Netto, Law and Spencer Win Tribute to Toller
Marysville, CA (February 26, 2017) – The action was fast and furious on a hooked-up lightning quick Marysville Raceway surface Saturday night. Despite the cold weather numerous fans and drivers showed up to pay tribute to Sherm and Loree Toller, an annual race that kicks off the racing season at Marysville. A nice turnout of cars saw 18 winged 360 sprints, 26 C&H Veteran Ent. presents Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour cars and 8 Sport Mods.
Hanford’s D.J. Netto parked the Tri-C Machine / Netto Ag #3c in victory lane during the 25-lap winged sprint car race. Netto inherited the lead on lap seven when two separate incidents took place on the track. Second place running Andy Forsberg came to a stop in turn four to bring out the caution; however, Shawn Conde was flipping in turn one that ultimately collected race leader Geoff Ensign. Ensign quickly vacated the car and was done for the night. Forsberg and crew could make repairs and clean out a ton of mud that was accumulated inside the front end of the #7c and send him back out to continue the race.
The race started off bad for two drivers who were originally slated to start on the front row. Before the initial green flag was waived, Justyn Cox and his #31c went to the pit area and did not return. Fellow front row starter Tony Gualda tipped upside down on the first lap and he like Cox would not return.
As always, the one driver charging towards the front was Justin Sanders. The former track champion started 14th and quickly moved up through the field. On lap 17 Sanders moved into second but by then Netto had already amassed a large lead. The other driver on the move was Forsberg. He restarted 13th and charged back up to third with a handful of laps to go. Netto navigated lapped traffic with ease and won by a comfortable margin. Sanders and Forsberg were followed by Jake Haulot and Kenny Allen.
Forsberg picked an extra $100 bonus presented by Mel’s Transmission by turning the fastest lap in qualifying. Forsberg’s fast lap was 12.121. Geoff Ensign, Tony Gualda and Justyn Cox each won their 8-lap heat race.
Howard Law won the hotly contested Sport Mod main event. Law said, “We had fun tonight, ruffled some feathers and got the win.” It sounded like a normal night for Law. Todd Cooper led the opening few laps of the race. On lap six Cooper surrendered the lead Law. Behind Law Cooper and Phillip Shelby did some on track bumping and banging. Shelby would secure the second spot on the final lap. Law is a solid competitor and looked comfortable up front as the leader. Brian Cooper played it cool all night and finished fourth. Thomas Reynolds finished in the fifth. Garrett Hamilton survived a scary situation on lap 11 when his front bumper fell off and he subsequently ran it over. When this happened, it punched a hole in the oil pan and a big fire erupted. It was quickly extinguished and Hamilton escaped without injury.
A wild C&H Veteran Ent. presents Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour opening night at the Marysville Raceway saw Orangevale, Ca driver Cody Spencer come out on top during a chaotic late-race scramble, scoring his first career victory with the tour in the process.
Spencer was also making his first ever start in the Mark Dolner owned No. 7EJ Sprinter on Saturday night and made it pay off during a back and forth 25-lap Sherm & Loree Toller Memorial feature.
“What a great way to kick off the year with a new team,” Spencer commented. “I can’t thank these guys enough for allowing me to drive this car. I’m really excited about the new C&H Hunt Wingless series. There are a lot of great people involved in the new series that are really trying to give back to the racers and the fans. I’m just thankful to be a part of it. Hopefully we can do this a lot in 2017.”
The A-main started out with reigning C&H Veteran Ent. presents Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour champion Klint Simpson of Santa Rosa and Citrus Heights’ Kalib Henry on the front row. At the waving of the green flag it was Henry who jumped to the lead, in what was his first career wingless sprint car start. The 17-year-old Silver Dollar Speedway Winged 410 Rookie of the Year from last season looked strong out front in the early stages.
As often the case in opening season events there were a number of cautions during the feature that slowed down the contest. Henry was able to hold strong out front, until reported power steering issues had developed that forced him to fight his car for the remainder on the heavy and rough surface. With the race winding down Simpson then stepped up his challenges and was able to charge under Henry to grab the lead. A red flag just before the finish then made for a green-white-checkered restart and what resulted was pure chaos up front.
As Simpson led the field back to green last year’s final round winner DJ Johnson of Stockton attempted to get by and steal the opening night win away. Contact ensued however, and ultimately saw both drivers get upside down to end their shot at victory. Spencer was able to avoid the melee and go on to score the improbable win. Santa Rosa’s Terry Schank Jr. came home in second, with Sacramento’s Troy Degaton, Tracy’s Austin Ligett and Sebastopol’s Geoff Ensign rounding out the top-five. Chris Kerr, Josh Vierra, Simpson, Johnson and Ryan Souza completed the top-10.
Full results can be found at www.marysvilleraceway.com
