Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
Moderators: StuDeedooo

Saldana wins 54^th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions

By Gary Thomas

Chico, CA - September 8, 2007...Just one night after picking up a thrilling victory at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway, Brownsburg, Indiana resident Joey Saldana backed it up on Saturday night led all 40 laps to win the 54^th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions. Saldana got the jump at the waving of the green flag and held off all challengers to pick up the $50,000 first place prize and his first ever win in California’s premier winged sprint car event.

A challenging track was seen during the feature as the Silver Dollar Speedway bullring had developed a large cushion all the way around the raceway, but began to severely take rubber over the last half of the feature.Saldana’s Open Joist No. 9 was set up to perfection during the early stages as he motored away to a straightaway lead over the rest of the field. Germantown, TN’s Sammy Swindell overtook outside front row starter Jonathan Allard at the start, but Allard was able to get back by Swindell with a beautiful slide job following a lap 12 restart. Another caution on lap 17 put Allard on the rear bumper of Saldana and the Chico native didn’t disappoint the hometown crowd.

Allard closed in on Saldana as the green flag waved and when traffic came into play Allard pounced as the Kasey Kahne Racing machine was momentarily blocked by a slower car. The crowd came to their feet as the GT Trends No. 0 slipped under the No. 9 of Saldana to take the lead on lap 21. It was all for naught, however, as a red flag flew for an altercation in turn two which included Jason Solwold, Brent Kaeding and defending Gold Cup champion Daryn Pittman. Drama occurred when cars pushed back off as third running Steve Kinser couldn’t get his machine to re-fire. The Q Oils No. 11 was pushed to the pits and the 12-time Gold Cup champ

retired from the event.

When the race got back underway the racing surface began to change quickly as the rubber began to build up excessively and all the competitors moved to the bottom of the track where the rubber was laid down in a thick layer. With Saldana back in front of the field, Allard was forced to move back into chase mode, but the changing track conditions made passing a difficult task. Allard remained close to Saldana on the restart and as lap traffic came back into sight, he tried to make his move. As the top two cars bunched up, third running Jac Haudenschild began to make some noise and made it a three car battle for the lead with just about 10 laps remaining in the race.

With just five laps to go the top three cars were nose to tail as they navigated there way through slower traffic. Haudenschild moved to the middle part of the track in turn one on lap 37 and was able to make it stick to claim second. The "Wild Child" then tried to make something happen for the lead as he moved right up to Saldana, but the "Brownsburg Bullet" wasn’t to be denied and ran a great last couple laps to pick up the exciting 40 lap victory. Allard, who ran so strong all race, suffered a flat tire with just a couple laps left and slipped back to a disappointing 10^th place finish.

Even with Allard’s misfortune though, California was represented very well with Grass Valley’s Brad Sweet who brought the GP Development No. 6 machine home in third place. The 21 year-old charger battled with a host of the world’s best sprint car drivers and more than held his own to score a podium finish for car owner Gary Perkins.

After running in second place early on, Swindell finished fourth in the order aboard the Fauver Race Ready Rentals No. 64. The former Gold Cup champ performed very well all weekend considering he hasn’t raced much at all this season. Defending World of Outlaw champion Donny Schatz put on an outstanding charge from the 16^th starting position to finish a very solid fifth in the Tom Johnson Camping Center No. 15. Rounding out the top 10 were Tim Shaffer, Jason Meyers, Terry McCarl Brooke Tatnell and Allard.

The 20 lap B-main was dominated by Colfax, CA driver Colby Wiesz in the F & F Racing X1. Also transferring through the B-main were Brent Kaeding, Danny Lasoski and Tim Kaeding. TK’s transfer was noteworthy in the fact that he came from the 17^th starting position to make a last turn pass of Randy Hannagan to earn a transfer spot. The crowd erupted into applause as T. Kaeding powered the Tom Rolfe Trucking No. 10 to the high side to charge aroundHannagan and beat him to the line by less than a ½ a car length. The former Silver Dollar Speedway track champ made it into the B-main after winning the 15 lap C-main. The D-main was won by Chico driver Zach West, the E-main was won by Santa Cruz’s Kevin Pylant and the F-main was captured by Brown Valley, CA’s Cody Meyers.

The 54^th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions lived up to its building as it provided some of the most exciting Gold Cup action in recent memory. A large crowd of people packed the grandstands and a bevy of people camped out at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds creating the city like atmosphere that the Gold Cup is known for.

For all the results and stories about the 54^th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions visit http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com

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