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Photos by http://www.JohnsRacingPhotos.com
Jimmy Pettit charges from 12th to 4th at Gold Cup Wingless Invitational
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – September 8, 2008…Chico’s Jimmy Pettit finished off the Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Spec Sprint season with a fifth place finish in the points after scoring a fourth place result during the championship ending Wingless Invitational held this past Wednesday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway.
This year marked the third straight season that the wingless sprint division has competed alongside the Civil War Winged 360’s during the Wednesday night show to open the annual Gold Cup Race of Champions week. A total of 21 wingless cars were on hand for the event, which was also the final tune-up prior to the Wingless Nationals that will be held on October 10 and 11 at the Silver Dollar bullring.
Group qualifying was held for the wingless division and a tricky cushion had developed, which made the session pretty interesting as it was a tad bit rough the higher up drivers ventured on the racing surface. Pettit’s fastest lap of 14.587 was good enough to put the Kevin Sharrah Designs, Pro Machine Racing Engines, Skyway Tool Center No. 24 p, seventeenth quickest.
Pettit then lined-up on the pole of the night’s opening heat race and brought home a second place finish to transfer into the main event where he also had the honor of pulling the pill for the inversion on the front stretch. After pulling the number eight pill the Chico driver started from the outside of the sixth row and with the track becoming tough to pass on, he would have his work cut out for him.
The driver known as “Loveshack” was able to methodically move forward in the feature, despite the tough conditions and charged up through the pack during the entire 20 lap distance. Pettit got underneath a number of cars as the laps wound down and crossed the checkered flag in the fourth position aboard the Pep Boys, Ing Excavation, Hunt Magnetos No. 24p.
The final John Padjen Motorsports/ Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Car point season shows Pettit finishing in the fifth spot of the standings, having made 22 of the 28 races during the year. The “Loveshack” captured 4 A-main event victories, tallied 12 top five finishes, 19 top tens and tied for the series lead with seven heat race wins. “It was really a great year for us and was a lot of fun to not be racing for points,” Pettit said. “We could have even won a few more races had a couple things gone our way, but that’s racing and it was great to be part of Silver Dollar Speedway every week.”
Up next for Jimmy Pettit and the 24p team will be the Silver Dollar Speedway season ending fourth annual Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprint Car Nationals. “It should be a great event and we’ll be trying our best to end the season on a strong note,” the Chico racer said. “There will be a lot of cars on hand so it will be tough, but we’ve been fast all season so I’ve got a lot of confidence going into it,” Pettit concluded. More news and info on the wingless nationals can be found in the future at http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
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After finishing fifth in the Hunt Magnetos Wingless standings, Chico, California's Jimmy Pettit will look to finish off the season in style at the 4th annual Wingless Sprint Nationals
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