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CHICO, CA (9-8-07) - 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
54th 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.
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| FINISH |
DRIVER |
START |
| 1. |
Joey Saldana |
(1) |
| 2. |
Jac Hadenschild |
(8) |
| 3. |
Brad Sweet |
(3) |
| 4. |
Sammy Swindell |
(4) |
| 5. |
Donny Schatz |
(16) |
| 6. |
Tim Shaffer |
(7) |
| 7. |
Jason Meyers |
(18) |
| 8. |
Terry McCarl |
(13) |
| 9. |
Brooke Tatnell |
(6) |
| 10. |
Jonathan Allard |
(2) |
| Complete Results
| Qualifying |
|
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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 10th 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 16th 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 17th 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 around Hannagan 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 54th 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 54th annual Gold Cup Race
of Champions visit http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
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