|
Photo's by http://www.graphxdesigns.com
Andy Gregg scores runner-up finish during Withrow's Motorsports-JP's Paint & Body Works Night at Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – July 13, 2009…Going into this past Friday night's point race at the Silver Dollar Speedway Team Guts Racing's Andy Gregg hoped to pick up his first 410 sprint car win of the season, however, a very fast race track and an untimely caution forced him to settle for a second place finish in the feature.
The event on Friday was Gregg's third appearance in the Feather Falls Casino weekly championship season at the Silver Dollar Speedway and marked his third finish of fourth or better in those outings. "We definitely were hoping to get a win with sitting on the front row tonight, but with the way the track was it all came down to who got the start," Gregg commented. "We're happy to get another good finish here in Chico though so we'll take a second and hope that we can improve one position the next time we come back."
The track surface was very wet and greasy to begin the night so a late pill draw worked to Gregg's advantage and his fastest lap of 12.883 was good enough to put Guts Racing, Dale Miller Plumbing, JP's Paint & Body No. 16x, second quickest in the field. A fifth place finish in the heat race then transferred him into the main event and when the number zero pill was drawn it put him on the front row for the feature.
By main event time the track had stayed very heavy and extremely narrow, which meant getting the jump would pay huge dividends in the outcome of the 25 lap contest. As the field rounded turn four Gregg got the wheels up slightly in the air and it allowed pole sitter Bobby McMahan the chance to shoot out into the lead. The early going saw all drivers running basically the same line towards the bottom of the speedway, but when traffic came into play around lap nine it gave Gregg the chance to close in.
When McMahan entered traffic his car appeared to get tight and he proceeded to bicycle slightly a couple of times, which looked to give Gregg the opening he needed as he closed right up to the rear of the Racing for the Troops No. 26 machine in turns three & four. Any chance of taking the lead though was dashed when the caution came out at the exact same time he was getting ready to make his move for the top spot on lap 10.
The rest of the race saw Gregg keep McMahan in his sights, but didn't have enough as the former Northern Auto Racing Club Speedweek champ took the checkered for his first win at Chico in over 10 years. Gregg would hold off a late race charge from Kyle Hirst to cross the line in second aboard the Myers & Sons Drywall, RPS Performance, BR Motorsports Maxim. "Bobby did a great job in the main event and he's been around for a long time so to finish second to him is nothing to be down about," Gregg said. "I definitely gotta thank my guys for giving me another great car tonight."
On Saturday Gregg headed for the annual Mark Forni Classic in Placerville, but the night didn't go as planned when contact from a spun car in the b-main ended his hopes at claiming the $5,000 top prize.
This coming weekend will see Gregg heading for a double-header of competition beginning with a GLR Investments/Civil War 360 Series co-sanctioned event at the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville on Friday night. During his most recent Civil War appearance the Placerville driver scored fast-time and a fourth place finish in the main event at the Petaluma Speedway on July 3.
Then on Saturday Gregg and the Guts Racing team will head for the Antioch Speedway to compete with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds facility. So far this season he has made five GSC starts and has claimed three top-five finishes, including a pair of podiums at his home track of Placerville Speedway. Gregg's last start with the traveling 410 sprint car tour netted an eighth place finish during the annual Pombo/Sargent Classic at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.
------------------
Following a runner-up finish at the Silver Dollar Speedway Placerville's Andy Gregg will be in action this weekend with the California Sprint Car Civil War Series on Friday in Watsonville and the Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series in Antioch on Saturday
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
|
