By Shawn Miller
CHICO, Calif. (March 26) – When Justyn Cox pulled into his pit following the 25-lap feature on Day 1 of the Silver Cup, it was almost as good as a victory.
On an extremely rough track at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night, the 15-year-old Clarksburg, Calif., native won his heat race and then drove from 14th to 10th in the main event only to be forced to hang on in the closing laps.
“I was exhausted by the end of that race,” said Cox, who finished 12th. “I’m honestly happy to be able to roll the race car into the trailer and to be able to come back tomorrow with a fresh start.”
Nearly all 22 of the feature starters were knocked around in some nature, including a handful of top-10 cars either flipping or sliding off the track. Cox was able to avoid most of the trouble until the closing laps, when he and Mike Melwicks made contact in turn four.
“I had to check up, which made my car push,” Cox said. “Brad Furr came up next to me, which forced me to turn it sideways so I wouldn’t wreck with him. It’s just a racing deal.”
Melwicks and Furr were able to keep momentum, and Cox fell back to 12th with two laps remaining. The checkered flag was waved before he was able to reel in the duo.
The night started off with Cox qualifying 18th of the 40 entrants, which put him on the outside front row of the second heat race.
Cox rocketed to the lead into turn one only to see a caution restart the race. However, he got a similar jump on the restart and sped to his first heat race victory of the season.
In that heat, Cox clocked the fastest lap of the night, including qualifying, from all 40 competitors. By the time he took the checkered flag, runner-up John-Michael Bunch was only in turn four.
Since the feature lineup reverts to the qualifying lap, Cox started the main event in 14th.
Andy Forsberg led the entire race en route to the victory. Roger Crockett drove from eighth to second and polesitter Robbie Whitchurch rounded out the top three.
For results from the race and live updates from today’s Silver Cup finale, check www.justyncox.com.