Placerville Speedway set to remember the past with Legends Night this Saturday

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By Gary Thomas

Placerville, CA – August 6, 2019…After a week off the Placerville Speedway is locked and loaded to honor the past this Saturday August 10th with “Legends Night” as part of championship point race number 13 at the quarter-mile.

Divisions ready to tackle the speedway during the exciting night of grass roots racing will include the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, the Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and the traveling Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Car Tour.

Several names from the days gone by are scheduled to be in attendance on Saturday including former Promoter Rich Hirst, Gene Gillihan, Doug Gandy, Walt Carmichael, Dick Flowers, Rich Tooch, Richard Forsberg, Dave Lewin and others. A number of vintage cars will also be on display and take a few laps during the night.

At 3pm behind the grandstands there will be a bench racing session with the legends that everyone is invited to. Happy Hour featuring discounted Coors Light and Coors Banquet Beer will take place from 4pm-6pm, as will live music by Cynthia Renee. Former longtime Placerville Speedway Announcer and Publicist Bill Sullivan will also return to the microphone as part of Legends Night. Finally, we invite everyone to break out all those vintage T-shirts that they have hanging in the closet.

“This should be a fun night of racing for many of our long-time fans at Placerville Speedway,” said Russell Motorsports Inc. President and track promoter Scott Russell. “We’ve talked about putting something like this together the last couple years and luckily it all came together this season. There has even been discussion about starting a Placerville Speedway Hall of Fame so that’s something we are looking to do in the future. The championship season is definitely winding down, so we hope to see you here on Saturday.”

This Saturday’s event marks the start of just three more point races to go in 2019 at Placerville Speedway. After Legends Night the final two championship point events will occur during Student Night on August 17th followed by Ladies Night on September 14th. Mixed in among those events will be an appearance by the King of the West-NARC 410 Sprint Cars on Wednesday August 21st and the rescheduled World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event on Wednesday September 11th.

Auburn’s Andy Forsberg has shown no signs of slowing down and goes into Saturday with five weekly Winged 360 Sprint Car wins to his credit, including the recent Mark Forni Classic. The six-time track champion is well on his way to number seven unless something drastic happens. Mather’s Kalib Henry, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Roseville’s Jodie Robinson and Calistoga’s Mike Benson round out the top-five in the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car standings with three races remaining.

Nick Baldwin continues to lead the way with the Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks as he looks to bring home another Placerville Speedway championship. Baldwin has two victories to his credit this year and holds a 44-point lead over Kevin Jinkerson going into Saturday. Jason Palmer, Jesse Bryant and Stephanie Hanson complete the top-five in points with the Pure Stocks.

With the Mini Trucks it is still a closely contested race in the fight for the championship. Ryan Murphy leads last years titlist John Little John by just two slim points with two events left in the season. Tom Stanwood, Russ Murphy and Mike Miller fill out the top-five. This Saturday will also be the final appearance of the year for the Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Cars, who always put on a thrilling show at the Placerville bullring.

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-13-tickets-placerville-LSV85B

The pit gate at Placerville Speedway will open at 2pm, with the front grandstand gate opening at 3pm. A happy hour is 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 & 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 12,000 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.

Upcoming events at Placerville Speedway:

Saturday August 10: Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and Hunt Magnetos Sprint Car Tour | Legends Night

Saturday August 17: Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Jay’s Mobile Welding & Fabricating Pure Stocks and Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association | Student Night

Wednesday August 21: King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series plus POWRi-BCRA Midgets | Gold Country Showdown featuring Kyle Larson