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Photo by Graph X Designs
Mason Moore takes 6th during opening night of Silver Dollar Fair race
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – May 26, 2008…Princeton’s Mason Moore headed into the annual Silver Dollar Fair double-header in Chico fresh off a great run with the Golden State Challenge Series the previous weekend and came back to post a sixth place finish during the Saturday portion of this past weekend.
The 17 year-old ranked third in the Silver Dollar Speedway 410 sprint car standings going into the double-header, which is held in conjunction with the annual Silver Dollar Fair. The point’s action took the week off however and 360 racing was the featured division for the event. Saturday’s opening night featured a non-sanctioned show that didn’t use qualifying to set line-ups for the night as drawing numbers took its place.
Moore started sixth in the second heat race and with the track still being very greasy it made for a tough task. “Primetime” was up to the challenge though and hugged the bottom to perfection and was able to make it all the way up to second by the finish. Passing points and finishing positions then set the main event line-up's for the 35 cars that partook in the four heat races.
After points were tallied the Moore Insurance Services, Rolling Hills Casino No. 22 sat atop the board, but the A-main featured an odd invert of seven and even with the great run in the heat race the youngster was still forced to start in the fourth row of the feature. The surface remained hooked up and extremely fast for the main event and after 25 laps of racing Moore brought home a sixth place finish. Just getting the night of racing in was a good thing since cloudy and rainy weather was forecasted all day.
Sunday then saw the sun come out and create a great night for racing with the California Civil War 360 Series coming to town. Early on the track was visibly different as it had a chance to dry out a bit and also had a very thick cushion up top. In hot laps Moore was one of the fastest of the 48 drivers that were on hand as the NOS Energy Drink, Withrow’s Motorsports Eagle was locked down with a great set-up from crew chief Mike Clarke.
The Princeton driver then came out 17th in the qualifying order and looked to have made a great opening lap, but it was found that car didn’t have a transponder on it and unfortunately forced him to take one lap at the end. This was a tough hit since the track had dried out considerably as the session went on and Moore’s one lap at the end of 13.322 put him 34th fastest.
The qualifying time forced Moore to start deep in the field during the night’s second heat race, but he was able to charge forward right from the get go. Lining up in the fifth row he was able to come off the bottom with authority and charge under several cars to get up to fifth by the midway point. Going into turn one around lap six however, he caught the cushion and it upset the car enough sending it off the corner and bringing out a caution.
After going to the work area he came back out and worked his way back up to seventh, but it still put him in the C-main where he went on and finished fifth to put an early end to the night. The weekend had the makings of being a very good one had a couple of things went a little different, but that’s what happens sometimes and a positive from the event is the fact that the car continues to be quick and the youngster is doing a great job behind the wheel. The main event on Sunday night was eventually won by good friend Kyle Larson who picked up his first Chico win.
This coming Saturday will have the possibility of Moore and the team making the drive to the Placerville Speedway to compete with the Golden State Challenge Series. The Silver Dollar Speedway will be dark this weekend but will resume action on Friday June 6 with Ashley Furniture night. For more news on “Primetime” Mason Moore visit http://www.mbracingteam.com/Press_Mason_Moore.html
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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