CHICO, California — Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson held off a hard charging “Wild Child” Jac Haudenschild to score the curfew shortened “Tiner Family Classic” at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway. Starting fourteenth and taking the lead from Kyle Hirst on lap 21, Larson scored a popular victory in the Thursday night portion of the Gold Cup Race of Champions.
"As several yellow flags slowed the action throughout the event, only one red flag was displayed. "
Driving the #99 BK Racing owned Stadelhofer Construction / Kaeding Performance Maxim, Kyle Larson had passed nine cars in only five laps on the main event. As pole sitter Shane Golobic, Matt Mitchell and “The Human Highlight Reel” Geoff Ensign had a furious battle for the top spot, a war was raging behind them. The next four spots featured their own private battle between Haudenschild, Hirst, USAC/CRA point leader Mike Spencer, and a fast closing Larson. In the next few laps, Larson had continued his march forward and eventually slipped past Hirst for the top spot.
As several yellow flags slowed the action throughout the event, only one red flag was displayed. During the closing laps, a dual flip after Greg Bragg and Austin Williams tangled temporarily halted the feature. While their machines were done for the night, both drivers walked away uninjured. With time constraints fast approaching, officials made one last effort to complete the show. As the curfew past, the race would continue on, but by lap twenty-eight, Western Racing Classic standout Scott Pierovich had spun and the race was called. Larson was declared the winner, followed by Haudenschild, Mitchell, Hirst, and Spencer.
Having recently scored wins in USAC Silver Crown and the USAC National Sprint Car action, Kyle Larson won his first career feature with the Amsoil USAC/CRA and Western Classic Racing Series. Last year’s Golden State Challenge King of California also earned the Keizer Wheels Hard Charger / Best Passing Job Honors on the night. Earlier in the program, the young driver qualified nineteenth quick in time trials and also won the DJ Safety Hat Race #3.
World of Outlaw star Jac Haudenschild of Wooster, Ohio claimed second in Paul Silva’s #57 Silva Motorsports ART special. The veteran driver was closing in on Larson, but has to settle for the runner-up spot on this night. Earlier on the night, the “Wild Child” set a new track record in Sander Engineering Time Trials over the forty-nine car field and was also victorious in the Extreme Mufflers / Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror Heat Race #1.
Yorba Linda’s Matt Mitchell took third in the J.W. Mitchell Motorsports' #37 Mancha Realtors / Sierra Springs Maxim. Qualifying second in time trials, the former USAC Western Midget Series Rookie of the Year also took second in his heat race to Mike Spencer. Mitchell briefly led the feature from his seventh starting position and is now second in the hunt for the championship.
Kyle Hirst of Rio Linda made a rare non-wing start and made the most of the opportunity. Piloting Steve Smith’s #14S AA Johnson & Son Concrete / ART Enterprises entry, Hirst was third quick on the night and finished second to Kyle Larson in his heat race. Starting sixth in the feature, Kyle made his way to the front, until Larson took control on lap twenty-one.
Temecula’s Mike Spencer continued his march to another title with a fifth place finish. Driving Ron Chaffin’s #50 Madera Produce / Grubstake Mini Storage Maxim, Spencer was tenth fast on the night and won the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #2. Heading into Perris’ Glenn Howard Memorial on September 24th, Mike holds a thirty-seven point lead over the competition.
Richard Brace Jr. of Auburn won the Electro Tech Powder Coating / Rod End Supply Heat Race #4. Piloting Jeff Adel’s 360 powered #21J Alcal Arcade / River City Benefits DRC, Brace qualified twenty-fourth quick in time trials and finished eleventh in the “Tiner Family Classic.”
With a season high forty-nine cars in the pit area, it was necessary to run a Last Chance Qualifying Race, sponsored by Keizer Wheels. Veteran racer Billy Wallace of Grass Valley took Mark Moore’s 360 powered #1 Van Dyke Motorsports Jon Boy to victory and earn a transfer to the first heat race. Also continuing on the program were Sacramento’s Herman Klein, Orland’s Taylor Simas, and Kody Smith of Biggs.
