Colby Copeland Wins Civil War Thriller at Petaluma Speedway
Leading the field to green by way of his dominating dash win, in which he turned the fastest laps ever a the Petaluma Speedway in a 360ci car, Copeland would get the early jump, only to see the caution fly for fellow front row starter, Kurt Nelson, who came to a stop with a flat tire.
With Willie Croft moving to the front row, Copeland was strong again, as he blasted away to an early lead on the lightening fast Petaluma Speedway surface. Behind Copeland, Croft, Matt Peterson, and Shane Golobic all began jockeying for position, as Copeland stretched out his lead.
With Copeland out in front, Peterson was able to take over the second position on the fourth lap, as he chased after Copeland, who had slowly worked his way to the tail end of the field, just as the caution flew on the seventh lap, giving the leaders open track.
When the action resumed, Copeland continued to flex his muscle aboard his VanLare Steering Repair/Bianchi Farms backed entry, though behind him the action was heating up, as Mason Moore, and Chase Johnson began charging their way from the back of the pack, and into the Top-10 as the caution again flew on the 11th lap, as the leaders again were starting to get into traffic.
On this restart, Matt Peterson was able to get the better of Copeland, as he took command of the race, before another quick yellow flew on the 12th circuit.
With Peterson now in command of the race, he would set a nice pace, as Copeland, Golobic, Croft, Sean Becker, and Andy Forsberg all chased after him, as the race began to get into a solid flow.
With Peterson working the bottom of the speedway aboard his Miller Lite/V&H Fresh No. p37 entry, which was choppy, Copeland stayed glued to the high-side of the speedway, and was able to blast his way back into the lead on the 15th lap, to the crowd’s approval.
As he slowly got away, Willie Croft was able to take over the second spot on the 17th marker, as he began a charge after the leader aboard his Holey Smokes BBQ/Christian Stover Foundation No. 29 entry, as the track came to him, and his machine began to pick up speed.
With the leaders getting into traffic, Copeland was masterful, but Croft was just as good, as he erased a sizeable lead as the laps continued to click down.
Getting to Copeland’s back bumper, Croft continued to look for the opening he needed but couldn’t get a run to make a serious challenge for the top spot. With the white flag waiving, Croft was able to pull alongside Copeland as the duo exited turn two, and going into the final set of corners, the duo remained side by side, and as they had a drag race to the finish, and Copeland was able to cross first putting an exclamation point on the evening.
With the top two making it exciting, it was equally as exciting behind them as Sean Becker made a huge move in his HAM Construction/A.R.T. backed No. 35m machine to get by Shane Golobic exiting turn four to take over the fourth spot, and just narrowly missed out on the third spot, as Matt Peterson was able to hold him off, and claim the final spot on the podium.
“It means a lot to get a win here at Petaluma,” Copeland said in victory lane. “If you were a fan you had to have loved that race, because I think we just put on a pretty exciting show. I can’t thank Jim and Annette VanLare enough for this opportunity, and it’s cool to win at their home track.”
Though he finished in the second spot, Croft was pleased with how the night went. “That was a pretty exciting race,” Croft said. “Colby did one heck of a job, and I gave him everything I had. The track came to us late in the feature, and we really got rolling. We are pleased with our run.”
After leading some laps, Matt Peterson kept up his string of strong runs at the Petaluma Speedway as he finished on the podium.
“We had a really good night, and I can’t thank Lee, Shane, and my family enough for all of their help,” he said. “We got up front, and then I just stayed on the bottom a little too long. It was a little rough, and Colby and Willie were both able to get by on the top.”
As mentioned, Sean Becker finished fourth, Shane Golobic fifth, Andy Forsberg sixth, Alissa Geving seventh, Justin Sanders eight, Chase Johnson ninth, from the 18th staring spot, and Mason Moore put on a great charge as he finished 10th from 21st.
In preliminary action, Shane Golobic kicked things off by setting a new 360ci track record at the Petaluma Speedway during time trials with a lap of 12.132 seconds.
Heat race wins went to Sean Becker, Kurt Nelson, and Alissa Geving, as Colby Copeland won the evening’s dash. It is also noteworthy that during the dash, Copeland set the all the 360ci track record at the speedway as he laid down a lightening fast lap of 12.066 seconds during the sixth lap contest.
The Civil War Sprint Car Series would like to thank Flowmaster, BR Motorsports, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, CRV Carbon Solutions, Design 500, Dirt Solution, Taco Bravo, Hansen Machine, Frankland Racing Supply, Fuel Safe, Hoosier, Joe Hunt Magnetos, Kaeding Performance, King Racing Products, KSE Power Steering Products, Pit Stop USA, MPD, All Pro, RCM Design, Rod End Supply, Racing Optics, SRP, VSR, and Weld Racing for their support.
ON TAP: The Civil War Series presented by Flowmaster will now be idle until the championship finale at the Stockton Dirt Track on Saturday, November 1st.
WINNERS: Winners in the 2014 California Sprint Car Civil War Series Presented By Flowmaster… Andy Gregg- 1 (Marysville Raceway Park on March 15th), DJ Netto-1 (Marysville Raceway Park on May 24th), Shane Golobic-1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on May 25th), Andy Forsberg- 1 (Placerville Speedway on May 31st), Mason Moore (Petaluma Speedway on July 5th), Brad Furr (Ocean Speedway on July 11th), Greg DeCaires (Placerville Speedway on August 9th), Rico Abreu (Ocean Speedway on August 23rd), Matt Peterson (Silver Dollar Speedway on September 3rd), Colby Copeland (Petaluma Speedway on September 20th)
STAY CONNECTED: Keep up with the Civil War Series Presented By Flowmaster, and find complete results and point standings by clicking over to www.racepmg.com, ‘Liking’ www.facebook.com/civilwarsprints, or following us on twitter at www.twitter.com/civilwarsprints.
CIVIL WAR SERIES PRESENTED BY FLOWMASTER- Founded in 1991 as the North-South Series, the Civil War Sprint Car Series was born in 1993 giving 360 Sprint Cars in California a sanctioning body. What started as just a handful of races at three different tracks has evolved into quite the series. In 2014, the Civil War Sprint Car Series will host 14 events at 8 different tracks around California.
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