By Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 717/12)…Most fans will be focused on the behemoth championship battle between the two sprint car heavy-weights Auburn’s Andy Forsberg and Roseville’s Sean Becker. Yet, the two drivers that have had the best results the past four races are Princeton’s Mason Moore and Chico’s Brad Bumgarner. Come out and watch these two local favorites duke it out.
Five racing divisions will converge at the quarter-mile speedway during Miller Glass night. Bruce Miller and his company have always been big supporters of the speedway. Joining the 410 sprint cars will be the wingless sprints, street stocks, hobby stocks and economy sprints.
This Friday night, July 20th, the 410 winged sprint cars will hit the track for the final this month. In fact, the 410 winged Wells Fargo point championship battle does not pick back up until August 10th.
Speedway management has also announced that the winged 360 bonus will be back in play this Friday night. The other bonus nights will be August 17th and 24th.
Front gate opens at 6pm with racing to start at 7pm. Adult ticket prices are $12.00, juniors and seniors are $10.00. Children 6 to 11 are $6.00 while kids five and under are free.
The last four Wells Fargo Championship races for Mason Moore have produced one win, two second place and a fourth place finish. “Our team is starting to gel into a championship contender,” said Mason Moore. “Brain Cannon and the rest of the team have given me good cars at Chico and our results have been great.”
Brad Bumgarner, on the other hand, is having a career month to remember. While he is lacking a win, Bumgarner at one point recorded three consecutive second place finishes to go with a lone fourth place finish in his past four races. “We have been real good lately,” said Brad Bumgarner. “The entire operation is clicking and I have a lot of confidence in myself as a driver. If we can get a little lucky on the pill draw inversion we might pick up a win real soon.”
While just two points separate Sean Becker and Andy Forsberg, Moore and Bumgarner are in their own little battle for third. Currently, Bumgarner is five points to the plus side over Moore. Yet, the championship is still within both of their reach. Bumgarner is 18 and Moore is 23 behind Becker for the overall spot.
For Bumgarner, nothing could mean more than a track championship. His grandparents have fielded an open wheel race car for the last 41 years. “To get them the championship would be the highlight of my career,” said Bumgarner. “It would mean so much to them and me.”
Both Moore and Bumgarner have family and friends that sit in the same area of the main grandstand week after week. The traditional cow bell is a staple of the Bumgarner group. The family sits around grandma Marna in the middle part of the main grandstand. She is constantly writing down the qualifying times, line ups and results for the team.
The Moore fan club is always situated a few rows from the bottom in the main grandstand. At any given point 15 to 20 people sit in that area to root for Mason. Both groups are loud and vocal when rooting for their favorite driver. It is a great feeling to sit back from a far and see their passion and exuberance for their drivers.
Rowdy McClenon leads the wingless sprints back to Chico for the divisions six race of the year. McClenon holds a 15-point lead over Grass Valley’s Brett Youngman. Chico’s Travis Moore sits in the third spot. Roseville’s Angelique Bell is fourth and Santa Rosa’s Terry Schank Jr, is fifth.
Orland’s Jake Vantol has won three of the past main events at Chico. With his success he continues to lead the street stock point’s battle. He holds a 23 point advantage over Chico’s Bill Patterson.
Brain Compton has been the best all year in the hobby stocks at Chico. He will once again be the favorite heading into this weekend’s race.
Tony Richards enjoyed the economy sprint class so much we expect him to be back and trying to pick up another victory. The economy division has picked up some steam in recent races and hopefully the trend continues.
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