CHICO, Calif. — One year after a flat tire ended his bid at a Tyler & Chuck Wolf Memorial victory, 11th starter Tony Gomes found redemption by leading the final 10 laps on way to his first Silver Dollar Speedway win, topping a 30-car field on Friday.
It marked his third career Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour triumph and came aboard the Menne Motorsports No. 75 mount, which has seen so much success at the track over the years.
The initial Shop Kyle Larson feature of SCCT Western Sprint Tour Speedweek saw youngster Cole Croft shoot to the lead. The quarter-mile bullring provided excellent racing throughout the field during the 30-lap contest.
Current Sprint Car Challenge Tour point leader Justyn Cox eventually carved his way to the front on lap six and held the field at bay after that. With Cox holding a sizable lead the action behind him remained fast and furious, with cars racing on every inch of the “Dollar.”
Reigning Placerville Speedway champion Tony Gomes was on the move from his 11th starting spot and snagged the third position on lap 12. One circuit later he jumped into second and attempted to track down Cox as lapped traffic came into play.
With things beginning to tighten up, the complexion of the race changed on lap 20, when Cox caught the cushion and ultimately flipped off turns three and four. Cox luckily climbed out of the Josh Bates Racing No. 42x after the nasty tumble but suffered a DNF for the night.
Following that Gomes put together clean laps up front and went on to accept the Bob Scovel checkered flag. It was his first SCCT victory since scoring the Cottage Grove Speedway round at Speedweek last season.
Croft made a late move to cross the stripe in second to record his career best Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour finish, while defending Western Sprint Tour Speedweek champion Max Mittry completed the podium, also making a final lap pass to score the spot.
The finish:
- 75-Tony Gomes[11]; 2. 29-Cole Croft[2]; 3. 2X-Max Mittry[5]; 4. 15-Nick Parker[10]; 5. 7C-Colby Copeland[9]; 6. 93-Landon Henry[1]; 7. 73B-Braden Chiaramonte[3]; 8. 8-Aydan Saunders[16]; 9. 56C-Carson Hammes[23]; 10. 9T-Camden Robustelli[7]; 11. 94-Greg Decaires V[15]; 12. 00-Steel Powell[18]; 13. 7-Seth Standley[8]; 14. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg[6]; 15. 5-Kenny Wanderstadt[12]; 16. 2S-Jayce Steinberg[17]; 17. 9L-Luke Hayes[22]; 18. 42X-Justyn Cox[4]; 19. 51-Jake Morgan[20]; 20. 92-Andy Forsberg[13]; 21. 54-Carson Hall[14]; 22. 55D-Dawson Hammes[21]; 23. 26X-Billy Aton[19]; 24. 77-Levi Klatt[24]
