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Photo by H2H Photos
Team 292 Inc. puts together consistent weekend up & down left coast
By Gary Thomas
August 4, 2008…Team 292 Inc. put together the best overall weekend of competition in a handful of weeks as both Willie Croft & Andy Forsberg brought home consistent finishes over this past Friday & Saturday nights while racing in a pair of different states.
After taking the previous week off Croft was back in action during this most recent weekend as he made the long haul up to the 19th annual Bob’s Burgers and Brew 360 Nationals at the Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington. A field of 50 cars was on hand for the event at the 3/10 mile clay oval and “Double Down” began the evening on Friday by qualifying 20th fastest aboard the Holey Smokes BBQ, LRB Manufacturing No. 29.
The field was then split into five heats and Croft brought home a third place finish in the fifth and final one to earn a transfer into the main event, where he started from the pole position. The Sacramento racer settled into second at the waving of the green flag and bided his time during the early stages of the race. On lap 14 the leader of the race was black flagged for a muffler issue and it moved Croft up to the top spot.
The 15th lap then saw Croft drop to second and he would spend the remainder of the main event battling within the top five and at the checkered flag brought the GH Plumbing Inc, A.R.T. Enterprise sprinter home in the fourth position. Following the first night of racing he found himself sitting ninth in the event standings, which put him in the fifth row for the 40 lap main event on Saturday.
The track surface had become rough and tumble on Saturday night and the main event became a survival of the fittest as a number of cars become accident victims during the feature. Croft ran a smart 40 laps and was able to do what he had to do to finish the main event and crossed the stripe in the fourth spot for the second night in a row. After weeks of tough luck it was a great way for “Double Down” to rebound and finish off the 360 Nationals as it will give the No. 29 team some confidence heading into the rest of the month.
Team 292 Inc. driver Andy Forsberg stayed home in California as he looked to maintain his lead in the Feather Falls Casino point standings at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night. “Mr. Excitement” timed in fourth fastest out of 21 cars to begin the night and picked up a fifth place finish in the opening heat race to transfer the A & A Stepping Stone, K & N Filters No. 92 into the main event.
Forsberg lined-up in the third row for the 25 lap feature and quickly moved into second to try and challenge leader Brett Miller. The Auburn competitor gave Miller everything he could handle, but wasn’t able to get the opening he needed to get by. As the white flag was unveiled from the starters stand Forbserg was all over Miller, but also had to deal with Sean Becker who was right on his rear bumper.
Going through the final turns Forsberg was slowed up by a lapped car and it allowed Becker to sneak under him to relegate the Basalite Concrete, Red Line Oil sprinter to a third place finish at the checkered flag. After the night of racing “Mr. Excitement” lost five points off his lead and will go into next Friday’s event with a 13 point advantage in the track standings over Becker. It should make for a very entertaining final three point races in August as Forsberg guns for his second track championship at the Silver Dollar bullring.
In addition to running on Friday Forsberg was also in action on Saturday during A & A Stepping Stone Night at the Placerville Speedway, which also marked the 10th race of the California Civil War Series season. To begin his sponsor and team owner’s night Forsberg clocked the third quickest lap in qualifying before issues left him with an eighth place finish in his heat race. He then brought home a runner-up finish in the B-main to transfer into the 30 lap feature where he went on to claim a sixth place finish, his eighth top 10 of the Civil War season.
Next up for Team 292 Inc. will be another two-night show beginning this Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway, which will mark the start of three to go in the battle for the track championship. After Chico it will be off to the historic Calistoga Speedway half-mile for the 11th race of the California Civil War Series season. During the previous Calistoga Civil War event in June Forsberg finished in the ninth spot during the main event and Croft ended the feature 14th, after running as high as third in the 20 lap race.
More news on Team 292 Inc. drivers Andy Forsberg and Willie Croft can be found at http://aamotorsports.net/ and http://williecroft.com/front.html
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Andy Forsberg has long been trying to win a main event at the Calistoga Speedway half-mile and will look to put the No. 92 machine into victory lane this Saturday night. Photo by Johns Racing Photos
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