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Spectacular Championship Battles Highlight Final Points Race of 2014

CHICO, CA (8-22-14) - On a night where everything is on the line. The last points race of the year, everyone is going to go all out, and do everything they can to win. Multiple Champions were crowned as the 2014 Tri-Counties Bank Points Championship Series drew to an end at the Silver Dollar Speedway. Points Race #15 sponsored by Cherry St. Mini Storage and Chico Volkswagen, also dubbed the 2nd Annual Tyler Wolf Memorial did not disappoint.

The Ltd. Late Model Championship was decided the second that Ryan McDaniel took the Green Flag in the Main Event. McDaniel had clinched his second straight Ltd. Late Model Championship. That however, did not stop the Main Event from being a thrilling battle between two of the best Ltd. Late Model drivers at the speedway. Duane Cleveland led every lap of the race, but it was not as easy as it sounds. He was hounded each and every lap by newly crowned Champion Ryan McDaniel. Ryan tried everything he could to get around Cleveland. On the final lap Ryan drove as hard as he could down the back straightaway and made a divebomb move into turns three and four. He bounced off of Cleveland, but it was not enough, as McDaniel would spin and Cleveland would continue on to pick up the exciting victory, his second in a row in the division. McDaniel would recover to still finish second. Cort Dozier made his season debut at Silver Dollar and drove to a stellar third place finish. Jeff Olschowka and Matt Micheli would round out the top five finishers. Cort Dozier and David Newquist each picked up heat race wins.

The Street Stock Main event started off with Chico Volkswagen driver Kevin Lesch jumping out front. Lesch had a really strong car and was expected to compete for the win until something happened with the car and he dove into the pit area on lap 5 out of the lead and would not return. That turned the lead over to Points Leader, Chris Warner. Warner would not look back as he would lead the rest of the laps to pick up the race win and clinch his first career Silver Dollar Speedway Championship. Mitch Machado, who won this race last year tried to win it for a second time but came up just one spot short finishing in the second position. Phil Marino was the only driver with a shot to catch Warner for the Championship, but Marino struggled all race with fuel cap issues that caused fuel to leak on the track. Somehow Phil would still hang on to finish in the third slot. Gary Newman and Mike Slightom would round out the top five finishers. Phil Marino and Mitch Machado were victorious in Heat Race competition.

The Dirt Modified Points Battle was the closest Points Battle we had in all five divisions. Duane Cleveland came into the nights event with a two point lead over Randy McDaniel and only a three point lead over Ryan McDaniel. The three of them would do absolute battle in the main event trying to decided the Winner and the Champion. In the end it would be Ryan McDaniel crossing the finish line first. Winning his first Pepsi Night Trophy in 14 years of trying. Duane Cleveland though finished in the second position, thus clinching his second straight Dirt Modified Championship and his third overall. Kyle Wilson had a great run tonight and finished in the third position. He and his brother Alex both made a few appearances this year at Silver Dollar and we hope to see them back to contend for a Championship next season. Randy McDaniel and Leif Berglund would round out the top five finishers. There was a scary moment during heat race competition as Troy Morris Jr. jumped the cushion in turn one and flipped violently. It was a very scary incident but Morris was able to climb from the wrecked race car uninjured but unable to continue on. Heat Race victories were claimed by Dustin Massey and Ryan McDaniel.

The Perma-Zyme Wingless Sprint car Championship battle came down to two drivers. Tim Sherman Jr. and Don Emery. Sherman had led the points all season long but Emery closed the gap in the last two races. Going in to the Main Event only two points separated the two drivers. Emery started the main event inside the top five while Sherman had to start nearly dead last as he had engine problems during heat race action. Sherman Jr. would charge through the field quickly though and stuck right with Emery, knowing if he finished one spot behind him that he would be crowned Champion. In the end it was Terry Schank Jr. absolutely crushing the field picking up his 26th career win at Silver Dollar Speedway. Tony Richards ran a strong Main Event and finished second. While your Championship contenders finished third and fourth. With Don Emery third and Sherman Jr. fourth. Thus Crowning Tim Sherman Jr. the 2014 Perma-Zyme Wingless Sprint Car Track Champion by just one point over Emery. Chris Webber showed a lot of speed and finished in the fifth position. Scary moment on lap two as something happened to the #01 car of Nick Larson in turn four sending his car head on at full speed into the turn four barrier. Thankfully though Andy Forsberg had recently suggested the speedway officials put foam barriers in front of the concrete wall there. Larson's car hit the last of those foam barriers and it did it's job. Nick was able to climb from the wreckage and walk away under his own power. Heat Race victories were claimed by Terry Schank Jr. and Angelique Bell.

A total of 72 race cars competed in the final Points Race of the year at Silver Dollar Speedway. Each and every race was action packed and showed that the racetrack still has a lot to offer for each division. The track improved a lot throughout the year. A big part of that improvement has been the addition of Lowell Moural Sr. to the track. Lowell spends countless hours on the track trying to get it just right for each and every division. Dennis Gage deserves a lot of credit as well as he pours his heart and soul into the Silver Dollar Speedway. Last but certainly not least, thank you to the loyal fans of the Speedway. Your support week in and week out is what keeps this place alive. We thank you and we hope you enjoyed the 2014 Points season at the Silver Dollar Speedway.

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