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The Shark Thrills During Gold Cup Opener

CHICO, CA (9-9-15) - For nearly 28 laps it looked as if Justin Sanders would pick up his 19th win of the season. Sean Becker had other ideas though, as he used a late race pass to get around Sanders and score his first Civil War win of the season in thrilling fashion at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA to open up the 62nd Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions.

Becker and Sanders would lead the field to green, and it was Sanders winning the drag race into turn one and jumping out to the early lead while Becker, Kyle Hirst and Carson Macedo followed.

The extremely slick Silver Dollar Speedway took rubber very early in the event, and passing would come at an extreme premium as drivers jockeyed for position on the low line.

With track conditions forcing single-file restarts on this night, the two caution flags saw Sanders continue to lead the pack, as he hit his marks lap-after-lap. As the laps clicked off, Becker would start to make the race interesting as he closed in on Sanders who was beginning to have trouble in turns three and four.

As Sanders would baby his machine, Becker would continue to close in and put serious pressure on the race leader starting on lap 25.

Trying to get under Sanders for two consecutive laps, Becker would get off the rubber exiting turn four on the 28th lap as he pulled alongside the outside of Sanders, and dive under the leader in turns one and two and grab the lead as they headed down the back stretch, taking the white flag as the official leader.

With Becker out front, the race for second would be exciting on the last lap. As Becker took the checkered flag to open up the Gold Cup in victory lane, Hirst was able to sneak under Sanders exiting turn four to take second while Sanders held on for third.

�It is awesome to be here in victory lane to open up the Gold Cup Race of Champions,� Becker said. �Wins have eluded this Menne Motorsports team this year, and to come out and win on this stage is really special.�

Andy Gregg would finish fourth, Dominic Scelzi fifth, Matt Peterson sixth, Andy Forsberg seventh, Bud Kaeding eight, Cory Eliason ninth, and Jonathan Allard would gain the most positions on this night as he charged from 19th to round out the Top-10.

A total of 50-cars checked into the Silver Dollar Speedway pit area to open up the Fastest Four Days in California, and it was Andy Gregg setting the standard in qualifying time trials.

A four heat-race program was in place on Wednesday night and wins went to Cory Eliason, Kyle Hirst, Matt Peterson, and Justin Sanders.

The C Main was won by Koen Shaw as he fended off Mike Benson, Billy Wallace, Chris Masters, and Jimmy Trulli.

Shane Golobic won the B Main, as Jake Morgan, Jonathan Allard, DJ Netto, DJ Freitas and Shawn Wright all transferred into the A Main.

The six-lap Dash was won by Sean Becker, giving him the right to start on the pole for the 30-lap A Main.

ON TAP: The Civil War Series presented by Flowmaster will be back in action at the Petaluma Speedway on Saturday September 26th.

WINNERS: Shane Golobic (March 20th, Marysville Raceway), Bradley Terrell (March 28th, Petaluma Speedway), Sean Becker (April 11th, Calistoga Speedway), Andy Forsberg (May 23rd Marysville Raceway), Jonathan Allard (May 24th Silver Dollar Speedway), Greg DeCaires (May 30th Placerville Speedway), Jonathan Allard (June 20th, Petaluma Speedway), Justin Sanders (July 10th, Ocean Speedway), Carson Macedo (August 8th, Placerville Speedway), Andy Forsberg (August 29th Ocean Speedway). Sean Becker (Sept. 9th Silver Dollar Speedway).

STAY CONNECTED: Keep up with the Civil War Series Presented By Flowmaster, and find complete results and point standings by clicking over to www.racepmg.com, �Liking� www.facebook.com/civilwarsprints, or following us on twitter at www.twitter.com/civilwarsprints. For more information on Flowmaster, please visit www.flowmastermufflers.com.

CIVIL WAR SERIES PRESENTED BY FLOWMASTER- Founded in 1991 as the North-South Series, the Civil War Sprint Car Series was born in 1993 giving 360ci Sprint Cars in California a sanctioning body. What started as just a handful of races at three different tracks has evolved into quite the series. In 2015, the Civil War Sprint Car Series will host 14 events at 8 different tracks around California.

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