SCCT & Crate Sprints Set for Hall Memorial This Saturday
Crate Sprints Join SCCT with Hall Memorial at Marysville Saturday
By Gary Thomas and Troy Hennig
Marysville, CA…The busiest stretch of the season for the Sprint Car Challenge Tour gets underway this Saturday with the 24th running of the “Mel & Marlyn Hall Memorial” at Marysville Raceway. Add in the Marysville Raceway Crate Sprints and this is a can’t miss show.
This Saturday’s event marks the third race of the season for the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour. The first two rounds in Stockton and Merced last month were claimed by Aromas driver Justin Sanders and Dale Miller Racing.
Koa Crane leads the Crate Sprints point standings. Crane has won three of the five-point races this season. He holds a 16-point lead over Matthew Kaiser, who won the 20-lap main event last Saturday night. Jason Ballantine holds down the third spot in points. Ballantine has one win this season. Derek Droivold sits in the fourth spot. Mike Ballantine rounds out the top five.
Sanders, the 2018 winner of the Mel & Marlyn Hall Memorial, currently sits atop the standings over Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Penngrove’s Chase Johnson, Oakley’s Dylan Bloomfield and Clovis’ Dominic Gorden. Last season saw Auburn’s Andy Forsberg match Colby Wiesz for the most all-time wins at the event, having claimed his sixth career Hall Memorial checkered flag.
Racing was certainly a passion of the Hall family. They epitomized the great strengths of being at the forefront of the sport when it came to on-track racing and off-track promotions. Mel Hall believed in a united Sprint Car traveling organization and in the early 1990’s was one of the founding fathers of the Civil War Series, which is fundamentally what the Sprint Car Challenge Tour continues in the Golden State.
With their unmeasurable work ethic, the Halls were heavily involved in the now defunct Ernie Purcell Speedway in Grass Valley, before taking over operation of Twin Cities Speedway (now Marysville Raceway) in late 1994. Hall is credited with bringing professional Sprint Car racing to the Yuba-Sutter facility, which persists to this very day under the current management of Gage Promotions.
The Hall’s left their ego at the door and did the things needed for a successful series and management of Marysville Raceway. They never did this for fame and glory or pats on the back. They were simple people who had a vision and did the best they could to make it a reality. Mel passed away on May 22, 1999, and we lost Marlyn in August of 2020.
The event held in their memory remains a cornerstone on the track schedule.
Tickets and Details:
Adult tickets at Marysville Raceway this Saturday May 25th cost $24; while juniors 12-15, seniors 62+ and military are $20; kids 6-11 cost $10 and those five and under will be free. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or via https://www.eventsprout.com/event/marysville-raceway-2024
The pit gate will open at 3pm, with the front gate opening at 5pm and pit meeting at 4:45pm. Cars hit the track at 5:30, with hot laps, Sierra Foothills Wine Services qualifying and racing to follow.
The event will follow the standard SCCT muffler rule, which is either the Large Flowmaster or Large Spintech Muffler as described in the rulebook.
For those who can’t make it to the track CaliDirt.TV provides live coverage of every Sprint Car Challenge Tour event. The service also covers every championship point race at Placerville Speedway. Fans can purchase through a cost savings monthly membership or on a per race basis via https://calidirt.tv/
The Marysville Raceway is in Marysville, California. From the Junction of HWY 70 and HWY 20 (12th Street), go a quarter-mile east on HWY 20. Turn south onto Ramirez Road for 1.5 miles. The physical address is 1468 Simpson Ln, Marysville, CA 95901.
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