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Becker Wins and Tightens Championship
by: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 8-8-08)...Sean Becker won the 25-lap sprint car main event Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico during point race #19 of of the Feather Falls Casino Series. Becker took the lead on lap 11 with a dramatic pass around the top two cars at that time, Mason Moore and Korey Lovell. Also with the win, Becker closes in on Championship point leader Andy Forsberg. Forsberg entered the night with a 13-point lead. After the checkered dropped Becker unofficially closed the gap to just 4 points. Mike Sohnrey won the dramatic 15-lap dirt modified main event. The final race of the night saw Terry Schank Jr. win the 20-lap Joe Hunt Magnetos wingless race only to be disqualified after the races for using a wrong right rear tire. Finishing second during the race was Billy Aton but was now scored as the winner after Schank Jr. was disqualified. Becker won $2,000 for the win from John Padjen Motorsports and Ashley Furniture.
Mason Moore looked like the driver to beat tonight. He started on the outside front row. To his inside sat Kevin Sharrah. Moore got the jump on the start and led the first lap. The race went eight laps until the first stoppage when Colby Copeland flipped in turn one. He was uninjured but done for the night. On the restart Mark Hall slowed and coasted around turn three and four. He ultimately stopped and brought out a yellow. On the next restart, Korey Lovell moved around Sharrah for second. Becker began to make his move and on the next lap passed Sharrah for third. On lap eleven a three car pile up brought out the second and final red of the night. Involved in the wreckage were Kyle Hirst, Destiney Hays and Greg DeCaires. The accident proved to also involve championship point leader Andy Forsberg. Going down the back straight Forsberg saw the red light come on and slowed. Behind him Shane Golobic slammed into the right rear of Forsberg. During the altercation Forsberg's right rear tire was punctured and went flat. Forsberg needed to go to the work area and make repairs. At that point he was fifth.
The restart continued with Moore and Lovell the top two. Little did they know that they were going to each get passed in the same turn on the next lap. Becker went to the high side of the race track and swept by both Lovell and then Moore to take the lead on lap 13. On the next circuit Chris Masters stopped to bring out a yellow. Becker was the new leader. The race only had one more yellow when Hirst slowed on the front stretch on lap 15. Becker pulled away from Moore to lead the final few laps to get the popular win. Moore held on to finish second while Golobic was third. Lovell finished fourth. It was an impressive return for Lovell. Forsberg worked his way back up to a seventh place finish.
Tyler Wolf, Dan Simpson and Colby Copeland each won the three heat races for the winged sprints. Oroville's Destiney Hays earned her second fast time award with a lap of 11.726. It was the second week in a row she grabbed the top spot.
Mark Abouzeid led the first 10 laps of the dirt modified main event. Abouzeid looked to win his fifth main during the point season. However, Abouzeid unexpectedly pulled off the track on turn one and went back to the pit area. This moved Mike Sohnrey into the lead. Sohnrey was holding off Duane Cleveland with a few laps to go while the real driver on the move was Richard Papenhausen. Papenhausen started seventh but soon moved up to third. On the final lap Cleveland's motor went up in a ball of flames. This moved Papenhausen into second. Sohnrey got his second win of the year. Matt Micheli made a rare start and finished third. Cleveland wound up in the fourth spot. Only seven cars started the main event.
Cleveland held off Abouzeid to win the night's most exciting heat race. Cleveland and Abouzeid raced side-by-side for the entire eight laps. Even the crowd acknowledged the drivers with a roaring applause.
Chico's Jimmy Pettit started from the pole position of the 20-lap wingless main event. Pettit has been untouchable when he starts from that spot. Yet, tonight, a few competitors had his number. The start was a nasty one when Jay Youngman and Don Emery flipped wildly down the front stretch fence. It took a while to get both drivers out but they each emerged and looked to be uninjured. The race restarted with Pettit taking the lead. To his credit he held the spot until lap 11 when Terry Schank Jr. used the high line to pass Pettit in turn three. Chasing Schank was Billy Aton. Aton used an aggressive move to pass Pettit on lap 14 for second. Taylor Simas also moved around Pettit to take the third spot. On lap 15 Keith Bloom Jr. spun on the front stretch. He was up in the top five at that time. He did rebound to finish third. Up front it was all Schank Jr. and he crossed under the checkered flag in first. However, during post race inspection he was found using a wrong tire and was disqualified. This moved Billy Aton into victory lane. It was his first race at Chico and he gets the win. It is his second year in wingless sprints. Last year he won the Antioch rookie of the year. Taylor Simas finished in the second spot. Simas also won the first heat race. Bloom Jr. moved up to a third place finish. Pettit finished fourth and Brian Southers was fifth. Aton earned the clean sweep by also winning the second heat race of the night.
Full results available at www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
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