By Brad Kennedy
Placerville, CA (July 16)…71 cars over four divisions signed into the pits for the 13th round of the 2016 Red Hawk Casino Championship Series, on “Marine Night” at Placerville Speedway. 
18 Thompson’s Auto Group 360 Sprint Cars took to the 1/4 mile clay oval for the 25 lap feature event, with last weekend’s winner Michael Kofoid starting on the pole alongside Sean Becker for the start. When the green flag waved, 14-year old Kofoid jumped to the lead in turn 1, and by the fourth circuit had a straightaway lead on Becker. Jake Morgan slowed the pace by bringing out the yellow with a spin in turns 3 & 4, relinquishing his 4th place position, which forced him to the rear of the field.
On the ensuing restart, Kofoid lifted his front wheels off the ground allowing Becker the momentum to drive around Kofoid off of turn two to take the lead, but another caution would fly, giving Kofoid back the point.
When the race resumed, Kofoid led the field comfortably until Andy Gregg got upside down on lap 9 without injury. Under red flag conditions, officials reported that leader Kofoid was missing his left rear inboard caliper, causing him to have no brakes.
Kofoid checked out again upon seeing the green flag, until the leaders got to traffic. Becker threw a masterful slide job to claim the lead on lap 15.
While Becker gained a comfortable lead as the race went on, KoFoid also distanced himself from third place Jimmy Trulli and fourth place runner C.J. Humphreys. The two Placerville natives dueled it out for multiple laps, with Trulli maintaining the spot. Meanwhile Jake Morgan fought his way through the field after his earlier spin, and overtook Humphreys for fourth in waning laps.
Becker went on to win the race, becoming the second driver in 2016 to win two feature events in the Sprint Car division. Michael Kofoid finished second, while Jimmy Trulli’s 3rd place finish from his 16th starting spot earned him the AL Driveline Hard Charger bonus. Morgan finished fourth while Humphreys rounded out the top five.
“It is so awesome to win tonight. Thank you, Dan Monhoff for being dedicated to me over the years and allowing me to drive this car every weekend. Thanks to Geico for the extra money tonight, as we were the (ADCO Transmission) quick time award winner, and we won the main. Thank you to the fans for the support.”
Heat winners included Jake Morgan, Greg DeCaires, and Mason Moore.
17 Jay’s Mobile Welding Pure Stocks took the green flag in the “Bryan Carnett Memorial” event with Travis Emery and Scott Grunert on the front row. Grunert grabbed the race lead while Orville Owens fell into second.
Owens hounded Grunert for the lead over the first 11 laps, but got sideways in turn 1 allowing Dan Smith and Nick Baldwin by into second and third.
Grunert continued to lead as Dan Smith applied heavy pressure all the way to the final corner where the two made contact off of turn four, spinning Grunert into the wall backwards, while Smith took the checkered for his third win of the season. Point leader Nick Baldwin finished second over third place Russ Murphy, with Dan Jinkerson and Orville Owens rounding out the top five.
Heat winners were Rick Grunert and Russ Murphy, while Jeff Sly earned the RMI Hard Charger Bonus for finishing 6th from his 14th starting spot.
13 Domco Plumbing Limited Late Models started the 20 lap Carnett Memorial feature with Wayne Trimble and Eddie Gardner taking the field to the green. Points leader Gardner got the jump and pulled away by 4 car lengths before action was stopped on lap 2 when Paul Guglielmoni came to a stop with Ken Michelli in turns three and four.
Gardner led the field back to green until Ryan McDaniel made an aggressive move around Gardner on lap 3 to capture the lead.
One lap later, Gardner hit the berm in turn one collecting the duo of Richard Brace Jr. and Ray Trimble. Trimble continued on but Brace retired from the event.
McDaniel was never seriously challenged over the final 16 laps of the race on his way to victory over Matt Michelli, Mike Lightfoot, Tom Tilford and Wayne Trimble.
“Truthfully, I wasn’t even planning to come tonight,” claimed McDaniel in the winner’s circle. “We rebuilt the motor and put it in last night because there was extra money on the line and we were racing for Bryan Carnett tonight. It’s good to win this race in his honor.”
Heat winners were Matt Michelli and Mike Lightfoot, while Ryan Peter earned the RMI bonus by finishing 6 positions forward from his 13th feature starting position.
The NorCal Dwarf cars had 23 cars on hand with Buddy Olschowka and Chuck Connover leading the field to green. The two battled side by side for the first 9 laps. Shawn Jones had started 13th in the main but by lap 7, was in the top five. On lap 9, Jones moved into fourth just as the caution waved.
On the restart, Jones used a slide job to pass both Olschowska and Connover to take the lead on lap 8. Meanwhile, the race remained for second, with Jeff Fitch and Johnny Reeves joining the battle against Olschowka, Scott Dahlgren and Connover. The four duked it out for the remainder of the race, but with two to go Dahlgren and Olschowka made contact dropping Olschowka back to fourth. Shawn Jones earned his second victory in a row at Placerville in a Dwarf car over runner-up Kevin Bender, third place Scott Dahlgren, fourth Buddy Olschowka and fifth Johnny Reeves.
Heat winners were Danny Wagner and Dahlgren.
Placerville Speedway returns to action next Saturday night, July 23rd, with “Big Trophy Night” on the 14th point race of the Red Hawk Casino Championship Series. A four division program features the Thompson Auto Group 360 Sprint Cars, the Domco Plumbing Limited Late Models, the Jay’s Mobile Welding Pure Stocks, as well as the BCRA Midget Series. Pit gates open at 2PM with the front gates opening at 3PM. Racing begins at 7PM.
For complete details of the 2016 Red Hawk Casino Championship Racing Season, visit Placerville Speedway’s official website at www.placervillespeedway.com.
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