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Skidmore Brothers Victorious In 200 Lap Enduro After Late Race Pass

CHICO, CA (5-24-17) - The 200 Lap Enduro race during the Silver Dollar Fair is always a fan favorite. This year was no different as the grandstands were once again packed full for the entirety of the 200 lap event. This year 11 different teams entered the event.

event began with the Best Appearing Car Contest. In this contest the cars would roll onto the race track one at a time. The crowd would have to cheer as loud as they could for their favorite car. The winner this year of the contest was the #29 of Wes Brown Jr. Brown had a lot of family and friends in the stands which helped him to secure the contest win.

The second portion of the night was the always entertaining Outhouse Race. This year we had two cars compete in this event, those cars being Travis Holcombe and Cody Lesch. How this event works is both cars line up facing the wrong direction on the racetrack. There is an outhouse set up on the infield with two rolls of toilet paper attached to it. The two drivers take the green flag and have to do a full lap around the racetrack before coming to a stop on the front straightaway. They then jump out of their car grab a couple of pieces of toilet paper, jump back in and get strapped back into their car. They will then do another lap around the racetrack before presenting the toilet paper to the official on the front straightaway. This year's victor was Travis Holcombe as he put together a dominating performance.

Once the preliminary events were completed it was time for the Main Event, the 200 Lap Enduro. With 11 cars ready to take the Green Flag the crowd counted them down 3, 2, 1, to the green. The field bolted out onto the racetrack and the race was underway. The #66w of Ken Wenland jumped out to the early advantage as he got out front and led the opening 14 laps of the race. The #56 of Cody Lesch would then find some speed as he closed in and took over the race lead from Wenland. Lesch would then lead the next 33 laps of the race. On Lap 48 Ken Wenland got back up on the wheel and retook the lead from Lesch. It would be shortlived however as 5 laps later Wenland's car went up in smoke and he was forced to retire from the event. That turned the lead back over to Cody Lesch once again on Lap 53. He would lead for 15 laps until a new driver would show his hand and take over the top spot. Gene Guinn is that driver and once he got up front he looked nearly unstoppable. He would lead from Lap 68 until the Lap 100 break. At the break he had a one lap advantage over second place driver Shannon Collins. The Skidmore brother's sat third after the first half. Joey Skidmore was the driver for the first half of the race. For the second half, Jesse Skidmore got behind the wheel.

When the race went back to green Gene Guinn continued to hold a commanding lead. Jesse Skidmore though kept chipping away at it little by little. He was nearly two laps behind at the start of the second half of the race. Guinn made very few mistakes but Skidmore was just plain faster. With 10 laps to got Skidmore had caught up to the back of Guinn and we had ourselves a shootout for the race win. With just three laps to go Jesse Skidmore finally made the move on Guinn and took the lead at the start/finish line. He would go on to lead the final 3 laps of the race and won by a car length over the #42 of Guinn. Both driver's stopped on the front straightaway thinking they had won the race. When Guinn was informed that he had indeed finished 2nd he was very unhappy as he exited the racetrack. The Skidmore family though had exactly the opposite emotions as they were extremely excited when they found out that they did win the race.

"My brother Joey drove the first half of the race and kept the car in good shape, then the second half I got behind the wheel and the ride was a little rougher but we got it done." stated Jesse Skidmore in Victory Lane.

The 200 Lap Enduro always has different levels of excitement, and that was one of the most exciting Enduro's we have witnessed in recent memory. For a final rundown of the results and race leaders see below.

Finishing Order:
1: #76-Joey/Jesse Skidmore - 200 Laps
2: #42-Gene Guinn - 200 Laps
3: #13-Jay Samprucci - 197 Laps
4: #16-Shannon Collins - 196 Laps
5: #12-Travis Holcombe - 177 Laps
6: #70-Jeremy Smith - 134 Laps
7: #29-Wes Brown Jr. - 109 Laps
8: #56-Cody Lesch - 78 Laps
9: #?-Justin Carpenter - 68 Laps
10: #66W-Ken Wenland - 52 Laps
11: #10-Jerry Shahay - 48 Laps

Race Leaders:
Laps 1-14 - Ken Wenland
Laps 15-47 - Cody Lesch
Laps 48-52 - Ken Wenland
Laps 53-67 - Cody Lesch
Laps 68-197 - Gene Guinn
Laps 198-200 - Jesse Skidmore

Total Laps Led:
Gene Guinn - 130 Laps
Cody Lesch - 48 Laps
Ken Wenland - 19 Laps
Jesse Skidmore - 3 Laps

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