By Gary Thomas
Petaluma, CA…Just a week after claiming one of the biggest wins of his career at the Bradway Memorial, Roseville’s Colby Copeland returned on Saturday night to record an entertaining victory with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour in Petaluma.
It marked the second Elk Grove Ford SCCT presented by Abreu Vineyards win of Copeland’s career and came aboard the familiar Van Lare Steering Repair/ Bianchi Farms No. 5v machine.
“I can’t say enough about this entire Van Lare Racing 5v team right now,” said Copeland on the front stretch, who performed a memorial lap for the late Jim Van Lare Sr. during the night. “Little Jim keeps giving me great race cars and I know that Big Jim is looking down on us helping as well. We had a really good racetrack tonight, so I have to give my hats off to Rick Faeth and the team here at Petaluma Speedway. Hopefully we can keep this momentum rolling in the weeks to come.”
The 35-lap Sprint Car Challenge Tour finale began with High Sierra Industries Dash winner Bradley Terrell snagging the lead. The three-time Petaluma Speedway track champion was in search of his initial SCCT victory and held command over the first few circuits. Copeland was able to take advantage of a double file restart however, riding the high line around Terrell to take the top-spot on lap four.
Several cautions plagued the contest and didn’t allow for much in the way of lapped traffic, but the action remained hot and heavy throughout the main event. Clarksburg’s Justyn Cox and Aromas’ Justin Sanders fought their way forward and had a tremendous fight for the runner up spot over numerous laps.
At times it appeared that both drivers may have had something for the leader, but Copeland cut smooth laps up front and never gave them the opportunity.
The final restart of the night occurred with six laps remaining and Copeland drove off to cross under Scott Erwin’s checkered flag for the victory. Sanders excited the large crowd on hand while riding the high-scary side and crossed the stripe in second, followed by new SCCT point leader Cox, Terrell and Roseville’s Sean Becker rounding out the top-five.
Sixth through 10th went to Oakley’s Dylan Bloomfield, Templeton’s Kaleb Montgomery, 17th starter John Clark, Clovis’ Dominic Gorden and Sebastopol’s Joel Myers Jr. William Fielding earned the Pit Stop USA Hard Charger Award with a drive from 25th to 15th in the feature.
The four 10-lap heat races were picked off by Kaleb Montgomery, Justyn Cox, Colby Copeland and Mitchell Faccinto. Justin Sanders began the evening by setting the Sierra Foothills Wine Services Fast Time with a lap of 13.295 around the Petaluma 3/8 mile clay oval.
The Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Abreu Vineyards will return to action on Saturday July 1st at the Antioch Speedway.
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SCCT 360 Sprints Results – Petaluma Speedway – 27 Entries
A Main 35 Laps
1. 5V-Colby Copeland[2]; 2. 4SA-Justin Sanders[8]; 3. 42X-Justyn Cox[4]; 4. 43-Bradley Terrell[1]; 5. 7B-Sean Becker[9]; 6. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[11]; 7. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[3]; 8. 12J-John Clark[17]; 9. 10-Dominic Gorden[15]; 10. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[13]; 11. 21-Michael Ing[18]; 12. 12R-Mitchell Faccinto[5]; 13. 1-Chance Grasty[21]; 14. 7V-Kinser Claradge[14]; 15. 8-William Fielding[25]; 16. 9L-Luke Hayes[6]; 17. 08-Preston Carr[19]; 18. 222-Wyatt VanLare[16]; 19. 77-Ryan Lippincott[22]; 20. 25S-Seth Standley[23]; 21. 16A-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[7]; 22. X1-Michael Faccinto[10]; 23. 7H-Jake Haulot[24]; 24. 92-Andy Forsberg[12]; 25. 54S-Drake Standley[20]
Dash 6 Laps
1. 43-Bradley Terrell[1]; 2. 5V-Colby Copeland[5]; 3. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[2]; 4. 42X-Justyn Cox[3]; 5. 12R-Mitchell Faccinto[7]; 6. 9L-Luke Hayes[4]; 7. 16A-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[8]; 8. 4SA-Justin Sanders[6]
Heat 1 10 Laps
1. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[2]; 2. 16A-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[1]; 3. 7V-Kinser Claradge[7]; 4. 222-Wyatt VanLare[5]; 5. 08-Preston Carr[6]; 6. 38-Colby Johnson[3]; 7. 7H-Jake Haulot[4]
Heat 2 10 Laps
1. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 2. 7B-Sean Becker[2]; 3. 4SA-Justin Sanders[4]; 4. 10-Dominic Gorden[3]; 5. 21-Michael Ing[5]; 6. 77-Ryan Lippincott[6]
Heat 3 10 Laps
1. 5V-Colby Copeland[1]; 2. X1-Michael Faccinto[2]; 3. 92-Andy Forsberg[3]; 4. 12J-John Clark[5]; 5. 43-Bradley Terrell[4]; 6. 1-Chance Grasty[6]; 7. 8-William Fielding[7]
Heat 4 10 Laps
1. 12R-Mitchell Faccinto[1]; 2. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[2]; 3. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[3]; 4. 9L-Luke Hayes[4]; 5. 54S-Drake Standley[5]; 6. 25S-Seth Standley[6]
Qualifying 1
1. 7H-Jake Haulot, 00:13.448[2]; 2. 16A-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 00:13.559[4]; 3. 3-Kaleb Montgomery, 00:13.611[5]; 4. 38-Colby Johnson, 00:13.695[7]; 5. 222-Wyatt VanLare, 00:13.807[1]; 6. 08-Preston Carr, 00:13.935[3]; 7. 7V-Kinser Claradge, 00:14.029[6]
Qualifying 2
1. 4SA-Justin Sanders, 00:13.395[2]; 2. 42X-Justyn Cox, 00:13.421[5]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker, 00:13.759[1]; 4. 10-Dominic Gorden, 00:13.783[7]; 5. 21-Michael Ing, 00:13.934[4]; 6. 77-Ryan Lippincott, 00:14.081[3]; 7. (DNS) 14W-Landon Brooks, 00:59.999
Qualifying 3
1. 43-Bradley Terrell, 00:13.627[3]; 2. 5V-Colby Copeland, 00:13.698[1]; 3. X1-Michael Faccinto, 00:13.764[7]; 4. 92-Andy Forsberg, 00:13.795[6]; 5. 12J-John Clark, 00:13.985[2]; 6. 1-Chance Grasty, 00:13.986[5]; 7. 8-William Fielding, 00:14.075[4]
Qualifying 4
1. 9L-Luke Hayes, 00:13.536[3]; 2. 12R-Mitchell Faccinto, 00:13.660[1]; 3. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield, 00:13.771[5]; 4. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr, 00:13.968[4]; 5. 54S-Drake Standley, 00:14.024[6]; 6. 25S-Seth Standley, 00:14.350[2]