Faccinto claims Placerville championship

On Legends Night at Placerville Speedway Shane Golobic captured an entertaining winged 360 sprint car feature, while Michael Faccinto wrapped up his first career track championship.

A packed house on Saturday also saw Lincoln’s Dan Brown Jr. snag the win with the limited late models and Diamond Springs’ Dan Jinkerson lock up the track title for the third straight year.

Oakley’s Nick Baldwin capped off his fifth pure stock championship in style with a victory in the main event, with Lincoln’s Dylan Shrum earning another triumph in the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association feature. Rio Oso driver Landon Brooks finished off the Western Sprint Tour Speedweek South title as well.

The 25-lap winged sprint car finale began with excitement as Colby Copeland and Andy Forsberg exchanged the lead multiple times at the start. The duo got extremely close together at one point in turn four, which forced Forsberg to make a great save to continue. Copeland then felt pressure from Fremont’s Shane Golobic, as several drivers battled it out behind them.

With action all over the track the top three cars began to bunch up as lapped traffic came into play. Golobic had his opening on lap 13 and made the move to assume the point, relegating Copeland back to second. Forsberg then found a new life and was right in the thick of it when things changed on lap 18. With a pair of cars sitting idle in turn four, the field had to take evasive action, which resulted in Forsberg getting caught by another car near the infield k-rail, ultimately ending his night.

Golobic then clicked off the final seven laps for his 13th career winged 360 sprint car triumph at Placerville Speedway, which paid $4,850-to-win aboard his No. 17w. Copeland, Justin Sanders, Landon Brooks and Tanner Carrick completed the top five.

The top-10 was rounded out by 15th starting Dylan Bloomfield, Faccinto, Justyn Cox, Ryan Bernal and Kalib Henry. Faccinto’s seventh-place run was good enough to lock up his initial Placerville Speedway title. He becomes the fourth different driver to claim a track championship for Friends & Family Racing, joining Andy Forsberg, David Robinson Jr. and Mason Moore.

Faccinto began the evening earning the $850 Fast Time Award. His lap of 10.833 paced the 40-car field in time trials.

The 20-lap main event for the limited late models saw a dominating performance turned in by Dan Brown Jr. aboard his No. 15 machine. The multi-time Placerville Speedway track champion pulled away from the field over the course of the contest and was never seriously challenged.

Brown eventually accepted the checkered flag for his 15th career late model win at the track, which ranks No. 4 on the all-time list. Paul Gugliomoni came home in second, with Wayne Trimble third, recent winner Matt Micheli in fourth and birthday boy Rod Oliver in fifth. Jinkerson crossed the stripe in sixth and finished off his third consecutive late model title.

The pure stock main event showcased thrilling moments right down to the wire. Oakley’s Nick Baldwin started from the front row, but things were definitely not easy for the veteran. Auburn’s Thomas Arbogast has been fast all season long and found the high-line to his liking Saturday night.

As Baldwin ran consistent laps up front, Arbogast began cutting away at his advantage while running the cushion. It was anybody’s race over the final circuits. The final lap saw Arbogast give it one final shot upstairs but Baldwin was calm, cool and collected en route to the checkered flag for his 25th career win.

It marked the fourth straight pure stock championship for Baldwin and his fifth overall. Arbogast, Kevin Jinkerson, Kenny Bernstein and Clarence Holbrook rounded out the top five.

The 20-lap Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association main event also provided fans with some entertaining competition on the red clay. Fairfield veteran Mike “Spanky” Grenert held command out front over much of the contest, as he looked to make it two wins in a row at Placerville Speedway.

Behind him though cars raced on every inch of the bullring. Lincoln’s Dylan Shrum had already picked off a pair of wins at the track this season and eventually began to work the high-side in his pursuit of the top-spot.

Shrum finally got the run he needed on lap 16 as Grenert also got loose off the fourth corner. After that, Shrum raced away to record victory No. 3 on the season at Placerville over brother Cody in second, Ben Wiesz third, Kevin “Hollywood” Bender in fourth and Mike Reeder fifth.

Placerville Speedway returns to action this coming Labor Day weekend with the two-night Nor*Cal Posse Shootout for winged sprint cars and wingless spec sprints. Reserved tickets are available for Saturday and Sunday Sept. 2-3 by visiting placervillespeedway.com

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