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Photo by Paul Trevino Racing Photos
Mike Henry drives to best career Thunderbowl Raceway finish at Pombo/Sargent Classic
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – June 28, 2008…After a difficult Dirt Cup last weekend Sacramento’s Mike Henry rebounded this past Saturday night at the Pombo/Sargent Classic and drove to a fifth place finish in the main event. It marked the fourth top-five of the Golden State Challenge season for the former two-time Civil War Series champion and was also his best ever finish at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.
The annual Pombo/Sargent Classic is put on each year to honor California racing legends Al Pombo and Marshall Sargent and this marked the third year that the event has been held at the Thunderbowl Raceway. Warm temps were felt during the day, which has been a characteristic of the Pombo/Sargent Classic over the years as the Central Valley heat kicks into full gear during the summer months.
A 20 car field was on hand for the event and Henry kicked off the night by timing in ninth fastest aboard the C & H Veteran Enterprises, Royal Lagoon Pools No. 93. He then jumped out into the lead during the evening’s third heat race and held onto the top spot for six laps until Tyler Walker got by for the lead. Henry played it smart and didn’t try to race Walker back as he settled into second and went on to finish there at the checkered flag.
The driver of the World Environmental, Don Ott powered Maxim then brought home a fifth place finish in the dash to put the No. 93 sprinter in the third row for the night’s 30 lap main event. When the green lights came on Henry jumped into fourth and ran there until a caution waved on the fourth lap.
The last few Golden State Challenge main events had seen a number of cautions and reds slow the flow of the races, but on this night a long green flag was able to happen and it made for some good racing behind the leaders. Henry battled amongst the top five all race long and after 30 laps of hard fought racing on the 1/3 mile clay oval he crossed the line in fifth place to score his first top five of the season at the Thunderbowl Raceway.
After coming off the top five in Tulare Henry and the HMH Motorsports team will now head to the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico next Friday and Saturday night’s. The Sacramento driver finished third at the track in point race action on May 16 and will go into this coming weekend sitting fourth in the Golden State Challenge 410 Series point standings.
The month of July will find the series competing multiple times at the quarter-mile speedway as it will return the following Saturday for another event, before finishing the season off during the last weekend of July with a double-header weekend of racing. Henry has a lot of laps around the Silver Dollar Speedway and will look for his second win of the season this coming Saturday night during the 17th race of the GSC season.
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Photo by Davy Thomas
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