By Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 4-26-13)…Seven days prior, Auburns Andy Forsberg was lying in a hospital bed wondering if the doctors were going to clear him to race the following night at Placerville. Earlier in that night, Forsberg did what looked to be an easy roll over during heat race number one. When his car landed back on all four wheels, Forsberg took his helmet off and talked to the safety crew. That is his last memory until he was strapped onto a stretcher some 15 minutes later. “Last week I have really no idea what happened and why the accident made me black out like that,” said Forsberg. “I went to the hospital and all the test came out fine so they sent me home.”
Not only was his back and firing on all eight cylinders but so was his car. Forsberg led all 25-laps to win Wells Fargo Point race #4, presented by ENTERPRISE Rent-A-Car and JP’s Paint and Body Works. Forsberg received a break when pole sitter Jonathan Allard had mechanic problems and pulled off the track. This moved Forsberg up from the inside second row to the front row. When the green came out he beat fellow front row starter Sean Becker into turn one for the lead. The track was hooked-up and super-fast. Lap times were in the low 12-second bracket. This provided plenty of speed and entertainment for the crowd.
While Forsberg and Becker started to distance themselves from the field, it was Michael Tarter and the drivers behind him who were putting on the show. Tarter drove his best race to date and was able to hold off most of the advances from top drivers tonight. Only with a few laps to go did Tarter get passed by the hard charging Kyle Hirst. The Roth Motorsports driver started eleventh but charged to the front and in the final few laps passed Tarter for third. Tarter held on to finish fourth and is deserving of a lot of praise. Even though Willie Croft did not win four in a row, he should be commended for coming from his 13th starting spot to finish fifth. Rico Abreu started tenth and finished sixth. Even though Kevin Sharrah started seventh and finished seventh, it was evident that with a different motor under the hood of his sprint car the Chico designer could be a feature winner in 2013. Sharrah at one point was battling for fourth and holding his own against the other drivers. Mason Moore passed six cars in route to his tenth place finish.
Kyle Hirst, Todd Wanless and Willie Croft were all victorious in heat racing. Kenny Allen led all the laps to win the B-main event. Placerville’s Andy Gregg started the night by winning the Tyler Wolf fastest lap of the night. His time was 12.268 and he picked up the extra $100 in cash.
Live Oak’s Matt Micheli won an exciting and action filled Limited Late Model main event. The former champion of the speedway showed he was the fastest car on the track when Ryan McDaniel and Randy McDaniel lined up behind after a later race caution. Micheli motored on won comfortably. The McDaniels finished second and third respectively. David Larabee did a great job to bring his car home fourth. Larabee seemed to have his car working great. Ken Micheli rounded out the top five. A good effort by Danny Malfatti ended when he was bumped around by another car. Thomas Arbogast reports a lot of negative Social Media interaction between the competitors at tonights race. Malfatti led the early part of the race. Ryan McDaniel and George Magenheimer won the six lap heat races.
Orland’s Jake Vantol led wire-to wire in capturing the street stock main event. He was shadowed by Bill Hall most of the race. It was impressive to see Hall race with Vantol. Hall started in the seventh spot. Vantol is clearly the class of the field up to this point. Front row starter Mark Newman finished in the third spot. Fourth place in the main event went to a hard charging John Hall. Chico’s Mike Slightom finished fifth. Slightom won the first heat race while John Hall captured the second heat.
Ron Wyman had been involved with racing for most of his life. Tonight, he can add main event winner to his timeline. “I’ve had about 30 sprint car starts in my career and never won,” said Wyman in victory lane. “This is a dream come true for me.” Wyman held off Tony Richards for most of the race. Richards did pass Wyman late in the race but a caution during the same lap allowed Wyman to resume the lead. The final few laps Wyman was able to hold off not only Richards but the hard charging Courtney Dozier. Kyle Standley and Dusty Barton rounded out the top five. Richards and Wyman each won heat races.
Chase Templeton’s first appearance at Silver Dollar Speedway was a memorable one as the Chico St. student won the Hobby Stock main event. Templeton thanked his family for towing the car up from the Bay Area. The family was so excited about the win that they left the car in the pits during the victory lane interviews. Yet, props to them for towing the car out to the front stretch on the trailer and still getting the job done. Jared Flower was the driver on the move coming from his ninth starting spot to finish second. David Pierce started eight and finished third. The Hobby Stock main was an exciting race that produced some good side-by-side racing. Templeton and Duane Orsburn won their heat races.
Full results are located here http://www.