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Tony Richards Wins First Career Non-wing Sprint Main
by: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 7-5-08)...It took Tony Richards three years and 26 races at Silver Dollar Speedway to get his first career main event win at Silver Dollar Speedway. The win was exciting for the fans and the driver. “I've been trying to get this first one for awhile,” said Richards in victory lane. When asked about changing his driving line in turn three he responded by saying, “I heard him up on the top and I was running the bottom, so the next lap I went to try it out and liked it a lot.” Richards also won the second heat race, giving him a sweep during the night. A total of 21 drivers competed during the Saturday night presentation.
The first attempt at a start was nullified when Friday night's winner Cort Dozier stopped in turn three. He was unable to restart. On the second attempt Justin Reinolds brought out a yellow when he stopped in turn two. The third restart saw Keith Bloom Jr., the point leader, spin in turn four. After restarting at the rear of the field, Bloom Jr. put on a show for the fans. A single file attempt produced one green flag lap until Brian Southers stopped in turn four. Jimmy Pettit had jumped out to the lead but it was short lived when Tony Richards made his move. On lap three Mason Myers and Tim Barnes spun in turn three. Both Myers and Barnes would salvage their night after the altercation. Myers motored his way back to seventh while Barnes finished ninth.
The race began to get some momentum as laps were clicked off without a yellow. R.C. Smith, who won heat one, had moved into second and started challenging Richards for the lead. Smith was one of the few who were able to run the top of the race track and still be fast. A few times he almost jumped the cushion but would hold on. Things heated up when Smith made a move to the outside of Richards as the two battled for the lead. The race was once again slowed when a yellow was needed for Josh Bates on lap 10. On the restart Richards started to go to the high side in turn three and four. This did two things, made him faster and took away Smith's line. Smith still kept it on the high side in turns one and two, where as, Richards drove back to the bottom. Lap 15 brought out another yellow when Jay Youngman and Joshua Tucker crashed in turn three. This set up a dash to the finish.
Moving back up to contend was Bloom Jr. He moved into the third spot and began challenging Smith for second. The key to race happened in turn one. Both Smith and Bloom were running the top with Richards stayed low. On the final lap Smith drove it too deep and hard into turn one and hopped the cushion. He spun around and stopped. The result was a crash that also involved Bloom Jr. Both cars were damaged. With the race time limit in overtime, the officials decided to checkered the main event on lap 19. Richards was the winner and did a great job in holding off the youngsters. Smith was scored in 12th while Bloom was 13th. It was a bitter pill to swallow for both competitors but it did make it exciting for the fans.
Pole sitter Jimmy Pettit inherited second at the finish after the two cars ahead of him crashed. For the weekend Pettit earned two top fives. Pettit also won the third heat race for the division. Third went to fifth place starting Reyna Krueger. Taylor Simas started seventh and finished fourth. Kody Smith made the biggest strides of anyone in the top five after he originally started 13th. Chris Magoon also made his way through the field to finish sixth after starting in row nine.
Racing for this division continues this Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway.
Complete results at http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com/silverDollar/2008/results/07/05-ws.html
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