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Catch all of the action from this years 39th Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at http://skagitradio.com/

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www.placervillespeedway.com
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www.thunderbowlraceway.com

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www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com

Tonight's opener of the Dirt Cup will be round 4 of Western Speedweek

Tribute to Gary Patterson

By: Troy Hennig


Zimmerly Wins His First GSC Main Event

(Chico, CA 6-11-10)...Youth was served Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway when Zach Zimmerly, who just last month turned 16 years old, passed Brent Kaeding on lap 23 and went on to lead the final seven laps to notch his first career King of California main event. To put the win in perspective, consider that Kaeding has the most all-times wins art Chico with 88. Kaeding is also the series' 13-time champion. Zimmerly was not even born when Kaeding was winning sprint car championships. "This is an amazing moment for me," said Zimmerly in victory lane. " It was cool to pass a guy like Brent Kaeding to get my first Golden State win. I need to thank my family and the McMillen family for all they have done for me and also to Jonathan who has taught me a lot of sprint car racing this year."

The race also served as the 27th annual Tribute to Gary Patterson. With the win, Zimmerly's name is now added to the long list of great sprint car drivers who have won this race in memory of one of the best drivers to ever strap into a sprint car. The goose bump moment of the night happened when Zimmerly roared down the back straight on the final lap. As he entered turn three and the win was in sight, the fans at Silver Dollar Speedway rose in unison and gave the youngster a standing ovation as he came out of turn four and then crossed the finish line. These are the moments and memories that make this sport so special and I was happy to be a part of it.

Another thing that struck me as really special was the victory cool down lap. It was was nice to see Brent Kaeding pull along side Zimmerly and congratulate him for almost the full lap. Third place finishing Jonathan Allard also pulled along side Zimmerly and congratulated the young phenom. Once all three drivers parked on the front straight, Kaeding was the first one out of his car to give Zimmerly a hug. "This kid has been fast all year," said Kaeding being interviewed by Gary Thomas. "It was only a matter of time before he picked up his first win." Allard also gave Zimmerly a lot of praise. "He drove by Brent and me like we were standing still. He is a good kid with a good family and I'm also happy for Duke and Scott McMillen in helping him progress as a driver," said Allard. On a personal level, Allard has been somewhat of a mentor for Zimmerly since he has been racing in California.

Brent Kaeding led the 22-car starting field down to the green flag. Kaeding took the lead into turn one over fellow outside front row starter Brett Miller. Mason Moore was able to get around Miller on the first lap and move into the second spot. Sean Becker was one of the drivers who charged at the early part of the main event. Becker started in the eighth spot but by lap eight he had charged into second.

Lap three was a scary one for Alissa Geving. The two-time Petaluma track champion got squeezed into the front straight away wall. The car took the brunt of the damage and Geving limped away. The yellow came back out on lap six when hard charging Kyle Larson spun off the track in turn two. Larson returned to the rear of the field and worked his way back to an eighth place finish.

Zimmerly's march towards the front really did not start until lap 13. Up to this point he had started in the sixth spot and was running in the fifth spot. In one lap Zimmerly moved from fifth to third and set his sights on Becker in second. Zimmerly passed Becker on lap 20 and moved into the second spot. It took him just two more laps to get to the inside of Kaeding and passed him going into turn one. Zimmerly zoomed down the back straight and had already built a three car length lead.

The final stoppage of the night took place on lap 26. Jonathan Allard and Tim Kaeding each had started deep in the field. Kaeding did not have a stellar qualifying time and Allard had to come out of the B main. Both were able to slice and dice their way up to the front and on lap 25 they were battling over the third spot. Going through turn one Allard was on the high side and Kaeding ran through the middle. Allard had to hit the brakes to avoid another car and this got his car loose. His front end swung around just a bit and this caused Kaeding avoid Allard and he began to spin. As Kaeding did a 180 spin the rest of the field was coming by. Unfortunately Brett Miller had nowhere to go and clobbered Kaeding's car. Miller flipped upside down but was uninjured. Both cars were done for the night.