A shortened Competition Suspension Incorporated Semi-Main went to Cody Myers of Brown’s Valley. The veteran Wingless Spec Sprint driver took Clayton Snow’s #7 Brown’s Valley Trucking and Repair Eagle to the nine lap win ahead of Huntington Beach’s Nic Faas, Marty Hawkins of Santa Rosa, Yorba Linda’s Cody Williams, Tom Baker of Carmichael, and Taylor Simas.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Hoosier Tire, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Donovan Engineering, Electro Tech Powder Coating, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror, Keizer Wheels, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, Sander Engineering, and So-Cal Performance for their support. For more information, visit www.usacracing.com/cra or follow the series on facebook.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series will next compete at Perris Auto Speedway’s Glenn Howard Memorial on September 24th. Located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, more event information can be found at www.perrisautospeedway.com or calling (951) 940-0134.
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA/WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS:
September 8, 2011 – Chico, California – Silver Dollar Speedway – “Tiner Family Classic”
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS:
1. Jac Haudenschild, 57, Silva-13.60; 2. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-13.84; 3. Kyle Hirst, 14S, Smith-13.93; 4. Cody Myers, 7, Snow-13.97; 5. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-14.03; 6. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-14.06; 7. Andy Forsberg, 92N, Forsberg-14.06; 8. Jeff Parady, 6C, Parady-14.18; 9. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-14.19; 10. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-14.19; 11. Kirk Simpson, 84, Simpson-14.22; 12. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-14.25; 13. Jason York, 25, York-14.25; 14. Tom Baker, 93, Kobza-14.25; 15. Eddy Lewis, 7X, Prior-14.35; 16. Shane Golobic, 121, Von Schriltz-14.40; 17. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-14.44; 18. Todd Miller Jr., 96, Miller-14.50; 19. Kyle Larson, 99, BK-14.50; 20. Trent Canales, 2T, Grode-14.50; 21. Mark Tabor Jr., 38N, Tabor-14.53; 22. Tim Sherman Jr., 1JR, Sherman-14.53; 23. Shawn Wright, 99X, Wright-14.54; 24. Richard Brace Jr., 21J, Adel-14.57; 25. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-14.59; 26. Steven Tiner, 94, Tiner-14.59; 27. Scott Hall, 56X, Hall-14.60; 28. Gary Paulson, 3T, Finkenbinder-14.60; 29. Jeff Griffin, 50M, Griffin-14.65; 30. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-14.65; 31. Jimmy Trulli, 33T, Trulli-14.69; 32. Scott Pierovich, 14, Pierson-14.72; 33. Billy Wallace, 1, Moore-14.75; 34. Rusty Baglin, 44X, Baglin-14.79; 35. Herman Klein, 91, Wondergem-14.81; 36. Mark Beck, 50S, Shurley-14.81; 37. Brett Rollag, 27, Rollag-14.85; 38. Taylor Simas, 7T, Simas-14.87; 39. Kody Smith, 3S, Smith-14.91; 40. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-14.96; 41. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-14.97; 42. Jay Waugh, 14K, Kruseman-15.12, 43. Jerry Cisco, 4B, Basden-15.13; 44. Josh Bates, 94X, Pronol-15.16; 45. Colby Copeland, 24C, Copeland-15.25; 46. A.J. Martin, 70, Martin-15.28; 47. John Michael Bunch, 11VS, Bunch-15.41; 48. Matt Sherman, 00Z, Sherman-15.81; 49. Jimmy Steward, 16, Steward-24.72.
KEIZER WHEELS QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps)
1. Billy Wallace, 2. Herman Klein, 3. Taylor Simas, 4. Kody Smith, 5. Brett Rollag, 6. Rusty Baglin, 7. Jim Richardson, 8. Jay Waugh, 9. Colby Copeland, 10. Shauna Hogg, 11. Jerry Cisco, 12. Mark Beck, 13. Josh Bates, 14. A.J. Martin. NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS / HUNTINGTON BEACH GLASS & MIRROR HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Jac Haudenschild, 2. Jason York, 3. Geoff Ensign, 4. Greg Bragg, 5. Cody Williams, 6. Marty Hawkins, 7. Billy Wallace, 8. Mark Tabor Jr., 9. Jeff Griffin. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Mike Spencer, 2. Matt Mitchell, 3. Steven Tiner, 4. Tony Hunt, 5. Nic Faas, 6. Herman Klein, 7. Todd Miller Jr., 8. Tom Baker, 9. Tim Sherman Jr. NT.
