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Forsberg, Pettit, Abouzeid and Grenert Winners at Chico |
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(Chico, CA 5-9-08)...Four racing divisions entertained the packed house Friday night at John Padjen's Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. Auburn's Andy Forsberg, and former track champion and current 410 sprint car leader, led all 25-laps to win his first main of the year at Chico. We had this Triple X chassis really dialed in tonight, said Forsberg. I have to thank Keith and Dianne for all they do and a big thanks to Miller Glass for adding the extra money to the win. Chico's Jimmy Pettit won his second wingless main event of the year. It was also his second career win in the division. It took a while to get the first win and now here we already are back in victory lane only a few weeks later, said Pettit. The Rocket Man, Mark Abouzeid of Chico, won the 15-lap dirt modified main event. It feels good to get back into victory lane after missing so many races this year, said the Chico Volkswagen dealership owner. Abouzeid continued to say, I love racing at Chico and hopefully I will get back here more now that I am healed up. Mike Grenert won an action packed dwarf car main event that provided the best finish of the night. Grenert passed Brett Barstow on the final lap to get the win. In all, 70 drivers competed during the Feather Falls Casino point race number seven. The beginning of the 25-lap sprint car main event saw Jason York and Sean Becker bang wheels coming out of turn four. York came to a stop with a collapsed front end. Becker went to the work area, made repairs and came back to restart the race. Becker did the best he could and salvaged a seventh place finish. Forsberg took the lead on the next start. He beat fellow front row starter Kyle Hirst into turn one. A red came out on lap three when Tyler Franklin took a wild tumble through turn three and stopped in turn four. He was shaken and had to catch his breathe while sitting on the race track after the accident but was able to walk off under his own power. The car was not so lucky and it was done for the night. The race resumed and Forsberg soon entered traffic. On lap eight, however, the yellow would waive again. Kevin Sharrah came to a stop and needed to be towed away. During the yellow, fourth place running Stephen Allard went to the work area. He returned for the restart but just six laps later he crashed going into turn one. Something in Allard's front end broke and he had no steering when he collided into a white tire. This team will regroup and be ready for the Bradway Jr. next week. Racing continued until lap 19 when Brad Bumgarner's night came to an end when he stopped in turn four. Moving up to challenge Forsberg on the restart would now be Jonathan Allard. The two have had rumbles in the past at this speedway and tonight set up a six lap dash to the end. Forsberg responded to the challenge and was able to lead the final six laps. Forsberg crossed the line with a 1.189 second advantage at the finish line. Allard finished second followed by Hirst. Sacramento's Willie Croft finished a solid fourth. Moving through the field was Mason Moore who finished fifth. Kevin Sharrah, Danny Ochs and Dan Simpson all won their eight lap heat races. For the third time this year Jonathan Allard scored the fast lap in qualifying with a 11.551. Mark Abouzeid got the jump on the dirt modified main event and never looked back. The driver referred to as the Rocket Man lived up to his nickname tonight. He held off Richard Papenhausen to get the win. Abouzeid started the year off by winning the both nights of the Silver Cup in March. Only seven cars entered the nights racing for the modified's. Mike Sohnrey ran third followed by Darin Ruley and Matt Murphy. Chico's Jimmy Pettit is starting to make a home in victory lane at Chico. After a few seasons without a win, Pettit has now won two main events in span of three weeks. Pettit started on the front row along side rookie Mitch Mitch Miller. On Miller Glass night the crowd was pumped to see Miller do so well and get a great starting spot. Miller would not disappoint his fans and drove a great race. He ran second for most of the night and battled Pettit for the lead on numerous laps. He swapped the second spot a few times with Paradise driver Justin Funkhouser. The two drove a great race and provided some hard racing for the fans. Late in the race Funkhouser drifted off turn four and fell back to a fifth place finish. Keith Bloom Jr. continued to impress at the race track. He moved into the third place spot late in the race and battled miller for second. Bloom Jr. is the current points leader as a rookie. He wound up finishing second. Miller was able to keep pace with Pettit but never able to catch him on some late race restarts. Miller should be commended for his great finish on a night when so many of the Miller Glass employees and friends were there to see him. Cody Myers ran another strong race. He also continues to just get better with each race. Taylor Simas, second in points coming into the night of racing, rolled over in turn four on lap four to bring out the red. Once he was back on all four wheels he was restarted and continued on and finished tenth. The dwarf car main event was the best racing of the night. Brett Barstow and Mike Grenert electrified the crowd with side by side racing that lasted most of the 20 lap main event. Barstow would take the white flag as the leader, however, coming out of turn two, he was passed by Grenert. Then Barstow lost a few more spots. When he came back on the front straight to receive the checkered flag you could see that the right rear tire was flat. It had to be a disappointing conclusion on what was a great night of racing for him. Neil Stinson moved into the second spot at the finish. Stinson had been involved in the tight racing for the lead throughout most of the race. He was followed by Jeremy Blackshire. Blackshire was the most recent winner at Placerville Speedway and spent a few seasons racing at Chico in pure stocks. He is a good race car driver. Chris Thrasher finished in the fourth spot. He is listed at starting in the 20th position. Quite an amazing night of passing cars for Thrasher. Patrick Weger, Daniel Weger and Scott Dahlgren all won their heat races. Complete results including starting positions can be found at www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com |
