HANFORD, Calif. — Corey Day won the 37th annual Cotton Classic presented by Penny Newman at Keller Auto Speedway on Friday night.
The 35-lap Sprint Car Challenge Tour served as the opening night of two straight nights of sprint car racing at the King’s County Fairgrounds facility promoted by Peter Murphy.
D.J. Netto had to settle for second place after leading through the middle portion of the event. Dominic Scelzi rounded on the podium after starting on the pole and leading the first few laps of the popular fall 360 sprint car event.
Tim Kaeding finished in the fourth spot in his first ride in the No. 57 Finley Farms car wrenched by Paul Silva. Justin Sanders would bring the No. 2x home in the fifth spot just ahead of Shane Golobic.
Scelzi and Kaeding would bring the 24-car field down for the start but it would take several attempts before a single green flag lap would be completed. Fast-qualifier and B Main transfer Mitchell Faccinto would be the first car to retire when he pulled into the infield right after taking the checkered while Caden Sarale went off the first turn banking. The second attempt at a start saw Andy Forsberg go off the third turn banking and return to the track however Grant
Champlin also went off the banking but spun out before he could successfully return.
Once the race got started the green light didn’t stay lit very long before Bud Kaeding spun off the fourth turn banking. Once restarted, the souffle for the lead would begin with Tim Kaeding taking over from Scelzi. His time out front was short lived as Netto would pass Kaeding and take over the lead.
Day would pass Netto on the 16th circuit and would begin to click off some very fast laps using the high side of the track which had slicked off. Day’s rim riding almost cost him the lead as Nick Parker caught the cushion in the third turn and flipped bringing out the red. As Day came past the crash scene he lost control trying to slow down and spun himself.
Race officials determined the track had already gone red and Day’s spin was negated, putting him back into the lead.
On the restart, with cars now single file, Day drove hard and Netto wasn’t a threat as the two finished in that order. The race saw a total of four caution slowdowns and one red-flag stoppage.