Cox, Trimble, Ewing and Albright bring home opening night wins at Placerville Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – June 13, 2020…Clarksburg, California’s Justyn Cox has had a knack for winning opening night with the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars as of late. In 2017 he brought home victory at the season opener, before doing so once again this past year. Last night as the Placerville Speedway opened its 55th anniversary campaign the 26-year-old did so yet again, taking the lead on lap-eight, en route to his eighth career Winged Sprint Car triumph at the track.
A pit area packed full of 93 total race cars greeted the speedway for opening night. Sharing victory lane with Cox were reigning Ltd. Late Model champion Ray Trimble of Auburn, Placerville’s John Ewing with the Pure Stocks and Waterford’s Dakota Albright with the BCRA Midget Lites.
When the green flag waved in the 30-lap Winged Sprint Car feature it was Modesto’s Tony Gualda jumping into the lead over Justyn Cox, Foresthill’s Ryan Robinson and Auburn’s Andy Forsberg. The quartet used multiple lines on the quarter-mile putting on a great show over the early stages. Forsberg eventually grabbed the lead with four laps complete, prior to Cox overtaking him on lap-eight down the front stretch. Heading into the first and second corners on that lap though, Forsberg got sideways and was contacted by Robinson with nowhere to go.
Forsberg sustained enough damage to end his night, while Robinson continued on. When going back green Cox held command out front aboard the C&M Motorsports No. 7c Sprinter, as eyes turned to the action behind him that was heating up. Ninth starter Michael Faccinto was making moves and carved his way into second, before closing the gap between himself and the leader. With Cox mirrored in traffic Faccinto raced up to the rear tail tank of the leader and kept him honest for several laps, until a caution waved with three circuits remaining.
On the restart Cox did a fabulous job and drove away from the field to take the Ron Stahl checkered flag. Roseville’s Colby Copeland battled up front all race long and was exciting to watch running the high-scary-side of the bullring. Copeland was able to make a bold move on the final lap, getting past Faccinto coming to the line for second. Faccinto should be commended for a fine run however, with his third-place effort marking a career best at the track. Rounding out the top-10 were Ryan Robinson, Gualda, Blake Carrick, 15th starter Sean Becker, Mitchell Faccinto, Tanner Carrick and Willie Croft. A stout field of 46 Winged Sprint Cars competed on Saturday night.
Winged 360 Sprint Car finish: 1 #7C Justyn Cox 2 #5C Colby Copeland 3 #5H Michael Faccinto 4 #14W Ryan Robinson 5 #23R Tony Gualda 6 #38B Blake Carrick 7 #5V Sean Becker 8 #37 Mitchell Faccinto 9 #83T Tanner Carrick 10 #56 Willie Croft 11 #21 Shane Hopkins 12 #63 JJ Hickle 13 #7Z Zane Blanchard 14 #88A Joey Ancona 15 #34 Jodie Robinson 16 #94 Bubba DeCaires 17 #57B Bobby Butler 18 #8 Devon Borden 19 #17 Kalib Henry 20 #21M Michael Ing 21 #24 Chase Johnson 22 #88N D.J. Netto 24 #2 JJ Ringo
Last season Ray Trimble captured three victories on way to the Ltd. Late Model championship and for the second straight year scooped up the win on opening night for the division. Trimble fought back the challenges of Dan Jinkerson early in the feature, doing a solid job running the low line to perfection out front. Jinkerson, who claimed nine Pure Stocks wins last year, was in search of his first Late Model triumph and didn’t let Trimble get too far out in front over the duration of the contest.
Trimble would not be denied however, and crossed the stripe to record his 15th career Ltd. Late Model victory at Placerville Speedway, which is good enough for third all-time. Jinkerson, Clark Gougliomani, Jay Norton and Tyler Lightfoot completed the top-five. Heat race wins went to Jinkerson and Trimble. The Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Award in the main event also went to Trimble, who earned a clean sweep of the night.
The 20-lap Pure Stock feature showcased some good racing up front that ultimately saw John Ewing battle his way forward to claim his third career Placerville Speedway win. Galt’s Clarence Holbrook held a steady lead early on and looked to be favorite to end up in victory lane. A caution however, bunched the field up and Ewing, who started eighth, sliced his way by Holbrook to grab the top-spot that he would never relinquish. Following him across the checkered were Holbrook, Nick Baldwin, Les Friend and Kevin Jinkerson.
Heat race wins with the Pure Stocks were claimed by Les Friend and John Ewing, while Ewing also took home the Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Award.
The 20-lap BCRA Midget Lite main event was all about Dakota Albright, who dominated the contest to earn his eighth career victory at Placerville Speedway. The win tied Albright for second on the all-time list with Doug Nunes and Jason Sneep. Fellow veteran Scott Kinney raced his way forward to snag second at the finish followed by AJ Binder, Brent Sexton and Eric Greco in the top-five. Rounding out the top-10 were James Turnbull, Danika’jo Parker, Dominic Del Monte, Terry Bergstrom and Hunter Kinney. Heat race wins went to Brent Sexton, David Bezio and Jeff Griffin. A nice field of 22 Midget Lites signed into the pit area during the event.
Full results from the night can be viewed at https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1771865?fbclid=IwAR3rhTBdny1S59lkef-ziV07TrMKtPvXzcU7DH4P8ngDCkZLWk3XZJdkVl8
Thanks to the gracious support from several companies, the Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks and Ltd. Late Models all be competed for full weekly paying purses last night. Presenting sponsors for the event included High Sierra Industries, Anrak Corporation, Thompson’s Family of Dealerships, Elk Grove Ford, Hoosier Tires, Fords Only, Competition Carburetor, Absolute Auto Glass, ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust, Riebes NAPA Auto Parts, Bear Republic Brewing Company, Hangtown Range, Molson Coors and Sierra Landscape Materials.
Upcoming events at Placerville Speedway are still being worked on and will be announced when available. Stay glued to www.placervillespeedway.com as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages for all announcements.
Image courtesy of Jason Tucker Photos
- Gary Thomas on Jun 14, 2020
- Article Date: 6/14/2020 by Gary Thomas