three. This sent around the leader. When the yellow came out, Blackshere had to go to the rear of the field while the officials penalized Grenert for rough driving. This sent him back into third for the restart. Patrick Weger was the new leader. Weger would go on to lead the final four laps. He held off Grenert who worked his way around Ryan Winter for second. Grenert finished second while Winter was third. Brian Quilty and Blackshere rounded out the top five. "I wish we had some more races around Chico this year. We all love coming here and the track made for some good racing," said Weger.