Steven Tiner makes late move to scoop up second Thompson’s Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint Car victory of the season at Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA – Taking full advantage of a late caution Visalia’s Steven Tiner slid under race long leader Sean Becker during the double-file restart and went on to grab his second Thompson’s Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint Car win of 2017 on Saturday night.

Also sharing victory lane with Tiner at the Placerville Speedway were Matt Michelli in the Ltd. Late Models, Orville Owens in the Pure Stocks, Shawn Jones with the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association and Ted Ahart in the Mini Trucks. Great racing was seen in all divisions on Saturday night, which marked the 10th point race of the Red Hawk Casino championship season.

Tiner had spent the previous handful of days competing at Northwest Speedweek and made the long haul back to Placerville after running Cottage Grove Speedway the night before.

“That was a long drive back from Cottage Grove and I’m pretty whooped right now, but getting the win makes it all worth it,” Tiner said to his cousin and track announcer Brad Kennedy. “I didn’t get qualified how I wanted to, but luckily rebounded in the heat race and then got under Sean late in the feature. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

Last week’s Thompson’s Auto Group Winged 360 winner Sean Becker got the jump at the waving of the green flag in the 25-lap contest and held command over the early stages. The Roseville driver was in search of his third victory of the season, but soon had to fend off the pressure applied by Kalib Henry once lapped traffic came into play. The lead duo kept fans on the edge of their seats as they diced through the slower cars, until a caution waved on lap 12.

Another yellow then flew on lap 18, which once again gave the leaders a clear track ahead. On the ensuing restart Steven Tiner made his presence known by slicing underneath Henry to claim the second spot. When going back green Becker pulled away again and looked to be headed for victory, only to have the yellow flag wave just as he was accepting the white flag. The green-white-checkered restart saw Tiner get a great jump and perform a picture-perfect slide job to take the lead. Henry also followed along for second.

Just as Tiner looked to take the checkered however, the caution lights came on again, setting up another green-white-checkered restart. During it Tiner hit his marks to cross under the checkered for his second win of the season over Henry, Becker, DJ Freitas and Greg Decaires in the top-five. Hollister’s Tony Gualda rebounded from an early stoppage to charge back for a sixth place finish. The remainder of the top-10 was filled out by Cody Lamar, Chase Majdic, Mike Benson and Justin Johnson.