PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Shane Hopkins withstood numerous restarts to record his first Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour victory on Saturday night at Placerville Speedway.
The 2018 SCCT Rookie of the Year piloted the familiar High Sierra Industries No. 21 mount en route to his fourth career triumph on the red clay. His win came during the second round of Western Sprint Tour Speedweek.
The 30-lap Shop Kyle Larson main event was plagued by numerous yellow and red flag periods during the Gold Pan Rampage presented by Marshall.
Things got off to a rough start with Cole Croft getting upside down in turn one. He eventually climbed out of the No. 29 machine and was fortunately okay after the nasty tumble.
The feature never got into a groove but during all the mayhem Hopkins remained calm, cool and collected up front. He executed each restart to perfection and eventually went on to grab the Ed Entz checkered flag for the $4,000 score.
Auburn’s Andy Forsberg started from eighth and made several veteran moves to take over third by lap 16 and then second with 22 circuits complete. He crossed the stripe in second to cap a solid run in the finale.
Colby Copeland put together a strong run in the feature to carve his way from 14th to third by the conclusion. Braden Chiaramonte and Tony Gomes rounded out the top five.
The finish:
- 21-Shane Hopkins[2]; 2. 92-Andy Forsberg[8]; 3. 7C-Colby Copeland[14]; 4. 73B-Braden Chiaramonte[3]; 5. 75-Tony Gomes[11]; 6. 15AZ-Nick Parker[4]; 7. 56C-Carson Hammes[16]; 8. 00-Steel Powell[1]; 9. 9T-Camden Robustelli[12]; 10. 93DT-Stephen Ingraham[23]; 11. 93-Landon Henry[6]; 12. 55D-Dawson Hammes[9]; 13. 51-Jake Morgan[17]; 14. 8-Aydan Saunders[21]; 15. 1W-Trey Walters[24]; 16. 9L-Luke Hayes[10]; 17. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg[7]; 18. 7-Seth Standley[5]; 19. 94-Greg Decaires V[19]; 20. 14W-Jodie Robinson[18]; 21. 85-AJ Alderman[22]; 22. 42X-Justyn Cox[15]; 23. 17J-Josh Young[20]; 24. 29-Cole Croft[13]
