By Troy Hennig
(June 22, 2012)…Mason Moore was exuberant in victory lane Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. “Finally,” Moore said when welcomed back to victory lane. “It was a fun track tonight and you had to hit your marks in turn one.” Unfortunately for Sean Becker, Moore missed his mark while going into turn one on lap 22. Moore carried a little too much momentum going into the turn and tried to compensate by turning his car too quickly. This, in turn, caused his car to start to spin around. Becker was so close to Moore that when Moore spun, Becker was right there and hit Moore. It was one of those unbelievable moments when Becker actually helped Moore straighten out and allowed Moore to continue on. During the altercation Becker took the brunt of the crash and one of his tires went flat. Becker went to the pit area while Moore continued on as the leader. “I feel bad,” said Moore. “It was completely my fault and I feel bad for Sean to be caught up in it.” In an ironic twist to the story both Moore and Becker have played basketball together in a Chico Recreation League over the winter months. It’s usually Moore who gives the assist to Becker on the court. Tonight, it seemed like Becker was the one who returned the favor and gave an assist to his basketball buddy.
Moore won his first sprint car main event of the year. It’s a big team effort led by his crew chief Brian Cannon. Moore was very thankful in victory lane to his family, friends and his crew members. The Coors Light / NOS Energy / Moore Insurance / Platinum Powder Coating #22 was a rocket ship for all 25 laps of the main event. Another driver who should be very proud of his effort and the teams fine tuning is Chico’s Brad Bumgarner. The famed Bumgarner #88 started in the seventh spot but was quickly able to pick off drivers one at a time. Bumgarner was able to get his elbows up and the hammer down in what should be considered a win for him. Finishing second on a very technical track shows Bumgarner’s maturity as a sprint car racer. Auburns Andy Forsberg salvaged a tough night. The driver started on the front row but was bothered by his ill-handling chassis. At one point Forsberg fell back to fifth but was helped by Kevin Sharrah and Becker’s misfortunes on the track. This allowed Forsberg to finish in the third spot but post race the Auburn driver was very distraught when reflecting on his night.
Possibly the two most impressive drives of the night had to be Rio Linda’s Cody Lamar and Brokenhill, Australia’s Josh Ruhs. Lamar started the event in the 13th spot but he didn’t stay there long. The recent high school graduate turned up the wick on the #3c and was passing cars at will. It was his most impressive run to date during the Friday night point races. In just his second start of the 2012 race season at Chico, Ruhs started in the 17th spot and really showed his talent as a sprint car driver. Ruhs, getting some assistance from Factory Kahne Shocks Willie Kahne tonight in the pit area, was relentless in his pursuit towards the front. It was an impressive night as Ruhs worked his way into a sixth place finish. Extra impressive when you consider he was utilizing a 360 motor instead of a 410. For his efforts, he also received the 360 bonus for the night.
Orland’s BJ Martin started the night off by turning the quickest lap in qualifying. It was his first winged sprint car fast time award. His blistering lap was a 11.930. Heat race winners included Tyler Wolf and Brad Bumgarner. The 410 winged sprint cars will return on July 4th.
Complete results are available at www.silverdollarspeedway.com