By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA…One week after finishing second in a final corner thriller, 2023 SCCT champion Justyn Cox put it all together and raced to his 14th career Winged 360 Sprint Car victory at Placerville Speedway on Saturday.
Sharing victory lane during Mother’s Day Madness presented by RJM Builders Inc. were Ray Trimble with the Kings Meats Ltd. Late Models, Nick Baldwin with the Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks and Noah LaPoint with the Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks.
All four divisions should be commended for putting on an entertaining night of racing Saturday.
The 30-lap Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car feature began with Placerville’s Shane Hopkins jumping into the lead. The quarter mile bullring was fast and furious on Saturday night, while providing excellent racing all night long.
Justyn Cox found the high side in one and two and charged hard after the leader over the early stages. With nine laps complete Cox made the winning move to get by Hopkins and grab the point. Lapped traffic came into play on a few occasions momentarily, but each time caution flags would appear.
Cox was on a mission up front and drove off to cross under the Ed Entz checkered flag for victory. With his 14th career win, it moves him within one triumph of tying Billy Wallace and Colby Wiesz for 12th on the all-time list.
Hopkins crossed the line in second, ahead of 10th starter Andy Forsberg, 11th starting Seth Standley and Jake Morgan. Completing the top 10 were Jodie Robinson, Luke Hayes, Jake Haulot, Cole Croft and Steel Powell.
The Kings Meats Ltd. Late Models put on some of their best racing in quite some time. After an exciting heat race earlier in the program, they came back to display a crowd-pleasing performance.
Promoter Scott Russell put up a $300 bonus if past champion Anthony Slaney could start at the tail and pick up the win. Slaney had the crowd on the edge of its seats as he made several passes to get up into second, only to spin out and force a caution.
After that, Kings Meats doubled the bounty if Slaney could then win the feature. The always exciting driver charged back into second quickly and hounded leader Ray Trimble. The duo put on a thrilling show until Slaney suffered a flat tire just before the finish.
Trimble of Auburn went on to grab the checkered flag for his 26th career Placerville Speedway triumph, moving into a tie for second all time.
With the Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks it was Brian Lewis who led early. Seven-time track champion Nick Baldwin charged hard after him though and took command on lap six.
The Pure Stocks put on another good race during Mother’s Day Madness and at the end it was Baldwin grabbing his 42nd career Placerville Speedway victory. Wayne Trimble, Kevin Jinkerson, Tyler Lightfoot and Russell Murphy completed the top five.
Youngster Noah LaPoint had to deal with a very fast Kevin Jinkerson in the Mountain Democrat Mini Truck finale on Saturday. The pair raced close together for much of the contest and in the end, it was LaPoint claiming his second triumph of 2026 at Placerville Speedway.
Jinkerson, Brian Tremblay, Tyler Goggin and Trey Beattie filled out the top five.
Placerville Speedway goes dark over the next two weekends, before returning with the Davy Thomas Memorial on Saturday May 30th.
The lucrative event features the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour making its second visit of the season and the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association.
Results
Placerville Speedway
Mother’s Day Madness presented by RJM Builders
May 9, 2026
Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars:
1. 42X-Justyn Cox[4]; 2. 21-Shane Hopkins[1]; 3. 92-Andy Forsberg[10]; 4. 7-Seth Standley[11]; 5. 45-Jake Morgan[5]; 6. 14W-Jodie Robinson[9]; 7. 9L-Luke Hayes[12]; 8. 7H-Jake Haulot[8]; 9. 29-Cole Croft[6]; 10. 00-Steel Powell[2]; 11. 5-Kenny Wanderstadt[14]; 12. 15-Michael Sellers[7]; 13. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[15]; 14. 56C-Carson Hammes[13]; 15. 55D-Dawson Hammes[17]; 16. 98-Chris Masters[16]; 17. 25-Cody Johnson[19]; 18. 56-Taylor Hall[18]; 19. 25X-Johnny Reeves[20]; 20. 93-Landon Henry[3]; 21. (DNS) 24S-Izaak Sharp