Golobic Hammers Home on Maselli Hardware Civil War Night
PETALUMA, CA – Sept 26
by Petersen Media & Rick Faeth- An extremely tight three-headed Civil War Series Championship battle tightened up even more after Saturday night’s stop in Petaluma, CA, as reigning series champ, Shane Golobic, was dominant in route to his second win of the season. Colby Copeland and Shane Golobic would lead the field to green on an old-school, hooked up Petaluma Speedway, with Copeland getting the jump and getting off to a nice lead. With the leaders moving at a blistering pace, traffic would come into play by lap five, and making a slight hiccup in turns three and four Copeland would open the door, and Golobic would seize the opportunity to take command of the race and lead before the red flew on lap nine. Following a pair of yellows on the ensuing restart and on lap 10, Golobic would continue to lead the way but behind him, Justin Sanders would move into the second spot, as Justyn Cox held down third, and a charging Geoff Ensign was working into the top-five from his 14th starting position, as he battled Andy Forsberg. With all three title contenders in the top-five, Golobic, who sits third in points, would continue to run up front, though Justin Sanders, who sits second, would begin to reel him in during the races closing laps. Erasing what was a sizeable lead, Sanders would bring the crowd to their feet in the final two laps as he made a serious run on Golobic, but the Fremont driver would not be denied on this night, as he parked his Keith Day Trucking No. 22 machine in victory lane. Sanders would finish in the second spot, Cox third, Ensign would take the checkered flag in the fourth spot after coming from 14th, and series point leader, Andy Forsberg would round out the top-five. Thirty cars signed in, and it was the “Shark” Sean Becker setting the standard in time trials as he flirted with the track record. A four heat-race program was in play, and wins would go to Golobic, Jeremy Burt, Forsberg, and Justin Sanders, while local up-and-comer Riley Matson won the semi and Shane Golobic won the dash.
The Larsen Racing Products IMCA Modifieds competed in their last seasonal point event and saw veteran Mitch Machado pick up the heat race win. The main event saw an upset as 7-time track champion Michael Paul Jr. do an outstanding job of holding off track champion Nick DeCarlo as the duo waged a close fendered battle to the checkers. DeCarlo captured 9 of the 11 main events to defend his 2014 track championship. Closely behind the Paul-DeCarlo pair was Oreste Gonnella, followed by Machado and David Spriggs.
The final Santa Rosa Auto Body 600’s event was well represented with 22 entries. Doing double-duty Koen Shaw nabbed the first heat. Jenna Perkins continued her recent run of success with a heat two win, while Santa Rosa’s David Engstrom logged the third heat. The 20-lap finale saw Engstrom get away cleanly as Steven Garris, Bruno Bianchi, and Jim Beck trailed. Engstrom celebrated his recent return to the 600 class after several years away with the surprise win. Finishing second and earning the championship was Beck, third was Morrison, over Bianchi, and Garris.
Petaluma Speedway will return to action Saturday Night, Oct 10th featuring the 4th Annual Adobe Cup, featuring 30-lap winged 360 and spec sprint main events, and a 40-lap open comp super stock race. For more information please go to http://www.petaluma-speedway.com.
