PETERSEN MEDIA
Winning the opening night of Gold Cup in Chico, CA back in August, Dale Miller and Justin Sanders returned to Silver Dollar Speedway over this past weekend and continued to flex their muscle as Sanders swept the weekend earning his first career Fall Nationals title. Not only was it Sanders’ first Saturday score, but it was also the first for car owner Dale Miller and his famed Stephen Allard Tribute Car, the fallen driver this weekend also pays homage too.
“This has been one of those races that we just have not been able to win, but to finally do it is special because I know how much Dale has wanted it with his connection to SA,” Justin Sanders said.
The weekend opened up on Friday night, and Sanders announced his presence with authority right away as he earned fast time honors in his flight aboard the Anrak/Thompson’s Family of Dealerships/North County Plastering backed No. 4SA entry.
Charging from fourth to second in his heat race, Sanders punched his ticket into the Dash which he won, and earned the pole for the 30-lap feature event.
When the race went green, Sanders settled into second as he chased after Tanner Carrick. As the Aromas, CA pilot gave chase he actually slipped back to fifth at point during the race as he battled the likes of Chance Grasty, Tanner Holmes, and Shane Golobic.
With stoppages keeping the leaders out of traffic, Sanders was able to make his move late as he drove around Tanner Carrick with just a few laps left in the finale. Keeping the Dale Miller prepared mount up front, Sanders went on to pick up the preliminary night feature event win.
Saturday night brought a clean slate for the entire field, and Sanders continued to show speed as he timed in fourth quickest in his flight on Saturday night.
Lining up on the pole of his heat race, Sanders was hard on the throttle and simply left the field in his wake. Leading the duration of the race, Sanders’ win locked him into the all important Dash as he then went on to finish fourth after taking the green flag from sixth.
Making his way into the Fall Nationals- Tribute to Stephen Allard Feature Event, Sanders rolled off the starting grid in the second row and quickly began working his way forward as he chased after early leader, Willie Croft, who was competing in his final Fall Nationals event.
As Croft continued to keep Sanders at bay, Sanders built him momentum up in the closing laps and drove by the outside of Croft in turn four on the 27th lap.
After getting to the lead, Sanders never looked back as he raced on to score his eight win of the season with Dale Miller Motorsports and cap off the weekend sweep.
“It is a weekend that means a lot to a lot of people associated with this team and it is great to park it in victory lane and take this Stephen Allard trophy home for the year,” Cox added.
The Dale Miller Motorsports team would like to thank Anrak, Thompson’s Family of Dealerships, North County Plastering, Triple X Race Co., Dale Miller Septic Inc., Smith Titanium, Frank’s Body Shop, Fisher Racing Engines, Walker Performance Filtration, ADCO Custom Driveline and Exhaust, Hair by Lovleen, Factory Kahne Shocks, Vortex Wings, TJ Forged Wheels, FK Rod Ends, King Racing Products, and A.R.T. Speed Equipment for their support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts- 12, Wins- 8, Top-5’s-12, Top-10’s-12
ON TAP: Dale Miller Motorsports and Justin Sanders next event is TBD.