Sold out crowd sees Cole Croft make late move to net first career Sprint Car win

Fourteen-year-old Cole Croft let it all hang out on a restart with five laps remaining and went on to claim his first career Sprint Car triumph during Thompson’s Fan Appreciation Night at Placerville Speedway.

Sharing victory lane in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday night were Ray Trimble with the Kings Meats Ltd. Late Models, Nick Baldwin with the Red Hawk Casino Pure Stocks and Noah LaPoint with the Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks.

In the 30-lap Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged Sprint Car feature it was 10-time track champion Andy Forsberg who blasted into the lead. The Auburn veteran set a fast pace up front and hit virtually every restart to perfection.

Current Placerville Speedway point leader Justyn Cox kept the leader within sight though and looked to pounce as traffic came into play on multiple occasions, only to have caution flags give the front runners a clear track ahead.

As the race ticked off it was Forsberg leading Cox and Cole Croft with drivers exchanging positions on a regular basis. Things came to a halt with five laps remaining and it set up a final dash to the finish that changed the complexion of the contest.

When the green flag waved for the final time Croft charged to the outside of Cox for second and dove to the inside of Forsberg for the lead. Close quarter racing was seen off turn four and resulted in Forsberg over the edge turning a 360.

With Croft now up front, Cox gave it a bid the next lap slicing to his inside, but the youngster cut right back to the bottom and maintained the point.

Croft led the remaining couple circuits and crossed under the Ed Entz checkered flag for his initial Sprint Car victory. Cox extended his point lead by way of a runner up finish. Austin Wood, Nick Parker and Chance Grasty rounded out the top five.

Completing the top 10 were Shane Hopkins, Michael Sellers, Seth Standley, Dawson Hammes and Carson Hammes.

Auburn’s Ray Trimble led all 25 laps in the Kings Meats Ltd. Late Model main event but had to deal with intense pressure at times from Anthony Slaney.

Trimble hit his marks each lap though on way to his 28^th career Late Model win at Placerville Speedway. The veteran is now just six victories away from tying Ryan McDaniel for the most wins in the division.

Oakley’s Nick Baldwin raced to yet another Red Hawk Casino Pure Stock triumph but had to work for it as Kevin Jinkerson gave him everything he could handle.

The duo battled it out up front for several laps until Baldwin solidified the point and went on to grab his 44^th career Placerville Speedway checkered flag. Baldwin continues to inch closer towards Donnie Tilford’s record of 71 wins in the division.

Jinkerson, Wayne Trimble, Tyler Lightfoot and Jason Poppert filled out the top five.

Mountain Democrat Mini Truck point leader Noah LaPoint took the lead on lap 10 and went on to claim his win of the season on Saturday. He was followed across the line by Dan Jinkerson, Brian Tremblay, Luke Costa and Mike Miller.

Placerville Speedway returns to action with the Freedom Fireworks Spectacular this coming Saturday July 4^th. Three divisions will take to the track, including the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Kings Meats Ltd. Late Models and the Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks.

Seating is reserved on Independence Day and can be purchased ahead of time via https://www.eventsprout.com/event/psr-070426 

Results

Placerville Speedway

Thompson’s Fan Appreciation Night 

June 27, 2026

Thompson’s Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars:

1. 29-Cole Croft[6]; 2. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 3. 2A-Austin Wood[7]; 4. 15AZ-Nick Parker[3]; 5. X1-Chance Grasty[4]; 6. 21-Shane Hopkins[5]; 7. 15-Michael Sellers[9]; 8. 7-Seth Standley[10]; 9. 55D-Dawson Hammes[13]; 10. 56C-Carson Hammes[12]; 11. 57-Bobby Butler[14]; 12. 5-Kenny Wanderstadt[15]; 13. 92-Andy Forsberg[2]; 14. 7W-Dennis Scherer[18]; 15. 45-Jake Morgan[8]; 16. 00-Steel Powell[11]; 17. 25X-Johnny Reeves[17]; 18. 28K-Kaden Ramos[20]; 19. 98-Chris Masters[19]; 20. 25-Cody Johnson[16]

Kings Meats Ltd. Late Models:

1. 37-Ray Trimble[4]; 2. 4X-Anthony Slaney[3]; 3. 57-Rod Oliver[6]; 4. 23J-Tyler Lightfoot[7]; 5. 54-Matt Davis[2]; 6. 17Y-Tim Yeager[5]; 7. 22-Chris Mcginnis[9]; 8. 22TL-Les Friend[10]; 9. 11-Adam Starkey[11]; 10. 72R-Ryan DeForest[12]; 11. 22G-Paul Gugliomoni[1]; 12. 57A-Andrew Odgers[8]; 13. 10A-Ted Ahart[13]

Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stocks:

1. 17-Nick Baldwin[2]; 2. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[4]; 3. 86-Wayne Trimble[3]; 4. 23J-Tyler Lightfoot[1]; 5. 87-Jason Poppert[6]; 6. 12J-Jason Ramos[5]; 7. 48-Jeff Law[7]

Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks:

1. 92N-Noah LaPoint[4]; 2. 76C-Dan Jinkerson[5]; 3. 07-Brian Tremblay[2]; 4. 17-Luke Costa[6]; 5. 16-Mike Miller[3]; 6. 22-Nick Perkins[11]; 7. 26-Paizlee Miller[9]; 8. 21-Paige Miller[10]; 9. 70-Tyler Goggin[7]; 10. 369-Emmett Fanning[8]; 11. 03-Kevin Jinkerson[1]; 12. 28-Howard Miller[12]

Images courtesy of Positive Times Photography