By Bill Sullivan
PLACERVILLE, CA – If anyone missed the season opening point race at Placerville Speedway last weekend, they missed a great night of action. However, don’t fret as this Saturday night the thrills and spills of championship auto racing return to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds for a night of entertainment that is sure to be nothing short of spectacular for spectators of all ages.
Under the title sponsorship of Red Hawk Casino in conjunction with Hoosier Racing Tires, Coors Light, The Mountain Democrat, Thompson Auto Centers and Pepsi Cola. Saturday’s event on the 48 year old clay oval in the heart of Placerville will feature three headliner racing divisions. Witness the 700 horsepower winged sprint cars together with the fire breathing late model stock cars and the wild paint trading pure stocks in a night that provides hours of thrills.
Last season marked the largest turnout for a season opening point race in several years at Placerville Speedway as the grandstands became standing room only as early as qualifying. The response by the local community coming out in force to support El Dorado County’s only professional spectator sport was a pleasant site for officials of Handy Racing Promotions, promoters of the auto racing at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds.
“I can’t thank the fans and all of the competitors enough for their attendance last week, it was amazing,” said Alan Handy. “It’s the fans that make this sport strong by coming out and showing their support. In these days of so much social networking, getting families to the track can be a task for promoters. We’re very happy with the response to our opening night and we’re looking forward to this entire year.”
That’s right race fans, its time to get off Twitter and Facebook on Saturday night and get to the best social network in El Dorado County with your family, friends and neighbors – Placerville Speedway. Great entertainment, great food and its fun for all ages.
One of the newest additions to Placerville Speedway’s weekly program is the nightly Riebes Auto Parts Kids Dash. This event is a high energy three lap race between two different fan favorites each week. The winner selects a youngster from the grandstands to come down and celebrate in victory lane where the young fan is awarded his own trophy, t shirt, photo opportunity just like the big winners and the memory of a lifetime. Beginning this week, Red Hawk Casino will also be contributing to the dash, providing the winner complimentary play time in their “Kids Quest” arcade. It’s the beginning of a new tradition at Placerville Speedway that got just as much attention as NASCAR driver Kyle Larson joining the roster and winning the opening night race last week.
As action returns this Saturday night, Larson leads the sprint car series point standings but will be busy competing at the Texas Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series. Therefore, it’s up to Mr. Excitement Andy Forsberg of Auburn to live up to his name and attempt to take over the early season point lead. Forsberg was the ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust fast qualifier last week and finished fourth in the 25-lap a feature.
Justin Sanders of Prunedale is just three points behind Forsberg in third place. Local fan favorite Jimmy Trulli of Placerville if fourth entering this second night of racing while Willie Croft of Sacramento rounds out the top five.
While the winged sprint cars put on a race to remember last week, the action on the track by the limited late model division also put the sold out crowd on the edge of their seats. Defending champion Matt Micheli of Live Oak returned in a brand new ride to win his first feature event of the season while smoke and sparks were flying behind him in the battle for second place between Marysville’s Jeff Olschowka and Tom Tilford of Citrus Heights.
Micheli leads the division standings by just one point over Tilford who will be busy making repairs this week. Olschowka is third overall over Auburn’s Tom Arbogast returned in the new Suicide Prevention late model. Duane Zieder rounds out the top five. Look for new faces to surface in this division as early as this week. Regional champions including Ryan and Randy McDaniel are expected as well as former Placerville champion Jerry Bartlett in the coming weeks.
When it comes to wild action, the pure stock division fell nothing short of it Saturday night as a full field of dentless machines took to the track. Defending champion Matt Tilford of Citrus Heights leads the standings after last week’s upset win over leader Les Friend on the 17th lap. Friend is second in the standings followed by Scott Grunert of Woodland and Jason Leonard.
The grandstands will open at 5 p.m. on Saturday night with ADCO Driveline Qualifying starting at 6:30. Tickets will be available at that time Adult tickets will be $14, Juniors and Seniors will be $12, Children $6. A special pre-sale of grandstand tickets will take place at 3 p.m. at the track concession center to help alleviate long lines when the gates open.
To keep up with all the information on the season to come visit www.placervillespeedway.com. Additionally, join with over 3000 others and like Placerville Speedway on Facebook where you can interact with other fans, drivers and staff and follow them on twitter to keep up to date on events to come.