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Hall started the evening off by clocking the fastest lap time in qualifying with a 12:104. Following a fourth place finish in his heat race to qualify for the A-main, Hall paid tribute to fellow driver Brad Sweet of Grass Valley. Sweet was the tenth fastest qualifier for the A-main Saturday night which awarded him the honor of the MPD Racing Products pill draw to ultimately determine the starting order for the feature event. Had the 18-year-old up and coming Sweet pulled a number ten out of the bag he could have put himself on the pole position for the feature. However, when he pulled a zero that placed Hall in the front spot for the money race much to the liking of the former Twin Cities Speedway champion.
"There are a lot of people who help me do this every week but tonight I guess I have to thank someone else," mused Hall. "And that would be little Brad Sweet, I told him I really wanted a zero and he came through for me. Although I don't think he was too happy about it."
Although he started at the point, Hall was not the first one into the lead at the waving of the green flag. Livermore driver Chuck Gurney Jr. powered his Brian Sperry owned #51 into the lead at the start of the event. Gurney started on the outside of Hall on the front row and used the faster high line to his advantage to out muscled the pole sitter into the lead. After taking the lead Gurney was then pressured by Jayme Barnes of Everette Washington. Aboard the Redi-Green Motorsports owned #1k, Barnes frove from the fourth starting position into the lead just prior to the tenth lap and worked his way into lapped traffic with Gurney following close behind along with former champion Roger Crockett of Eugene, OR and Chico's own John Gray.
Barnes eventually relinquished the lead back to Gurney who then distanced himself from the field while Hall and Castro Valley driver Rick Williams worked their way in behind the leader within traffic. Andy Forsberg of Auburn lived up to the name "Mr. Excitement" during this time as well, powering his way up from tenth place into the top four in the waning laps.
Entering the final circuits it appeared if the 21-year-old third generation Gurney was destined for his first career victory but on lap 27 his luck turned in the opposite direction when he entered the fourth turn and appeared to suffer a "push" which hindered the cars steering and forced him out of the low groove. At the time of Gurney's misfortune, Hall was following close behind and took the low line into the lead with Williams in tow. Gray and Forsberg also were able to advance following the incident.
At the checkered flag it was Hall with his first win followed by Williams, Gray, Forsberg and Gurney,. former series champions Mike Henry and David Robinson Jr. followed. Round one winner Herman Klein finished in eighth ahead of Colby Weisz of Colfax and Chad Riolo of Roseville.
"We went into the turn and Chuck looked like he couldn't get the car to turn and slowed down. I figured since he slowed down the yellow must be out or something," said Hall. "I saw the green was still out I just said right on and knew we were pounding it down to the finish. The crew did a great job tonight and again, Brad did a great job on that pill draw for us."
With his second place finish, Williams took over the series point lead. Driving for Mark and Susie Flachman, Williams now sits a single digit ahead of Hall with two events complete. The finish was Williams second straight second place outing of the series. "We qualified good tonight, the car was great early in the night but not as good later in the feature," said Williams. "We were just trying to hang on out there and maintain a good position and ended up in the right place at the right time. Having two second places puts us good in the points. We'd like to win one of these soon but until then second isn't too bad."
In preliminary action on Friday, Henry won the B-feature over Crockett and Klein. The C-feature was won by Yuba City's Korey Lovell over Chico's own Heath Hall and Justin Johnson of Camino. Heat races were won by Sweet, Troy Hovey Jim Vanlare and Chad Riolo. Saturday night the Civil War Series was slated for round three at Twin Cities Speedway in Marysville. That event was canceled due to rain and will be rescheduled later in the season. Therefore, the next round of the series will now take place at Placerville Speedway on Saturday, May 1. For further information on that event check out www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com or contact the track information line at (916) 969-7484.
Race Results, Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico, California Hoosier Tires Civil War Sprint Car Series Round #2 of 13 Friday, April 16, 2004
Fast Qualifier: Mark Hall, Grass Valley 12:104
Heat one: Brad Sweet, Grass Valley; Joey Magaruh, Vacaville; Danny Farria Jr., Tipton; Hall; Roger Crockett, Eugene, OR; Carl Drolvoid, Grass Valley; Mike Monahan, Reno, NV; Dennis Woods, Maryville; Robert Stice, Grass Valley; Mark Tabor Sr, Reno, NV.
Heat two: Troy Hovey, Chico; David Robinson Jr. , Foresthill; Chuck Gurney Jr, Livermore; John Gray, Chico; Jim Richardson, Gray Eagle; Billy Wallace, Grass Valley; Kyle Schild, Sacramento; Travis Berryhill, American Canyon; Korey Lovell, Yuba City; Tommy Fogarty, Portola Valley; Richard Brace Jr., Auburn.
Heat three; Jim Vanlare, Santa Rosa; Colby Weisz, Colfax; Jeff Halleib, Auburn; Rick Williams, Castro Valley; Mike Henry, Sacramento; Jonathan Allard, Chico; Ron McBride, Sacramento; Brett Rollag, Rohnert Park; Heath Hall, Oroville; Andy Ferris; Mariposa; Dave Angus, Placerville
Heat four: Chad Riolo, Roseville; Andy Forsberg, Auburn; Brent Dothage, Lower Lake; Jayme Barnes, Sacramento; Herman Klein, Sacramento; Chris Wilson, Auburn; Ray Rust, Garden Valley; Justin Johnson, Camino, Willie Croft, Sacramento; Pat Harvey, Grass Valley; Jeremy Burt, Grass Valley.
C-main: Lovell; H.Hall; Johnson; Rollag; Berryhill; Harvey; Stice;Fogarty; Angus; Bert; Woods.
B-main: Henry; Crockett; Klein; Wallace;Schild;Brace; Lovell; Rust; Johnson; Croft; Allard; Ferris; Hall; Drolvoid; Wilson; Tabor Sr.; Monahan.
A-main: Hall; Williams; Gray; Forsberg; Gurney; Henry; Robinson; Klein; Weisz; Riolo; Crockett; Barnes; Schild; Sweet; Dothage; Farria; Wallace; Magaruh; Brace; Hovey; Halleib; Vanlare.
