This message was edited on
July 13, 2008 at
11:42:46 PM by Gary Thomas
Photo by Johns Racing Photos
Mike Henry charges from 12th to 4th during GSC Round 18 in Chico
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – July 13, 2008…Competing on a hooked up and haulin’ racing surface on Saturday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway Sacramento’s Mike Henry got up on the wheel and charged forward to finish in the fourth spot after starting from the sixth row.
The former two-time Civil War Series champion went into the event on Saturday sitting fourth in the Golden State Challenge Series point standings and looked to improve upon an 11th place finish from the previous Saturday.
The 18th race of the GSC season looked like it was going to start off well as Henry cut an 11.992 in qualifying, which would have put the Royal Lagoon Pools No. 93 fourth fastest, but it was determined that he had exceeded the state mandated decibel limit. It forced him to come back out for one lap at the end of qualifying and his lap of 12.230 placed him 12th quickest.
Henry then scored a fourth place finish in his heat race and even though enough cars had failed to make a transfer through the heats, he still wasn’t able to run in the dash due to the rules because of the initial qualifying penalty. By not being able to run the dash it put the World Environmental, C & H Veteran Enterprises No. 93 on the outside of the sixth row in the nights 30 lap main event.
The track surface had remained very fast and narrow for the feature, but Henry was able to cowboy the car up and carve his way through the field during the entire 30 lap distance. As the laps ticked off he began to place his machine a tad bit higher than most and was up to the top five with just over 10 laps remaining. Henry continued to push forward and charged around the outside of Bud Kaeding with about eight laps left in the feature to move into fourth.
The main event was a caution and red flag plagued affair that took over an hour to conclude and Henry sat in fourth when the final stoppage of the night occurred on the 27th lap. When flagman Willie Williams waved the green for the final time Henry went back up stairs to try and get by third place Brad Bumgarner, but just when it looked like he’d make the pass, the car got upset in the rough turn four area and lost ground as he had to settle to car back down.
Henry continued on smoothly over the final couple laps and crossed the stripe in fourth to score his fifth top five finish of the Golden State Challenge Series season. It also marked his best run of the season with the series at Silver Dollar Speedway and gives the team some confidence heading into the final couple weeks of the season.
This coming weekend will feature a double-header of competition and will begin the final two weeks of racing for the Golden State Challenge King of California Series. On Friday Henry and HMH Motorsports will take to the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville looking to put the No. 93 machine toward the front of the field. Henry’s best finish in three series starts at the track this season has been an 11th and he’ll look to improve that on Friday.
Following the races in Watsonville the team will make the haul over to the always unpredictable tight bullring of Antioch Speedway on Saturday. Henry finished eighth during the only other GSC event at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds track this season. For more info on next weekends Golden State Challenge Series bullring-filled double-header please visit http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com in the coming week.
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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