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Kyle Hirst Wins 2nd Annual Bill Brownell Memorial at Chico |
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(Chico, CA 4-24-09)...Loomis driver Kyle Hirst led all 25-laps and win the 2nd Annual Bill Brownell Memorial at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico on Friday night. “I just have to thank my crew and Gary Perkins for giving me such a great car to drive tonight,” said Hirst in victory lane. Chico's Mark Abouzeid won the 20-lap dirt modified main event. Bobby McMahan made a rare non-wing start and won the 20-lap main event. He also finished a strong second in the winged sprint car race tonight. The Feather Falls Casino point championship night saw 54 drivers race throughout the night. Bill Brownell was a huge part of racing in the Chico area. He helped start Cycleland Speedway that now produces outlaw go-kart racers all over Northern California. He loved nothing more than to see a young driver move on from Cycleland and do well at Silver Dollar Speedway. The original winner of the race was Mason Moore, a Cycleland racer. This year Hirst won the main event. Hirst honed his driving skills at Cycleland Speedway for many years. Needless to say, Brownell must have been smiling from up above after Moore and now Hirst are the first two winners of his race. Hirst took the early led over fellow front row starter Bobby McMahan. The race was halted after the first lap when Brett Miller spun off turn one. Once the race resumed it was quickly stopped on lap three after Jonathan Allard flipped violently down the back straight. Allard rode over Willie Croft's inside left rear tire. Allard's car was badly damaged but he emerged unscathed. Hirst continued as the leader and was able to pull away ever so slightly from McMahan. Lap nine saw Paul Zimmerly spin in turn one and another caution was needed. The race ran caution free for the next 12 laps with Hirst once again with a distinct advantage. Colby Copeland was having his best race to date. The second year driver was holding onto the third spot and is showing great promise for future stardom in sprint car racing. Copeland was passed late in the race by Andy Forsberg but still held on to finish fourth. Another driver having a solid night was Matt Shelton. Shelton ran in the top five all night and looks to be geared for a break out season in 2009. The final caution waved on lap 21 when Jeff Griffin tagged the front grandstand wall and at the same time John Michael Bunch stopped in the back stretch. Griffin continued on while Bunch needed to be towed off. With four laps to go Hirst was as solid as ever. He led the final few laps to get the popular win. McMahan drove a solid race and finished second. The 20-lap wingless main event started with Bobby McMahan leading the first lap. McMahan and his team decided on Thursday to even entertain the idea of putting Bobby in the wingless car. For them it was the right decision. Starting on the front row McMahan took the early lead and never looked back. Chico's Jimmy Pettit challenged McMahan for the lead most of the main event. Pettit held the spot until the final lap when hard charging Terry Schank Jr. passed him. As usual Schank Jr. was fast. He started in the eighth spot and finished second. Another driver on the move was Grass Valley's Billy Wallace. The veteran driver turned quick laps and worked his way to a fourth place finish. Up front it was all about McMahan in the Steve Harris Racing/Brian Sperry Motorsports/Racing For The Troops #51. He cruised to the win and had another terrific night at the speedway. The Rocket Man lived up to his nickname as Chico's Mark Abouzeid won the 20-lap dirt modified main event. Abouzeid battled all race long with defending track champion Richard Papenhausen. Both drivers races nose to tail for most of the entire main event. In fact, it was Papenhausen who took the early lead. It was Abouzeid's charge from this third starting spot that was very impressive. Once Abouzeid took the lead he not only battled Papenhausen but slower cars on the speedway. The two negotiated lapped traffic with quick reactions and smart driving. Near the end of the race Abouzeid and Papenhausen had lapped up to third place. Darin Ruley was the driver in third and held his own even though he finished 14 seconds behind Abouzeid at the finish line. Brett Miller dominated the B feature. In doing so, the Chico driver blistered the Silver Dollar Speedway. His fastest lap of the race registered at 11.189. That time is well under the Friday night track record during qualifying. Miller went on the win the race over Sean Becker and Zack Mason. Becker turned a lap of 11.439 and was very quick in his own right. The final transfer was Robbie Whitchurch. Zack Mason earned his first quick time award by turning a lap of 11.781. A total of six drivers qualified in the 11-second bracket. Jonathan Allard won the first sprint car hear race. Rookie driver Justyn Cox won the second heat race. Cox was very impressive in his debut at the speedway. Jeff Griffin led the charge to win heat race number three. Tyler Wolf won the fourth heat race. A total of 28 winged sprint cars were in attendance. Richard Papenhausen won the lone dirt modified heat race. Jimmy Pettit won the first wingless heat race. Bobby McMahan won the second heat and when he later won the main event it capped off a clean sweep for the evening. Next Friday night the ASA Sanctioned Silver Dollar Speedway will host Withrow's Motorsports and JP's Paint and Body Works night. 410-winged sprints, street stocks and dwarf cars are all in action. For complete results please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com |
