- Placerville, CA – June 5, 2018… After opening the month of June last week Placerville Speedway is right back at it this Saturday with the annual Thompson’s Auto Fan Appreciation Night and Pit Party, which doubles as Red Hawk Casino championship point race number eight. Prior to the races all fans are invited to a special pit party held from noon to 3pm in the pit area where there will be live music, cars on display and drivers available for autographs. It’s always a great opportunity to bring out the kids to meet their favorite drivers and get an up-close look at the cars that will be competing later in the night. While supplies last kids at the pit party will also receive a free Thompson’s Auto Fan Appreciation Night T-shirt.
Thompson’s Auto Group will be providing a complimentary BBQ with hot dogs, chips, soda and water for the fans that attend the pit party. Numerous raffle prizes will also be up for grabs throughout the night. During the evening Bear Republic Brewing Company will offer beer tasting in the grandstands, as they debut their beer Racer 500 to the Placerville fans.
Grandstand tickets this Saturday cost just $5, while children 11 and under will also be admitted into the stands for free. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking https://www.universe.com/events/2018-placerville-speedway-championship-pts-8-thompsons-fan-appreciation-tickets-placerville-QNVGZR or at the gate on Saturday.
Extra money will also be on the table thanks to Thompson’s Auto Group for both the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and the Pure Stocks. The Winged 360’s will be vying for $2,000-to-win, $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third. The Pure Stocks will be racing for $450-to-win, $350 for second and $250 for third.
Fresh off his big win last week Placerville’s Jimmy Trulli leads the Thompson’s Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint Car standings into Saturday. The popular veteran earned his fifth career victory at the track and first since 2015 this past weekend. Trulli holds a 16-point advantage over five-time champ Andy Forsberg, who will be a certain contender to bring home his first win of the season on Saturday. Clarksburg’s Justyn Cox, reigning titlist Steven Tiner and youngster Tony Gualda make up the top-five.
Cameron Park’s Shane Hopkins, Calistoga’s Mike Benson, Foresthill’s Jodie Robinson, Shingle Springs’ Justin Johnson and Placerville’s CJ Humphreys complete the top-10 heading into the third point race of the season for the Winged 360’s. More drivers expected include last week’s runner up Sean Becker of Roseville, Placerville’s Andy Gregg and Mike Cook, Watsonville’s Justin Sanders, Tracy’s Kyle Offill, Napa’s Chris Masters and others.
Coming off a strong outing last week Scott Grunert has moved atop the Pure Stock standings by the slimmest of margins heading into Saturday. Grunert’s third place finish, doubled with Jason Palmer suffering a DNF has given him a one-point advantage at the top of the mountain. Palmer was in position last week to win his fifth race in five starts, but wheel issues left him parked in turn one and took that opportunity away. Orville Owens, Nick Baldwin and Kevin Jinkerson complete the top-five in points. Rounding out the top-10 are Lonnie Lennard, Chris Van Roekel, Rick Grunert, Mike Stoeckle and Tommy Sturgon.
The Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association will make their second appearance of the season on Saturday. During their only other visit a large field of 27-cars was on hand and the always tough Ryan Winter brought home the victory. Winter, one of the top Dwarf Car pilots in California and a big Tennessee Titans fan, narrowly beat out Danny Wagner for the win on April 28. Also on hand this weekend will be the Mini Truck’s. Derek Boarman sits on top of the standings going into their third point race of 2018.
The front grandstand gate will open at 3pm this Saturday June 9. A happy hour with live music will be offered from 4pm-6pm in the grandstands featuring discounted Coors Light and Coors Original at the beer stand. Drivers meeting will be held at 4:30pm, with cars on track for wheel packing at 5pm, ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust qualifying scheduled to begin around 5:30pm and heat races expected to fire-off around 6:30pm.
Thompson’s Auto Group dealerships include Toyota, Buick, GMC, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and RAM. Their local car dealers provide a choice of affordable cars and luxury cars for sale with the best prices in Placerville, near Auburn, Rocklin, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Sacramento, Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Shingle Springs and Roseville. Auto dealership incentives and special offers are often available on new car sales and leasing, plus service, parts and repair at their nearby dealer locations. To learn more simply visit http://www.thompsonsauto.com/
The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto http://www.placervillespeedway.com
The Placerville Speedway would like to thank all of its partners for their support this season including Red Hawk Casino, Hoosier Racing Tires, Coors Light, Thompson’s Auto Group, Absolute Auto Glass, ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust, Bear Republic Brewing, Beef’N’Brew, Capital Ace Hardware, Carol Russell Bookkeeping Service, Chris Kenner Racing Specialties/ Security Race Products, Campora Propane, Davies Family Inn, High Sierra Industries, Poor Reds BBQ, Les Schwab Tires, the Paint Spot, Riebies Auto Parts, Shadow Ridge Ranch, The Critter Getter, Mountain Democrat, Union Mortgage and Windfall Media.
Join over 10,000 followers of Placerville Speedway on Facebook, where you can keep abreast of updates for the 2018 season. You can also find Placerville Speedway on Twitter by following us https://twitter.com/pvillespeedway - In addition, Placerville Speedway is also on Instagram. Please follow us @PvilleSpeedway. Upcoming events at Placerville Speedway: Saturday June 9: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks, Dwarf Cars | Thompson’s Fan Appreciation Night and Pit Party Saturday June 23: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks | The Carnett Clash Saturday June 30: King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series and Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards | Salute to the Fans Wednesday July 4: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks | Freedom Fireworks