Robinson earns first Placerville win on Saturday

Ryan Robinson, Tyler Lightfoot, Nick Baldwin and Mike Miller claim Placerville wins on Saturday

By Gary Thomas

Images courtesy of Jason Tucker Photos

Placerville, CA – May 15, 2021…Foresthill’s Ryan Robinson remained calm, cool and collected through several slowdowns in the Thompson’s Winged Sprint Car feature, before pulling away at the end to tally his first career Placerville Speedway triumph on Saturday.

Robinson, the son of three-time track champion and 23-time Placerville winner David Robinson Jr., took the lead early and looked impressive out front en route to the big win. Sharing victory lane on Mountain Democrat Kids Bike Night were Tyler Lightfoot with the Ltd. Late Models, Nick Baldwin with the Pure Stocks and Mike Miller in the Mini Truck division. Thanks to the graciousness of several individuals a total of 25 bikes were given away to youngsters in attendance.

At the waving of the green flag in the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 A-main it was past Marysville champion Michael Ing who blasted into the lead. The Chico driver looked fast all night and held command until Ryan Robinson slipped to his inside on lap six for the lead. Following a restart on lap eight Ing took a shot at reclaiming the point but got sideways and slipped up over the cushion to bring out a yellow flag.

An excessive number of cautions and a couple reds plagued the contest, but Robinson never faltered out front and rocketed away on the final restart to pick up the Ron Stahl checkered flag by nearly four seconds over his nearest competitor. Despite Robinson having his way with things out front the clash for second on back over the closing laps remained a good one.

Roseville’s Colby Copeland fought his way forward to cross the stripe in second, followed by 15-year-old Joel Myers Jr. of Sebastopol, Placerville’s Shane Hopkins and another 15-year-old youngster Dylan Bloomfield. For the Oakley racer it marked his first Placerville top-five in just his third Winged 360 start at the track. Rounding out the top-10 were Justyn Cox, Justin Bradway, Stephen Ingraham, John Clark and Bubba Decaires. Bradway and Ingraham were two of the biggest movers and shakers during the feature. Bradway had a solid run carving his way from 18th to seventh, while Ingraham was the Hard Charger with his run from 20th to eighth.

Winged 360 finish: 1. 14W-Ryan Robinson[3]; 2. 5V-Colby Copeland[6]; 3. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[4]; 4. 21-Shane Hopkins[2]; 5. 33-Dylan Bloomfield[9]; 6. 7C-Justyn Cox[7]; 7. 80N-Justin Bradway[18]; 8. 93-Stephen Ingraham[20]; 9. 12J-John Clark[11]; 10. 94-Greg Decaires V[15]; 11. 34-Landon Brooks[8]; 12. 85-CJ Humphreys[14]; 13. 24-Justin Henry[13]; 14. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[19]; 15. 98-Chris Masters[16]; 16. 7-Clayton Snow[17]; 17. 83SA-Isaiah Vasquez[10]; 18. X1-Andy Forsberg[5]; 19. 21X-Michael Ing[1]; 20. 16X-Andy Gregg[12]

Over the last several years some of the biggest supporters of Placerville Speedway has been the Lightfoot Automotive team, who bring out multiple cars at each event. On Saturday night it was Placerville’s own Tyler Lightfoot who shined the brightest with the Ltd. Late Models and picked up an entertaining 20-lap victory. A fast and furious feature occurred with Lightfoot holding command every step of the way, but over the closing circuits would be hounded by Yuba City’s Rod Oliver.

With Lightfoot out front Oliver closed in lap after lap and had a shot on the final tour of the speedway. Lightfoot hung tough though and earned his third career Ltd. Late Model triumph at the track over Oliver, Woodland’s Kiely Ricardo, Auburn’s Ray Trimble and Orangevale’s Tom Tilford.

Ltd. Late Model finish: 1. 23J-Tyler Lightfoot[1]; 2. 57-Rod Oliver[4]; 3. 98-Kiely Ricardo[3]; 4. 37-Ray Trimble[8]; 5. 23T-Tom Tilford[5]; 6. 23-Dan Jinkerson[7]; 7. 22G-Paul Gugliomoni[2]; 8. 95-Max Mcafee[10]; 9. 15-Dan Brown Jr[6]

Oakley’s Nick Baldwin has started off 2021 like a blazing inferno in the Pure Stock division and that continued last night, as he scooped up win number three on the season. Baldwin started from the pole and cruised to his 11th career Placerville Speedway victory. Diamond Springs wheel-man Dan Jinkerson came home in second followed by brother Kevin Jinkerson, Rio Linda’s Ryan Peter and Placerville youngster Jonny Walsh. The Pure Stocks as always put on a solid contest with pristine track conditions on Saturday.

Pure Stock finish: 1. 17-Nick Baldwin[1]; 2. 23-Dan Jinkerson[5]; 3. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[7]; 4. 83-Ryan Peter[6]; 5. 4-Jonny Walsh[3]; 6. 23S-Stephanie Hanson[4]; 7. 93-Mel Byers[10]; 8. X86-David Silvia[9]; 9. 22K-Jason Palmer[8]; 10. 74-Russell Murphy[2]; 11. 15A-Ryan Murphy[11]

The 20-lap Mini Truck main event was a keenly contested battle that saw Rancho Cordova’s Mike Miller earn the victory over Thomas Jensen, Aaron Rupley, Kevin Tremblay and Paizlee Miller. The feature was slightly short on trucks but not short of entertaining racing, which has become customary for the division. Mini Truck finish: 1. 16-Mike Miller[1]; 2. 08JR-Thomas Jensen[4]; 3. 77-Aaron Rupley[2]; 4. 72-Kevin Tremblay[8]; 5. 61-Paizlee Miller[6]; 6. 04-Wyatt Lakin[7]; 7. 70-Austin Struthers[5]

The Placerville Speedway returns to action this coming Sunday May 23rd with a four-division program on tap. The rare Sunday night program will showcase the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks and the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association.