With a clear track ahead of him Zimmerly cruised to a comfortable lead on the restart. Kaeding and Allard were left to duke it out for second. Kaeding was able to hold off Allard for the second spot. Sean Becker came home in the fourth position. It was a solid finish for the #51 team. Chico's Jason York held his own all night. York dominated the 12-lap B main event. He started the main in the ninth spot and did a wonderful job to finish fifth. The hard charger of the night went to Andy Forsberg. The whole could have been considered a disaster after he missed his qualifying spot and got one lap at the end. Brake problems forced Forsberg to miss the B main event. He then fought his way to a fifth place finish in the B main. He started the feature event in the 21st spot. For the next 30 laps Forsberg put on a passing display that saw him charge into the top five before falling back to a sixth place finish at the checkered flag.

Evan Suggs started the night off by turning the fastest lap in qualifying. Suggs lap was a 11.458. Heat race winners included Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, John Michael Bunch and Mark Hall. A great turnout of 32 King of California sprint cars turned out for their 14th point race of the year.

For complete results please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com

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Photo by Steve Lamothe of http://www.stevesracingphotos.com

Kyle Larson keeps the young generation up front with Southern Oregon Speedway win Saturday night with Golden State Challenge Series

By Gary Thomas

Medford, OR – June 12, 2010…Just one night after 16-year-old Zach Zimmerly captured his first ever Golden State Challenge victory Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson continued the young winning flavor by racing to his third career series triumph on Saturday night at the Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Oregon.

It also marked the 17-year-old Larson’s second Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series win of the year aboard the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Resort-Spa-Casino-Reno No. 99 sprinter.

“It was tough to see Tim Kaeding lose the lead like that early in the race, but even when I was in second behind Jonathan Allard I was hoping for lapped traffic,” said Larson. “Luckily I was able to have an opening and get by for the lead so it feels great to get another win and I’m just having a blast this year. I really have to thank my crew and sponsors and hopefully we can go on the rest of the week and get some more wins.”

The 30-lap feature on Saturday night started out with pole sitter Tim Kaeding of San Jose jumping into the lead. A pair of separate incidents slowed things to a crawl in the early stages however, but once racing got into a flow, lapped traffic began to make things interesting on the slick 1/3 mile oval. “TK” would hold a steady advantage up front, but everything changed on lap 12 when the yellow lights flashed on for a spun car.

At that same time Kaeding’s hopes at a fourth GSC victory of the year came to a stop when he sat parked in turns one and two, after coming up on a lapped car very fast and having to take evasive action once the yellow waved. With the Roth Motorsports No. 83 restarting at the tail of the field it moved Chico’s Jonathan Allard up to the top spot and when the green came back out the two-time King of California pulled away from the field.

Allard was in search of his series leading sixth main event win of the season and as the race went on it looked like a very good possibility that he would accomplish that. With right around 10-laps remaining though Larson started to kick it up a notch and began to reel in the Williams Motorsports No. 0 mount. The defending GSC Rookie of the year remained glued to the bottom of the raceway and as Allard went up high that was all Larson needed to slip underneath and take command with 23-laps down.

A yellow flag with only four-circuits left in the race then set up an exciting dash to the finish where Allard tried his hardest to find a way by the youngster, but Larson hit his marks over the closing laps and was just barely able to fend off the fast moving “JA” to cross the checkered and score victory at the entertaining finish. Allard’s final lap’s effort at reclaiming the lead came up just short and he was forced to settle for second to also tally his seventh GSC podium finish in a row. The 33-year-old gave it hard run on the last circuit and actually turned the fastest lap of the main event on the final go-around.

Completing the top-five in the main event were Campbell’s Brent Kaeding in the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69, Sacramento’s Willie Croft in the Holy Smokes BBQ No. 29 and final row starter Logan Forlor of Orting, Washington in the Steve Forlor Trucking No. 2l.

