By Gary Thomas

 

Chico, CA – June 4, 2016…Over the last few years the David Tarter Memorial has never lacked excitement and on Saturday night another instant classic was born at Silver Dollar Speedway, with Paradise, Ca’s Kyle Hirst making a scintillating late race charge to get by young upstart Michael Ing on the final lap of the feature.

 

The outstanding final part of the main event capped a great night of celebration & remembrance of the late David Tarter, who we lost in 2012. After taking the checkered flag Hirst once again parked in turn four and saluted the Tarter family & friends that famously sit in the fourth corner bleachers. The two-time King of the West champ also won the event in 2014 with a masterful drive from the 16^th starting spot that year.

 

Hirst’s $3500 victory this time around came from the outside of the fourth row and couldn’t have been more exciting, as he scored his second King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series victory of the season at Silver Dollar Speedway. It was also his 18^th career King of the West win, which gives him sole possession of fifth on the all-time series list.

 

“I hope everyone enjoyed that race because it sure was fun where I was sitting,” the 28-year-old driver commented. “This is such a special race and it means a lot to win it for the second time in the last three years. I really want to thank everyone that makes it possible to drive this Tarlton & Son/ Roth Motorsports car. Michael Ing did a great job in the main event so I really have to give him kudos as well. I have a lot of confidence in this team right now. Hopefully we can go get a lot more wins as the summer goes on.”

 

For much of the 35-lap feature it looked as if Roseville’s Sean Becker would complete the weekend sweep after winning Friday’s track point race. The 2005 King of the West champ captured the dash and blasted into the lead at the waving of the green flag. 

 

Early on it was Hanford’s DJ Netto that gave chase after the fast moving Becker, until getting over the edge of turns three & four to bring out a yellow flag on lap 19. This moved Chico’s own Michael Ing up to second, who was having a very impressive weekend up to that point. The 17-year-old certainly opened a lot of eyes and was able to keep pace with Becker as the race wore on.

 

On lap 31 the complexion of the main event then changed when Becker got over the edge in turn four, allowing Ing & Hirst the opportunity to get by. With Ing now leading the race he looked to score one of the major upsets in King of the West competition, but Hirst had other ideas. With the white flag in the air he motored to Ing’s inside and inched ahead off the second corner as the crowd came to their feet. That turned out to be all she wrote as Hirst took the Ed Entz checkered flag with just over a second to spare.

 

Ing ended the race with a career best runner up finish aboard the Ing Excavation No. 21 mount. The youngster drove an outstanding race and should be commended for putting together such a strong night. After leading the first 30-laps Becker crossed the stripe in third at the helm of the Menne Motorsports No. 75 machine. Although disappointed it was still a strong weekend for the man they call the “Shark.” 

 

Chico’s Jonathan Allard had a solid run to drive from 12^th to fourth in the feature, with Grass Valley’s Jason Statler earning the $250 hard charger award by carving his way from 15^th to fifth. It was great to see the “Big Guy” have a good night.

 

The top-10 was rounded out by Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Sacramento’s Willie Croft, Netto and Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan.

 

As noted Becker took home the Dash and the $250 prize that went with it. The three 10-lap Heat Races were picked off by DJ Netto, Sean Becker and Kyle Hirst. Bobby McMahan opened the night by setting fast time in the 24-car field with a lap of 11.849 around the quarter-mile. The veteran went home with $500 courtesy of Kyle Larson Racing. Full results will be available at www.racepmg.com

 

A-main finish: 1. #21X Kyle Hirst, 2. #21 Michael Ing, 3. #75 Sean Becker, 4. #3C Jonathan Allard, 5. #00 Jason Statler, 6. #37 Mitchell Faccinto, 7. #0 Bud Kaeding, 8. #29 Willie Croft, 9. #88N D.J. Netto, 10. #25 Bobby McMahan, 11. #5H Cory Eliason, 12. #98 Sean Watts, 13. #M21 Kalib Henry, 14. #12 Jarrett Soares, 15. #5V Seth Nunes, 16. #93 Stephen Ingraham, 17. #42 Chase Majdic, 18. #2R Richard Brace Jr., 19. #49 Mike Monahan, 20. #92 Andy Forsberg, 21. #31C Justyn Cox, 22. #19 Keith Bloom

 

The King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will head next for the Jimmy Sills Classic on June 18 at the Stockton Dirt Track, which is a part of the San Joaquin County Fair. With paid admission to the fair, upper deck grandstand tickets cost $10 & lower deck tickets are $5. Pre-sale race tickets to be held at will call & picked up on day of race can be purchased by also calling 916-370-9417.

 

Adult fair admission is $10, kids 6-12 will be $5 and children 5 & under are free. Seniors, students & military with id cost $7. Fair admission can be pre-bought at https://sanjoaquinfairgrounds.com/fair/ & features a $2 discount until June 14 using the code 2off at checkout.  

 

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