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Sean Becker Steals Win From Green on Last Lap
By: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 5-11-07)…For Oroville driver Sean Becker it was his third win of the year during the Friday night Feather Falls Casino point championship series, however, for Australia driver Trevor Green it was a case of the blues. Green led 24 of the 25-laps during the Fauver Race Ready Rentals main event but his night ended when he hit a big white tire in turn four that separates the racetrack and the infield. Green took the white flag as the leader but his night ended with him hitting another white tire in turn three because he had no steering. By that time Becker had already passed him coming out of turn two and won the race. It was an exciting finish for the crowd that sat through numerous yellow flags and a few reds. I was unable to conduct a victory lane interview because of time constraints, but co-car owner Kyle Main of Becker's car called me on the cell phone to relay the message that Becker and Main wanted to dedicate the win to Rick Hennig, my father, who has been sidelined the last few months with two broken legs and a long road still ahead of him for recovery.
Green started on the outside of the front row and took the lead from pole sitter Stephen Allard. Green, who just last week made his first start of the year at Chico, led the field through a tricky and slick racetrack. The bottom of the track was the place to be and most were bottom feeding trying to get traction. On lap six the yellow came briefly and then the red was needed when Kyle Hirst flipped in turn one. The yellow was coming out for Brandon Wimmer who stopped outside turn one. On lap seven Greg DeCaires, who was debuting a beautiful new sprint car, stopped outside turn four and brought out another yellow. Green continued to lead ahead of the Allard brother, Stephen and Jonathan. On lap 14 Jonathan was the first causality of the white tire in turn four. Allard clipped the tire and spun around. He was done for the night with a broken front end.
Lap 15 brought another caution when Kevin Sharrah stopped in turn four and Willie Croft spun through the infield with another beat up front end. On the sixteenth lap Jason Statler and Brad Sweet were racing hard for the fourth spot when each banged wheels that resulted in Statler stopping in turn four. Even though the race was slowed by cautions Green was still very composed and on each restart could jump out to a comfortable lead. On lap nineteen the final stoppage of the night occurred when fifth place running Ronnie Day exploded his power plant and came to a stop in turn four. With curfew looming, the officials decided the next yellow or red would end the race, however, that was not an issue the drivers would complete their 25-lap main event.
Becker had restarted in the third spot with six laps to go. He was one of the few drivers willing to try the top of the track in turns one and two. This ultimately played into his favor because Stephen Allard was now aware of the top might be faster and he too tried the top. Becker was able to pass Allard in turn one and now lined himself up for the exciting finish. Green had the race locked up with a four to five car-length lead on lap 23. Coming out of turn four and ready to receive the white flag and get his first win at Chico. Yet, it was not meant to be. Green clipped the tire in turn four and suffered a collapsed front end. He hung on all the way until turn three on the final lap and ironically enough hit another tire and his car came to a stop. Becker drove by Green's damaged car for the lead in turn two and came around to get the popular win. Brad Sweet was able to pass Allard late in the race and finished second. Sweet was getting faster as the race went longer. Allard finished third. Wimmer fought back to finish fourth after his early stop in turn one. Korey Lovell ran a strong race to finish fifth.
Andy Forsberg led all 12-laps to win the B main event. Lovell finished second. Mike Benson finished third and Kevin Sharrah took fourth to get the final transfer.
Dan Ochs won the eight lap "C" main event. Pat Harvey passed Mike Stalling late in the race to finish second and transfer.
Heat race winners included Jon Allard, Jason Statler, Ricky Fauver and Greg DeCaires.
Jon Allard started the night off by turning the quickest lap of the night at an 11.965. He was the only driver able to get into the eleven-second bracket. Allard out qualified 37 other drivers.
With the win Becker and his Fisher/Main Motorsports #35m collected $2400 with purse money help from Dick Fry at Fry's Metal. Rod Fauver and his Race Ready Rental sprint car program was the night's sponsor.
A bigger car count is expected tonight for the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial King of California event tonight.
Full results are available at www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
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