From Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – August 16, 2010…Returning to his home track of Placerville Speedway on Saturday night Andy Gregg proceeded to put together his best outing of the 2010 season by setting fast time and then racing to a big victory in the 25-lap feature after having an entertaining battle with good buddy Andy Forsberg.
The win marked car owner Brett Ervin’s first victory since becoming an owner and was also Gregg’s first triumph of the season at the Placerville Speedway, in what was just his second weekly start at the high-banked quarter-mile oval this year.
“The track was a bit tricky on Saturday, but my crew did a great job and made all the right calls so it was a fun night all around,” said Gregg. “I was also really happy to be able to get Bret Ervin his first win, because he really deserves it and has put a lot into this team and I appreciate everything he has done for me.”
Gregg went into this past Saturday following a strong run the previous week in Watsonville with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series, where he set fast time and finished fifth in the main event. With the confidence from that night he went into the Placerville Speedway this most recent weekend and opened up the evening by cutting the fastest lap once again in qualifying to earn fast time aboard the 7-Industries, River City Alarms, Guinness Beer No. 53.
A fifth place finish in the opening heat race then put him into the main event and when the number four was drawn for the inversion it put him in the second row, but a spin by the outside front row starter moved Gregg up to the front row for the complete restart. When racing finally got underway the Placerville veteran jumped into the lead and held command over the rest of the field in the early stages.
After leading the opening laps without worries he soon had to deal with four-time Civil War champ Andy Forsberg and the pair would dice it up for a number of laps on the always action packed red clay bullring. With Forsberg nipping at his heels Gregg had to run a near perfect race and that’s exactly what would happen, as the former Golden State Challenge Rookie of the Year was able to drive off and cross under the checkered to record his first win since joining Bret Ervin Racing last year.
“I always enjoy racing with Andy Forsberg and that’s pretty much the best we have been all year long so that gives me a lot of confidence going into some of the bigger races as the season goes on,” commented Gregg. “We put a new Borello Racing Engines ASCS 360 in tonight and were really pleased with the performance. To be able to set fast time and then come back and win the main event was pretty awesome for this whole team.”
With the win under his belt Gregg will look to keep the good things coming this Saturday night when the Golden State Challenge Series invades Placerville Speedway in the final event of the season for the 410 tour. For the night of action he will climb back behind the wheel of his own Team Guts Racing, Dale Miller Plumbing, Myers & Sons Drywall No. 16x sprinter.
“We’re really looking forward to the GSC show this weekend and hope to carry the momentum from last Saturday into the event,” said Gregg, who scored a pair of third place finishes with the series last year in Placerville. “Some of the races we’ve run with GSC this year haven’t gone quite how we’ve wanted, but we had a good run at Ocean Speedway a couple weeks ago so hopefully we can have another successful showing on Saturday.”
Following the Golden State Challenge Series event in Placerville this weekend Gregg will return to action aboard the Bret Ervin Racing No. 53 mount during the 50th running of the Johnny Key Classic on Saturday August 28 at the Ocean Speedway. “After getting our first win in the 53 car I’m excited about our next race in it at the Johnny Key Classic,” added Gregg. “It should be a really fun show with a lot of money on the line and a great field on hand so we can’t wait.”
Log onto http://7industries.com for more on Andy Gregg, Bret Ervin Racing and Northern California sprint car racing in general.