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David Larabee is First Champion of 2011 at Silver Dollar Speedway

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Photo by Steven Cox [sprintcarphotos.com][/caption]CHICO, CA (8-19-11) - David Larabee has been hanging around Silver Dollar Speedway for the past 30 years. He has seen it all and for the most part raced in an array of open wheeled and fendered race cars at Chico. He even watched as a young kid when his dad, Jim, was crowned as driving champion at the track. Well after last night, David can now call himself a Silver Dollar Speedway Champion. In the main event Larabee finished ahead of Ken Micheli, who was Larabee's nearest championship rival, and secured the Dirt Solution Limited Late Model track championship. I've always been a street car guy," said Larabee. "I got into the wingless sprints a few years ago and just decided I wanted to get back into the fendered cars. I had also wanted to always run a Late Model and Chico and I couldn't be happier right now to win this championship." Larabee thanked his wife and two daughters but also thanked his best friend Jimmy Pettit. "A few weeks ago I cracked up some of my ribs and it was hard for me to work on the car," said Larabee. "Pettit took the car to his house and did a wonderful job getting it set up for me." When asked about his dad and what it meant to the family Larabee said, "I know that the Micheli's, McDaniel's and Becker's have all won championships as a father/son combination. This means a lot to be put in that category with me and my dad."

The 20-lap main event was won by Matt Micheli. He led all 20 laps and was dominating in doing so. "I love this track and the way they prepare it," said Micheli. He was joined in victory lane by his family. "I love this division and it continues to thrive. We are looking forward to maybe adding more races in 2012." Micheli had a large lead over Tom Arbogast and Jay Norton at the checkered flag. If the fans concentrated on the battle for second, it was a heck of a race. Arbogast was able to hold off Norton. Norton was really impressive. Arbogast continues to be an inspiration for the division and will hopefully lead this group into the off season and renew the Dirt Solution championship.

Matt Micheli was good all night. He won the heat race for the clean sweep of the night. The Dirt Solution Limited Late Models were a huge success in 2011. Silver Dollar Speedway is looking forward to add more cars and drivers next season and also offer more race dates.

Results can be found at www.mylaps.com

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