Andy Forsberg from Auburn, CA driving the No. x1 car for F & F Racing wins his 4th points race out of 9 so far at Placerville Speedway.
PLACERVILLE, CA (8-20-11) – “So are they getting tired of me yet,” were the words uttered by Auburn’s Andy Forsberg as he climbed from his sprint car in victory lane before a crowd that bellowed a mix of cheers and jeers. For Forsberg, the wins just keep on coming at both Placerville Speedway and various venues this season bringing his overall total up to an even dozen. Saturday’s win was the fourth of the season at Placerville as Forsberg is just two weeks away from taking home his third track title here.
“I know a lot of people have their opinions and tonight I’m sure there are plenty since I started on the front row,” said Forsberg. “The bottom line is, I don’t make the rules we just go by them and if the luck of the draw puts on the front row we’re not complaining. We’re having a great year. Last year I could barely win a race at this time so this feels really good to have this team come together like it has.”
Saturday night was Riebes Auto Parts Night at Placerville Speedway and Forsberg started on the outside of the front row following a straight up inversion. Fast qualifier Billy Strange of Rancho Cordova started on the pole of the 25-lap feature event on a night that would become a career best for Strange.
At the waving of the green flag, Forsberg powered his way ahead of Strange off of the high line of the track as they raced their way through the first set of turns and down the backstretch. Reaching lapped traffic just after the five lap mark, Forsberg sliced and diced his way through the field with Strange in hot pursuit with third place starter Jimmy Trulli of Placerville right in the mix as well trying to overtake Strange for the bridesmaid position and veteran Greg DeCaires racing for the fourth position in the early half of the race.
While Forsberg, Strange and Trulli raced amongst one another out in front, DeCaires went to battle with Chico’s Brett Miller who eventually overtook the former track champion for the fourth position. At the finish line Forsberg brought the field across the line while Strange finished a career best second place over Trulli, Miller and DeCaires. Placerville’s CJ Humphreys finished one spot out of the top five.
“Billy was really fast tonight,” said Forsberg. “I got around him there on the start but I knew he wasn’t far behind me if I made a mistake. Tonight I get to celebrate this win with my good friend Tom Arbogast in the late models. This is a good night for the Auburn guys.”
In the Limited Late Model class, Tom Arbogast posted his second win of the season to pad his recent point lead as the season heads into its final two weeks. Arbogast powered his way around Matt Micheli and Les Friend earlier in the race to launch a battle with Friend that lasted up until the 8 lap mark after contact damaged Friend’s front suspension and he was forced to park for the night.
Once in front, Arbogast fended off the challenges of Micheli to the line who was followed by Charlie Marrs of Yuba City, Matt Davis of Auburn and Dan Brown Jr. of Grass Valley.
“This was a great night,” said Arbogast. “My family is here in the stands and I have a special friend up in the pits that came to watch me tonight, Sleepy Stevens. Sleepy is an old time racers that use to prep this track up until the early 90’s. He told me once I got fast he would come watch me. It was really special to bring him with us tonight and get the win.”
In the Pure Stock Division, Dominic Stone of Folsom drove his way to his first career win. For Stone, he started in the second row and drove to second place on the opening lap behind early leader Mike McClure of Nevada City. With three laps complete, Stone muscled his way around McClure for the lead he would never relinquish, yet, still had to work extremely hard to maintain as one of the divisions most competition drivers was hot on his tail until the end.
Starting fourth, Tom Tilford of Citrus Heights powered his way into second place behind Stone and the two drivers raced bumper to bumper for the lead in an excellent display of aggression, patience and sportsmanship that included some occasional paint trading which kept the fans on the edge of their seats.
On the final lap, Tilford had a right front tire go down which allowed Clarence Holbrook III of Galt to take the second position to try and reel in Stone. At the line Stone was followed by Holbrook, Tilford, Chris Curtiss of Placerville and Chris Van Roekel of Grass Valley.
“It feels really good to finally get a win like this,” said Stone. “To know I held of Tom Tilford feels even better, he is tough to beat at this place and they have helped me a lot over the past two years. I have to thank Marek Bernert for his help in getting me out there and making me fast too. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without all his help.”
The three track regulars were joined Saturday night by the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars. In this visiting division Ryan Winter of Galt powered his way to the lead after the waving of the green flag. Racing his way through lapped traffic, Winter held off the challenged of Ballico’s Brett Barstow, Kevin Bender of Rocklin, Jeremy Blackshire of Marysville who rolled over during the race and rallied back to fifth. Scott Dahlgren of Ballico rounded out the top five.
Next week, racing returns to Placerville Speedway with the first of just two remaining point races of the year. The grandstands will open at 5 p.m. with qualifying starting at 6:30. Watch www.placervillespeedway.com. for additional information on this event in the coming days.
By Bill Sullivan, Handy Racing Promotions, Inc. Media Relations
Our thanks to Donna Peter from www.racephotosbydonna.com for the use of her photos.