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Familiar Faces Back in Victory Lane

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Photo by Steven Cox [sprintcarphotos.com][/caption]CHICO, CA (4-15-11) - Even under threatening skies and the chance of rain, the officials at Silver Dollar Speedway went full speed ahead with the second night of Wells Fargo point championship racing. After taking the previous weekend off drivers and fans were eager to get in some grass roots style racing. Three divisions were on hand led by the traveling Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprints Shootout Series. Also on had were the local 410 winged sprint cars and street stocks.

Auburn's Andy Forsberg led all 25 laps of the 410 winged sprint car main event to get his 24th career win at the speedway. It was also the first time that Forsberg had won a 410 winged race at Chico since the middle of 2008. "The track was so fast tonight that I knew the start was going to be very important," said Forsberg. "Luckily I started on the outside of the front row tonight and was able to get the lead going into turn one." Forsberg fought off pole sitter Robbie Whitchurch for the lead. Whitchurch tried everything in his power to keep up with Forsberg but the Chico driver just was not able to make it happen. "We have not had the best success at Chico in recent years," said Forsberg. "It just feels good to be back in victory lane and maybe ride some of this momentum into next week."

Forsberg had a productive night by also winning the second eight lap heat race earlier in the night. Whitchurch picked up the win in heat one. Sean Becker ran a consistent race to finish in the third spot. Roger Crocket started further back in the main event and charged to a fourth place finish. Robert Stice had a nice solid run to round out the top five. The lone accident of the main event occurred when Brett Miller got sideways and was then hit by Kyle Hirst. Miller was able to restart but Hirst and his car were towed off and finished for the night. Miller wound up credited with the ninth place position. Brad Bumgarner started the night off by turning the fastest lap at 12.089. He has problems in the main event and he finished 11th. Tyler Wolf, Colby Copeland and Jim Richardson rounded out the top eight finishers.

It was fun watching Jimmy Sills slide a non-wing sprint car around Silver Dollar Speedway tonight. However, I think he had a better time driving it. "I had a blast tonight," said Sills. "The track was slick on the bottom and it really allowed for me to pull off some slide jobs for passes. Those are fun as a driver unless you are on the other end of one," he said with a smirk. Sills thrilled the crowd with numerous slide jobs as he methodically worked his was through the field and took the lead near the half way point of the race. Once Sills had the lead it was check out time for the professor. He nearly held a half track lead when he a yellow forced the race to be halted. Cody Myers and Tim Barber each came to a stop in turn two with seven laps to go.

This placed BJ Martin on the rear bumper of Sills for the restart. Sills nephew Scott Hall was in third. Hall made a nice move around Martin for second and tried to catch Sills. However, it was not meant to be. Sills crossed the line with plenty of room to spare for the win. Hall drove one of his better races and finished second. Martin finished a strong third. Mason Myers ran in the fourth spot. It was a treat to have both brothers back at the speedway racing together. Terry Schank Jr. started deep in the field and finished fifth. Both Hall and Martin were heat race winners tonight. Taylor Simas deserves the persistency award for the evening. He sustained front end damage early in the main event and was towed off the speedway. He emerged quickly with good work from his crew and restarted last. He worked his way back to a seventh place finish right behind Braedon Enos.

Phil Marino clean swept tonight by winning the first heat race and then dominating the 20-lap street stock main event. Marino had worked the lead up to a full straight away advantage at one point in the event. The real race was for second. At one time Redding's Scott Rogers was holding off Rhonert Parks Mitch Machado. With a few laps to go Machado was able to pass Rogers for the second position. Rogers ended up finishing third while Mike Slightom was fourth. Kevin Lesch rebounded from an earlier stoppage and finished fifth. "You know the track was good and heavy and I just kept turning the best laps I could," said Marino. "It was good to see Machado here tonight. He is really fast and you can never count out Rogers." Richard Workman had an up and down night. The Cottonwood driver won the second heat race and at one point was in the second spot of the main event until he spun around and drifted the to rear of the field. He eventually pulled off the track and was scored in the last spot.

Racing resumes next Friday night with the annual Bill Brownell Memorial sponsored by Withrow's Motorsports and Shane Scott. Four divisions will be on hand. For more information please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com

Sprint Car Results
Fast Time: Brad Bumgarner - 12.089
Heat 1: Robbie Whitchurch, Jim Richardson, Sean Becker, Bumgarner, Brett Miller, Colby Copeland
Heat 2: Andy Forsberg, Tyler Wolf, Kyle Hirst, Robert Stice, Crockett, Clint Wilson
A Main: Forsberg, Whitchurch, Becker, Crockett, Stice, Wolf, Copeland, Richardson, Miller, Hirst, Bumgarner, Wilson

Street Stocks
Heat 1: Phil Marino, Scott Rogers, Kevin Lesch, Kevin Ward, Bill Hall III, Jeff Olschowka
Heat 2: Richard Workman, Mike Slightom, Mitch Machado, Joe Longmire, Kevin Burns
A Main: Marino, Machado, Rogers, Slightom, Longmire, Lesch, Hall, Ward, Berns, Workman

Wingless Sprints
Heat 1: BJ Martin, Travis Moore, Taylor Simas, Braedon Enos, Cody Myers, Terry Schank Jr., Nathan Johnson, Rowdy McClenon
Heat 2: Scott Hall, Jimmy Sills, Mason Myers, Eddy Lewis, Mitch Miller, Janna Spear, Tim Barber, Brett Youngman, Johnny Reeves
A Main: Sills, Hall, Martin, Mason Myers, Schank Jr., Enos, Simas, Reeves, Youngman, Lewis, Johnson, Cody Myers, Barber, Spear, Miller, Moore

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