By Try Hennig
Rain washed away the Feather Falls Casino / Riebe’s Auto Parts / Hoosier Tire / Coors Light / Pepsi sponsored Mini Gold Cup so the 2010 racing season at the Silver Dollar Speedway will kick of this Friday night, March 27th, and Saturday night, March 28th, with the 29th Annual Silver Cup Race of Champions. This annual race with feature the winged 360 sprint cars, dirt modifieds and wingless sprints. A staggering amount of money, over $40,000 in purse money, is on the line for the two nights of racing. A Silver Cup entry form with payout is available on our website at www.silverdollarspeedway.com. Two separate nights of racing will take place for all divisions.
Front grandstand gate will open at 5 pm each night. Qualifying slated to start at 6:30 pm with racing to follow. Friday night grandstand adult price is $20.00, seniors $15.00, juniors $11.00 and children $5.00. On Saturday night, the adult grandstand price is $25.00, seniors $20.00 with juniors $11.00 and children $5.00.
The 360 winged sprint car field is loaded with the area’s top sprint car drivers. Civil War past champions are well represented with Oroville’s Sean Becker, Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Sacramento’s Mike Henry and Oregon’s Roger Crockett. However, the hottest sprint car driver is not on that list. Sacramento’s Herman Klein is currently the driver to beat this weekend. Coming into the Silver Cup, Klein has won both 360 winged sprint car races he has entered this year. An early season win at Marysville and last weekend’s Civil War opener at Placerville gives Klein the momentum coming into the two night racing format at Chico. Defending Friday night champion Bobby McMahan and his teammate Kyle Harris are both scheduled to appear. On the local front Mason Moore, Brett Miller and Brad Bumgarner are all preregistered. Bay Area driver Brad Furr and Fort Jones champion Dan Menne will challenge the locals for the win. Rookie driver Cody Lamar will make his debut at Silver Dollar Speedway. Colfax champion Colby Wiesz gets his first chance to drive the Harold and Janet Main #35a. California native Kyle Hirst, but now living in Missouri, is flying back to compete in the Silver Cup. Hirst made the decision Tuesday morning to come back and race.
Defending wingless champion Jimmy Pettit will lead an all-star cast of drivers into the two nights of racing during the Silver Cup. Pettit has been the face of local wingless racing. His Skyway Tools #24p has been a mainstay at the speedway for the last three seasons. Joining Pettit is Grass Valley driver Jay Youngman. Youngman finished second in the points last year. Chico’s Taylor Simas was seen trying out his new set-up at this past weekend’s Play Day. Simas is fresh off his basketball championship and has dedicated himself to make racing wingless sprints his number one priority. Paradise driver Justin Funkhouser will get to race against his uncle Mike. Biggs driver Kody Smith will also have a chance to win it all this weekend.
The division with the most preregistered race cars is the dirt modifieds. Defending track champion Mark Abouzeid and winner of six main events last year looks to start his year off with a bang. Abouzeid has been the most dominant driver the past two seasons at the speedway. He’ll be joined by Chico’s Darin Ruley. Ruley runs the family owned Claude Whelchel Construction #67 and finished second in points to Abouzeid last season. Three former champions of the speedway are scheduled to appear. Marysville father and son combo of Randy and Ryan McDaniel were the only two drivers able to visit victory lane last year and dethrone Abouzeid from his victory’s. The other former champion is Duane Cleveland who has entered two race cars. Four drivers from the Oregon area have also entered this weekend’s festivities. In all, already 28 dirt modifieds have sent in their entry forms to the track office. Very excited to see a full field of modifieds back at the Silver Dollar Speeway.