---

Historic Night for Andy Forsberg at Chico

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Photo by Steven Cox [sprintcarphotos.com][/caption]CHICO, CA (8-10-12) - It was a night that Auburn's Andy Forsberg will never forget. The 36-year-old has enjoyed a Hall of Fame sprint car career. There have been the championships; 6 Civil Wars, 3 Placerville Speedway and 2 at Chico. Forsberg has won main events at 11 different tracks. Coming into this race he had 98 career main event wins. He was the 2007 Motorsports Press Association Open Wheel Driver of the Year. However, tonight, he accomplished something he had never done in his 20 year sprint car career by winning two winged sprint car main events in the same night. With the wins he was able to reach an exclusive goal of 100 career sprint car main event wins. "We had talked about the possibility of winning both races tonight to get me to the 100th win," said Forsberg in victory lane. "Let me tell you that this was a lot of work to get two cars on the track in one night. I have to thank my guys for working their butts off in this 100 degree heat!" Forsberg led every lap of both main events tonight. In total, he led all 50 feature event laps at Silver Dollar Speedway.

The Silver Dollar Speedway hosted two winged sprint car division tonight. The 410 winged sprints ran a point show while the winged 360 cars competed in an open show format. Forsberg dominated the 25-lap 360 winged main event. Mason Moore finished in the second spot. To put some perspective on the win, Forsberg beat Moore by 10.697 seconds. Mike Henry finished in the third spot.

The 410 feature had Forsberg starting on the front row of the 25-lap main event. He quickly jumped out to the lead and ultimately went on to lead all the main event laps. Yet, it wasn't as easy as the winged 360 main event. On a lap 18 restart, Forsberg went into turn one and missed the racing line. He drifted up and over the cushion. Driving underneath him for the lead was Redding's Tyler Wolf. Also passing Forsberg was Sean Becker. Forsberg drifted back into the third. But when it is your night, it's your night. Behind them an accident occurred when Kevin Sharrah flipped wildly into the air. This would bring out the red flag and the race was halted. In sprint car racing, when a red flag is displayed, the field is scored on the last completed lap. This put Forsberg back into the lead. "I know, I know, I am lucky tonight," said Forsberg when asked about the win. "Tyler Wolf passed me legitimately and so did Sean Becker. I completely messed up on that restart but the red flag saved me."

On the ensuing restart the championship battle took a turn for the worse for Sean Becker. Becker spun in turn two and was collected by Bud Walberg and BJ Martin. Becker suffered front end damage that ended his night. Becker was officially scored in the twelfth spot. With Forsberg winning and Becker in 12th, Forsberg now will become the championship point leader. The race ended with Forsberg winning by 2.120 seconds over Tyler Wolf. Mason Moore was third followed by Brad Bumgarner and Kenny Allen.

With the special format tonight, a winged 360 driver could race in both the 360 race and also register for the 410 division. One of the drivers who excelled tonight was Mike Henry. The Joe Mafara Racing/Borello Racing Engines #m21 turned the fastest lap in 360 qualifying. He then qualified the 360 with the 410's and was second quick in that result. Henry went on to finish third in the 360 main event but what was really impressive was his 410 main event race. Henry ran with Forsberg for the first 18 laps. He stayed in the second spot for over half of the race. However, on the 18th lap, a part that connects the steering wheel and the front axel broke. Henry had to pull of the track and put an end to a solid night of racing.

Mason Moore continued his hot streak. Moore finished second in the 360 main event and second in the 410 portion of the event. Moore continues to shine with crew chief Brian Cannon. Brad Bumgarner had a night of ups and downs. In his heat race the #88 bumped wheels with a fellow competitor and flipped upside down. Bumgarner and team made the necessary changes to get his car back for the main event. He went on to finish fourth. Kenny Allen should be commended for his night. He earned his first fast time award of the year by turning a 12.038. He went on to finish in the fifth spot of the main event.

Full results with starting positions are available at http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com/2012/results/

Back to News