QUINCY, CALIFORNIA (July 16) — American Valley Speedway staged the next round of its 2022 season Saturday. It was a good night full of a hard racing and a lot of action on the track.
That action began right at the start of the Mini Stock main. Right at the green Lilly Montgomery and Victor Torres tangled. Both had to pit for flat tires.
On the second start Matt Canada and Suzi Schmitt were up front. A few laps later both leaders tangled on the backstretch. Canada was able to keep going but Schmitt’s car had to be towed to the pits. The red flag did come out to keep the area clear for the clean up.
Matt Canada takes the checkered flag as he wins the Mini Stock main.
On the restart Anthony Hovland was on point with Stephen Crook and Canada giving chase. There would be another caution so a competitor could get a flat changed.
When the green waved again Hovland briefly led until Canada took the lead and they would finish in that order.
Matt Canada, the Mini Stock winner, is donating any money he wins this year to a charity the if fight breast cancer.
After stopping in front of the grand stand Canada said, “I’d like to thank all my sponsors but the most import is King Fishing for Breast Cancer. Everything I win for this year goes to them. Their website is, www.kingfishing.com.
“The track was really good tonight. Kind of rough in 1 and2 but 3 and 4 were pretty good. It kind of got dry slicked out a little bit.”
Next up were the Hobby Stocks. What they lacked in numbers the drivers more than made up with hard racing. On the green Steve Gordon was on point with Johnny Moya giving chase.
Behind them Jason Emmott was on the move and got a bit over eager taking the leader out as well as causing a caution. When everyone got back in order and Moya got a push start the green waved again.
Now Steve Gordon was on point with Emmott and Moya chasing him. Eventually Moya took the lead with the others close behind.
Eventual Hobby Stock winner Johnny Moya leads Steve Gordon, who ended up third in the main.
Heading to the checkered flag is when the wheels came off the cart.
All four had contact with at least one spinning and winding up backwards as they slid across the line together. It took a while to find out who won and in the end it appears that Moya came out on top of this melee.
When the Sport Mods took the green flag the unnumbered white car of Brittney Nieman was on point with Phil Marino and Vince Evenson giving chase. Soon Evenson used an inside move to take the lead and started to pull away.
His advantage was short lived due to a caution from a spin in Turn 3 by Nieman. On the restart Evenson led Marino, who for some reason slowed but got going again.
In the Sport Mod main Phil Marino suffered front suspension failure after getting a flat. Here the tire separates from his damaged left front wheel.
Turns out Marino had a front left flat but decided to keep going. Eventually Marino had a suspension failure that ended his race early. In fact after losing a tire and other things his car was towed back to the pits.
Driving a car that was bought about four hours before he raced it Vince Evenson won the Sport Mod main.
Up front Evenson was on a roll and claimed the victory followed by Nieman and Tyler Jones. When it came time for the victory interview the entire Evenson clan came down to join in.
“I’d like to thank my dad and these two little girls right here. This car we actually bought probably four hours ago. I just came out to test it as they are going to drive it.
Sport Mod winner Vince Evenson is joined by his father, who hours before bought the car and his sisters. One of whom will be driving the car.
“The track was super fun and it’s fun when it’s really racy like that. It was a little tight coming out of the corners but we made some improvement. We’ve got a great guy that we bought the car from, Jimmy Ray Huffman and thank you for your set up advice, I really appreciate that.“
Then he thanked his dad, both sisters and Reno Rock Transport.
When the A Mod main began Kate Robertson was on point with Ryan McDaniel and Chris Nieman giving chase. A couple of laps later McDaniel took over the lead as Robertson slipped back to third.
There were several cautions that slowed the field. One of them happened when McDaniel stopped in Turn 4 then exited the track with a problem that put him out of the race. Now Chris Nieman was the leader and on the restart he took off.
Chris Nieman on his way to winning the A Mod feature.
Robertson had worked herself into second but one more spin in Turn 4 had her going to the pits. With three to go there was one more caution.
Up front Chris Nieman scored the win followed by Chase Nieman and Joe Backwell.
A Mod winner Chris Nieman celebrates with his girl friend and their daughter.
After the race Neman said, “The track was was fast. Need to thank Lonnie, Grandma Cheryl, my girl friend, my baby Chelsie and everybody that helps out. The track was good but had quite a bit more moisture than I thought.”
Next up for American Valley is Sunday, July 31, which is the annual Fair Race. Start time is 6 p.m. and the races are part of the Plumas Sierra County Fair. A great way for some to come early, experience this wonderful county fair and end the day with racing
