From Bill Sullivan, Racing for the Troops
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – Elk Grove resident Bobby McMahan returned to the track where he learned the ropes of Sprint Car Racing with a trip to Placerville Speedway Saturday night. The venue was the 13th round of the 2010 Golden State Challenge Series for 410 winged sprint cars and McMahan ended the night with another top ten finish in the campaign.
“We struggled a little bit on the set up early on but then it seemed like we found our fast line around that place,” said McMahan. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve raced there, Placerville is always a tough track. It’s tight and fast and one mistake will really cost you track position.”
In qualifying, McMahan turned a 10:092 second lap on the quarter-mile clay oval. The lap was good enough for third place as fellow competitors Andy Forsberg and Jonathan Allard both turned incredible laps in the nine second bracket on this particular night.
In his heat race McMahan started fifth and drove to fourth place at the checkered flag behind Brent Kaeding, Kenny Allen and Jimmy Trulli. The qualifying time and the heat race finish made McMahan eligible for the six lap dash that would ultimately determine his starting position for the 30-lap A feature.
At the green flag, McMahan started in the fourth position in the dash and maintained it at the checkered flag. The finish earned him the outside starting position on the second row for the feature race later in the evening.
“We got ourselves a pretty starting spot, ” added McMahan. “Unfortunately I didn’t finish there at the end of the night but we did well considering everyone was running extremely strong on Saturday night. It was a very fast track all night long.”
McMahan finished the night in the sixth place position overall. Now, the former Silver Dollar Speedway track champion and USAC competitor will return to his California Outlaw travels in the week to come. McMahan’s venue is known only by him at this time and even that could change before the weekend.
“Well we’re not doing the speedweek deal because our schedule just won’t allow it so that’s out,” he said. “Not exactly sure where we will end up this weekend. I could be at Placerville or maybe I’ll go back down to Petaluma. I can tell you one thing, it will be a dirt track somewhere around here. Racing like this makes it fun for us, no set plans until later in the week.”
Steve Harris Racing and the Racing for the Troops sprint car team have a number of marketing partners for the 2010 racing season. Proud supporters of the team include World Environmental Energy Incorporated, C & H Service Disabled Veterans Enterprises, Benic Enterprises, Simpson Race Products Butler Built Seats, SS Racing, Art Enterprises, and Redline Oil.
The Racing for the Troops team is proud to honor military veterans and active duty service members. They carry the legacy started by the late Steve Harris by educating the public on the needs of those returning from war and supporting activities which provide resources to America’s active military, veterans and their families. You can learn more about the Racing for the Troops Sprint Car Team including its history and its mission by visiting their website at www.racingforthetroops.com.