Rounding out the top-10 in the feature were Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler and Vancouver, Washington’s Zach Zimmerly. New Zealand traveler Skinny Colston won the night’s 12-lap b-main, while Tim Kaeding captured the dash with Paradise, CA’s John Michael Bunch, Bud Kaeding, Jonathan Allard and Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs winning the heat races. Tim Kaeding opened the evening by cutting a blazing fast 11.181 for fast-time out of the 31-cars on hand.

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From Skagit Radio media:

The Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup is now celebrating 39 years of the best 410 Sprint Car competition in the Northwest. Featuring drivers from four countries and all corners of the United States. The 2010 event features a posted purse of over $150,000.00 with the winner taking home a $25,000.00 check. This years event is Thursday through Saturday June 17th, 18th and 19th.

The Dirt Cup was Jim Raper’s baby. Jim was Skagit Speedway’s long-time beloved promoter and one of the original stockholders. He wanted an open wheel show with a big purse that would attract drivers from all over the west coast. He promoted a couple of open comp races in the late 60’s prior to Dirt Cup becoming a three track event in 1972, including Sky Valley and Elma. Elma dropped out in 1977 and Sky Valley in 1978 when the Dirt Cup became one of the nation’s top non-sanctioned open wheel events.

The Dirt Cup was honored by National Speed Sport News as 'The Best Annual Short Track Event for 2009.' The award was voted on by the national promoters group and presented to current track owner Steve Beitler by Roger Slack.

"This award means a lot to me", said Beitler, "I knew this race was very special to Jim Raper, the crew at Skagit Speedway has worked hard to continue the tradition started back in 1972."

A new wrinkle this year is the first internet broadcast of the event. Skagit Speedway has partnered with Winnw.com to provide another avenue to follow the event. Beitler is excited about the new venture, “this gives Skagit Speedway another way to provide race fans with the excitement that our sport can give. Winnw.com has proven to be a quality provider through their coverage of Deming Speedway race events last year and high school sports coverage in our region with talented sports broadcasters calling the action. I’m really excited about this product!”. Winnw.com has added 30-year radio broadcast veteran and former Skagit Speedway track announcer Kelly Hart to the broadcast team for this weekends event. Joining Kelly on the broadcasts is long time Skagit Speedway competitor “Rocket” Rod Perkins making his broadcasting debut. You can listen to the broadcast at http://www.SkagitRadio.com/ .

The Thursday and Friday events will feature qualifying starting around 6pm. Saturday night the broadcast will start closer to 7pm. Also bonus coverage will include the Outlaw Hornets on Thursday, and Ford Focus Midgets on Friday and Saturday.

Past winners:
1972 ... Ross Fontes
1973 ... Gary Patterson
1974 ... Jimmy Sills
1975 ... Jan Opperman
1976 ... Jimmy Boyd
1977 ... Jimmy Boyd
1978 ... Doug Wolfgang
1979 ... Doug Wolfgang
1980 ... Jimmy Sills
1981 ... Leeland McSpadden
1982 ... Jimmy Boyd
1983 ... Tim Green
1984 ... Leeland McSpadden
1985 ... Jimmy Sills
1986 ... Tim Green
1987 ... Jimmy Sills
1988 ... Jeff Swindell
1989 ... Jimmy Sills
1990 ... Jimmy Sills
1991 ... Brent Kaeding
1992 ... Bobby Burrow
1993 ... Tim Green
1994 ... Steve Kent
1995 ... Kevin Pylant
1996 ... Brent Kaeding
1997 ... Randy Hannigan
1998 ... Randy Hannigan
1999 ... Brent Kaeding
2000 ... Ronnie Day
2001 ... Steve Kent
2002 ... Kasey Kahne
2003 ... Kasey Kahne
2004 ... Shane Stewart
2005…Jonathan Allard
2006…Jonathan Allard
2007…Brandon Wimmer
2008…Jayme Barnes
2009…Jayme Barnes

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