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Jimmy Pettit blows tire while leading Silver Cup Race of Champions main event |
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Chico, CA – March 30, 2009…Kicking off his 2009 racing season at the Silver Dollar Speedway Chico, CA's Jimmy Pettit fell victim to an abrasive surface on Saturday night and was taken out of contention by a blown tire while leading the wingless sprint main event at the 28th annual Silver Cup Race of Champions. Pettit, who was the featured driver during the Chico Action News' Silver Dollar Minute segment on Thursday evening, came into the Silver Cup Race of Champions looking to get everything shook down and ready for this Friday's point opener at the quarter-mile bullring. Opening night on Friday at the Silver Cup featured one lap qualifying for all classes and Pettit's lap of 14.332 was good enough to put the Skyway Tool Center, Kevin Sharrah Designs, Ing Excavation, "Captain Ron" Kalpakoff tuned No. 24p, second fastest overall out of the 31 wingless spec sprints on hand. A fifth place finish in the heat race then transferred him into the main event where he would line-up from the seventh starting position. With time constraints looming ahead it was likely that the main event would be cut short and unfortunately with a few incidents early on that did come to fruition. Pettit hung tough in the main event though and when the feature was checkered flagged at lap 14 he sat in the sixth position. The following day on Saturday saw strong winds take its toll on the track as the surface dried out considerably faster as opposed to the previous night. With the time issues from Friday the decision was made to only qualify the winged cars on Saturday and the wingless division went back to a draw show like it is on all regular season events. The driver known as the "Love-shack" started from the inside of the third row in the opening heat race and finessed the car to a runner-up finish in the 10 lap contest. When the right pill was drawn in the pit area it put Pettit on the pole position for the main event and when the green flag came out he settled into the second position behind Terry Shank Jr. By this time of the night the track had become very abrasive and featured a thick layer of rubber all over the speedway. As lap nine clicked off Pettit made his move and was able to steal the lead away from Shank. It didn't last long however, as rounding turn four to complete lap 12 the right rear tire on the Pep Boys, Esplanade Taco Bell, Pro Machine Racing Engines sprinter exploded big time to put an end to Pettit's bid at the 28th annual Silver Cup. "It was a tough track and unfortunately the tire just couldn't make it in the feature," Pettit said. "The main thing is that we were fast this weekend and we're definitely looking forward to next Friday." This coming Friday will see Pettit in action during the opening Feather Falls Casino Point Race at Silver Dollar Speedway. Last season saw Pettit win four times and finish fifth in the final Feather Falls Casino/ Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Car point standings. Last year Pettit also missed six point events during the season, but in 2009 he plans to compete in all events in an attempt to bring home the Silver Dollar Speedway Wingless title. This Friday's Feather Falls Casino opening point race will feature 410 winged sprints, wingless sprints and street stocks. Adult tickets cost just $11, with juniors $9 and children $5. More info can be found at http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com |
