From Bill Sullivan
Chico, CA — (June 21, 2013) — The Hoosier Racing Tires Civil War Series returned to the famed Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico Friday night for the seventh segment of the 13 race series that travels throughout California. With multiple events taking place in the region on the same night, the event drew a lower than usual car count but the race fell nothing short of exciting at Dennis Gage’s quarter mile and when the checkered flag waved a new face celebrated in victory lane.
For much of the season, Prunedale’s Justin Sanders has led the Civil War Series point standings but victory had eluded him in the competitive campaign. Returning to a track at which he routinely fares well at, Sanders notched his first Civil War Series victory of his career Friday night in a race that saw quite an unusual final lap.
The first 19 laps in Friday’s race went without interruption until a yellow flag flew for spin victim Reyna Krueger and another for Billy Aton one lap later. On the ensuing restart the event underwent its first red when defending series champion Andy Forsberg went upside down following a collision with Clint Wilson that ended his night.
Once the event finally restarted, Sanders pulled away in the lead. He had previously overtaken pole sitter Brad Bumgarner and Matt Peterson. Working his way to a distant lead, Sanders prepared himself for a final turn incident he never expected. As he powered his Hanover Displays #7 through the third turn he ruptured a water hose which ejected fluid in his path, sending him into an unexpected spin onto the infield apron.
Due to his distant lead, Sanders was able to keep the car powered up and recovered quickly to accelerate to the finish line and score his first career Civil War victory.
“This is my first Civil War win and for some reason Chico is one of my best tracks,” said Sanders. “I won my first 410 race here and now my first Civil War. I thought someone tapped me from behind and spun me out. I had no idea it was water coming from my own car.”
At the finish line, Bumgarner finished in second place. The podium finish was a strong one for the local driver that competes at Chico every Friday night.
“This is a huge accomplishment for me and our team,” said Bumgarner. “To finish second to Justin Sanders is a good thing. He was by far the class of the field.”
Dan Menne of Fort Jones drove from 10th to third in Friday’s feature event. During the trek, Menne raced side by side with his team car of Sean Becker to score the podium finish.
“It felt good to get behind the wheel again, its my first race since last August,” said Menne. “It also felt good to pass my other driver tonight.”
In preliminary action on Friday, Mason Moore won the B feature over Koen Shaw, Clint Wilson and Adam Brenton. Heat race wins went to Menne, Krueger and Sanders. The top three qualifiers for the night were Joey Magaruh, Herman Klein and Colby Wiesz.
The winged warriors of the Civil War Series will now have a week off until they return for a pair of big events ahead. They will touch down at Placerville Speedway on Thursday, July 4th for the Tiner Family Classic Race. This event will offer boasted winnings and bonuses and will include a festive Fourth of July Fireworks display following the races. Then on Saturday, July 6 the series returns to Petaluma Speedway.
For additional information visit the official website of the Civil War Sprint Cars at www.civilwarsprints.com Also, please like the Civil War Sprint Car Series on Facebook today.