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New track record highlights night for Andy Gregg in Placerville
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – April 1, 2008…Placerville driver Andy Gregg has had a knack for qualifying strong so far in this early season and he kept up the pace this past Saturday night by re-setting the all-time Placerville Speedway 360 track record.
The 28 year-old had already tallied a pair of second place qualifying efforts with the traveling Golden State Challenge 410 Series and had much confidence going into the opening point race at his home track. He went into the evening fresh off an eighth place finish with GSC at the high banked speedway the previous Saturday.
Going out eleventh in the 28 car field Gregg clicked off a blistering 10.023 aboard the Dale Miller Plumbing, Circle Racing Wheels Maxim, utilizing his Shark powered ASCS Engine. The qualifying time beat the previous 360 track record of 10.291 set by the “Rocklin Rocket” Robert Ballou in May of 2005.
By setting fast time it put Gregg in the third row of the opening heat and with the still fast track, he was only able to muscle a fifth place finish putting the Guts Racing, Meyers & Sons Drywall No. 16x into the B-main. During the 12 lap contest Gregg was running solidly in a transfer spot when he got over the cushion and spun to a stop, forcing him to restart at the rear. The Placerville veteran proceeded to march forward and was able to get back up to fourth, giving him a transfer into the main event.
By finishing fourth in the semi it didn’t give Gregg his qualifying time back however, and he was forced to start from the very last position in the feature. He was making process in the main event early on, but was forced to take evasive action on lap four because of a car in front of him getting crossed up. Gregg came to a stop and had to go to the rear of the 20 car field.
This time he was on the move once again and had gotten by about six cars before a red flag appeared on the eighth circuit. Following the red he tried to continue moving forward but got tangled up with Scott Kinney and it put an end to the night. “Bill and the crew gave me a great set-up and I definitely feel like we had a top three car,” Gregg said. He continued, “I might have got a little too excited after the track record and maybe with a little more patience our night could have ended better. That’s part of racing though and there’s always next week and we’ll come back strong.”
The next couple weeks will begin a busy period for Gregg and the Guts Racing team with a number of events scheduled. This Friday night the team is planning on competing at the Silver Dollar Speedway to open up the Feather Falls Casino point season. Then on Saturday he will be in action again at the Placerville Speedway for the second point race of the weekly season.
Following that Gregg will be right back to the El Dorado County Fairground track the next Wednesday for the re-scheduled opener for the California Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series. Last year he finished third in Civil War points and will look to start a championship bid during "Wild Winged Wednesday."
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Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
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