By Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 4/16/12)…This Friday night the Silver Dollar Speedway will host the 5th Annual Bill Brownell Memorial presented by Shane Scott, Chico Honda Motorsports and Chico Scrap Metal. The winner of the 25-lap sprint car main event will win a whopping $2500. “I wanted to bring the prestige back to this race,” said Scott, the seven-time track champion and the reason the Bill Brownell Memorial continues to offer more money for the win. “I am thankful that the track still recognizes Bill and what an important part he was to the Chico racing community.”
Bill Brownell was one of the original owners of Cycleland Speedway. He was also the original dealer for Honda in Chico. His love for motorcycles was well known but later in life he befriended many people around Silver Dollar Speedway and enjoyed the open-wheel sprint car racing. Brownell was fond of the drivers that grew up racing at Cycleland and then graduated up to the Silver Dollar Speedway. It was a special first two years when Cycleland veterans won the first two memorial races.
Wells Fargo point championship racing night #2 will take place this Friday night, April 20. Front gate opens at 6pm with racing set for 7pm. Five divisions will converge at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds. Wingless sprints, dirt modifieds, limited late models and mini stocks will all join the 410 winged warriors. Adult general admission is $12.00, seniors and juniors are $10.00 and children being $6.00. Parking, as always, is free during racing events at the speedway.
Sean Becker has confirmed he will return this Friday night and try to defend his opening night sprint car win. Yet, he will be driving a different car. After parking the Dan Menne owned #75 in victory lane on opening night, Becker has secured a deal with the #27 Nick Bastiao owned sprint car. As of now, the team has been formed and Becker should have a full-time Friday night ride in Chico. Other top teams going for the $2500 payday include Mason Moore, Andy Forsberg, Brad Bumgarner, Jason York and Robbie Whitchurch. Moore is the inaugural winner of the Brownell Memorial. Many of the top King of the West teams sprint car teams are rumored to race. They include Jonathan Allard, Tim Kaeding, Rico Abreu and Kenny Allen.
The mini stocks and dirt modifieds return for more action on the quarter-mile clay oval speedway. Oreste Gonella and Shaun Merrit will look to get back into victory lane. The Limited Late Models and Wingless Sprints make their first point appearance of the year. A large car count is expected for both divisions with a strong local following of drivers and fans.
Come out and enjoy a great night of racing at the speedway. Warm weather is expected. Also, check out the website for any special coupons for this Friday nights race. Visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com