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Kyle Larson, 2. Kyle Hirst, 3. Jimmy Trulli, 4. Shawn Wright, 5. Kirk Simpson, 6. Taylor Simas, 7. Eddy Lewis, 8. Andy Forsberg, 9. Scott Hall, NT
ELECTRO TECH POWDER COATING / ROD END SUPPLY HEAT RACE 4: (10 laps)
1. Richard Brace Jr., 2. Shane Golobic, 3. Austin Williams, 4. Kody Smith, 5. Trent Canales, 6. Jeff Parady, 7. Gary Paulson, 8. Scott Pierovich, 9. Cody Myers. NT.
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. SEMI-MAIN: (9 laps)
1. Cody Myers, 2. Nic Faas, 3. Marty Hawkins, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Tom Baker, 6. Taylor Simas, 7. Billy Wallace, 8. Scott Pierovich, 9. Trent Canales, 10. Jeff Parady, 11. Todd Miller Jr., 12. Gary Paulson, 13. Eddy Lewis, 14. Tim Sherman Jr., 15. Jeff Griffin, 16. Kirk Simpson, 17. Herman Klein, 18. Mark Tabor Jr. NT.
FEATURE: (28 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Kyle Larson (14th), 2. Jac Haudenschild (8th), 3. Matt Mitchell (7th), 4. Kyle Hirst (6th), 5. Mike Spencer (4th), 6. Shane Golobic (1st), 7. Nic Faas (10th), 8. Jason York (2nd), 9. Jimmy Trulli (20th), 10. Taylor Simas (21st), 11. Richard Brace Jr. (16th), 12. Steven Tiner (18th), 13. Geoff Ensign (5th), 14. Tony Hunt (19th), 15. Cody Myers (9th), 16. Cody Williams (11th), 17. Marty Hawkins (17th), 18. Scott Pierovich (23rd), 19. Shawn Wright (15th), 20. Austin Williams (3rd), 21. Greg Bragg (13th), 22. Kody Smith (22nd), 23. Tom Baker (12th), 24. Todd Miller Jr. (24th). NT.
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**Jimmy Steward flipped during qualifications.
**Scott Hall and Andy Forsberg flipped during the third heat.
**Jeff Griffin and Herman Klein flipped during the semi.
**Austin Williams and Greg Bragg flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS:
Laps 1-7 Shane Golobic, Laps 8-11 Geoff Ensign, Lap 12 Shane Golobic, Laps 13-20 Kyle Hirst, Laps 21-28 Kyle Larson.
KEIZER WHEELS HARD CHARGER: Kyle Larson (14th to 1st)
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS:
1-Mike Spencer-810; 2-Matt Mitchell-773; 3-Nic Faas-754; 4-Austin Williams-570; 5-Greg Bragg-508; 6-Cody Williams-463; 7-Danny Sheridan-412; 8-Rip Williams-387; 9-David Cardey-380; 10-Ronnie Gardner-370.
NEW USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR POINTS:
1-Geoff Ensign-745; 2-Tony Hunt-730; 3-Scott Pierovich-629; 4-Shauna Hogg-579; 5-Tim Barber-522; 6-Jerry Kobza-211.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
September 24 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
NEXT USAC AMSOIL USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR RACE:
September 17 – Madera (CA) Speedway
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT SCHEDULE:
September 24: Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA
October 8: Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA
October 28: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ
October 29: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ
November 3: *Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA
November 4: *Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA
November 5: *Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA
November 12: *Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway - Hanford, CA
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC National Sprints.
** = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC Western Classic Racing Series.
This schedule is subject to change.
