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Mike Henry completes first GSC season with 4^th place finish in points

By Gary Thomas

Chico, CA – July 28, 2008…Sacramento’s Mike Henry put a cap on his first full season of competition with the Golden State Challenge Series by driving to a 10^th place finish at the season ending Tribute to Gary Patterson this past Saturday night.

Henry’s first full tour with the traveling 410 winged sprint car series saw him end the season fourth in the standings finishing behind veterans Jonathan Allard, Tyler Walker and Bud Kaeding. “It was a lot of fun to be able to race with Golden State this year and I learned a lot by traveling to the different tracks and running against so many great drivers each night,” Henry said.

The two-time Civil War Series champion kicked off the final weekend of the Golden State Challenge Series season by winning his heat race and finishing 12^th in the main event on Friday at the Silver Dollar Speedway. He then came back on Saturday night for the GSC finale and timed in 19^th quickest aboard the Royal Lagoon Pools, World Environmental No. 93.

The qualifying time put Henry on the front row of his heat race and he jumped into the lead at the waving of the green flag. The Sacramento racer eventually had to deal with a fast moving Jonathan Allard as the laps wound down, but was able to hold him off and pick up his fifth heat race victory of the GSC season.

Henry then stopped on the front stretch following the heat and did a quick interview before going into the stands and giving out a pair of trophies that were donated by Mancamp Motorsports and Twin Cities Trophies. For the heat race win he was also awarded with two sleeves of tear-offs.

Even with the heat race victory however, Henry was forced to start from 16^th in the Tribute to Gary Paterson main event and after a competitive 30 laps of racing he brought the C & H Veteran Enterprises Maxim home in the 10^th position. “I definitely have to thank my car owners Steve Harris & Joe Maffara for giving me the opportunity to run the car this year and also want to thank all of our sponsors who have supported us throughout the season,” Henry commented.

Henry’s stats for his first full Golden State Challenge Series season show one victory, six top five finishes and 13 top tens. “We had our ups and downs, but I think the experience gained will benefit us as the year goes on and we’re certainly looking forward to some of the bigger shows during the next few months,” he concluded.

Next up for Henry and HMH Motorsports will be this Saturday’s California Civil War Series event at the Placerville Speedway. The No. 93 team has acquired a 360 power-plant and looks forward to trying to bring home a victory at Henry’s home track. Earlier this season Henry captured a Golden State Challenge Series victory in Placerville and backed it up with a third place finish when GSC returned to the track in late May.

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After finishing off his full GSC season Sacramento's Mike Henry will head to his home track of Placerville Speedway this Saturday looking to pick up his first Civil War victory of the season. Photo by Graph X Designs

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