CHICO, CA (9-9-10) - Sammy Swindell won the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway for the first time in 1981 and has been trying to win the famed event ever since. The three-time World of Outlaws champion moved one step closer to that goal on Thursday night returning to Victory Lane in the opener of the three-day event to score his first triumph at the ¼-mile bullring since a preliminary feature win in 1996.Swindell battled fellow Hall of Famer Jac Haudenschild for a majority of the 30-lap contest, trading the lead three times, and slicing in and out of traffic, running side-by-side. Swindell took the lead from Haudenschild for the first time on the fourth lap on the low side of turns one and two. Haudenschild retook the top spot on the 18th circuit coming off turn four in heavy traffic. Swindell moved back into the lead with three laps remaining when Haudenschild hooked a rut and got upside coming off turn four while out front.

"It's great to get a win here and hopefully we can get two more," said Swindell. "The whole crew did a great job tonight. We had a few issues early on in our heat that we had to work on and didn't get a chance to do some of the things I wanted to do for the dash. We were able to make the adjustments I wanted to make for the main event. I could really hustle it (the car) in there and make it cut and get right back on the throttle. We had to work for it there a little bit."

The race began with Evan Suggs, who started on the outside of the front row jumping to the lead. He spun coming off turn four on the second lap, handing the lead to Haudenschild, who chose the high side on the ensuing double file restart. Steve Kinser got the jump on the start and charged into turns one and two as the leader when the right rear hub on his machine broke, sending him into a flip and ending his night in the 24th spot. A total of eight cars were caught up in the incident, including Joey Saldana, who entered the night as the World of Outlaws point leader. Saldana would return to the race after repairs were made to his machine and finish 15th.

Jason Meyers came home fourth, coupled with setting fast time to earn five bonus points, to move to the top of the World of Outlaws standings by a mere two markers over Saldana, with Kinser third, only 25 points back.

Swindell endured two cautions and three red flag periods over the course of the 30-lap contest en route to the $8,000 win, which was his third of the season with the World of Outlaws aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim.

"I got in the traffic and got hung up on one of the back markers and nearly got up over his wheel and that let Haud (Jac Haudenschild) get by," explained Swindell. "His car was a little too tight and kept standing up on him. I was just kind of waiting for my chance. A couple of times I was around him there in (turns) one and two and there wasn't a lot to work with in three and four so I didn't try that. The car was good enough that I could get down in there and I was just hoping to get another chance at him."

Swindell chose the low line on the final double file restart of the night with three laps remaining and quickly shot out to a lead over Jonathan Allard to pull away for the win. The native of Germantown, Tennessee chose the low line both times he was out front on double file restarts.

"I knew when we took off that the car was very good and just kind of had to be patient and not get in trouble and not tear it up," shared the winner. "That was the key and it was the same when I was behind Haud. I didn't want to tear it up. I wanted to win and we had a pretty good race a couple of times. I was under him a couple of times and beside him a couple of times and he was able to shut the door enough that it wasn't worth the gamble to go for it and take us both out."

Jonathan Allard, who hails from Chico, ended up second after starting in the seventh row. He was up to the seventh spot just two laps into the 30-lapper and was in the Top-Five by lap-6 in the Red Line Oil A.R.T.

"It was a great start considering we lined up 13th," stated Allard. "I didn't think we would go through the pack like that. I thought it was going to be pretty narrow. We got a couple of lucky breaks and a couple good restarts and that definitely helped. That last red (flag) killed us. Sammy (Swindell) got pinned on the bottom and I started to get a good run through the middle and we had that restart and I just stumbled on the restart and couldn't get after him. I'm really happy for my crew and it's always great to do well in the hometown."

Brad Sweet matched the best finish of his career with the World of Outlaws coming home third on Thursday night in the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Maxim. He lined up 10th and steadily worked his way to the front.

"It's a big event for us and my home track, so to come out and run in the Top-Three with these guys is good," Sweet said. "That's the first step to winning the thing, is having a good first night and setting yourself up. We have to come out tomorrow and have a solid night and put ourselves up front for Saturday night."

Jason Meyers finished fourth in the GLR Investments KPC, and earned the most event points of the 52 competitors in attendance, as he set fast time and won a heat. Event points earned on Thursday and Friday will set the feature lineups for Saturday night.

Sam Hafertepe Jr. earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award coming all the way from 22nd to fifth in the Lone Star Speedway Maxim. Jason Sides was sixth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, with Paul McMahan seventh piloting the Great Clips Maxim. Donny Schatz came from 19 th to finish eighth in the Armor All/STP J&J, with Kerry Madsen ninth in the Halls Haulage KPC after lining up 18th. Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-10 in the Stadlehoffer Construction Maxim after starting 23rd.

The 57th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California continues on Friday, September 10.