From Placerville Speedway
Placerville, CA — (July 2, 2016) — The first of two nights of racing in three days kicked off Saturday at Placerville Speedway, with 25 Thompson’s Auto Center 360 Sprint Cars signed into the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. For the third round of the Placerville Posse Challenge, promoter Scott Russell and crew prepared a wide and racy surface for the evening.
In the 25 lap feature, #77 – Mike Benson of Calistoga and #22 – Shane Golobic of Fremont had the front row and led the field into turn one. Third starting Matt Peterson climbed pole sitter Mike Benson’s right rear tire in turn 1, with Peterson spinning to a stop in front of the field. Posse point leader Andy Forsberg was also involved as he made contact with Peterson, knocking the PT SHocks, Pit Stop USA 7c out for the remainder of the race.
For the restart, Shane Golobic got the jump over Benson and quickly took command of the event. Meanwhile, the race was heated for third as Andy Gregg, defending track champion Greg DeCaires, and points leader Mason Moore raced for position. On lap 5, Bobby Butler made contact with Jake Morgan while running outside the top ten, causing him to flip violently in turn three. Butler complained of an aching knee, but was reported to be otherwise unhurt.
With 8 laps complete, action was halted again as the evening’s 3rd quick qualifier Cody Hodgson made heavy contact with the turn 4 wall abutment. Hodgson was ok, but was forced from the event with rear end damage to the car.
As the race went on, Golobic withstood some heavy pressure from Andy Gregg, but was never passed, as he would win his first race of the year at his favorite track over Gregg, Michael Kofoid who was third, while Greg Decaires and Mason Moore rounded out the top five.
“All the restarts gave Andy Gregg a lot of chances at me, and he’s real good here”, admitted Golobic in victory lane, “But, fortunately we were able to hold him off and get the win. I love coming here, as it’s my favorite place to race. I was glad to be able to run double duty tonight. I wish I had gotten the win in both, but I will take this and be happy”.
Heat race wins went to Andy Gregg, Jake Morgan, Matt Peterson, and Mike Benson, while Sean Becker set quick time and earned $100 courtesy from ADCO Driveline and Exhaust, with a lap of 11.126.
17 BCRA Midgets entered the night for their second trip of 2016 to the Placerville Speedway. The field took the green into turn one for 30 laps of action, with outside row 1 starter Britton Bock hitting the inside berm in turn one causing the car to bicycle and stall the motor.
A complete restart saw Taylor Simas lead the field over Cory Elliott. However, the caution would soon fly again as Maria Cofer spun in turn 1 and collected #77K Mark Maliepaard and #87 Bobby Wilson.
Once the race got going, Simas took a commanding lead over the field. In just 9 laps, Shane Golobic moved from his 15th starting spot up to fifth, and battled Sean Becker for 4th for multiple laps. Just past the ten lap mark, a torrid battle for 3rd between Brian Gard, Greg Bragg, Sean Becker, and Golobic preceded a stoppage as Golobic cut down a right rear tire on lap 15 and would be forced to pit before returning to action.
Taylor Simas continued to stay flawless when the race resumed, while Golobic charged from the rear of the field back to 3rd in the final 15 laps of the race. Simas cruised to his first Placerville Speedway win over second running Cory Elliott, while Golobic took home 3rd. Fourth was Greg Bragg while fifth went to Sean Becker.
“The track really started slicking off toward the end”, Simas explained in the winner’s circle. “The car was stuck really well on the bottom on entry, I just had to make sure I stayed glued to the bottom coming off. Luckily, we held held them off”.
Heat race wins were captured by Simas and Bock.