PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Ashton Torgerson showed his metal on Saturday night at Placerville Speedway, making a move by Tanner Carrick with less than 10-laps remaining to secure his first career Winged 360 Sprint Car victory.
Sharing victory lane with the youngster on Saturday were Shane Hopkins, Dan Brown Jr. and veteran Thomas Arbogast.
Torgerson has returned from the well documented incident during the Chili Bowl to snag multiple wins in the Micro ranks, but Saturday’s score was his very first aboard a sprint car, which came in just his 13th career start. The first couple circuits in the 25-lapper saw Luke Hayes and Stephen Ingraham battle it out, before contact between the pair on lap three brought out a caution.
Carrick then inherited the lead and most likely thought that would be game over in the feature. However, Torgerson proved that certainly was not the case. When the green flag waved again, he hounded the rear tail tank of Carrick’s machine, as the pair put on an entertaining show for the fans in the stands. Both drivers ran two distinct lines and when lapped traffic came into play, things got interesting.
Torgerson finally got the run he wanted up high off turn two with 17 laps complete and drove by for the top-spot that he never relinquished. The 16-year-old accepted Ron Stahl’s checkered flag for victory at the helm of his Rowdy Energy Drink No. 02 machine.Â
Carrick came home second, followed by 15th starting Shane Hopkins who made several beautiful passes in the main event. Bubba Decaires and 13th starter Michel Faccinto of Hanford rounded out the top-five.
Feature Finish (25 Laps)
1. 02-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 2. 83T-Tanner Carrick[5]; 3. 21-Shane Hopkins[15]; 4. 94-Greg Decaires V[6]; 5. X1-Michael Faccinto[13]; 6. 7H-Jake Haulot[16]; 7. 21M-Michael Ing[17]; 8. 88-Austin Torgerson[18]; 9. 10-Dominic Gorden[8]; 10. 9L-Luke Hayes[4]; 11. 32-Caden Sarale[19]; 12. 1F-DJ Freitas[10]; 13. 93-Stephen Ingraham[1]; 14. 54S-Drake Standley[11]; 15. 25S-Seth Standley[21]; 16. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[7]; 17. 98-Chris Masters[12]; 18. 7C-Tony Gomes[14]; 19. 15-Michael Sellers[20]; 20. 7-Jake Morgan[3]; 21. 25-Justin Johnson[9]