By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA…The youth movement was out in full force once again at Placerville Speedway on Saturday, as 14-year-old Cole Croft withstood a late challenge from 16-year-old Austin Wood to score his second victory in the last three events at the track.
Also claiming wins on Anrak Night at the Races were Nick Baldwin with the Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks, Tyler Goggin with the Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks and Dakota Albright with the BCRA Lightning Sprints.
The Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged Sprint Car feature took a few attempts to get going and when it did, pole sitter Cole Croft moved out front. Action was intense throughout the field as several battles developed, with side-by-side racing prevalent.
Outside front row starter Shane Hopkins occupied the second spot over the initial 10 circuits, until Michael Sellers got by. Sellers, who earned his first Placerville podium on June 6th, looked very impressive in the feature. He would run second for a handful of laps, before a fast-moving Austin Wood took it over with 17 complete.
Wood had made several beautiful moves and attempted to set his sights on the leader. Croft had run a perfect race up front but had a bobble in turn two with just a couple laps left, which gave Wood an opportunity to close.
With the white flag in the air, it became a race for the top spot. Heading into the final set of corners Wood gave a hard run to the inside of Croft, but the Colfax driver hung tough and crossed under the Ed Entz checkered flag for victory.
After winning on 4th of July, Wood had to settle for a still strong runner-up finish, earning his third consecutive podium effort at Placerville Speedway. Current point leader Justyn Cox battled hard for a third-place finish, while Andy Forsberg fought his way from the rear to a solid fourth place effort.
Sellers, Kenny Wanderstadt, Landon Henry, Carson Hammes, Hopkins and Dawson Hammes completed the top 10.
The Red Hawk Casino Pure Stocks didn’t have a lot of cars but put on a tremendous show during Anrak Night. Auburn’s Wayne Trimble led early but had pressure from Nick Baldwin over the duration of the contest.
Baldwin stalked the leader for 24 laps and made his move on the final circuit. Coming to the checkered Baldwin blasted to the high side and made the pass coming to the line for his 45th career Pure Stock win.
Tyler Goggin had never won a race at Placerville Speedway prior to Saturday but took full advantage of every opportunity and scored his initial Mountain Democrat Mini Truck triumph.
With the BCRA Lightning Sprints it was Jason Schostag who led the first 14 laps, before encountering issues that put him out of the race.
After that it was all Dakota Albright who crossed the line for another Placerville triumph.
Placerville Speedway returns to action with the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour and Dwarf Cars this coming Saturday July 18th. It marks Round two of SCCT Western Sprint Tour Speedweek.
Results
Placerville Speedway
Anrak Night at the Races
July 11th, 2026
Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars:
1. 29-Cole Croft[1]; 2. 2A-Austin Wood[4]; 3. 42X-Justyn Cox[10]; 4. 92-Andy Forsberg[6]; 5. 15-Michael Sellers[5]; 6. 5-Kenny Wanderstadt[3]; 7. 93-Landon Henry[13]; 8. 56C-Carson Hammes[14]; 9. 21-Shane Hopkins[2]; 10. 55D-Dawson Hammes[9]; 11. 61-Travis Labat[16]; 12. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[15]; 13. 45-Jake Morgan[7]; 14. 28K-Kaden Ramos[17]; 15. 4-Jett Yantis[20]; 16. 5L-Aiden Larimer[12]; 17. 25-Cody Johnson[18]; 18. 7-Seth Standley[8]; 19. 85-AJ Alderman[19]; 20. 15AZ-Nick Parker[11]
Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks:
1. 17-Nick Baldwin[4]; 2. 86-Wayne Trimble[2]; 3. 43-Kenny Bernstein[5]; 4. 12J-Jason Ramos[6]; 5. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[1]; 6. 23-Tyler Lightfoot[3]
Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks:
1. 70-Tyler Goggin[2]; 2. 16-Mike Miller[5]; 3. 92N-Noah LaPoint[4]; 4. 26-Paizlee Miller[9]; 5. 17-Luke Costa[10]; 6. 76C-Bobby Clark[6]; 7. 21-Paige Miller[8]; 8. 07-Brian Tremblay[3]; 9. 369-Emmett Fanning[7]; 10. 28-Howard Miller[1]; 11. 22-Nick Perkins[11]
BCRA Lightning Sprints:
1. 35JR-Dakota Albright[3]; 2. 91-Matt Land[4]; 3. 47-Greg Dennett[6]; 4. 3F-Hunter Kinney[8]; 5. 00-Bradley Schmidt[1]; 6. 1K-Logan Olivier[10]; 7. 22-Jason Schostag[2]; 8. 51K-Kennedy Ramirez[7]; 9. 62-Justin Norton[5]; 10. (DNF) 7N-Bryan Keys[9]