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Forsberg Survives the Heat and Wins

CHICO, CA (7-29-16) - It had been awhile since Auburn's Andy Forsberg won a 410 winged sprint car race at Chico. To be exact, his last win during a 410 race came on August 15, 2014. Tonight, Forsberg would not be denied. While the racing at Silver Dollar Speedway is always on fire, the temperature hit 106 degrees and because of this the crowd and car count was a little down. Yet, Forsberg said, "All the credit goes to you fans here tonight. I love racing but if I wasn't racing, I'm not sure if I would have sat out in this heat watching us." It was Forsberg's tenth win of the year and 43rd for his career at Chico.

Andy Gregg grabbed the early lead during the 25-lap sprint car main event. A few laps later Forsberg drove around Gregg on the top of the track. Forsberg began to extend his lead and looked to be headed towards a comfortable win. Yet, the yellow flag waived for Kalib Henry on lap 16. This closed up the field to Forsberg's rear bumper. While Gregg was still in second, the driver moving up the most was Bud Kaeding. Starting in the ninth spot, Kaeding restarted the race in third. The next two laps were completed and Kaeding was able to pass Gregg. Henry stopped off turn four for the second time and the field was brought to halt once again. It was shaping up to be a seven lap dash to the end. Forsberg definitely felt the pressure as he missed his marks a couple of times. Kaeding had one enormous run going into turn one and tried to slide up in front of Forsberg but was not able to clear him. Forsberg motored on to the win. The crowd saluted Kaeding who drove a tremendous race. Gregg had a solid night to finish in third. Sean Becker finished fourth. Seth Nunes continues to improve and ran fifth.

Becker turned the fastest lap in qualifying with an 11.986. Two young guns Seth Nunes and Chase Majdic each won their heat races. A total of 15 cars turned out for point race #12.

Brent Lawrence visited victory lane for the first time in his career during the 20 lap street stock main event. Lawrence held off a charging Shawn Smith and Phillip Shelby. The race was halted by a red flag when Richard Workman flipped violently down the back stretch about the half-way point. Workman was uninjured but his car was destroyed. When the race resumed it was still all about Lawrence. For a few laps Smith was able to duck underneath Lawrence but never able to pass him for the lead. Lawrence mentioned in victory lane that it's been a great week. Last week he got married and now won his first race. Gary Newman and Shelby won the eight lap heat races.

Matt Sargent won the exciting 20-lap dwarf car feature event. Shawn Jones applied the most pressure to Sargent, but a mid-race mechanical failure sidelined Jones for the rest of the feature. Sargent thanked his car owner who towed the car all the way from Arizona. Danny Wagner and Kevin Bender battled it out for the second spot. Wagner was able to fend off Bender and finished second. Jeff Fitch is always a front runner and tonight finished fourth. Mike Reeder came home in the fifth spot. Jones, Bender and Wagner each won their eight lap heat race. A nice total of 19 dwarf cars attended tonight's races.

John Clark led all 20 laps during the wingless main event but don't let that stat fool you because the excitement for the lead was as good as it gets. Terry Schank Jr. dove high and low and tried everything in his power to pass Clark. While Clark continued to drive a solid line and showed great speed, it was Schank who gave the crowd their money's worth. In the end it was Clark picking up his second career win at Chico. Schank was second and Jeremy Wilson came home in the third spot. Angelique Bell crossed the line in fourth. Brett Youngman rebounded from an off night to finish fifth. Clark won the lone heat race of the evening giving him the clean sweep.

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