From Peterson Media
Willie Croft had an eventful weekend in his first weekend as the pilot of the Clyde Lamar owned Tri-C Motorspors No.3C, but after a flip on Friday, the Sacramento, CA driver scored an eighth place finish on Saturday night during the Silver Cup in Chico, CA.
“It was a good first weekend for us,” he said. “Friday we had some little issues that you see in the first race, but both nights we had good speed and everyone is happy.”
Kicking his weekend off on Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway, Croft timed the Tri-C Machine/JRI Shocks/NAAKE Suspension machine in 16th fastest, putting him in the second row of the fourth heat.
Scoring a second place finish in his heat behind Bradley Terrell, Croft transferred the ButlerBuilt/FK Rod Ends/K&N backed entry to the feature, where he rolled off in the 10th position.
On the rough and tumble track, Croft went to the top-shelf and made some bold moves early in the feature, as he entered to fifth spot in just five laps, has he started battling with Rico Abreu and Christopher Bell.
After red on the eleventh lap, Croft continued to hound Abreu for the fourth spot, until Abreu got into the front stretch wall on the 21st lap, bringing out the red.
The lap after the restart, Mike Monahan bounced up the track, colliding with Croft, sending him upside down, and ending his night.
“We had a great car on a very rough and heavy track,” he said. “It’s unfortunate we didn’t get the finish that the team deserved, but we didn’t hang our heads.”
Coming back on Saturday night, Croft timed in his Sander Engineering/Hinchman/
Jumping into the second spot on the first lap, Croft made a pass for the lead coming out of turn two on the second lap, going on to win the race and putting his machine in the feature where he grid the field in the 11th spot.
On a slicking off surface, Croft got off to a slow start, as he slipped back to the 12th spot early in the race.
Working up to the 10th spot when the yellow waived on the seventh lap, Croft took advantage of the restart as he went top-shelf, and muscled his way into the eight spot, as the race clicked off the final laps with no stoppages.
Navigating through traffic, Croft would go on to record eight at the line.
“Overall I was pleased. Once we time in a little better, we can start a little further forward in these features, and hopefully contend for some wins. I can’t thank the Lamar family enough for this opportunity. It’s going to be a fun year,” Croft commented.
The Tri-C Motorsports team would like to thank Tri-C Machine, JRI Shocks, NAAKE Suspension, Holey Smokes BBQ, The Christian Stover Foundation, ButlerBuilt, Arai, Brown and Miller, Sander Engineering, FK Rod Ends, Hinchman Indy, Schoenfeld, K&N, Smith Precision Products, A.R.T., Kaeding Performance, Dan Olson Products, Vortex Wings, AIC Powdercoating, and GUTS for their support in 2013.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-4, Wins-0, Top 5’s-0, Top 10’s-2
ON TAP: Croft at the Tri-C team will now head to the Tulare Thunderbowl this weekend to compete against the World of Outlaws.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Willie Croft Racing by visiting www.williecroftracing.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @wcroft29.