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Willie Croft Wins Thrilling Civil War Series Season Opener

CHICO, CA (3-25-16) - As the curtain went up on the 2016 Civil War Series Presented by Flowmaster season on Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway, it was Roseville, CA driver, Willie Croft, celebrating in victory lane after a thrilling battle with Kyle Hirst.

By way of his Dash win, Hirst would lead the field to green for the 30-lap feature event. Taking a liking to the cushion, Hirst would set an early pace as Cory Eliason, Croft, and Justin Sanders flanked him.

A couple of early cautions would slow the race's initial pace, and on the ninth lap Croft would move into the second spot as he began to chase after the race leader. Out front, Hirst was strong as he quickly reached lapped traffic and was able to work his way through the fray with precision.

As Croft would get close to Hirst in the thick traffic, the battle for third was just as good, as 2015 Series Champion, Andy Forsberg, was giving Justin Sanders all he could handle for the final spot on the podium.

Lap 25 would see the race's final caution flag of the night fly and the ensuing restart would bring fans to their feet for the final five laps. When the green flag waived, Croft was able to get the run he was looking for and get the lead getting into turns one and two.

Using the bottom of the speedway to take command of the race, Hirst would stay committed to the top as the duo raced side-by-side fighting for the lead.

To the crowd's delight, Hirst would take several shots and Croft trying to reclaim the lead, but on this night Croft would fend him off and pick up a very hard fought win.

"This race was special, and is one I am going to remember," Croft said in victory lane. "To race with my brother-in-law Kyle Hirst like that for that last few laps battling for the win was awesome and it feels good to get the win."

Hirst would hang to finish second after dominating the early part of the race. "We had a really good car, and I have to thank the Finely's for letting me bring their car out and have some fun," Hirst noted. "I really want to thank my buddies and my dad for all of their help. We had a good car, but we just got beat. I want to congratulate Willie on the win, he did a heckuva job."

In the race's closing laps, Forsberg would get by Sanders and keep his hot start to the season alive with a third place finish.

"It was a hard fought battle," Forsberg said. "We fell back early in the race and were able to get moving through the field as the race went on. We had a really strong PT Shocks car and we had two of California's best finish ahead of us so we will take it and look forward to the next one."

Sanders would finish fourth, followed by Mason Moore, Jason Statler, Robbie Price, Skyler Gee, Chase Majdic, and Geoff Ensign rounding out the Top-10.

All in all 43 cars checked into the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night for the series' first race of the season and Colby Copeland was the night's fast time qualifier.

Heat race wins went to Justin Sanders, Steven Tiner, Michael Faccinto, and Cory Eliason.

In preliminary action, Tony Gualda would win the 'C' Main and move into the 'B' Main along with Koen Shaw. Ryan Robinson would win the night's 'B', and transfer into the A along with Geoff Ensign, Kenny Allen, Tony Gualda, who came from the back, Chris Martin, Garren Linder, and Koen Shaw.

Gualda's impressive charge from the C Main would end with him finishing 12th in the feature event.

Joe Hunt Magnetos driver Terry Schank Jr. continued his winning ways and won the 20-lap wingless sprint car main event. Schank held off a pesky Tony Richards for the win. Richards was his usual good self but couldn't muster a serious charge to pass Schank. While those two were up front, Barry Pries Jr. drove a smart race to finish third. Brent Steck started deep in the pack and drove up to a fourth place finish. Angelique Bell survived a couple of setbacks on the track and rebounded nicely for a fifth place finish. Schank and Bell each won their respective eight lap heat race. A total of 15 cars turned out for the first point race of the season.

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