By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA…Mather’s Kalib Henry completed a daring move to snag the lead on the start and eventually held command for all 25-laps, claiming his third Thompson’s Winged Sprint Car victory of the year on Saturday.
Sharing the stage with Henry on Coors Light Big Trophy Night were Dan Jinkerson with the Mountain Democrat Limited Late Models, Nick Baldwin with the Red Hawk Casino Pure Stocks and Ben Wiesz with the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association.
Placerville’s Shane Hopkins and Oakley’s Dylan Bloomfield shared the front row in the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged Sprint Car feature. Henry lined-up on the inside of row two but immediately shot in front of Bloomfield, before driving past Hopkins heading down the backstretch. Henry led the field but when lapped traffic came into play it allowed Hopkins the chance to close in.
With 11-laps down things tightened up as Hopkins made a bid for the top-spot, only to have things come to a halt when Bloomfield got upside down to bring out a red. On the restart Henry motored away and all eyes became glued to the race for second between Hopkins and Sebastopol’s Joel Myers Jr. The duo exchanged the spot while navigating their way around the bullring, which had become tricky and treacherous up on the cushion.
Unfortunately for Hopkins his shot at victory came to an end when he suffered a flat tire late in the going and was forced to the work area. The final restart of the night with three laps remaining saw Myers stay within striking distance while giving it everything he had. Henry hit his marks upstairs however and flashed under the Ron Stahl checkered flag for the win. Henry’s seventh career Winged 360 triumph at the track came aboard the McColloch’s RV Repair & Storage No. 17 machine and tied him with Tim Clauson on the all-time list.
Myers came home second aboard the Dirt Dudes Excavating No. 46jr to cap off a solid run in the feature, followed by 11th starting Landon Brooks who also made headway in the 25-lapper at the helm of the Van Lare No. 5v entry. Hanford’s Michael Faccinto drove the F&F Racing X1 to another strong finish on Saturday ending up fourth, with Roseville’s Jodie Robinson completing the top-five in the Roseville Precision No. 4 Sprinter. The top-10 was filled out by Blake Carrick, 17th starting Michael Ing, Luke Hayes, Bubba Decaires and 18th starter Gauge Garcia.
Auburn’s Andy Forsberg earned the ADCO Driveline Fast Time Award to begin the night but encountered problems in the main event that left him with a 14th place finish in the feature. He continues to maintain a 24-point lead with two championship races remaining. A total of 27-cars competed on Saturday.
Winged Sprint Car finish: 1. 17-Kalib Henry[3]; 2. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[6]; 3. 5V-Landon Brooks[11]; 4. X1-Michael Faccinto[7]; 5. 4-Jodie Robinson[9]; 6. 5H-Blake Carrick[10]; 7. 21M-Michael Ing[17]; 8. 9L-Luke Hayes[4]; 9. 94-Greg Decaires V[12]; 10. 21X-Gauge Garcia[18]; 11. 12J-John Clark[13]; 12. 21-Shane Hopkins[1]; 13. 20-Justin Bradway[15]; 14. 92-Andy Forsberg[5]; 15. 7C-Steven Tiner[8]; 16. 77-Ryan Lippincott[19]; 17. 93-Stephen Ingraham[14]; 18. 38-Colby Johnson[16]; 19. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[2]; 20. 25-Justin Johnson[20]