CHICO, CA (8-21-09) - Oroville's Sean Becker had high hopes coming into the 2009 Friday night Feather Falls Casino championship series. He and veteran crew chief Brian Sperry put together a deal to allow Becker to run in conjunction with the Steve Harris stable of Bobby McMahan and Kyle Harris. While the results did not materialize as they had hoped the two continued to persevere. Tonight the hard work paid off. Becker led all 25-laps to capture his and Sperry's first win together as a team. "We finally got one," said an ecstatic Becker in victory lane. Becker and team will pocket the $2,000 winners payday courtesy of Angie's Poker Club in Chico.Jimmy Pettit was coming into the 2009 season with high expectations. The year previous he had won a career high in main events. While the wins have not been as plentiful as last year, Pettit did come into the night's race as the point leader. After the race he left the speedway with his second win of 2009. "This is Eric's first win with me so that is cool and I have to thank Ron and my wife and Skyway Tools for all their help," said Pettit.

Jeff Olschowka came into the 2009 season with a new start. He climbed aboard Ira Compton's famed dirt modified. He too, as with Becker and Pettit, probably has been a little disappointed with their season. Tonight Olschowka returned to his roots and won the 25-lap street stock feature. "It's feels nice to race back in this division and we had a great car tonight," said Olschowka. "There was a lot of good cars here tonight and I feel great to have won." In fact, a total of 19 street stocks showed up. It was a great display of cars as all of them lined the quarter-mile speedway.

The original start of the 20-car field was disastrous for two drivers. Thanks to Kyle Hirst, Keith Bloom Jr. and Brad Bumgarner started on the front row. Their elation was quickly subdued. Going into turn one Bumgarner got the jump and took the lead. Yet, as he entered the first turn the car got loose and he started to spin. Along came Bloom with nowhere to go and the two made contact. Both of them stopped. Bloom was never able to return while Bumgarner restarted but then pulled off the track later in the race. This gave the front row to Sean Becker and Colby Wiesz. Becker got the jump while Wiesz fell into second. The race was halted when Jason York and Kyle Harris made contact going into turn three. Harris got the worst of it and tumbled upside down awhile plowing into the big white tire in turn three. The car was wrecked but he emerged uninjured. The best battle of the night was between the two Australians Trevor Greene and Robbie Farr. Both guys raced side by side for most of the night. At the end it was Farr finishing ninth and Greene tenth. Up front Becker was on cruise control. He worked the slower cars to perfection and held a comfortable lead over Wiesz. Bobby McMahan finished third. Colby Copeland was fourth and Brett Miller ran fifth.

Only five cars were able to make the start of the 15-lap wingless main. Timmy Sherman Jr. was on the pole and held the lead for a bit. However, tonight, was all about Jimmy Pettit. Pettit used his experience and knowledge of the racetrack to his advantage. Pettit took the lead and never looked back. A scary accident happened mid point of the race when Jay Youngman and Joshua Tucker banged wheels going into turn three. Tucker got the raw end of the deal and flipped violently off the track. It took him a while to get to his feet after the wreck. He is a tough kid and hopefully we will see him back at the track soon. Up front it was all Pettit. He cruised to his second win of the year.

Starting in the eleventh position is not probably a recipe for winning. However, Jeff Olschowka was on a rail tonight. Olschowka was a man on a mission and tore through the large field of cars. Championship point leader Heather Bartlett started ninth. She too worked her was to the front. Late in the race she moved into the third spot. From there she battled a determined Richard Workman for the second spot. While Workman didn't have anything for Olschowka he was able to hold off Bartlett. The real hard charger was Daniel Mendes. Originally starting in row nine, 18th position, he worked his way to a fourth place finish. It was an amazing drive from someone who had not been to Chico all year. Jake Vantol started tenth and moved up to a fifth place finish. During the race he had contact with another driver that produced some damage to his car.