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Photos by Johns Racing Photos
Andy Forsberg wins 5th Placerville point race of season & Willie Croft runs 5th in 25 lap feature
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – June 30, 2008…Competing at Placerville Speedway on Saturday night Team 292 Inc. brought home a pair of top five finishes, including Andy Forsberg's seventh win of the season as he drove to a dominating victory in the main event. The eighth 360 sprint car point race of the season at the high-banked Placerville Speedway was sponsored by Specialized Parts Planet and awarded $2,000 to win.
Going into the event Forsberg had won four main events already on the year at his home track and looked to continue his big money success at the bullring. The veteran driver began the night by qualifying third fastest in the field aboard the A & A Stepping Stone, K & N Filters No. 92. Forsberg then raced to a third place finish in his heat race to transfer into the main event.
“Mr. Excitement” then lined-up on the inside of the third row in the 25 lap feature, but after a couple accidents took out some of the cars in front, he found himself on the front row. Forsberg raced wheel to wheel with Scott Russell on the opening lap before charging into the lead. Putting the Auburn racer on the front row is always a tough task for the other competitors and it was the same on this night as Forsberg pulled away from the field to pick up his fifth Placerville Speedway victory of the season.
Fellow Team 292 Inc. driver Willie Croft also had an exciting night of racing at the Placerville Speedway on Saturday and began the event by timing the Holey Smokes BBQ, LRB Manufacturing No. 29 second quickest in the 24 car field. He then had a plug wire come off in the heat race, which forced him into the running the night’s B-main.
“Double Down” was leading the 12 lap semi when a broken shock created handling issues that made the left front frame rail drag on the ground. Croft was able to manhandle the car however, and finished second to transfer into the main event where he started from the seventh position. A warm day had slicked the track off by main event time and the Sacramento driver was able to hang in to bring the Amerikote No. 29 home in the fifth position.
In addition to competing in Placerville, Forsberg and the No. 92 team were also in action on Friday night in Chico looking to maintain the Silver Dollar Speedway point lead. A smoky and warm day was present on Friday and the former track champion blistered the track in qualifying to be the only driver in the 11 second bracket, scoring his second fast-time award of the season at Silver Dollar Speedway.
A fourth place finish in the opening heat race put Forsberg in the main event and after pulling the number four pill it set him up to start from the outside of the second row. The track was lightning fast during the 25 lap contest and he fell into line third on the start. A number of early cautions slowed the flow of the race and when the action finally got underway, Forsberg battled it out for third, before dropping a couple spots around lap seven.
The four-time Civil War champ motored on in fifth and then took advantage of a couple cars dropping out during the closing laps to move up to third. Forsberg drove smoothly over the final five circuits and brought the GP Development, L & W Stone No. 92 home in the third spot, to score his eighth top five finish in the first 10 races of the Silver Dollar Speedway season.
Busy weekend upcoming at two different venues:
Next up for Team 292 Inc. will be a big double-header weekend of racing this Friday and Saturday nights. It will be kicked off with the always fun 4th of July show at Silver Dollar Speedway where Forsberg will look to extend his advantage in the track standings. Going into the night “Mr. Excitement” holds onto a 26 point advantage over Sean Becker in his quest at his second Silver Dollar Speedway track title.
Then on Saturday Forsberg will head for the usually racy Petaluma Speedway to compete in the seventh event of the California Civil War Series season. Forsberg currently sits just 20 points out of the lead in the standings and is coming off a fourth place finish with Civil War a couple weeks ago in Quincy.
Croft will be competing in two night’s of racing at the Silver Dollar Speedway this weekend as he’ll look to put the BR Motorsports No. 29 sprinter towards the front of the field. Friday’s 4th of July event will be his first time back at Silver Dollar Speedway since June 6 and he’ll look for his second top five of the Feather Falls Casino point season.
On Saturday Croft will stay in Chico to run with the traveling Golden State Challenge Series to do battle with some of the top 410 teams in California. “Double Down” has made four starts with GSC in '08 and has scored a season best finish of ninth, which came on May 31 in Placerville. Last year saw Croft finish third in the point standings with the traveling 410 circuit.
For more info on Team 292 Inc. drivers Andy Forsberg and Willie Croft please visit http://aamotorsports.net/ and http://williecroft.com/front.html
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