By Gary Thomas
Hanford, CA…Justin Sanders and car owner Dale Miller continued their fantastic season on Friday at Kings Speedway in Hanford, as the Aromas driver captured an entertaining Cotton Classic with the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour.
It marked the sixth win in eight SCCT starts for Sanders this year and was his initial triumph in the Penny Newman Grain Cotton Classic. He also began the evening by earning the Sierra Foothills Wine Services Fast Time Award.
“It feels great to get another win for Dale and Tara Miller here tonight at Kings Speedway,” Sanders commented on the victory lane podium. “This track was perfect tonight and that made for some great racing. Luckily, I was able to get by Dominic Gorden there and score the win.”
Gorden was shot out of a cannon at the beginning of the SCCT feature, as he blasted under Tanner Holmes and Dominic Scelzi to grab the lead by the time one lap had been completed.
Sanders moved into second not long after and began to pace Gorden as lapped traffic came into play. A multiple groove surface was given to drivers in the main event and made for outstanding competition all throughout the field.
Gorden did a great job out front fending off Sanders, until traffic bunched up the leaders around the halfway point. Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi also moved in and joined the party, making it a ferocious three-car battle up front.
With 21 laps complete Sanders finally made the move to charge out front, as Gorden and Scelzi then fought for the runner up position. Scelzi had the opening to grab the spot but hopped over the right rear of lapped car Dylan Bloomfield in turn two, which put a tough end to his race.
Sanders led the remainder to bring home his 14th career Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour win. Gorden crossed the stripe in second, followed by Pit Stop USA Hard Charger Cole Macedo, who started from position number 13.
Tanner Holmes and DJ Netto completed the top five. Netto put on a tremendous show in the main event, following a trip to the work area during the pace laps, which took away his original starting spot, which was the pole. The Hanford driver came from dead last and ran as high as fourth at one point.
Finishing sixth through 10th in the feature were Kaleb Montgomery, Andy Forsberg, Braden Chiaramonte, Brooklyn Holland and Shane Hopkins.
The Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour returns to action this coming Saturday October 12th at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. The annual Faria Memorial marks the final tune-up prior to Trophy Cup and the penultimate round of the SCCT campaign.
Results
Sprint Car Challenge Tour
Cotton Classic
Kings Speedway
October 4, 2024
SCCT 360 Sprints – 28 Entries
A Feature 30 Laps
1. 4SA-Justin Sanders[5]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden[4]; 3. 21T-Cole Macedo[13]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes[2]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 6. 73-Kaleb Montgomery[12]; 7. 92-Andy Forsberg[6]; 8. 94TH-Braden Chiaramonte[11]; 9. 2-Brooklyn Holland[17]; 10. 21-Shane Hopkins[18]; 11. 121-Caeden Steele[9]; 12. 18-Grant Champlin[16]; 13. 25S-Seth Standley[7]; 14. 38N-Kyle Rasmussen[20]; 15. 67G-Grant Duinkerken[10]; 16. 23T-George Tristao Jr[15]; 17. 4J-Tuesday Calderwood[23]; 18. 21E-Evan Burrola[14]; 19. (DNF) 41S-Dominic Scelzi[3]; 20. (DNF) 5R-Ryan Rocha[19]; 21. (DNF) 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[21]; 22. (DNF) 54-Michael Faccinto[22]; 23. (DNF) 88-Austin McCarl[8]; 24. (DNS) 15-Cody Key
B Feature 10 Laps
1. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[2]; 2. 54-Michael Faccinto[6]; 3. 4J-Tuesday Calderwood[5]; 4. 15-Cody Key[3]; 5. 36B-Kevin Barnes Sr[4]; 6. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[8]; 7. (DNS) 2K-Gauge Garcia; 8. (DNS) 61-Travis Labat
Dash 6 Laps
1. 88N-DJ Netto[5]; 2. 18T-Tanner Holmes[1]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 4. 10-Dominic Gorden[8]; 5. 4SA-Justin Sanders[7]; 6. 92-Andy Forsberg[6]; 7. 25S-Seth Standley[2]; 8. 88-Austin McCarl[3]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 18T-Tanner Holmes[2]; 2. 121-Caeden Steele[1]; 3. 4SA-Justin Sanders[4]; 4. 21T-Cole Macedo[3]; 5. 2-Brooklyn Holland[5]; 6. 15-Cody Key[6]; 7. (DNF) 54-Michael Faccinto[7]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[1]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden[4]; 3. 94TH-Braden Chiaramonte[3]; 4. 21E-Evan Burrola[2]; 5. 21-Shane Hopkins[5]; 6. 36B-Kevin Barnes Sr[7]; 7. (DNS) 61-Travis Labat
Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:01:57.788
1. 88-Austin McCarl[1]; 2. 67G-Grant Duinkerken[2]; 3. 25S-Seth Standley[4]; 4. 23T-George Tristao Jr[3]; 5. 5R-Ryan Rocha[5]; 6. 4J-Tuesday Calderwood[6]; 7. (DNF) 9-Adrianna DeMartini[7]
Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:04:21.938
1. 92-Andy Forsberg[1]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[4]; 3. 73-Kaleb Montgomery[7]; 4. 18-Grant Champlin[3]; 5. 38N-Kyle Rasmussen[6]; 6. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[5]; 7. (DNF) 2K-Gauge Garcia[2]
Qualifying
1. 4SA-Justin Sanders, 00:14.264[19]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden, 00:14.294[15]; 3. 25S-Seth Standley, 00:14.335[25]; 4. 88N-DJ Netto, 00:14.402[2]; 5. 121-Caeden Steele, 00:14.411[7]; 6. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 00:14.445[4]; 7. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:14.450[24]; 8. 92-Andy Forsberg, 00:14.573[13]; 9. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 00:14.624[5]; 10. 21E-Evan Burrola, 00:14.656[23]; 11. 67G-Grant Duinkerken, 00:14.665[21]; 12. 2K-Gauge Garcia, 00:14.677[26]; 13. 21T-Cole Macedo, 00:14.716[3]; 14. 94TH-Braden Chiaramonte, 00:14.756[10]; 15. 23T-George Tristao Jr, 00:14.758[14]; 16. 18-Grant Champlin, 00:14.804[12]; 17. 2-Brooklyn Holland, 00:14.818[20]; 18. 21-Shane Hopkins, 00:14.873[8]; 19. 5R-Ryan Rocha, 00:14.922[6]; 20. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield, 00:14.939[1]; 21. 15-Cody Key, 00:15.029[28]; 22. 61-Travis Labat, 00:15.122[17]; 23. 4J-Tuesday Calderwood, 00:15.123[18]; 24. 38N-Kyle Rasmussen, 00:15.220[9]; 25. 54-Michael Faccinto, 00:15.249[16]; 26. 36B-Kevin Barnes Sr, 00:15.257[11]; 27. 9-Adrianna DeMartini, 00:15.260[22]; 28. (DQ) 73-Kaleb Montgomery, 00:15.260[27]