Kalib Henry, Dan Jinkerson, Wayne Trimble and Ryan Winter score victories at the 16th annual Mark Forni Classic
By Gary Thomas
Images courtesy of Tim Holland
Placerville, CA…Last time out Mather, California’s Kalib Henry put on an exciting charge from deep in the field during the main event at Placerville Speedway. Fast forward to last night and things were a little different as he lined up from the front row, before leading all 25-laps in the feature to capture the $5,000 Mark Forni Classic.
It marked the biggest Placerville Speedway win of Henry’s career and came aboard the Jensen Motorsports No. 5J Sprinter. Sharing victory lane on Saturday at the 16th annual Forni Classic was Diamond Springs competitor Dan Jinkerson with the Ltd. Late Models, along with Auburn’s Wayne Trimble with the Pure Stocks and Galt’s Ryan Winter with the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association. Special thanks goes out to Elk Grove Ford, Doug Veerkamp General Engineering and High Sierra Industries for putting up extra money during the event.
The Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car feature got off to a slow start with a couple of caution periods, mixed in one red flag for Justyn Cox, who luckily emerged okay after the incident. The final 20-laps clicked off caution free however, and during it Henry did a solid job navigating his way through lapped traffic. Hanford’s DJ Netto put together the finest night of his career on the red clay and did close the gap as the laps wound down.
The 2019 KWS-NARC champ stalked Henry over the waning circuits and looked to have a shot at executing some late race magic. Henry didn’t falter though and drove off to cross under the Ron Stahl checkered flag to score his fourth ever Placerville Speedway triumph. Netto’s runner up effort netted him $2,500 along with the High Sierra Industries mystery draw on the front stretch, which earned the Netto Ag team an additional $1,000.
Current point leader Andy Forsberg put forth a championship style performance in the feature, charging from 11th to third. Shane Hopkins looked solid in the main event and grabbed fourth, while Cody Spencer was also very impressive at the Forni, capping the evening with his first top-five finish. Winged Sprint Car rookie driver Landon Brooks, Sean Becker, Dylan Bloomfield, Andy Gregg and Joel Myers Jr. rounded out the top-10.
Winged Sprint Car finish: 1. 5J-Kalib Henry[2]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[4]; 3. X1-Andy Forsberg[11]; 4. 21-Shane Hopkins[1]; 5. 2-Cody Spencer[9]; 6. 34-Landon Brooks[6]; 7. 83V-Sean Becker[13]; 8. 33-Dylan Bloomfield[7]; 9. 16X-Andy Gregg[14]; 10. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[12]; 11. 15-Michael Sellers[8]; 12. 21X-Michael Ing[16]; 13. 94-Greg Decaires V[18]; 14. 14W-Ryan Robinson[10]; 15. 55A-Angelo Cornet[15]; 16. 98-Chris Masters[21]; 17. 24K-Koa Crane[20]; 18. 7H-Jake Haulot[17]; 19. 4SA-Justin Sanders[3]; 20. 7C-Justyn Cox[5]; 21. 93-Stephen Ingraham[19]
Dan Jinkerson has a championship in his sights as the Ltd. Late Model season winds down at Placerville Speedway. The popular driver started from the pole on Saturday and eventually captured his second victory of the season in the division aboard the Lightfoot Automotive No. 23 mount. Veteran driver Dan Brown Jr. had a stout run as well and kept Jinkerson honest over much of the entertaining 20-lapper. Brown looked high and low before settling for a runner up finish at the checkered flag.
Kiely Ricardo, Clark Gugliomoni and Ray Trimble completed the top-five in the feature. The Ltd. Late Models will now get set for Coors Light Big Trophy Championship Night on August 28th. Ltd. Late Model finish: 1. 23-Dan Jinkerson[1]; 2. 15-Dan Brown Jr[2]; 3. 98-Kiely Ricardo[3]; 4. 28G-Clark Gougliomani[6]; 5. 37-Ray Trimble[8]; 6. 23J-Tyler Lightfoot[5]; 7. 57-Rod Oliver[4]; 8. 1-Ted Ahart[9]; 9. 22G-Paul Gugliomoni[7]; 10. 95-Max Mcafee[10]
Last time out with the Pure Stocks it was Ray Trimble who thrilled the crowd driving the former John Ewing No. 68E machine. This time around it was Wayne Trimble who started third and drove to victory at the 16th Mark Forni Classic. The Auburn veteran drove a superb race to scoop up the win. Point leader Nick Baldwin continued his consistent and outstanding season finishing in the runner up spot. Baldwin made it a race at the end but came up just shy. Kevin Jinkerson, Ryan Peter and Jason Poppert completed the top-five. Next week marks the penultimate event of the season for the Pure Stocks.
Pure Stock finish: 1. 68E-Wayne Trimble[3]; 2. 17-Nick Baldwin[5]; 3. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[6]; 4. 83-Ryan Peter[2]; 5. 87-Jason Poppert[4]; 6. 43-Kenny Bernstein[7]; 7. 4-Jonny Walsh[9]; 8. 316-Ryan Murphy[11]; 9. 47-Michael Murphy[12]; 10. 23-Bill O'Neal[1]; 11. 1W-Les Friend[13]; 12. 27C-Brandon Carpenter[10]; 13. 92M-Matt Tilford[8]
The finish of the night belonged to the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association, as Ryan Winter and Ben Wiesz thrilled the crowd on hand. The “Ice Chip” Winter battled his way to the lead early on and held command until Wiesz began to close the gap between the pair. Wiesz eventually sliced his way to lead, but Winter did not give up and kept him within sights. When Ron Stahl waved the white flag things tightened up even more.
Entering the final corners Winter gave it one last ditch effort and charged to inside of the speedway. The move paid off as he slipped past Wiesz to claim the exhilarating triumph at the stripe. Winter and Wiesz have been the duo to beat so far this year at Placerville Speedway. Mike “Spanky” Grenert, Mark Hanson and Mike Reeder finished third through fifth respectively. Rounding out the top-10 in the 20-lap contest were Brandon Shaw, Gage Meyers, 21st starter Dylan Shrum, Shawn Whitney and Austin Struthers.
Dwarf Car finish: 1. 4N-Ryan Winter[5]; 2. 57N-Ben Wiesz[3]; 3. 12N-Mike Grenert[6]; 4. 79R-Mark Hanson[9]; 5. 72N-Mike Reeder[4]; 6. 28N-Brandon Shaw[10]; 7. 99N-gage meyers[1]; 8. 31N-Dylan Shrum[21]; 9. 15N-Shawn Whitney[7]; 10. 59N-Austin Struthers[13]; 11. 16N-Brian Quilty[14]; 12. 36N-Jameson Sole[15]; 13. 08R-Mike Dahle[2]; 14. 83N-Sam Wren[12]; 15. 6N-Austin Quilty[16]; 16. 919N-Zach Armstrong[18]; 17. 616N-Tyler Quilty[19]; 18. 30-Gene Herndon[20]; 19. 22R-Zack Albers[11]; 20. 2N-Josh Wiesz[8]; 21. 69N-Cody Shrum[22]; 22. 70-Larry Bell[17]
Placerville Speedway is back at it next Saturday August 14th for the much-anticipated “Legends Night” at the races. The event marks the penultimate championship point race of the season. Tackling the quarter-mile during Legends Night will be the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and the Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour.