By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA…The “Thunder in the Foothills” championship season presented by Berco Redwood resumes this Saturday April 26th with Sutter’s Ridge Night presented by Williams Homes at Placerville Speedway.
A four-division program will entertain fans with the Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks, Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks and the Nor-Cal Dwarf Cars tackling the quarter mile.
“We’re looking forward to starting a big three week stretch here at Placerville Speedway,” commented Promoter Scott Russell. “This Saturday’s event is the final tune up prior to next week’s Nor*Cal Posse Shootout so hopefully we’ll see a good field of Sprint Cars to go along with our Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and Dwarf Cars.”
After a couple weeks off the Thompson’s Winged Sprint Cars roar back into the El Dorado County Fairgrounds for their third event of 2025. As noted, the night of racing is the last chance for Sprint Car teams to fine tune things before the Nor*Cal Posse Shootout/ Legends Weekend presented by Berco Redwood.
Opening night at the Posse Shootout on May 2nd awards $5,000-to-win, while the May 3rd finale hands out a cool $8,000 to the victor.
Ten-time track champion Andy Forsberg leads the way into this Saturday’s Sutter’s Ridge Night presented by Williams Homes. The Auburn veteran captured victory at the opener and backed that up with a runner up effort on April 5th.
Young Austin Wood has been impressive in this early season and goes into Saturday having tallied podium finishes during the first two events. Wood will be gunning for his second career Placerville victory this weekend. Suisun City’s Chance Grasty, Redding’s Max Mittry and Lincoln’s Tanner Carrick round out the top five in points heading into Saturday.
The Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks are fresh off a thrilling main event at the annual Tilford Tribute on April 12th. Rio Linda’s Ryan Peter has captured the last two events and will be hoping to make it three in a row come Saturday.
Six-time track titlist Nick Baldwin sits atop the standings after three events and looks to get back to his winning ways at Sutter’s Ridge Night presented by Williams Homes. Diamond Springs’ Kevin Jinkerson, Placerville’s Tyler Lightfoot, Sacramento’s Jason Palmer and others will also be searching to punch their ticket to victory lane.
Rookie driver Noah LaPoint leads the standings with the Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks going into Saturday’s event. Austin Struthers and Mike Miller have won the first two races with the division this season.
Lotus, CA driver Shawn Whitney claimed victory during the initial Nor-Cal Dwarf Car outing of the season at Placerville Speedway last month. Mike Grenert, Dylan Shrum, Jace Badeker and Brenden Shrum followed Whitney across the line.
Tickets and Details:
Grandstand seating at Sutter’s Ridge Night presented by Williams Homes will be General Admission on Saturday April 26th, except for the reserved seats allocated to season ticket holders that are marked.
Adult tickets cost $18, while seniors 62+, military and juniors 12-17 will be $16. Kids 6-11 cost $8 and those five and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online via https://www.eventsprout.com/event/psr042625
The pit gate will open at noon, with the front gate opening at 4pm. Hirst Home Team Happy Hour is offered until 6pm in the grandstands featuring live music with discounted Coors Light and Coors Original at the beer booth. The pit meeting will be held at 4:30pm with cars on track at 5:15. Hot laps, ADCO Driveline qualifying and racing will follow.
For those who can’t make it to the track, CaliDirt.TV will provide live flag-to-flag coverage of every Placerville Speedway point race this season. The live streaming service also includes each event with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. Fans can purchase through a cost savings monthly membership or on a per race basis via https://calidirt.tv/
The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto http://www.placervillespeedway.com
The quarter-mile clay oval is operated by Russell Motorsports Incorporated, which can be reached at the track business office at 530-344-7592. Contact Kami Arnold or Scott Russell directly for sponsorship opportunities at the office.
Join over 20,000 followers of Placerville Speedway on Facebook, where you can keep abreast of updates for the 2025 season. You can also find Placerville Speedway on X/Twitter by following us https://twitter.com/pvillespeedway – In addition, Placerville Speedway is also on Instagram. Follow us @PvilleSpeedway.
Upcoming events at Placerville Speedway:
Saturday April 26: Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks, Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks and Nor-Cal Dwarf Cars | Sutter’s Ridge Night presented by Williams Homes
Friday May 2: Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Ultimate Sprint Car Series | 7th annual Nor*Cal Posse Shootout/ Legends Weekend presented by Berco Redwood
Saturday May 3: Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Ultimate Sprint Car Series | 7th annual Nor*Cal Posse Shootout/ Legends Weekend presented by Berco Redwood
Saturday May 10: Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks, Kings Meats Ltd. Late Models and BCRA Lightning Sprints | Anrak Night at the Races