From Bill Sullivan, Handy Racing Promotions Media Relations
PLACERVILLE, CA – With a young family to tend to, Marc Mackay of Shingle Springs doesn’t have the opportunity to race all too often these days. Saturday night the former winged sprint car Rookie of the Year made the best of his visit to Placerville Speedway. Mackay bested a stellar field to take home the win in the Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Car Shootout at Placerville Speedway.
“I don’t get to do this too often lately, I just don’t have the time but tonight I was given permission to go race,” said Mackay. “This is great to see such a strong car count in the division again. I really want to thank everyone involved in promoting this division, the sponsorship and extra winnings really make a difference.”
Saturday’s event was the first of 12 events in the new shootout series for the wingless division. The tour competes at three tracks during the year and pays $1000 to the winner of each event. The division headlined Saturday’s race and Mackay was joined in victory lane by Midget winner Nick Foster Jr of San Jose and Midget Lite winner Doug Nunes of Kingsburg from the Bay Cities Racing Association divisions.
Mackay started his feature race in the third position and pulled into second place behind early leader Tom Dupont of Rohnert Park. With three laps down Dupont fell off the pace traveling down the backstretch and Mackay overtook a lead he would never relinquish. Mackay was joined in the front by Placerville’s James Sweeney who became the McDonald’s Hardcharger of the night traveling from 12th place into second in just a handful of laps.
At the checkered flag Mackay was followed across the line by Sweeney, Terry Schank Jr. of Santa Rosa and Billy Wallace of Grass Valley.
Saturday’s event drew a total of 27 cars for the regional series that competes at Placerville, Chico and Marysville in the months to come. The series is the work of track promoters Alan Handy and Paul Hawes and wingless racing advocate Roger Gleeson of Joe Hunt Magnetos, the title sponsor of the series.
The impressive car count was a shining star in what was becoming a dark sky last season for this exciting division. Car counts at various tracks were low due to the combination of a struggling economy and a case of track promoters competing against one another rather then working together.
Gleeson’s love for the division lured him to sponsor a new campaign and with Handy working in conjunction with Hawes it is pretty clear that wingless sprint car racing is alive once again in the area. Gleeson was in attendance Saturday night, very impressed with the car count in the pit area despite the threatening skies and cold temperatures.
With the sponsorship of Hunt Magnetos, Mackay picked up $1000 Saturday night. As a driver of both winged and wingless sprints, Mackay understands the economics of racing and voiced his appreciation for the new team effort.
“It’s really great to see a sponsor come in here and promote a series like this,” said Mackay. “Putting in the extra money makes a big difference. We live close by but a lot of these guys travel pretty far and it makes a difference. I really want to thank Hunt Magnetos for their sponsorship. I’m not sure we will have the time to run the full season but I’ll try to get out here whenever I can.”
The next event for the Wingless Shootout Series will be at Silver Dollar Speedway on April 23rd. This Friday night event is a make up race for a rain out two weeks ago. The event will make for a great weekend as the following day the tour will hit Marysville Raceway Park for the third segment.
In the BCRA Midget division, Foster started the feature event in the fourth position. Floyd Alvis of San Carlos took command of the lead until he suffered damage to his muffler in a multi car collision. Once in front Foster driver to the victory over Matt Streeter of Galt, Pete Davis of Pleasanton and Scott Pierovich of Alamo.
“I love racing at this place, ” said Foster, who was one of the eight remaining cars running Saturday after starting with 19 cars. “It’s a perfect track for this division. I was lucky I wasn’t involved in anything tonight because it seemed like just about everyone else was.”
Saturday’s night of midget racing started off with a touching tribute lap by longtime Placerville resident Jimmy Sills who lost his mother, Marilyn last weekend. Mrs. Sills was 82 years old and was a huge fan of her son’s lifelong racing career. Saturday, Sills returned home and performed an emotional memorial lap along with her grandson, Scott Hall of Lincoln.
“She loved racing,” said Jimmy. “She would come to just about any race she could make it too and was my biggest fan. Tonight she helped me a little bit early on I think but then things just got in the way and ended our night.”
After winning his heat Sills was running in the top three of the feature event when he suffered a rollover and amazingly, had no damage on his car. He charged his way back into the top five before a collision ended his night with a 13th place finish.
In the Midget Lite division, Nunes took the lead from his teammate Jason Sneep of Fremont on the tenth lap. Sneep finished in second followed by Brian Corso of Ripon and Rick Holbrook of Vacaville.
Racing returns to Placerville Speedway this Saturday night with Winged Sprint Cars, Late Models and Pure Stocks. For more information visit www.placervillespeedway.com. For further details of the BCRA events visit www.bcraracing.com.