81 Cars Competed at Hawes Memorial


81 Cars Competed at Hawes Memorial

MARYSVILLE RACEWAY

(October 31, 2021)                                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Forsberg Wins Again at Marysville

Auburn’s Andy Forsberg bested 30 other sprint car competitors to win his second consecutive Paul Hawes Memorial at Marysville Raceway on Halloween Eve.  It also marked his second win in a row to close out the 2021 racing season at the raceway.  Forsberg also won the winged sprint car race held at Marysville on August 28th.  The win didn’t come easy for Forsberg.  He had to overcome the seven-pill drawn by Auburn’s Jimmy Wall.  From there Forsberg had to maneuver his was into the lead on a track that was bottom heavy.  Placerville’s Shane Hopkins was impressive tonight.  Hopkins passed Forsberg late in the race to take the lead.  Hopkins led the field to the white flag but entering turn one he hit the big hole that had developed and bounced up the track just enough for Forsberg to thunder to his inside.  Neither driver gave up as they raced side by side for the lead going into turn three.  Forsberg had the preferred line on the bottom.  As the two raced off turn four, Forsberg drifted up, allowing Hopkins to dive back to the inside.  In dramatic fashion, the two crossed the finish line even to the naked eye.  However, the electronics showed Forsberg winning the race by a mere 0.012 seconds, the closest recorded finish in recent memory.  Finishing third was Stephen Ingraham who led the first few laps and held on to finish in the third spot.  The race ended after midnight, which allowed us to celebrate Ingraham’s 23rd birthday at the track.  Colby Wiesz and Brad Bumgarner rounded out the top five.

Jimmy Christian won the wingless spec sprint feature.  Brent Steck led the first three laps.  Nathan Schank Jr. led the next 11-laps until contact with another driver ended his night.  The race started with a huge pile up on the front stretch involving the front row starters Shane Hopkins and Josh Young.  Four other cars were involved.  Cody Fendley charged from eleventh to the second spot.  He passed James East on the next to last lap.

Brett Youngman returned to his winning ways and won the Crate Sprint main event.  Jason Ballentine did a great job as usual.  He led quite a bit of the race and finished second.  Jeff Macedo finished third and once again was up front where he belongs.  David Sims continued his streak of top five finishes with s fourth place run.  Misty Castleberry returned to the No. 95 and finished fifth.  It was great to see the former champ back in her happy place.

The BCRA Lightning Sprints put on a good show.  This group raced hard and fast for their 20-lap main event.  In the end it was Hunter Kinney winning the 20-lap main event.  Terry Bergstrom finished second.  Scott Kinney finished third.  This group finished their main event in just under 12 minutes which was much appreciated by the fans.

Full results are here https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1932168

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