By Troy Hennig
Come out and watch the stars and cars of Marysville Raceway under the bright lights this Saturday night, May 22nd. Drivers are starting to shine under the lights as new faces emerge to battle the veterans of the sport. The action is intense, in your face and you do not want to miss out on all the excitement. Four divisions highlight this Saturday nights racing led by the winged 360 sprint cars, Crate Sprints, Limited Late Models and Hobby Stocks.
Pit gate for the competitors will open at 3 PM. Front grandstand gate will open at 5 PM. Cars will hit the action-packed quarter-mile oval dirt track around 6 PM.
To make things even easier, Marysville Raceway unveiled a new online ticket sale platform for the fans. Please visit our website www.marysvilleraceway.com and then click on the tickets tab. A new page will open and from there you can buy your tickets. Tickets purchased online are $17.00 for adults, $15.00 for juniors and seniors and $8.00 for kids. The $2.00 fee associated with each purchase is included in our advertised price.
With the good news that the grandstands continue to be open for the families and friends of our competitors, we also want to remind our fans to social distance themselves from other people while at the facility. Masks are recommended to be worn.
Chico’s Brad Bumgarner picked up his first win in over four years by dominating the 25-lap winged sprint car main event last Saturday night. Bumgarner’s family has owned a sprint car for 50 consecutive years, and it was a rocking victory lane celebration to say the least. Grass Valley’s Billy Wallace is still the driver to beat in the championship. Wallace holds a 60-point edge over “Hot Sauce” Kevin Lovell.
The Crate Sprints look to get back onto the track this Saturday night. It has been awhile since these eager drivers have raced on the famous Marysville Raceway surface. This group is led by Brett Youngman, two-time champ, the Ballentine’s and David Simms, who just won a main event at the Silver Dollar Speedway.
The Limited Late Models are geared to fight it out on the track this Saturday night. Jay Norton, Rod Oliver, Dan Brown Jr., and George Magenheimer are all capable of winning on any given Saturday night.
There is a ‘Beast’ at the top of the Hobby Stocks point standings and his name is Jacob Johnson. The young gun holds a 10-point lead over two-time champions Jesse Roekel. Chris Roekel sits third. Mr. Controversy Jerry Bartlett is poised to get the famed #00 back into victory lane. He said and I quote, “Tell that Johnson kid the double-zero is coming for him.” Devin Koranda rounds out the top five. Last week, a staggering 34 Hobby Stocks filled the pit area.