|
A Family Affair at
Chico on Friday Night
By: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA
8-15-09)…Kyle Hirst made it three out of the last four main event wins at the
ASA Sanctioned Silver Dollar Speedway Friday night.Hirst led all 25 laps in route to his back-to back wins at his
home track.Hirst won an impressive
$2,000 with sponsorship help from the local Riebes Auto Parts.“We’ve been on a great roll this past month
at Chico,” said Hirst said the crowd while being interviewed by Gary
Thomas.“We will just try and keep it
rolling and hopefully have something for the Outlaws when they show up for the
Gold Cup.”During the past 105 main
event laps that have been completed at Chico, Hirst has lead 65 of them.“It’s been lights out for Hirst,” said Gary
Thomas in the press booth.With the
win, Hirst has no won $8,000 in the past four weeks.He also won the Bill Brownell Memorial earlier this year pushing
his win total to four and earning $11,000.
Two
familiar last names entered victory lane with Hirst.Dirt modified driver Randy McDaniel and dwarf car driver Daniel
Weger each won their respective 20-lap features.Two weeks ago it was Randy’s son Ryan who won while Patrick Weger
claimed honors in the dwarf car main.“We’ve been surrounded by McDaniel’s and Weger’s the past few weeks in
victory lane,” added Thomas.A nice
total of 53 cars entered point race #19 of the Feather Falls Casino point
championship season.
Hirst
started in the prime spot, outside row one.He led the field to the green flag.Falling into second was Peter Murphy.Murphy made a rare visit to the quarter-mile clay oval.Murphy was a regular in the early 2000’s
when he piloted the Morrie and Katie Williams #0.The first caution flew on lap nine when John Michael Bunch spun
in turn two.He collected the big white
tire in the infield and needed to make repairs before coming back into the
race.Two laps later one of the oddest
things happened in turn one.For the
first time in my recollection a top wing sat in tack all by itself in turn one.For whatever reason the wing posts failed
and Johnny Gray’s top wing flew off and came to a stop on the top of turn
one.Gray continued on to the pit area
while the safety crew picked up the top wing.The ensuing lap saw Jason York and Kyle Harris bang wheels.Harris spun off turn four and got collected
in the catch fence.He was uninjured
and continued on.The final caution
waived when Keith Bloom Jr. came to a stop in turn four.
Up front
Hirst was unchallenged.On all of the
restarts he held a commanding lead.Murphy was holding down the second spot.Mark Hall made a charge into the third spot.Third was where Hall would finish.The best racing of the night was between
fourth place Brad Bumgarner and fifth Place Sean Becker.Becker tried every move to get around
Bumgarner but it was to no avail.Bumgarner picked up another top five finish while Becker settled for
fifth.
The dirt
modified main event was another barnburner.Twist and turns kept the crowd entertained while the close racing
provided the thrill for the drivers.Out of town driver Michael Paul led the first lap.He has been a nice addition to the
speedway.On lap six Jeff Olschowka
passed Paul.Olschowka looked to be the
dominant car.Another car charging to
the front was Ryan McDaniel.He had
moved into the third spot and was challenging for the lead.Then disaster struck.A big ball of smoke emerged from the motor
area and McDaniel came to a stop in turn four on lap 14.On the restart, Olschowka’ car never
responded and he limped to the pit area done for the night.Randy McDaniel was the new leader.Point leader Mark Abouzeid had moved his way
into second and was going to challenge McDaniel for the win.The final five laps the two modified drivers
raced nose to tail and as close as they could with out contact.McDaniel was able to hold off Abouzeid for
the win.Abouzeid has now lost two
weeks in a row to a McDaniel.Yet,
looking at the big picture he still holds onto the point championship
lead.Both Abouzeid and Randy McDaniel
scored heat race wins.
The Weger’s
are about as entertaining bunch of racecar drivers as you could find.Their laid back demeanor makes them cool,
calm and collected on the racetrack.Tonight is was Daniel’s turn to shine.Two weeks ago he saw Patrick enjoy the spoils of victory lane.To get to victory lane Daniel had to hold
off Patrick.In fact, Patrick passed
Daniel on a lap seven restart.Daniel
repaid the favor on lap nine.A few
laps later Patrick swerved to avoid a slower car.This seemed to offset his car and consequently his right rear
tire went flat.This moved Mike Grenert
into the mix.Grenert is a strong
challenger anytime he races at Chico.Grenert had one final chance to make something happen.On lap 19 Jeremy Blackshire spun in turn
three.This brought out the
caution.Rules state a main event must
end with two consecutive laps of green flag racing.The race wound up going 21 laps but it didn’t bother Daniel.He cruised to the win followed by Grenert,
Kevin Bender and Scott Dahlgren.Neil
Stinson finished fifth and also won the first heat of the night.Grenert won the second heat race.
Bobby
McMahan, Robert Stice and Keith Bloom Jr. all were heat race winners.Colby Copeland started off the night by
setting quick time.His impressive time
was 12.329.
For full
results with starting positions please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com
END
|
