By Ben Deatherage
(6/1/24)- Placerville, California … Justin Sanders won a NARC sprint car thriller and a $5,500 payday with an exciting performance in the 40-lap Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial at Placerville Speedway. He made a late move to get past race leader Shane Golobic to secure the impressive victory aboard the Mittry Motorsports-fielded Farmer’s Brewing Company #2X KPC.
Beacon Wealth Strategies Trophy Dash winner D.J. Netto set the standard once the initial green flag but had to deal with several restarts due to several stoppages in the early laps. NARC rookie driver Gauge Garcia drove like a seasoned veteran and began to pressure Netto for the point and passed the leader on the eighth trip past the flag stand.
Garcia, piloting the Keller Motorsports Monarch Ford XXX sprinter, established a commanding lead over the rest of the competition as Netto had his hands full with ARP Fast Timer Andy Forsberg in his Pacific Highway Rentals #92 Maxim. After a caution on the 22nd circuit, Golobic, driving the NOS Energy Drink #17W, played cat and mouse with the leader, eventually riding the cushion past the low-groove riding Garcia to take the point on lap 26.
Garcia did not go away quietly and kept Golobic honest. The script was flipped in the final 10-laps when the fifth-starting Sanders emerged as a late race contender. A lap 34 restart witnessed Sanders propel his car into the runner-up spot and get around Garcia, before performing a banzai move in the final set of turns to procure the lead at the wire on the 35th trip around the quarter-mile clay oval. Golobic returned the favor a lap later to retake the lead.
A red flag incident with only two-laps remaining set the stage for a green-white-checkered showdown. On the restart, Sanders would again throw caution to the wind and got around Golobic with a daring maneuver out of turn four as they raced toward the white flag. It proved to be the winning move as Sanders collected his third career Placerville NARC win and his 17th series victory.
“That was some hard racing,” stated an elated Sanders in victory lane. “I thought when I passed (Shane) and then ran the top and got over the curb that it was over. When I saw him go to the top of three and four, that really surprised me, and I figured he would throw a blocking line on me, and that would have won him the race. Me and Shane have raced really hard for fifteen years now and he’s the guy I always look for on the scoreboard.”
Unfortunately, Golobic would jump the cushion on the final lap which allowed for a shake-up in the top five finishing order, with Garcia grabbing second.
“One thing about these guys like Justin and Shane is they have this place down,” commented an incredibly happy runner-up Garcia after his NARC career best finish. “I can’t thank this team enough, and it’s super great to see all this stuff paying off, and we’re starting to put results together.”
Two-time NARC champion Dominic Scelzi had an incredible run in the Whipple Superchargers #41 Maxim, earning Williams Roofing Hardcharger honors with a methodical 17th-to-third run.
Colby Copeland made a cameo appearance in the Clark Family entry and finished fourth in the CCI Electrical #12T Helix. Netto wrapped up the top five finishers.
Golobic would end up sixth, while Michael Faccinto passed 14 cars to finish seventh for the Friends & Family Racing team. Dylan Bloomfield, Kaleb Montgomery, and Justyn Cox rounded out the top ten.
Garcia, Golobic, Sanders, and rookie Dominic Gorden were victorious in the program’s four heat races. Michael Faccinto scored the triumph in the Starr Property Management B-Feature.
Gorden and Bud Kaeding got upside down in the main event but were uninjured.
HOOSIER RACING TIRES A-FEATURE (40 LAPS): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders [5]; 2. 2K-Gauge Garcia [2]; 3. 41-Dominic Scelzi [17]; 4. 12T-Colby Copeland [9]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto [1]; 6. 17W-Shane Golobic [6]; 7. X1-Michael Faccinto [21]; 8. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [10]; 9. 3-Kaleb Montgomery [15]; 10. 42X-Justyn Cox [18]; 11. 21-Cole Macedo [24]; 12. 21S-Shane Hopkins [23]; 13. 121-Caeden Steele [20]; 14. 2XM-Max Mittry [12]; 15. 26-Billy Aton [22]; 16. 02-Austin Torgerson [16]; 17. 29-Bud Kaeding [3]; 18. 92-Andy Forsberg [8]; 19. 7B-Sean Becker [4]; 20. 54X-Ryan Bernal [14]; 21. 10-Dominic Gorden [7]; 22. 83T-Tanner Carrick [11]; 23. 45-Jake Morgan [13]; 24. 93-Stephen Ingraham [19]
METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: D.J. Netto 1-7; Gauge Garcia 8-25; Shane Golobic 26-34, 36-37; Justin Sanders 35, 39-40
WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Dominic Scelzi +14 (17th to 3rd)
STARR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT B-FEATURE (12 LAPS): 1. X1-Michael Faccinto [2]; 2. 26-Billy Aton [7]; 3. 21S-Shane Hopkins [6]; 4. 21-Cole Macedo [3]; 5. 15-Nick Parker [1]; 6. 15S-Michael Sellers [9]; 7. 12J-John Clark [12]; 8. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez [8]; 9. 12-Jarrett Soares [4]; 10. 4-Burt Foland Jr. [13]; 11. 551-Angelique Bell [10]; 12. 75-Bill Smith [11]; 13. DNS 77-Ryan Lippincott
BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 LAPS): 1. 2K-Gauge Garcia [3]; 2. 92-Andy Forsberg [4]; 3. 2XM-Max Mittry [2]; 4. 02-Austin Torgerson [6]; 5. 41-Dominic Scelzi [5]; 6. 77-Ryan Lippincott [7]; 7. 15S-Michael Sellers [9]; 8. 551-Angelique Bell [8]; 9. (DNF) 15-Nick Parker [1]
KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 LAPS): 1. 17W-Shane Golobic [1]; 2. 12T-Colby Copeland [2]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker [4]; 4. 54X-Ryan Bernal [3]; 5. 121-Caeden Steele [6]; 6. 12-Jarrett Soares [5]; 7. 26-Billy Aton [7]; 8. 75-Bill Smith [8]
SYSTEM 1 PRO IGNITION HEAT THREE (8 LAPS): 1. 10-Dominic Gorden [1]; 2. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [2]; 3. 88N-DJ Netto [4]; 4. 3-Kaleb Montgomery [3]; 5. 42X-Justyn Cox [5]; 6. 21-Cole Macedo [6]; 7. 21S-Shane Hopkins [7]; 8. 12J-John Clark [8]
WINTERS PERFORMANCE HEAT FOUR (8 LAPS): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders [2]; 2. 83T-Tanner Carrick [5]; 3. 45-Jake Morgan [1]; 4. 29-Bud Kaeding [4]; 5. 93-Stephen Ingraham [6]; 6. X1-Michael Faccinto [3]; 7. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez [7]; 8. 4-Burt Foland Jr. [8]
BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES TROPHY DASH (6 LAPS): 1. 88N-DJ Netto [1]; 2. 2K-Gauge Garcia [2]; 3. 29-Bud Kaeding [4]; 4. 7B-Sean Becker [3]; 5. 2X-Justin Sanders [6]; 6. 17W-Shane Golobic [7]; 7. 10-Dominic Gorden [5]; 8. 92-Andy Forsberg [8]
ARP QUALIFYING QUICK TIME: Andy Forsberg, 10.719 (33 Cars)