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Kyle Hirst Wins Two Weeks in a Row at Chico |
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(Chico, CA 5-2-08)...Loomis, CA resident Kyle Hirst is starting to become a fixture in victory lane at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. Hirst led all 25 laps to score his first 410 sprint car win of the year. Last week Hirst won his first non-wing sprint main event of the year at Chico driving the Orth family sprinter. This week Hirst was back aboard the familiar Gary Perkins owned GP Development #6 and cruised to the popular win. “It's not always exciting for the fans to watch a guy win from the pole,” said Hirst into the infield microphone of Gary Thomas. “But this 410 deal is always tough to hold off guys like Tyler Walker and Tim Kaeding so it's still a great accomplishment for our team.” Hirst had two trouble spots during the 25-lap race. On lap nine Hirst was slightly caught up in a wreck ahead of him. His right front tire wheel cap was the only damage reported. Then on lap 21 Hirst survived another scare with a slower car in turn one. Hirst almost spun around but he was able to keep the car straight. He did lose his momentum which allowed Tyler Walker to close in. “I almost lost the race in turn two but that's just part of sprint car racing because it's almost impossible to make 25 perfect laps,” said Hirst. Other winners during point race number six included Chico driver Taylor Simas in the wingless sprints and Scott Rogers of Redding in the street stocks. Simas said, “I am very excited to get our first win of the year at Chico.” Rogers was also happy to win. It was his second win of the year and he continues to hold the top spot in the championship points. “I just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight,”said Rogers. The original line up for the 410 sprints had rookie driver Colby Copeland starting on the pole position, however, after he transferred from the heat race the crew discovered engine problems. It sidelined the rookie from the main event. His bad luck led to the goo luck for Hirst who was moved to the pole spot. Outside of Hirst was Jason Statler. It had been a busy week for Statler. His beautiful wife Stephanie gave birth to their first child, Craig Edward Statler, early in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. The original start saw Hirst take the lead, yet, was halted when Jonathan Allard flipped in turn two. He was uninjured but the car was unable to return to action. His flip triggered a serious of other flips in the next few laps. Lap two saw Mark Hall roll over in turn four. Lap nine Fast Eddy Lewis was in the wrong spot at the wrong time and rolled over in turn four. Up to this point Hirst continued to lead Statler. On the charge was Tyler Walker and Tim Kaeding. Both drivers had worked their way into the top four by using the cushion in turns three and four. On the restart, Walker drove by Statler for second. A few laps later it was Kaeding moving around Statler for third. By this point Hirst had a solid lead but once again began to battle slower cars. Hirst struggled just a bit to make his moves. The track had equaled out and the bottom was just as fast as the top. Walker was able to close within a car length on lap 21 when Hirst bobbled going into turn one and almost spun around. He was in heavy traffic. Walker pulled to the inside but Hirst was able to power out of turn two and held onto the lead. Kaeding closed on Walker in the final laps but he too was not able to make a move. Behind Walker and Kaeding at the finish was Statler and Andy Forsberg. It was another good night of close racing with a solid group of drivers. The B main event featured 15 cars for the 12-lap race. Oroville's Sean Becker won the contest. He was followed by Willie Croft, Roger Crockett, Jason York and Matt Shelton. All five drivers transferred into the main event. Heat race winners included Bud Kaeding, Mason Moore, Brent Bjork and Robbie Whitchurch. A total of 31 drivers competed during this night of racing. One of the most impressive qualifying efforts to date saw the top ten in order all turn a lap quicker than 11.771. Jonathan Allard earned his second fast time award of the year when he turned an impressive 11.437. He holds the regular season record at 11.307. The wingless main event started with a bang as the lead changed three times in the first two laps. Justin Funkhouser's night ended early when he and another car made contact resulting in Funkhouser flipping over. Mason Myers led going into the first turn but Reyna Krueger dived to the bottom and lead coming out of turn two. She crossed the stripe as the lap one leader but it was short lived. Taylor Simas passed Krueger and was the new leader. Myers rebounded to pass Krueger and was now in the second spot. Charging through the field was Billy Wallace. The former winged star has now made a comfortable home in the wingless series. This week he was driving for Harley Van Dyke and moved the 5h into third spot. The other charger was point leader Keith Bloom. The rookie charger started eleventh but soon was inside the top five. Three yellows halted the race. On lap five Kenny Webber came to a stop in turn two. Phillip Shelby and Jeremy Wilson stopped on back to back laps in turn four. The race resumed with Simas leading. Wallace soon moved into the second spot and challenged Simas for the lead. Bloom moved by Myers and raced into the fourth spot. Laps were winding down and Simas held to the bottom of the speedway. He was slightly faster than the three cars behind him and held on to win the race. Simas is currently second in the points. Wallace held on to finish second and Bloom was third. Myers finished in the fourth spot and Krueger held on to finish fifth. Simas also won the eight lap heat race he entered. Billy Wallace and Brian Southers were the other two winners of heat race action. A total of 22 cars raced in the division. Scott Rogers is enjoying another stellar year at Chico. Rogers won the track championship in 1999 and since then had sparingly raced at Chico. This year his return has been felt by his fellow competitors. Rogers won the 20-lap main event, his second in three starts. The win padded his championship point lead over Heather Bartlett. Rogers did not gain too much because Bartlett finished second. Third went to Phil Marino. Fourth spot went to Lisa Shelby. Shelby actually crossed the finish line in second but during a restart she passed a car before the orange cone on the front straight. That was a penalty and she was moved two spots back in the finishing order. Steve Hammett made his first start at Chico a success by finishing fifth. The one incident took place half way through the rave when leader Jeff Olschowka was bumped from behind by Rogers as the two were fiercely racing through slower cars. Olschowka was unable to continue and Rogers went on to win. “What happened was a racing thing even though he had some harsh words for me,” said Rogers in victory lane. Rogers and Olschowka were the winners in the two heat races. A total of 20 cars turned out for the point race. Full results with starting spots available at www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com |
