Croft 7th at Silver Dollar Speedway Before Bad Luck Bug Bites Him at Placerville Speedway
PETERSEN MEDIA- Spending the weekend competing in a pair of 360ci events at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA and at Placerville, CA’s Placerville Speedway, Willie Croft picked up a Top-10 on Friday before getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time late in Saturday’s feature.
“We had some good speed with our 360ci over the weekend, and with some big 360ci races coming up later this Fall it is really good to know our package is strong,” Willie Croft said. “Unfortunately, on Saturday night, a car got upside down in front of us and we got caught up in the wreck with nowhere to go and it ended our night early.”
Friday night the scene was Chico, CA’s Silver Dollar Speedway for their Kids Bike Night Event. 45 cars checked into the event and Croft would time the Holey Smokes BBQ/Rudeen/Amerikote backed no. 29 in fastest in his qualifying group.
Taking the green flag for his heat from the pole, the Colfax, CA resident would leave the field in his wake, and he ripped around the ¼ mile bullring and picked up the win.
Advancing into the Bike Race Dash, Croft’s fourth place finish placed him in the second row of the final 30-lap feature at Silver Dollar Speedway before the impending Gold Cup Race of Champions.
Slipping back to ninth during the race’s opening laps, Croft would get to working his way back forward as he raced inside the Top-10 during the duration of the feature. Getting into seventh on the sixth lap, Croft would again slip back to 19th at the race’s halfway point.
Briefly falling back to 10th, Croft would move into eighth on the 18th circuit and then took over seventh on the white flag lap. Hanging on to seventh for the final lap, Croft closed his Friday night out with a seventh-place finish.
Traveling to Placerville Speedway on Saturday night, Croft would get off to another very strong start as he topped the 44 car field in qualifying time trials and was the overall fast qualifier.
Lining up in the second row of his heat race, Croft’s second place finish transferred him directly into the 25-lap feature event in what was the track’s final points paying event of the season, and it also solidified a berth into the redraw due to his qualifying efforts.
Pulling the six, Croft took the green flag from the outside of the third row on a very slick surface that had the typical Placerville Speedway curb built up in both ends.
Running in sixth for much of the race, Croft would make a couple of bids to break into the Top-Five but passing would prove to be tricky near the front of the field with guys trying a few different lines.
A tricky cushion and slick surface saw Croft manhandle his car around the ¼ mile as he continued to run in sixth.
On lap 18, a car would get out of shape on the cushion in front of him, and on the close quarters track, Croft would become involved in the incident and it brought his night to an end.
“It is always a bummer to end your night like that, but overall it was a fun weekend and I am looking forward to the Gold Cup,” Croft said.
Willie Croft Racing would like to thank Holey Smokes BBQ, Rudeen, Amerikote, SCI, Brown and Miller, FK Rod Ends, Factory Kahne, Schoenfeld, Team Simpson, Stilo, Smith Precision Products, Kaeding Performance, AL Drivelines, XYZ, Vortex Wings, DoTerra and GUTS for their support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races-24, Wins-1, Top 5’s-9, Top 10’s-16.
ON TAP: Willie Croft will be idle this weekend before returning to action during the Gold Cup Race of Champions in Chico, CA.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Willie Croft Racing by visiting www.williecroftracing.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @WillieCroft29.
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