Jinkerson, Baldwin and Murphy also celebrate wins on Saturday
PLACERVILLE- Modesto, California’s Tony Gomes led all 25-laps en route to his third career Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car triumph on Saturday nightat the Placerville Speedway.
Joining Gomes in victory lane on Saturday night were Diamond Springs’ Dan Jinkerson with the Anrak Ltd. Late Models, Oakley’s Nick Baldwin with the Red Hawk Casino Pure Stocks and Michael Murphy with the Mini Trucks.
The 25-lap Thompson’s Winged Sprint Car finale saw Gomes charge into the lead with a very fast Drake Standley of Yuba City in toe. Gomes ran smooth laps out front as Standley attempted to find a way by for the top-spot in impressive fashion.
Wilton’s Ashlyn Rodriguez showed immense speed for the second straight week and climbed into the runner up spot on lap six. She was able to keep Gomes within sight at times, but as the race wore on it was all about the driver of the C&M Motorsports/ Anrak Corp. No. 7c mount.
In the end Gomes pulled away to record his second Placerville Speedway victory of the season over Rodriguez, who tallied her career best Sprint Car finish at the track. Hanford’s Michael Faccinto hounded Rodriguez at times and came home in third, with Lincoln’s Tanner Carrick in fourth and Sacramento’s Michael Sellers in fifth. It was also an impressive outing for Sellers, who put together his personal best night at the track.
Rounding out the top-10 in the feature were Standley, Brinton Marvel, 14th starting Shane Hopkins, 16th starter Jake Morgan and Justin Johnson. Ashlyn Rodriguez began the night by earning her second consecutive ADCO Driveline Fast Time Award with a lap of 11.010 around the quarter-mile.
Thompson’s Winged Sprint Car results: 1. 7C-Tony Gomes[3]; 2. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[4]; 3. X1-Michael Faccinto[6]; 4. 83T-Tanner Carrick[5]; 5. 15-Michael Sellers[1]; 6. 54S-Drake Standley[2]; 7. 5H-Brinton Marvel[8]; 8. 21-Shane Hopkins[14]; 9. 7-Jake Morgan[16]; 10. 25-Justin Johnson[7]; 11. 25S-Seth Standley[11]; 12. 93-Stephen Ingraham[10]; 13. 77-Ryan Lippincott[15]; 14. 98-Chris Masters[9]; 15. 71L-William Fielding[17]; 16. 9L-Luke Hayes[13]; 17. 94TH-Landon Brooks[12]
The race of the night arguably belonged to the Anrak Corporation Ltd. Late Models on Saturday. Reigning Xtreme Late Model Series champion Dan Brown Jr. of Lincoln shared the front row with defending Placerville Speedway Late Model champ Dan Jinkerson for the 20-lap contest. At the waving of the green flag it was Brown who blasted out front as he found the high-side to his liking right off the bat.
Jinkerson ran patient laps down on the bottom as he hounded Brown lap after lap. The duo put on a thrilling display of Late Model racing for the fans on hand, racing within inches of each other. Jinkerson tried everything he could to get by and finally made the pass stick with just four laps remaining in the feature.
The Diamond Springs Dynamite drove off to accept the checkered flag for yet another triumph on the red clay aboard the Poor Reds/ Lightfoot No. 23 mount. Brown finished second, followed by Rod Oliver, Ray Trimble and Matt Davis.
Anrak Late Model results: 1. 23-Dan Jinkerson[2]; 2. 15-Dan Brown Jr[1]; 3. 57-Rod Oliver[3]; 4. 37-Ray Trimble[5]; 5. 54-Matt Davis[4]; 6. 23J-Tyler Lightfoot[6]; 7. 115-Chris Mcginnis[7]
Whenever you put Nick Baldwin on the front row, you are more than likely going to get the result that we saw on Saturday. The Oakley racer started from position number two and ultimately led all 20-laps for his 23rd career Red Hawk Casino Pure Stock victory at Placerville Speedway. It marked Baldwin’s fourth win in five starts this season with the division. Kevin Jinkerson, Kenny Bernstein, Chris D’angelo and Tyler Lightfoot completed the top-five.
Red Hawk Casino Pure Stock results: 1. 17-Nick Baldwin[2]; 2. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[3]; 3. 43-Kenny Bernstein[5]; 4. 1-Chris D’angelo[7]; 5. 23-Tyler Lightfoot[1]; 6. 62B-Beau Chandler[8]; 7. 74-Russell Murphy[4]; 8. 55-Micky Dangelo[6]
The 20-lap Mini Truck finale looked to be a dominant win coming for Wyatt Lakin, only to have mechanical issues slow him near the end. Lakin pulled away from the pack and led a majority of the contest, until slowing with just a few laps left. That handed the lead to Mike Miller who looked to bring home another win before he also encountered issues.
The wild ending to the main event saw youngster Michael Murphy take over the top-spot on lap 19 and lead the final circuit to capture a big triumph. Paige Miller put together a fantastic night with the heat race victory and runner up finish in the feature. Brycen Bragg made a solid return after a scary crash the previous week to run third, followed by Howard Miller and Logan Lakin.
Mini Truck results: 1. 07-Michael Murphy[11]; 2. 21-Paige Miller[4]; 3. 75-Brycen Bragg[2]; 4. 28-Howard Miller[1]; 5. 08-Logan Lakin[7]; 6. 7-Luke Costa[8]; 7. 26-Mike Miller[6]; 8. 22-Nick Perkins[10]; 9. 04-Wyatt Lakin[3]; 10. 14-Brian Tremblay[5]
Placerville Speedway returns to action this coming Saturday May 6th during First Responders Night. In competition will be the Thompson’s Winged 360 Sprint Cars, the USAC Western States Midgets, Wingless BCRA Lightning Sprints and Mini Trucks.
Images courtesy of Tim Holland.
