Tuesday, April 10, 2018
By Gary Thomas
– Stockton, CA – Coming off a successful opener the Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards will look to continue the momentum this Saturday with round two in the championship battle, which takes place at the third annual Jimmy Sills Classic in Stockton.
This Saturday’s event honors the legendary Jimmy Sills and marks the third straight year that the event will be held at the Stockton Dirt Track. In his storied career Jimmy Sills tallied numerous major accomplishments including six wins at the Dirt Cup in Washington, which ranks number one all-time at the prestigious event. One of his more revered triumphs at the race came in 1980 when he ran the alphabet from the D-main to beat out the late great Gary Patterson for the victory.
In addition to that and his three USAC Silver Crown titles, the “Professor” has also scored wins at the Mini Gold Cup, the Oval Nationals, the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic, the Jayhawk Nationals, Ohio Speedweek, the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial, the Tribute to Gary Patterson and countless other major events. In 1983 he captured a preliminary night at the prestigious Knoxville Nationals and went on to finish fifth in the Saturday finale.
Sills was also the all-time leader in victories at the now defunct Baylands Raceway Park and throughout the years has claimed wins in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Long story short the Elverta, California resident has been one of the most respected short track racers to ever come out of the Golden State and we look forward to recognizing him this Saturday night. In 2006 Sills was bestowed one of the highest honors a driver can receive when he was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
Defending Jimmy Sills Classic champion Mitchell Faccinto goes into the Stockton Dirt Track fresh off his season-opening Sprint Car Challenge Tour victory on March 31. The Hanford racer in fact, earned both of his tour wins last year in Stockton and has always gotten around 4/10-mile-oval in strong fashion. Rounding out the top-five at the recent Placerville Speedway opener was Penngrove’s Buddy Kofoid, Grass Valley’s Brad Sweet, Paradise’ Kyle Hirst and Fremont’s Shane Golobic.
A strong field of Winged 360 Sprint Cars is set to converge upon the Stockton clay and will also include San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi, Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Roseville’s Willie Croft and Sean Becker, Penngrove’s Chase Johnson, Watsonville’s Justin Sanders, Hollister’s Tony Gualda, Clarksburg’s Justyn Cox, Minden, Nevada’s Tanner Thorson, Hanford’s DJ Netto, Cameron Park’s Shane Hopkins, Fremont’s Dustin Golobic, Roseville’s Colby Copeland, Escalon’s Cody Hodgson, Stockton’s Matt Petersen and many more.
Adult tickets this Saturday April 14 at the Stockton Dirt Track will cost $20, kids 5-10 will be $10 and those four and under are free. All seating will be general admission. Online tickets are available at here.
The pit gate is scheduled to open at 1pm. The front gate opens at 4pm. Cars will hit the track around 5pm with hot laps, qualifying and racing to follow. Prior to the races we’ll have an autograph session set up with Jimmy Sills, Kyle Offill and Lucas Ashe from 4pm-5pm.
The standard SCCT muffler rule will be in effect on Saturday and the drivers meeting is slated to take place at 4:15.
The Stockton Dirt Track is a lightning fast 4/10-mile clay oval located on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton, California. The physical address is 1658 S Airport Way, Stockton, CA 95206. For information on the speedway visit www.stocktondirttrack.com
The Sprint Car Challenge Tour is proudly sponsored by Elk Grove Ford, Abreu Vineyards, Hoosier Racing Tires, Bianchi Farms, Kyle Larson Racing, All Star Performance, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, BR Motorsports, King Racing Products, Pit Stop USA, Auto Meter, ADCO Driveline & Exhaust, Bullard Construction, Chris Kenner Racing Specialties/ Security Race Products, CLT Logging, CRV Carbon Solutions, D&D Roofing, Driven2SaveLives, Dynachrome, Finley Farms, Garner Heat Treat Inc., Garth Moore Insurance and Financial Services, Jockos Sprint Parts, Keizer Wheels, Kevin Sharrah Designs, Light Up the World Beverages, Moto Wear, Metal Works, Naake Suspension, PT Shocks, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Quick Time Mortgage, Race Punk, R&R Racewear, Saldana Racing Products, Team Ford of Woodland, Walker Performance Filtration and Winters Performance.
The Sprint Car Challenge Tour is operated under the Russell Motorsports Inc. banner, which also manages the Placerville Speedway in Placerville, California. For sponsorship opportunities and inquiries, RMI can be reached at 530-344-7592 or office@sprintcarchallengetour.com
More information on the Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards can be found at our official
Website www.sprintcarchallengetour.com – Be sure to also like us on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sprintcarchallengetour and follow on
Twitter https://twitter.com/360SCCT for the latest breaking news regarding SCCT.
Upcoming Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards events:
Saturday April 14: Stockton Dirt Track (Third annual Jimmy Sills Classic)
Saturday April 28: Petaluma Speedway
Friday May 18: Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway (Fifth annual Peter Murphy Classic)
