Tanner Carrick wins a last lap thriller at Placerville Speedway on Saturday
By Gary Thomas
Images courtesy of Devin M Photography
Placerville, CA…Lincoln’s Tanner Carrick performed some final lap magic at Placerville Speedway on Saturday, as the 19-year-old slipped to the inside of Jodie Robinson, before narrowly nipping her at the line to win an ultra-exciting Thompson’s Winged 360 Sprint Car feature.
The annual Bryan Carnett Clash saw a total of 94-cars pack the pit area at the Placerville bullring on Saturday. In addition to Carrick, also claiming victories at the event were Bobby Hogge with the Ltd. Late Models, Dan Jinkerson in the Pure Stocks, Ben Wiesz with the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association and Ron Rezz with the Vintage Hard Tops.
Roseville’s Jodie Robinson was fresh off a solid outing at Ocean Speedway the previous night and rocketed into the lead at the waving of the green flag in the Winged 360 feature. The 18-year-old navigated the high-side to perfection and held a steady advantage over much of the 25-lapper, but the racing behind her remained entertaining. Point leader Joel Myers Jr., Andy Gregg, Tanner Carrick, Andy Forsberg and others fought high and low on the quarter-mile.
With the main event winding down things closed in lapped traffic, as Myers and Carrick looked to make something happen with Robinson out front. A late caution created the game changing restart however, and during it Carrick sliced to the inside of Myers to grab second, before coming after the lead. When Ron Stahl waved the white flag Carrick hit the bottom just how he wanted and drove under Robinson to snag the lead heading into the final corners.
Robinson attempted to dive back underneath heading down the front stretch, but Carrick was able to cross the stripe by an official margin of victory that read 0.265 seconds. It marked his third career triumph at the speedway and second this season. Despite not getting the win Robinson must be commended for driving an exceptional race to earn her best finish of 2021 in Placerville. Hanford’s Michael Faccinto continued his impressive string of events at the track, driving from 11th to third.
Andy Gregg had a very solid run in the feature as well to claim fourth, with Lincoln’s Blake Carrick rounding out the top-five. Joel Myers Jr., Kalib Henry, Kaleb Montgomery, Landon Brooks and Forsberg rounded out the top-10. Montgomery captured the B-main, while heat races went to Jake Andreotti, Landon Brooks, Myers Jr. and Gregg. Montgomery began the night by earning the ADCO Driveline Fast Time Award by pacing the 29-car field in qualifying with a lap of 10.721.
Whenever there is big money on the line and Bobby Hogge is in the field you know it’s going to be a tall order for the rest of the field. That turned out to be the fact on Saturday, although it didn’t come easy for the Salinas veteran over the waning stages of the 20-lapper. Lincoln’s Dan Brown Jr. led the early laps over teammate Jay Norton, but they soon felt pressure in the form of Hogge. The California icon carved his way to the inside on a restart and charged into the top-spot.
Hogge looked to be on way to an easy payday, but Brown Jr. found speed late in the going and closed right up to Hogge’s bumper. The duo raced close together but at the end it was Hogge who took home the $2,500 Carnett Clash grand prize. Brown finished second to earn a cool $1,500 while Norton will score $1,000 for his third-place effort. Dan Jinkerson and Clark Gugliomoni rounded out the top-five. Tyler Lightfoot, Kiely Ricardo, Tom Tilford, Rod Oliver and Kevin Jinkerson completed the top-10. Hogge and Norton claimed the two heat races, as a total of 17-cars competed at the Carnett.
The 20-lap Pure Stock feature was plagued by several cautions early on but nothing was slowing the fast moving Dan Jinkerson, who took home the $1,200 victory on Saturday. Brother Kevin and Nick Baldwin battled side by side over the opening stages, before Dan charged into the top-spot that he would never relinquish. It marked his 34th career victory at Placerville Speedway in the division.
Kevin Jinkerson crossed the stripe in second followed by Baldwin, Wayne Trimble, Chris McGinnis, Dave Silva, Matt Tilford, $500 mystery spot winner Phil Wilkins and Travis Emery in the top-10. Heat race wins were snagged by Kevin Jinkerson, Nick Baldwin and Dan Jinkerson. A total of 19 Pure Stocks were on hand to honor the late Bryan Carnett.
As customary the action with the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association was exceptional on Saturday night. Several drivers battled up front racing on every square inch of the Placerville Speedway. Colfax competitor Ben Wiesz, Galt’s Ryan Winter, Fairfield’s Mike Grenert and Camino’s Shawn Whitney put on a show for the solid crowd on hand in the stands. Winter had moved into the lead and most thought that was going to be all she wrote, but Wiesz had other ideas as he tucked up to the inside and came after the top-spot.
The duo was fun to watch with Wiesz catfishing down low and Winter running the ragged edge of the bullring. Wiesz inched ahead and ultimately drove away to claim the win over Winter, Grenert, Whitney and Dylan Shrum in the top-five. Rounding out the top-10 in the 20-lap contest were 19th starter Josh Wiesz, Mike Reeder, Dan Geil, Gage Meyers and Corey Eaton. Heat race victories during the night were earned by Mike Grenert, Ben Wiesz and Dylan Shrum. A total of 21-cars competed on Saturday.
The Placerville Speedway returns to action this coming Sunday for the annual 4th of July Freedom Fireworks Spectacular. Tickets for the event go on sale Monday June 28th at 8am by visiting www.placervillespeedway.com
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