PETERSEN MEDIA
– Saturday night at Placerville Speedway, Justin Sanders stalked early leader, Colby Copeland, before making a late race move that led to his fourth win of the year with Dale Miller Motorsports, and his seventh overall in 2021.
“Last week I was really pleased with how we felt when the track slicked off toward the end of the night, but on Saturday night it was pretty slick all feature long and it felt great,” Sanders said. “Like I said before, the slick surface is something we have struggled on in the past, but a lot of work has gone into our package and it is starting to pay off.”
Checking in at Placerville Speedway on Saturday night, Sanders timed the Thompson’s Jeep-Ram/Thompson’s Buick-GMC/Dale Miller Septic, Inc. backed machine in fourth fastest amongst the 33 cars checked in for the second points event of the season.
Finishing second in his heat race, the Aromas, CA pilot transferred into the feature event as well as the redraw and found himself in the second row for the 25-lap feature event.
The race’s initial green saw Sanders jump into third, however a red flag situation negated the start and lined the field back up for a complete restart.
When the green was displayed this time, Sanders was able to jump into second and begin his pursuit of race leader, Copeland, who was very strong early in the race.
On the slick surface, the leaders would reach the back of the pack by the seventh lap, and with traffic now in play Sanders was able to close in on Copeland before he stretched out his lead again with clear track ahead.
Laps continued to click off in quick manner with everyone keeping it clean on the ¼ mile bullring. On the 18th lap, Sanders would close in on Copeland’s rear bumper before making a big move in turns one and two on the 19th lap to take over the race lead.
Lap 20, however, would see the caution flag fly and put Copeland on Sanders’ rear bumper. The final five laps would actually see Sanders turn in his fastest laps of the race as he would go on to pick up his fourth win in just five starts with car owner, Dale Miller.
“It has been a really good start to our season, and we will continue to work hard and see if we can continue to get our car better,” Sanders said. “Thanks to Dale and Tara Miller, and all of the people who back us.”
The Dale Miller Motorsports team would like to thank Thompson’s Buick-GMC, Thompson’s Jeep-Ram, Dale Miller Septic, Inc., North County Plastering, Nail-It Roofing, Anrak Corporation, Frank’s Body Shop, Rider Racing Engines, Walker Performance Filtration, Factory Kahne Shocks, Smith Titanium, FK Rod Ends, Triple X Race Co., King Racing Products, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Black Out Fight Gear, and 24 Hour Road Side Service for their support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts- 5, Wins- 4, Top-5’s-4, Top-10’s-4
ON TAP: Sanders and Dale Miller Motorsports are tentatively scheduled to return to action on Saturday night at Placerville Speedway.