Jake Morgan claims first Placerville Speedway Winged Sprint Car victory with final corner pass

After 15-years of trying, Elk Grove’s Jake Morgan finally claimed his first career Placerville Speedway Winged 360 Sprint Car triumph, utilizing a final corner pass to capture John Padjen Kids Bike Night on Saturday.

Fellow winners during the night included Nick Baldwin with the Red Hawk Casino Pure Stocks, Mike Miller with the Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks and Greg Dennett with the BCRA Lightning Sprints.

The 30-lap Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car feature showcased some of the best racing seen all year long. A well-prepared track allowed drivers in all classes the opportunity to race on every square inch of the bullring.

Justyn Cox jumped out front and was stalked by Shane Hopkins over the early stages. Several drivers battled it out with the initial 24 laps clicking off in fast and furious fashion. Lapped traffic kept the front runners on their toes and fans on the edge of their seats.

Jake Morgan moved to second on lap seven and then began to stalk the leader. With Cox and Morgan navigating their way through traffic, the battle for fourth on back remained a hectic one. With 24-laps complete a caution flag waved to allow everyone to catch their breath.

The slowdown erased a sizable lead that Cox had developed and during the restart Morgan stayed right there with him. Coming to the white flag he closed on the leader and heading into the final set of corners, Morgan made his move.

Entering turn three Morgan charged to the inside of Cox and fended him off down to the Ed Entz checkered flag, claiming the thrilling victory. Morgan, who began his Sprint Car career in 2011, joins his father Gary on the all-time Placerville Speedway Winged 360 Sprint Car win list, who claimed a total of four wins in his career.

Cox came home in second to continue his ultra consistent season and with Andy Forsberg having issues during the feature, became the new Placerville Speedway point leader. Sacramento’s Michael Sellers put together one of the finest nights of his Sprint Car career to round out the podium.

Hopkins and 14-year-old Cole Croft completed the top five. Filling out the top 10 were Dawson Hammes, Adrianna DeMartini, Seth Standley, Jake Haulot and Bobby Butler.

The Red Hawk Casino Pure Stocks once again provided excitement during their 25-lap finale. Oakley’s Nick Baldwin ultimately scored his 43^rd career Placerville Speedway win, which ranks number two all-time in the division.

Auburn’s Wayne Trimble would lead several laps in the feature as he continued his exceptional campaign. Baldwin grabbed the lead on lap 15 but then had to contend with a very fast Ryan Peter. The pair put on an exciting and close race over the closing stages.

Peter looked to possibly have an opening down low on the final corners but raced the leader as clean as could be. Baldwin crossed the checkered flag to get the win over Peter, Kevin Jinkerson, Tyler Lightfoot and Brian Lewis.

Multi time Mountain Democrat Mini Truck champion Mike Miller dominated the 25-lap feature to score another win on the red clay over Brian Tremblay, Paizlee Miller, Howard Miller and Austin Struthers.

BCRA President and champion Greg Dennett picked up the win with the Wingless Lightning Sprints on Saturday. He was followed across the checkered flag by Matt Land, Dakota Albright, Bradley Schmidt and Justin Norton.

Placerville Speedway returns to action with the Prospector’s Pursuit this coming Saturday June 13^th.

Results

Placerville Speedway

John Padjen Kids Bike Night presented by the Pizza Factory

June 6, 2026

Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars:

1. 45-Jake Morgan[4]; 2. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 3. 15-Michael Sellers[7]; 4. 21-Shane Hopkins[2]; 5. 29-Cole Croft[10]; 6. 55D-Dawson Hammes[9]; 7. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[6]; 8. 7-Seth Standley[8]; 9. 7H-Jake Haulot[11]; 10. 57-Bobby Butler[12]; 11. 56C-Carson Hammes[17]; 12. 5-Kenny Wanderstadt[16]; 13. 85-AJ Alderman[18]; 14. 25-Cody Johnson[19]; 15. 7CS-Corbin Seay[20]; 16. 00-Steel Powell[3]; 17. 28K-Kaden Ramos[21]; 18. 92-Andy Forsberg[5]; 19. 56-Taylor Hall[14]; 20. 98-Chris Masters[15]; 21. 18P-Jack Phillips[13]

Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks:

1. 17-Nick Baldwin[8]; 2. 83-Ryan Peter[1]; 3. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[5]; 4. 23J-Tyler Lightfoot[10]; 5. 22LP-Brian Lewis[12]; 6. 5-Jaden Allec[9]; 7. 08-Jordan Schnakenberg[7]; 8. 12J-Jason Ramos[4]; 9. 87-Jason Poppert[11]; 10. 86-Wayne Trimble[2]; 11. 64-Jaeger Ruckman[6]; 12. 92M-Matt Tilford[3]; 13. (DNS) 48-John Evans

Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks:

1. 16-Mike Miller[3]; 2. 07-Brian Tremblay[6]; 3. 26-Paizlee Miller[5]; 4. 28-Howard Miller[2]; 5. 70-Austin Struthers[1]; 6. 369-Emmett Fanning[7]; 7. 21-Paige Miller[8]; 8. 76C-Bobby Clark[9]; 9. 92N-Noah LaPoint[4]; 10. 22-Nick Perkins[10]; 11. 03-Kevin Jinkerson[11]

BCRA Lightning Sprints:

1. 47-Greg Dennett[2]; 2. 91-Matt Land[5]; 3. 35JR-Dakota Albright[4]; 4. 00-Bradley Schmidt[6]; 5. 62-Justin Norton[7]; 6. 51K-Kennedy Ramirez[1]; 7. 1K-Logan Olivier[9]; 8. 7N-Bryan Keys[8]; 9. (DNF) 22-Jason Schostag[3]; 10. (DNS) 3F-Hunter Kinney

Images courtesy of Positive Times Photography and D&P Photos