7/3/2009
Silver Dollar Speedway
87 Career Wins and Counting for Kaeding
On the restart it was Kaeding leading followed by Allard, Jason York and Bud Kaeding. Also hanging around the top five was Jason Statler. The top five were laying down blistering speeds on the hooked up surface. When things were going to get real good it seemed a caution would come out to slow the race and prevent the top cars from battling it out in traffic. The final caution sparked a little controversy but the officials did make the right decision. The leaders came by and received the white flag. As they raced down the back straight a car began to spin in turn four. Brent Bjork had spun and stalled his car right in front of the leaders. Kaeding and the rest of the leaders slowed down to avoid the wreck but still continued on and crossed the finish line. The checkered flag was waived along with the yellow. Some drivers and fans were still not sure if the race was completed or if there were two more laps left because a restart was in order. After some discussion it was ruled the race had been completed
because once the checkered is waved and the leader crosses it the race it over. Kaeding rolled into victory lane with his 87th career win at Chico. Allard was second and York finished a strong third. Bud Kaeding impressed us all night. Bud was quick time, finished third in his heat and finished fourth. Jason Statler also had a solid night and finished fifth.
Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Heather Bartlett got a little of both last night. She was running second for the first 14 laps of the street stock main event to Richard Workman. The white flag flew and Workman seemed to have this race under control. However, lurking in the distance was a slower car. As Workman approached this car he made one wrong move. The two cars collided and sent Workman around on the front straight. Bartlett cleared the wreck, just barely, and went on to lead the final 100 feet and get the win. As the crowd erupted with happiness it was heartbreak city for Workman as he sat dejected inside his car just a few feet from crossing the line in first. Bartlett picked up her second win of the year. The point's battle also will change because Phil Marino's car did not respond for the main event and he missed the start of the race. Mike Slightom and Joe Longmire crossed in second and third place. Workman finished in the fifth spot.
It was nice to see an almost full field of wingless sprints back at the Silver Dollar Speedway. There were 15 drivers in the pit area and they put on a good show. Former track champion Brandon Davis did lead all 20-laps of the main event but it was not that easy. Throughout the race Billy Wallace and Terry Schank Jr pressured him. Davis did a great job in holding off two of the sports very best. Jay Youngman finished fourth while Jimmy Pettit rounded out the top five. Mitch Miller finished in the sixth spot and was the last car still running.