By Troy Hennig
CHICO, Calif., MARCH 15, 2024…Fans were treated to an old school, tacky, chunky, traditional racing surface in March at Chico for the Mini Gold Cup. DJ Netto thrilled the fans by passing Chase Johnson on a late race restart and went on to win his first career sprint car main event at Chico. The excitement from the crowd was tremendous and was a spectacular way to kick off the racing season at Silver Dollar Speedway. Netto, for his efforts, was awarded a $4,000 pay day in victory lane.
Not only did Netto get a standing ovation as he pulled into victory lane, but messages from around the country soon filtered in via social. media praising the racetrack and seeing an aggressive surface that produced a great main event that wasn’t decided until that final lap.
Max Mittry was impressive tonight. After taking a year off from racing, the 18-year-old returned tonight to not only lead early on but stay in the top three most night. Unfortunately for him, on lap 28 the rough track swallowed him up and Mittry flipped in turn four. He did not continue.
The last time the track hosted a Mini Gold Cup was 2019. A total of 28 drivers attended tonight’s 410-sprint car race. Saturday night the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series takes center stage. Johnson, while disappointed, still finished in second. Justin Sanders battled hard for his third-place finish. Kaleb Montgomery, the night’s overall fast time qualifier, finished fourth. Ryan Robinson advanced nine spots to finish fifth.
Justyn Cox dominated the 12-lap B main. Michael Ing passed Ashlyn Rodriguez late in the race for second. Heat race winners included Johnson, Tanner Carrick, Mittry, and Netto.
The Hobby Stock 20-lap main event was good. Jeremy Langenderfer returned after a three-year absence from racing at Chico to win the exciting race. Devin Koranda shadowed Langenderfer for most of the race. Koranda put on a great show pressuring Langenderfer for the win. The crowd was thoroughly entertained. Scott Rogers was solid all night and finished third. Shawn Barker gained five spots to finish fourth. Kyle Cheney rounded out the top five. Zach Lindgren gained nine spots to finish sixth. Toby Merrifield was the night’s hard charger and passed 11 cars to finish ninth. Maurice Merrill won the first heat race, Koranda picked up the win heat two, and Langenderfer won the third heat to sweep the night.
The Mini Gold Cup is also hosting the Hobby Stock Smackdown this weekend. The two-night combined overall point winner receives an extra $300 and a wrestling belt. After tonight, the top five points are as follows. Jeremy Langenderfer 45 points, Devin Koranda 43 points, Scott Rogers 41 points, Shawn Barker 39 points, Kyle Chaney 38 points.
The third and final division of the night featured the IMCA Northern Sport Mods. Twelve cars lined up for the 20-lap race. Jace Wright got to the lead early in the race and went on to dominate the race and score a popular win. Ray Lindeman rebounded from an early spin and battled back to a second-place finish. Mark Garner charged past five cars to finish third. Paul Stevens gained three spots to finish fourth. Mike Helwig rounded out the top five. This group of drivers should be commended for racing on a challenging surface and still putting on a great race. Wright won the first heat and Helwig picked up heat two.
A Main (30 Laps): 1. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 2. 24-Chase Johnson[5]; 3. 2X-Justin Sanders[9]; 4. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[3]; 5. 16A-Ryan Robinson[14]; 6. 83T-Tanner Carrick[4]; 7. 7B-Sean Becker[11]; 8. 21-Cole Macedo[13]; 9. 29-Bud Kaeding[12]; 10. 21P-Robbie Price[6]; 11. 17W-Shane Golobic[16]; 12. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[20]; 13. 17-Kalib Henry[15]; 14. 121-Caeden Steele[19]; 15. 2K-Gauge Garcia[8]; 16. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[23]; 17. 2XM-Max Mittry[2]; 18. 42X-Justyn Cox[21]; 19. 15-Nick Parker[18]; 20. 12J-John Clark[24]; 21. 0-Tim Kaeding[7]; 22. 21M-Michael Ing[22]; 23. 92-Andy Forsberg[17]; 24. 10-Dominic Gorden[10]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 2. 21M-Michael Ing[5]; 3. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[2]; 4. 12J-John Clark[3]; 5. 75-Bill Smith[7]; 6. 16J-Jacob Johnson[4]; 7. 7X-Eddy Lewis[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Chase Johnson[2]; 2. 21P-Robbie Price[1]; 3. 29-Bud Kaeding[3]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]; 5. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[4]; 6. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[6]; 7. (DNS) 5-RC Smith
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 83T-Tanner Carrick[3]; 2. 2K-Gauge Garcia[5]; 3. 10-Dominic Gorden[1]; 4. 16A-Ryan Robinson[2]; 5. 121-Caeden Steele[4]; 6. 16J-Jacob Johnson[6]; 7. (DNS) 75-Bill Smith
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2XM-Max Mittry[2]; 2. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[1]; 3. 2X-Justin Sanders[3]; 4. 17-Kalib Henry[5]; 5. 92-Andy Forsberg[4]; 6. 42X-Justyn Cox[6]; 7. 21M-Michael Ing[7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 2. 0-Tim Kaeding[4]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker[2]; 4. 21-Cole Macedo[3]; 5. 15-Nick Parker[5]; 6. 12J-John Clark[6]; 7. 7X-Eddy Lewis[7]
Qualifying: 1. 21P-Robbie Price, 00:11.774[1]; 2. 24-Chase Johnson, 00:11.891[4]; 3. 29-Bud Kaeding, 00:11.905[6]; 4. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield, 00:11.915[3]; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic, 00:12.007[2]; 6. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez, 00:12.117[5]; 7. 5-RC Smith, 00:12.118[7]
Qualifying 2: 1. 10-Dominic Gorden, 00:11.723[2]; 2. 16A-Ryan Robinson, 00:11.801[4]; 3. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 00:11.820[1]; 4. 121-Caeden Steele, 00:11.909[3]; 5. 2K-Gauge Garcia, 00:12.046[7]; 6. 16J-Jacob Johnson, 00:13.124[6]; 7. 75-Bill Smith, 00:13.326[5]
Qualifying 3: 1. 3-Kaleb Montgomery, 00:11.476[1]; 2. 2XM-Max Mittry, 00:11.516[4]; 3. 2X-Justin Sanders, 00:11.611[5]; 4. 92-Andy Forsberg, 00:11.682[2]; 5. 17-Kalib Henry, 00:11.863[6]; 6. 42X-Justyn Cox, 00:11.927[3]; 7. 21M-Michael Ing, 00:12.233[7]
Qualifying 4: 1. 88N-DJ Netto, 00:11.721[4]; 2. 7B-Sean Becker, 00:11.777[3]; 3. 21-Cole Macedo, 00:11.783[7]; 4. 0-Tim Kaeding, 00:11.787[2]; 5. 15-Nick Parker, 00:11.866[5]; 6. 12J-John Clark, 00:12.180[1]; 7. 7X-Eddy Lewis, 00:13.308[6]