(PETERSEN MEDIA- Chico, CA, )- With the dust settling on the annual Memorial Day Weekend double header for the Civil War Series pres. by Flowmaster it was Justin Sanders completing the season sweep at Marysville Raceway as he won the Mel Hall Memorial, and Kyle Hirst scoring at the Silver Dollar Fair Race for the second year in-a-row.
Lining up on the front row by way of his Dash win, Justin Sanders was tough as nails early in the feature and flexed his muscle on a quick Marysville Raceway surface.
Behind the leader William Fielding would hold down the second spot during the race’s early laps before the 10x and defending series champion was able to take over the second spot and begin to close in on Sanders as the leaders quickly found traffic on this night.
Getting into traffic on the fifth circuit, Sanders and Forsberg would simply throw it down as they sliced and diced through traffic racing wheel to wheel until the caution flew on the 12th circuit as Williams Fielding had a right rear flat while running up front.
Back in action, Sanders would continue to set a torrid pace in clean air, but getting into traffic in another five laps, the action would heat up as Forsberg would again close in on the race-long leader as Koen Shaw, Geoff Ensign, Cody Lamar, and a hard charging Cole Macedo came closing in.
On the 22nd lap things would change up front as Forsberg would make a rare mistake and spin his machine out in turns three and four and bring out the caution.
Sanders would lead the rest of the way to grab his second win of the season with the series and complete the season sweep at Marysville Raceway, in what was his first ever Mel Hall Memorial feature event win, as Koen Shaw hung on for a career best 2nd place finish with the series.
18th starting Cole Macedo would have a furious close to the race as he was able get by Geoff Ensign on the last lap to take the final spot on the podium as Ensign finished fourth and Cody Lamar rounded out the Top-Five.
Saturday night’s 19th Annual Mel Hall Memorial saw 29 cars check into the pit area to pay homage to one of the series’ forefathers and it was Andy Forsberg earning quick time honors.
Heat race wins went to Koen Shaw, William Fielding, Geoff Ensign, and Cody Lamar, and as previously state Justin Sanders won the Dash.
The B Main would see Lincoln, CA driver Tanner Carrick score the win and move into the feature event as Kenny Allen, Colby Wiesz, Jake Haulot, Dustin Freitas, and Peter Paulson also earned transfer positions.
Following Saturday night’s festivities the stars and cars of the Civil War Series pres. by Flowmaster headed north to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA for the Annual Fair Race where a total of 41 cars checked in for the special Sunday night of racing.
Sean Becker and Mitchell Faccinto would lead the field to green in front of a capacity crowd, and it would be Becker who rocketed out to the early lead on a very racy Silver Dollar Speedway surface.
Out in front, Becker would check out as the action behind him picked up. Colby Copeland would get by Faccinto to overtake the second position just before the race’s first stoppage on the fifth lap.
Back to green, Becker would continue to look extremely strong out front until issues for him on the ninth lap would end his night and hand the lead over to Copeland who had Faccinto, and Kyle Hirst hot on his tail.
Following a restart on the 11th lap, Hirst would move into second as he got around Faccinto and began chasing after Colby Copeland who looked strong out in front of the field.
A red on the 18th lap would put the field back in single file formation on a restart and after a brief battle, Hirst would make his move stick on Copeland and would take over command of the race.
Out in front, Hirst would quickly pull away from the field as Copeland continued to run in the second spot. A driver who came alive light was 13th starting Tim Kaeding and making his long awaited return to Silver Dollar Speedway, TK would gives fans a show as he clawed his way towards the podium.
One final restart would give Copeland one final shot at getting to Hirst, but on this night Hirst would have none of it as he went on to win the Fair race for the second year in a row as Copeland finished second, and Kaeding completed a hard charge to take the final spot on the podium.
After winning the ‘B’ Shane Golobic would finish fourth, Ensign fifth, Kalib Henry sixth, Justin Sanders seventh, Faccinto eighth, Mason Moore ninth, and Koen Shaw would round out the Top-10.
Kyle Hirst would kick his night off just as he ended it and that was by earning quick time honors. Hirst would take home 100$ for his efforts courtesy of Felix Perez and El Toritio Bar in Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
Heat race wins went to Colby Copeland, Kalib Henry, Mitchell Faccinto, and Geoff Ensign.
Sean Becker won the Dash and earned the right to start on the pole.
Preliminary feature events saw Steven Tiner win the ‘C’ and transfer to the ‘B’ along with Wyatt Brown.
Shane Golobic was able to wire the field in the ‘B’ as he punched his ticket into the feature event along with Andy Forsberg, Chase Johnson, Dustin Golobic, Cody Lamar, and William Fielding.
With his win on Saturday night, Justin Sanders now sits in a tie for 15th all time on the series wins list with 5 career wins joining the likes of Scooter Lambert, Ray Rust, Mark Hall, Steven Tiner, and Andy Gregg.
Kyle Hirst’s win on Sunday gives him 12 series wins for his career and moves him into a tie for 5th all time with former series champion, David Robinson, Jr.
2018 Civil War Series presented by Flowmaster Schedule
6/23 Calistoga Speedway – with KWS-NARC 410’s
7/20 Ocean Speedway- Howard Kaeding Classic
8/25 Ocean Speedway- 58th Annual Johnny Key Classic
9/5 Silver Dollar Speedway- Gold Cup Opener
9/15 Calistoga Speedway- Season Finale with World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
ON TAP: The Civil War Series presented by Flowmaster will take a couple weeks off before returning to action on June 23rd at the famed Calistoga Speedway where we will be in action alongside the King of the West Series.
2018 WINNERS: Justin Sanders (March 24th Marysville Raceway), Bud Kaeding (April 21st Thunderbowl Raceway), Steven Kent (May 5th Thunderbowl Raceway), Justin Sanders (May 26th Marysville Raceway), Kyle Hirst (May 27th Silver Dollar Speedway).
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. For more information on Flowmaster, please visit www.flowmastermufflers.com.
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 360ci 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 2018, the Civil War Sprint Car Series will host 10 events at 5 different tracks around California.
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