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Forsberg Wins Wild Finish at Chico
by: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 6-13-08)...It was a Friday night showdown at Silver Dollar Speedway during the 25-lap sprint car main event. It came down to two drivers going for the same piece of real estate. Coming out of turn four there was Andy Forsberg, the leader, and Tim Kaeding, charging around the top of the race track in second. Neither wanted to lose. As the two came out of turn four, Kaeding had caught Forsberg and the wheels were banging and sparks were a flying. Forsberg crossed the line first while Kaeding finished second. Kaeding ended up smacking the front grandstand wall and in the process his top wing was tore off. As Kaeding crossed the line he spun backwards into the infield. The crowd loved the hard racing and the desire that each of these former champions displayed on Chico's famous racing surface. After the checkered Kaeding had kept his car running and began to drive backwards on the front straight. He was looking for Forsberg. In turn four they found each other and contact ensued. Both cars were wrecked and Kaeding climbed from his car to confront Forsberg. By the time any more damage could be done people had separated the two and cooler heads prevailed. It put a damper on what was an amazing finish. Results were not released immediately once the main was finished so the officials could meet and discuss the altercation. It was handed down that Kaeding was disqualified for his actions after the main event. Lost in the commotion was the rest of the finishing order. As of press time only the top five were available. Grass Valley's Mark Hall was scored in the second spot. Mason Moore finished third. Robbie Whitchurch ran fourth and Zack Mason had a career best fifth place finish.
All of this action took place under a smokey evening due to the wild fire up near the town of Paradise. Chico Volkswagen came on board to sponsor the night of racing. Mark Abouzeid and his wife Amy did a wonderful job with the nights festivities and give-aways. Abouzeid ran his dirt modified tonight and dropped out of the main event while running second. Up to that point he had won every main event he entered this season. Tonight it looked like a flat tire ended his night early. Oregon driver Scott Lenz got the win in the 15-dirt modified main event. Lenz led every lap and was the fastest car on the track. Mike Sohnrey finished second and Richard Papenhausen was third. Lenz earned extra money for the win on Chico Volkswagen night. Abouzeid did win the eight lap heat race for the evening so the fans could give the rocket man some applause.
The great story of the night went to Travis Moore. Last Friday night, Moore's non wing sprint car exploded in a big fire ball going into turn three. The fire was put out quickly and Moore climbed from the car uninjured. He was back this week and what a night it was. Tonight Moore had tied on a marshmallow to his left side down tube as a reminder of the fire from the previous week. Moore started on the front row and led all 20-laps to get the win. In another twist of fate, Moore should have started in the seventh row. However, track officials were frustrated by the slow manner in which the main event cars were stagging in the pit area. Moore was the first car ready to get out on the track. Officials made the call to line up the main event cars in the order they made it to the push off lane. Moore was on time and ready to race. For his effort he started from the pole. For most of the race B.J. Martin was all over Moore. Martin seemed a bit faster but was not able to make the pass. On lap 17 Martin's night ended when he came to a stop in turn four. A little fire erupted but safety crews were there quickly to put out the flames. Kyle Hirst was now running second. On the final restart Hirst was not able to get by and Moore went on to get the win. Moore had never won a non-wing sprint car race at Chico. He had won a championship in the pure stocks and done well in dirt modified's at the speedway but this win should still be special for him. David Larabee drove a consistent race to finish in the third spot. It was a great finish for Larabee. Cody Myers finished in the fourth spot while Taylor Simas rounded out the top five.
The Dwarf cars put on another entertaining race. Twenty-three cars entered the race tonight and between their heat races and main event they provided some of the best racing. The 20-lap main event victory went to Patrick Weger. During a late race battle for the lead Weger was passed by Gilbert Toste. Both drivers were in fierce traffic and both drivers ran each other hard. On the ensuing lap Weger passed Toste back and went on to win the race. Toste then had to deal with another Weger, as this time Daniel Weger closed in and battled for second. Toste beat Daniel in a photo finish for second. Doug Martin finished in the fourth spot while Mike Grenert started 13th and finished fifth.
Forsberg started the night off by turning the quickest lap at 11.848.
Billy Wallace and Justin Funkhouser were both winners in heat race action. Funkhouser then was scratched from the main event with problems. Tough break to what could have been a great night.
Patrick Weger won the first heat race during the dwarf car division, giving him a clean sweep for the night. Gilbert Toste won the second heat and Daniel Weger won the third heat. It's weird to think that is how the top three of the main event finished.
Danny Ochs won heat race one. Robbie Whitchurch led all eight laps to win heat two. Mason Moore passed Zack West on the final lap to win the third heat race for the 410 sprints.
Full results are available at www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com. The sprint car results should be posted later tonight or early tomorrow morning.
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