By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – May 28, 2019…Following a two-week break the Placerville Speedway returns to action in a big way this Saturday June 1st with an exciting four-division program during “Dads and Grads” Night at the races.
On tap this weekend will be the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks and the first appearance of the season by the POWRi-BCRA Midgets.
All dads that bring their kids to the races will receive admittance for just $10 at the gate, while grads who show their 2019 senior class ID will also get into the stands for $10. Live music will be performed during Happy Hour in the grandstands by the band “Out of the Blue” from 4pm-6pm.
Auburn’s Andy Forsberg is in search of an unprecedented seventh title with the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars and brings the point lead into Saturday’s action. Forsberg has piloted the Friends & Family Racing X1 to victories in each of the last two events and maintains an eight-point advantage over Mather’s Kalib Henry, who has been a mark of consistency this season. The second-generation driver has tallied three consecutive podium finishes and will look for his first career victory at the track this weekend.
Another driver that has been knocking on the door of victory lane is certainly Hollister’s Tony Gualda, who goes into “Dads and Grads” Night ranking third in the standings. Gualda has been in contention each week and will be gunning to add his name to the all-time Placerville Speedway win list on Saturday. Rounding out the top-five is 1982 Rookie of the Year Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove and 16-year-old Jodie Robinson of Roseville. McMahan has earned back-to-back fourth place finishes, while Robinson is fresh off her first career Placerville podium last time out.
Rounding out the top-10 in the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car standings heading into the fifth round of competition are Calistoga’s Mike Benson, Placerville’s Shane Hopkins, Napa’s Chris Masters, Shingle Springs’ Justin Johnson and Elk Grove’s Bubba Decaires.
The Ltd. Late Models are also set for their fifth race of the season on Saturday and it remains a torrid battle at the top of the standings, as just five-points separate the top-three. Ray Trimble has had a strong start to the campaign with two victories already in the early season and holds a slim two-digit lead over Ryan McDaniel. Hot on their heels is Tyler Lightfoot, who has also put together a consistent start to the year. Lightfoot will be looking for his first win of the season this weekend to try and wrestle the point lead away.
Dan Brown Jr. has returned to the Ltd. Late Models on a full-time basis this season and seems to be gaining speed each and every week. Brown heads into “Dads and Grads” Night holding down the fourth position in the standings, with Jay Norton completing the top-five. The top-10 is filled out by Eddie Gardner, Paul Guglielmoni, Michael Helton, Richard Vanderploeg and Bobby Hogge.
The Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks have provided some thrilling and close action this season and will compete in their sixth race of the year on Saturday. A tight race atop the standings is also seen with the Pure Stocks, as former Placerville Speedway champion Nick Baldwin holds a six-point lead over Kevin Jinkerson. Baldwin started off 2019 by claiming back-to-back wins, while Jinkerson scored his first career triumph on April 27th at the “Tilford Tribute.” Veteran Mel Byers, Jason Palmer and Jason Leonard round out the top-five.
Dan Jinkerson missed the first two races of the season but has come on strong to capture victory in each of the last two events. More drivers expected on Saturday with the Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks will include Lonnie Leonard, Matthew Chacon, Dave Silva, Scott Grunert, Jesse Bryant and others.
The POWRi-BCRA Midgets round out the slate on Saturday in what will be the first of two appearances for the series this season at the quarter mile. It will be the initial opportunity for midget teams to tackle the speedway and gear up for the season ending Elk Grove Ford “Hangtown 100” that features the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets/ Western States Midgets along with the NW Focus Midgets. The POWRi-BCRA Midgets will also return on Wednesday August 21st as part of the “Gold Country Showdown.”
Adult tickets this Saturday will cost $15, while seniors 62 plus, military and juniors 12-17 will be $13, children 6-11 are $6, kids five and under are free! Tickets can also be purchased online by clicking https://www.universe.com/events/2019-placerville-speedway-championship-pts-race-6-dads-grads-night-tickets-placerville-7HL4YS
The pit gate will open at 2pm, with the front grandstand gate opening at 3pm each night. A happy hour will be offered from 4pm-6pm in the grandstands featuring discounted Coors Light and Coors Original at the beer stand. Drivers meeting will be held at 4:30pm, with cars on track for wheel packing at 5. Hot laps, ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust qualifying and racing will follow. Live music will be performed from 4-6 in the grandstand midway.
The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto http://www.placervillespeedway.com
The Placerville Speedway would like to thank all of its partners for their support this season including Red Hawk Casino, Hoosier Racing Tires, Coors Light, Thompson’s Family of Dealerships, Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating, Absolute Auto Glass, ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust, Bear Republic Brewing, Capitol ACE Hardware, Carbon Copy, Carol Russell Bookkeeping Service, Crystal Basin Construction, Doug Veerkamp General Engineering Inc., El Dorado Hills Landscaping, Hangtown Hardwood Floors, High Sierra Industries, Les Schwab Tires, the Paint Spot, The Critter Getter, Mountain Democrat, Windfall Media, Arnolds for Awards, Sierra Child and Family Services, Sierra Landscape Materials, Sierra Arbor Worx, SuperClean Xpress Car Wash and Taylor Hirst, Navigate Realty.
Join over 11,000 followers of Placerville Speedway on Facebook, where you can keep abreast of updates for the 2019 season. You can also find Placerville Speedway on Twitter by following us https://twitter.com/pvillespeedway – In addition, Placerville Speedway is also on Instagram. Please follow us @PvilleSpeedway.
The quarter-mile clay oval is operated by Russell Motorsports Incorporated, which can be reached at the track business office at 530-344-7592. Contact Kami Arnold or Scott Russell directly for 2019 sponsorship opportunities at the office.