PETERSEN MEDIA
Milestones are something to relish. Despite winning numerous championships and a plethora of feature events over the course of his career, Andy Forsberg was able to celebrate a massive milestone on Saturday night as he charged form eight to win at Placerville Speedway giving him a whopping 200 feature event wins over the course of his career.
“I have had some great people behind me over the years to make this all possible,” an emotional Andy Forsberg said on the stage Saturday night. “I have driven for some great car owners and have had some really good people step up and keep the family car going at times and it is a testament to all of them. My family has been so supportive of this, as well as my crew. I call them my crew, but there all close friends and make this deal go. This is really something special that I will cherish.”
Checking in at the 20th Tribute to Al Hinds, Forsberg got off to a quick start as he timed the Meridian Cameras/Pacific Highway Rentals/Wilkie Masonry backed No. 92 in second fastest in time trials, just .004 off of quick time.
Lining up in the second row of his heat race, the Auburn, CA driver needed to simply finish inside of the Top-5 to garner a berth in the redraw, and he took care of business by way of a third-place finish.
Having another week with a high draw, the vaunted eight pill placed Forsberg in the fourth row for the impending 25-lap feature event, however the track was in prime condition to make a run with a distinguished bottom groove as well as top groove taking shape.
When the race came to life, Forsberg got off to a great start as he hopped into the fourth spot before the caution flew with one lap complete. When the action picked back up, Forsberg was bel to work his way into second as he battled with Tony Gomes and Ashlyn Rodriguez.
Once in second, he then set his sights on race leader, Michael Faccinto who led the way. Chasing down Faccinto, the duo set up for an entertaining battle, but a lap 13 caution paused the action.
The ensuring restart saw Forsberg hang right with the Hanford, CA driver as he used a good run on lap 14 to stick the bottom in turns three and four and power his way to the race lead.
Out front, Forsberg quickly began to pull away from Faccinto until a yellow on lap 23, put the field back on his rear bumper. Again, another strong restart saw him pull away and as he took the white flag, Forsberg looked to be on his way to win no. 200 but coming out of turn four he was greeted with yellow lights which set up a green-white-checkered finish.
One final restart saw Faccinto hang with Forsberg, but ‘Mr. Excitement’ was not to be denied on this night, as he held the spot, picked up the win, and celebrated the career milestone.
“To do it at Placerville is great,” Forsberg added. “We plan to run some more 410ci stuff this year so we will miss a few races, so I am glad to do it at a place where I have had so much success over the years.”
Andy Forsberg and PHR Racing would like to thank Meridian Cameras, Pacific Highway Rentals, Wilkie Masonry, PitStopUSA, Red Line Oil, Autism Awareness, Parking and Transportation Group, Western Featherlite, GP Development, 1st Vanguard, Highway Specialty Co., and KBJ Catering for their continued support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races-5, Wins-1, Top 5’s-3, Top 10’s-4
ON TAP: Forsberg returns to action on Saturday night as he travels to Merced, CA for the 2nd round of Sprint Car Challenge Tour action.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Andy Forsberg by ‘Liking’ him on facebook at www.facebook.com/andyforsbergracing or by following him on Twitter at @AForsberg92.
You can also keep up with Andy and his popular post race VLOG, ‘Shark Tales with Andy’ at www.facebook.com/sharktaleswithandy.