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Becker, Pettit and Marino all Win at Chico |
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(Chico, CA 6-6-08)...Oroville driver Sean Becker picked up his second win of the year during the Feather Falls Casino Friday night point championship series at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. Becker used a lot skill and a little luck to get the popular win in front of his home track fans. The skill was leading all 25-laps to win the race. The luck came in his heat race when Becker was stuck in fifth spot with two laps to go. He needed to be in the top four to transfer. Second place at the time was Emalee Ramirez. Coming out of turn four and ready to receive the white flag, Ramirez spun into the infield and dropped her out of a transfer. Becker was able to move up the one spot and get the transfer. "We almost need to thank her," Becker said. "You don't want to run the B Main. Just to make the A Main was lucky enough but to get the front row, somebody must've been looking over us." Fast time qualifier Kyle Hirst drew an eight pill for the inversion and that would place Becker on the front row of the main event. If Ramirez had not spun out, Becker would of went to the B main and the best he could of started would have been the fifth row of the feature. With sponsorship help from Ashley Furniture Home Stores the win gave Becker and his Rod Fauver Race Ready Rentals and Cherry St. Mini Storage #64 a $2,000 pay day. Chico's Jimmy Pettit is on a roll. Pettit spent his first two seasons racing in the non-wing sprint spec series without a win. Now in his third season things have turned around. Pettit won his third main event of the year and held off Keith Bloom Jr. for the win. Chico's Phil Marino earned his first win of the year during the 20-lap street stock feature event. Marino is a former two-time champion of the track and was visibly excited to get back into victory lane. A total of 73 driver competed during the night of racing. The initial start of the 25-lap 410 sprint car main event was waived off when Johnny Gray flipped in turn four. Gray had a good night going up to that point. Gray had qualified fifth, won the 12-lap B main event going away and was starting in the fifth row of the feature. However, his night ended in disappointment. On the next start it was Tim Kaeding electrifying the crowd with a maneuver that catapulted him from fifth to third in one lap. Kaeding ran in the third spot until two laps later he spun in turn two. He did not return after the spin. Becker was the leader and Christian Stover was second. Stover has been steadily improving throughout his first season in winged sprint cars. Tonight the 16-year old was holding his own with Becker for the top spot. Challenging Stover for second was Jonathan Allard. Allard had just moved around Mike Benson for third. Benson made a rare Chico start and was having a solid run. Another player in the main event was Roger Crockett. The Oregon driver was in Chico because races up North were canceled and the crew decided to race in Chico. Crockett ran up to the third spot late in the main event but was not able to crack the top two. On lap 14 Allard pressured Stover for the second spot. Coming out of turn four Allard was on the inside and Stover to the outside. Neither driver gave an inch and Stover ended up slamming into the front stretch grandstand wall. He sustained too much damage to continue on. It was a tough way to end a great run. Allard now had second all to himself. Becker was able to hold off the advances of Allard for most of the race. Traffic played a small roll but even then Becker never wavered with his decision making inside the cockpit. Becker was hard on the throttle tonight and he would not be denied. Willie Croft flipped in turn four as the white flag was coming out for the leaders. This would halt the event and make it a two lap dash to the finish. Allard was not able to shake the confident Becker off the top spot. Becker won by two-car lengths at the finish. Allard and Crockett crossed the line next. Kyle Hirst moved into the fourth spot late in the race. Benson rounded out the top five. Mark Hall had a strong finish and came home sixth. Andy Forsberg finished in the seventh spot and will hold on the championship point lead. The wingless sprint main event started with problems for pole sitter RC Smith. Smith went into turn one with the lead but his car did not turn and he drifted up and off the track. Front end suspension problems later were reported and his night was done. That left the door open for inside row two starter Jimmy Pettit. Pettit moved around Cort Dozier for the lead. Pettit then held to his familiar racing line around the bottom of the race track. Pettit did a great job of not only getting to the bottom first but also staying true to his line. Dozier tried the outside a few times but with not a lot of traction he could get a pass completed. Keith Bloom Jr. became another driver to challenge Pettit for the lead. Bloom Jr. seemed to be a bit faster than Pettit but was never able to make anything happen. On lap 12 the red flag was needed when a scary fire erupted on Travis Moore's #11. Moore was able to get his car to stop and safely get out of the burning car. Fire crews were quickly on hand to extinguish the flames. When racing resumed it was Pettit holding off Bloom Jr. the final few laps for the win. Dozier finished in the third spot. Buddy Olschowka drove a solid race to finish fourth. Mitch Miller rounded out the top five. The street stock main event provided some of the best racing at the track. There were numerous lead changes and lots of passing throughout their 20-lap main event. Rick Shires had the lead on lap one but by the next circuit it was Phillip Shelby in the lead. All over Shelby for the lead was Jeff Olschowka. The two battled throughout the next five laps until Olschowka took the lead. A yellow came out on lap nine and during this caution period Olschowka had a flat tire and went to the pits. He would return for the restart in last place. Shelby emerged as the new leader. On his bumper was Phil Marino. Both of these stars battled side by side for many laps. Lurking just a few car lengths was Steve Hammett and Scot Rogers. Also moving up near the top five was Heather Bartlett. As always Bartlett was putting on a show and a lot of cars. She originally lined up in the 14th spot. The race lead changed one final time when Shelby and Marino were battling with slower cars. Shelby got pinched to the inside of a slower car and then all of sudden lost power on lap 17. Marino took the lead and the yellow came out the next time by for Shelby who stopped on the track. Marino would go on to lead the final two laps and get the win. Hammett was second and Rogers finished third. Bartlett was running in fourth and Olschowka was fifth coming down for the checkered flag when contact took place and around went Bartlett. She rebounded and finished seventh. Olschowka was moved back two spots for rough driving and he finished sixth. Kenny Robinson placed in the fourth spot while Mike Slightom rounded out the top five. Johnny Gray led all 12-laps win the 410 sprint car B main event. Mason Moore, Jason York and Jeff Griffin followed Gray across the finish line and transferred to the main event. Robbie Whitchurch won the first heat race of the night. Andy Forsberg secured the second heat race win. Kevin Sharrah scored the win for heat three. Zack Mason won heat four. Kody Smith, Jimmy Pettit and Keith Bloom Jr. were all winners in wingless sprint heat races. Richard Workman got the win in heat one for the street stocks. Scott Rogers led wire-to-wire to win heat two. Phil Marino was victorious in heat three. Kyle Hirst turned the quickest lap in sprint car qualifying with a 11.779. Full results with starting positions available at www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com |
