From Troy Hennig
The 2010 Feather Falls Casino / Riebe’s Auto Parts / Hoosier Racing Tire / Coors Light / Pepsi season has been sidelined the past three opportunities due to bad weather that has left the pit area inaccessible for officials, safety crews and race haulers. This Friday night, April 30, the start of the season is geared up for four divisions of racing at the Silver Dollar Speedway. The 410-winged sprints, dirt modifieds, street stocks and the Dirt Solution Late Model series will all be set to race. The night is sponsored by Withrow’s Motorsports and JP’s Paint and Body Works. These two wonderful local business’ have supported the speedway for a long time now and we are appreciative of what they have done for us. Withrow’s Motorsports is located at 2501 S. Whitman Place in Chico. JP’s Paint and Auto Body is located at 1840 Park Ave in Chico.
Front grandstand gate opens at 6 pm. First race of the night scheduled for 7:30 pm. Adult general admission prices are $12.00. Juniors and seniors are $10.00. Children prices are $5.00. Sprint car 410 winged qualifying is slated to start at 7 pm.
Remarkably, the 410 winged sprint car series has been dormant since the Gold Cup race of Champions last September. With weather cancellations dominating the early part of the season drivers are eager to get a chance at the famed quarter-mile clay oval speedway. “It’s been nice to get all the Saturday night 360 shows in but I am really looking forward to this Friday at Chico and being able to get the 410 sprint car out on the track,” said Auburn’s Andy Forsberg. Chico’s Jonathan Allard has the same sentiments and is looking forward to racing at Chico. “For us we have been following the King of California Series so I am getting in 410 races but I am eagerly anticipating getting Chico up and running this Friday.”
It will be the first chance for fans to see the Dirt Solution Late Models series at Chico. There series is sponsored by Dirt Solution and you can reach their website at www.thedirtsolution.com. Auburn’s Tom Arbogast is coming off a win this past Saturday at Placerville. “I am so excited that Handy Racing has brought back a late model series,” said Arbogast. “Plus scheduling Chico into the mix is giving guys who run Placerville the chance to get to travel a bit and race at Silver Dollar. On the same hand, the Chico guys can now run with us at Placerville too.” Live Oak driver Matt Micheli is a former champion of the speedway and one of the late model drivers in the series. Yuba City champion Jerry Bartlett is also scheduled to appear even after mechanical problems forced him out of competition last weekend at Placerville.
The street stocks are also in line to get their first race of the year at Chico. Familiar names like Heather Bartlett, Phil Marino and Jake Vantol are all scheduled to attend. The division has been revitalized the last few years with close racing and tight championship battles.
The dirt modified division were last seen at this year’s rendition of the Silver Cup in March. Chico’s Mark Abouzeid is set to return and see if he can have a year like he did last year. Abouzeid’s six wins toped the modified ranks in 2009 and it will be interesting to see if anyone can step up to the plate and challenge Abouzeid in 2010. There was stiff competition at the Silver Cup in March and it is rumored that many of those drivers are returning for this Friday night.
This Friday night’s sprint car main event will be dedicated to Larry Rohde. Larry was as dedicated of a race fan as anyone could ever find. He started attending races in Chico at the old speedway even before it was moved to the current location at the fairgrounds. Larry passed away over the winter and he will be sorely missed at the Silver Dollar Speedway. He sat in the turn four bleachers and rooted for the local sprint car drivers like Jonathan Allard and Sean Becker. “I’ve never seen him miss a race,” said friend DJ Greslie. In honor of Rohde, close to 100 friends and family members are coming to attend this Friday nights racing action.
Information about the Silver Dollar Speedway is available at www.silverdollarspeedway.com