Saldana takes 50k Gold Cup on last lap

PRESS RELEASE -56th ANNUAL GOLD CUP RACE OF CHAMPIONS
FROM THE OFFICE OF HANDY RACING PROMOTIONS INC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, SATURDAY ,SEPTEMBER 12, 2009
MEDIA CONTACT: BILL SULLIVAN: sullivanimages@sbcglobal.net        
   

Saldana makes the $50,000 last lap pass to win the 56th annual Gold Cup
 
Media Release from Bill Sullivan, Handy Racing Promotions Inc.
 
CHICO, CA – In the history of the Gold Cup Race of Champions, many late race passes have brought fans to the edge of their seats and heartbreak to its fair share of competitors. During the 56th Annual version of the Fall Classic, some 10,000 spectators will long remember the pass that Indiana’s Joey Saldana made in the final turn of the race and Jason Sides will be the one driver that will long remember the event he led until the final few feet of the race.
 
            “This is definitely a race you want to win,�?? said Saldana. “The money is good, but it’s about the prestige. This is a great race. It has a lot of history and sprint car drivers want to win races like these. It’s really not about the money, but the history. It’s pretty neat to have won it twice. The first one makes you realize that you can win big races and this one is just as special.�??
 
            Sides led 39 laps of Saturday’s event worth $50,000, Saldana led the most important one to score his second Gold Cup Race of Champions win of his racing career. The victory was the second of the week in Chico for Saldana, who took the preliminary victory at the quarter-mile track managed by Handy Racing Promotions on Friday night, securing his top starting position for Saturday’s championship event.
 
            After claiming Friday’s preliminary victory, Saldana started on the outside of the front row for Saturday’s event. Sides started on the pole of the feature race and charged into the lead at the waving of the green flag. Saldana followed suit and Thursday night preliminary winner Jason Meyers of Clovis was moving up towards the top three, challenging Chico’s own Jonathan Allard in a coveted battle between local favorites for the third position.
 
            Meyers eventually overtook Allard for the third position as Sides had distanced himself from Saldana prior to working his way into lapped traffic. A series of caution flags kept Sides view clear for much of the race but in the closing circuits, lapped traffic played into the storyline of this fall classic as it routinely does. Saldana quickly closed in on Sides in the final five laps.
 
            As the white flag waved it appeared that the latest version of California’s richest race was going to be won from start to finish. Not in Saldana’s eyes. Entering the third turn of the track, Saldana positioned his Kasey Kahne Motorsports/Budweiser #9 to the high side. As the duo exited the fourth turn the capacity filled grandstands rose to their feet to witness one of the closest Gold Cup finishes in recent history.
 
            “We had him there about halfway through and the yellow came out and that was the only way I was really going to get him,�?? added Saldana. “He was really good in the open. If the yellows would have kept coming out, I probably would not have gotten him. Luckily we got in lapped traffic and got him to move around and once he moved off the top there going into (turn) three we got a good run and got by.�??
 
            Sides finshed in second place to claim a $20,000 payday followed by Meyers, Allard, Craig Dollansky and series point leader and defending champion Donny Schatz. Danny Lasoski and Tommy Tarlton followed in the finish followed by locals Sean Becker and Brad Sweet who rounded out the top ten.
 
“It has been a good season and we’re just happy to be up here running with these guys,�?? said Sides. “It’s not very often that you get to win a race like that and to lose it on the last lap for a lot of money sucks. My hat is off to the Kasey Kahne crew, they did a great job. With as many cautions as we had, you are always looking for someone to get by you. My guys did a great job tonight and worked their butts off tonight. Thanks to all the fans for coming out tonight.�??
 
Meyers’ third place finish was the highest local finish of the event. The Clovis native who began his racing career at Silver Dollar Speedway will need to wait on more year to try to be the first local winner in 21 years of Gold Cup’s.
“It was just tough to pass tonight,�?? stated Meyers. “We saw on our qualifying night a low groove and a high groove and it just didn’t work out that way tonight. I think the earlier mains wore out the bottom. We needed lapped traffic and got a little bit of it and were able to get from fifth to third. That’s all we had tonight. Maybe another five laps and we would have been in heavy lapped traffic. We just kept getting reds and yellows and it just made it too difficult to pass.�??
            
            In the B-main on Saturday, Sweet took home the win followed by 2008 winner Jac Haudenschild. Andy Forsberg finished third followed by Jayme Barnes., The C main was claimed by  Tony Lutar who was trailed by local Colby Copeland, Zach Zimmerly and Andy Gregg. The D-main was claimed by Keith Bloom Jr., Colton Heath and Chad Groves.
 
            The next event at Silver Dollar Speedway will be the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals, October 1, 2 and 3. For further information on that event visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com.