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Big Opening Night Crowd at Silver Dollar Speedway

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Photo by Steven Cox [sprintcarphotos.com][/caption]CHICO, CA (4-1-11) - It was a big success at the Silver Dollar Speedway during the first night of Wells Fargo point championship racing. A huge grandstand crowd and a large car count brought an exciting buzz throughout the facility all night. Also on hand was our special Grand Marshal of the race and celebrity television star Shawntel Newton. Wells Fargo was nice enough to have numerous give-a-ways to throw into the grandstands. Many of the drivers were invited over after all the heat races were run to help throw out the special gifts. However, with al the said, it's the racing that the fans came to see and they were treated to plenty of spills and thrills during the nights racing action.

Oroville's Sean Becker won the winged sprint car main event. Becker took the lead away from Tyler Wolf just past the half way point. "We were not that good in the heat race and my crew did a great job of making some adjustments to get us faster," said Becker in victory. "I actually went over and told Tyler I was sorry for passing him. I mean I want to win just as badly as anyone else but I also know how hard it is to get that first win. I know it would have been his first sprint car win but I got a feeling he's going to get one of these before the year is through."

Wolf did come across the line in the second spot. It was a great way to start off his racing year. Andy Forsberg was back to his fun ways and used the high scary side many times tonight to pass his way up and finish in the third spot. Robbie Whitchurch held on to the fourth spot while the hardest charger of the night went to Brett Miller. Miller started deep in the field and passed the most cars to finish fifth.

Defending wingless spec sprint track champion Terry Schank Jr. won the 20-lap main event. Schank Jr. was able to hold off a charging Taylor Simas late in the race. "I don't usually sweat a lot when driving the car but tonight after the race I was wringing wet," said Schank Jr. who was alluding to the rough conditions on the choppy track. "It was a handful to hold onto tonight but I am lucky to have such a great team and it's nice to get another win." Simas started back in the field. He was penalized for jumping the restart in his heat race that ultimately hurt his starting spot for the main event. Simas was on the move throughout the race and ended up in the second spot. Grass Valley driver Brett Youngman came up to finish in the third spot. Marcus Hardina also had an impressive run to work his way up to a fourth place finish. Ron LaPlant survived the night to place in the fifth spot.

Another defending track champion ended up in victory lane tonight. Marysville driver Randy McDaniel made a great late race pass over Kyle Casson to capture the dirt modified main event. McDaniel was driving for Ira Compton tonight. "We were saving our car for Calistoga's race tomorrow night and was just planning on staying at home tonight," said McDaniel. "But Ira called me and asked me to run one of his cars and here we are. I am worn out after that race but it is worth it when you end up in victory lane." Casson was solid all night and ended up finishing in the second spot. The race was halted for about ten minutes when the two cars of Duane Cleveland and Tom Canniff crashed off turn two and were stuck together. It took two tow trucks and a lot of help to get the cars separated and track cleared. Marysville driver Dustin Massey looked sharp as usual and finished in the third spot. Mark Abouzeid came home in the fourth spot. Petaluma driver Oreste Gonella made his first start at Chico a successful one by coming home in fifth.

The street stock main event was very entertaining. Richard Workman led the first part of the main event before getting passed by Chris Warner. It was nice to see Warner back at the speedway. It had been roughly five years since he gave up racing. He returned here tonight and got the popular win. "It's hard to imagine that this car was literally a box about two months ago and to get the support from my family and friends to help rebuild this car and get us into victory lane is a testament to them," said Warner. "We plan on racing all over the place this season and it feels good to be back after about a five year break from driving."

Sean Becker turned the fastest lap of the night in qualifying with a 12.548.

Wells Fargo point championship racing will continue on April 15. The Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Shootout Series will highlight the night. Their series will be joined by the 410 winged sprints and the street stocks.

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