Points tighten in Placerville Red Hawk Series

PRESS RELEASE
PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY, PLACERVILLE, CA.
FROM THE OFFICE OF HANDY RACING PROMOTIONS INC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, TUESDAY, July 13 , 2009
MEDIA CONTACT: BILL SULLIVAN: sullivanimages@sbcglobal.net           
 

 
Tight point standings the theme in all three Placerville divisions
 
 
Media Release from Handy Racing Promotions, Inc.
 
PLACERVILLE, CA – The 2009 Red Hawk Casino-Hoosier Tires championship racing season resumes at the ASA sanctioned Placerville Speedway this Saturday night with four divisions on the evening race card. As the season inches towards its final stages the chase for the season title is heating up in all three divisions. The winged sprint cars, Limited Late Models and Pure Stocks will be joined this Saturday by the visiting midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association.
In the winged sprint car division, defending track champion Colby Wiesz of Colfax continues to lead the point standings aboard primary #35 Bullet Racing sprint car. Last season, Wiesz dominated this division to his first Placerville track title with five feature wins. This year, Wiesz remains winless during his second year with veteran car owner John Taylor.
“I still don’t know how we are in this point lead, we just can’t seem to get dialed in this year,�?? said Taylor. “We have great equipment and great driver. This year we just seem to be getting hit with our share of bad luck or bad starting positions. Hopefully we can turn it around this week.�??
Wiesz is currently nine points in front of the field with five top five finishes out of nine starts. The former three time Marysville champion is being chased in the standings by a foursome of El Dorado County drivers. This season marks the first in recent track history where more than two local drivers are seated to possible win the season championship. All four of the candidates have never before won such a title.
Sitting in the second position is Placerville’ Scott Russell with four top five finishes. Third place is owned by Placerville’s C.J. Humphreys who is a three time winner here this year and is 29-points out of the lead. Shingle Springs’ Justin Johnson is fourth with five top five finishes while Jimmy Trulli of Diamond Springs is the final member of the local fab four, sitting in fifth place with 50 points between Wiesz and himself.
In the Limited Late Model Pro Stock division, Placerville Speedway’s new sheriff, Jerry Bartlett of Yuba City, found himself in pursuit for a change last week when veteran driver Mike Lightfoot of Placerville returned to victory lane. In the 10 events that have taken place in this division Bartlett leads the field with six wins. Second place is owned by Dan Brown Jr. of Nevada City who sits 11 points behind Bartlett with two feature wins. John Krehbiel of Placerville is only other feature winner in this competitive class and sits in third place over Jay Norton of Shingle Springs and Forryst Carnett of Placerville.
Placerville’s Pure Stock division is host to the closest and perhaps the most watched battle for the track championship. Lady racer Heather Bartlett leads the standings by a single digit over former Placerville champion Tom Tilford of Citrus Heights. Last Saturday night Tilford broke Bartlett’s four race win streak in the feature event to post his fourth win of the year. 
Bartlett finished second to Tilford at the checkered flag last Saturday and both drivers are matched perfectly with four wins each and nine top fives in feature competition. Bartlett leads the class in heat race victories with five wins while Tilford has three to his name.
Rick Grunert of Woodland is third in the Pure Stock point standings, 63-points out of the lead. Eddie Gardner of Sacramento is fourth over Danielle Clauson of Placerville.
The three track regulars are being joined tomorrow night by the Capital City Midgets. In this class, look for the most recent Placerville Speedway winner of the division Matt Land of Elk Grove to lead the roster. Drivers expected to join Land include Rick Young of Shingle Springs, Dillon Silverman of Chico, Cameron Park’s Lonny Alton and more.
The gates to Placerville Speedway will open at 5 p.m. on Saturday night with qualifying for the sprint cars starting at 6:30. For further information visit www.placervillespeedway.com. Placerville Speedway is managed by Handy Racing Promotions Incorporated under the sanction of ASA Racing. Fans can also keep up with Placerville Speedway on Facebook and twitter by searching keywords “Placerville Speedway.�??