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Forsberg edges Wood for record tying Tribute to Al Hinds win

2025-03-23 17:07

Placerville, CA…Ten-time Placerville Speedway champion Andy Forsberg held off a fast-closing Austin Wood to score his fourth Tribute to Al Hinds triumph on Saturday night.

With his win the Auburn veteran matched Justin Sanders for the most all-time Tribute to Al Hinds victories. It marked his 73rd career Winged 360 Sprint Car win on the red clay and came aboard the Pacific Highway Rentals No. 92 mount.

"I felt like I was cruising along out there and all of a sudden here comes this youngster Austin Wood," Forsberg commented. "He's like 14 and I'm definitely older than that, so it shows the wide gap of generations we have out here. It's cool to win another Al Hinds race. Back in the day I would go up in the stands with Al when he was still around just to chat, and we really miss that guy."

Forsberg earned the pole in the feature by way of "Striking Gold" in his heat race, winning it from starting position number four. He had his way with things for much of the contest as drivers raced for position behind him.

With the main event winding down, Austin Wood and Tanner Carrick began exchanging the runner up spot back and forth. Carrick provided some of the most excitement in the feature, while going four wheels above the cushion in turn three.

Wood was able to prevail in that dogfight and began to reel in Forsberg as the white flag waved. Rounding the final corners, Wood slipped to his inside, but Forsberg was able to nip him at the line for the win.

Carrick, Chance Grasty and Max Mittry completed the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Colby Copeland, Bubba Decaires, Steven Kent, Josh Young and Justyn Cox. A total of 30 Thompson's Winged Sprints competed on opening night. Tanner Carrick began the evening by setting the ADCO Driveline Fast Time with a lap of 10.581.

Roseville's Josh Young dominated the 25-lap Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour main event on Saturday. It was sweet redemption for Young, who got upside down wildly in qualifying at the Hunt Tour opener in Stockton recently.

Placerville's Shane Hopkins led the opening circuit, before the red flag waved as Jake Morgan got upside down battling for the leader entering turn three. After going back to green Young blasted into the lead and never looked back to snag the win.

Bryant Bell, Shane Hopkins, Brent Steck and Braidon Moniz rounded out the top five. Finishing sixth through tenth were Joshua Wooten, Eathon Lanfri, Paul Vandenberg, Jeff Scotto and Heath Holdsclaw.

Six-time and defending Red Hawk Resort + Casino Pure Stock champion Nick Baldwin added yet another Placerville Speedway victory to his resume on Saturday. Rio Linda's Ryan Peter led early, before Baldwin came charging for the lead on lap five.

The Oakley driver led the remainder to score his 33rd career Placerville triumph over Kevin Jinkerson, Tommy Sturgeon, Wayne Trimble and Tyler Lightfoot.

The Mountain Democrat Mini Trucks provided some late race drama with multi-time track titlist Mike Miller making a move with just a few laps left to tally another victory.

Paizlee Miller led the opening lap, until Howard Miller drove past to lead much of the race. M. Miller then found another gear and came forward as the laps wound down. Howard and Mike ran side by side in thrilling fashion during the final laps, which saw Mike prevail by less than a truck length. Noah LaPoint, Brycen Bragg and Michael Barreno ran third through fifth.

Placerville Speedway returns to action this coming Saturday March 29th with the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour and Nor-Cal Dwarf Cars.

Results

Placerville Speedway
Tribute to Al Hinds
March 22, 2025

Winged Sprint Cars:

1. 92-Andy Forsberg[1]; 2. 2A-Austin Wood[3]; 3. 83T-Tanner Carrick[5]; 4. X1-Chance Grasty[8]; 5. 2XM-Max Mittry[9]; 6. 5V-Colby Copeland[13]; 7. 94-Greg Decaires V[11]; 8. 81-Steven Kent[18]; 9. 17J-Josh Young[19]; 10. 42X-Justyn Cox[14]; 11. 12J-John Clark[12]; 12. 76-Jennifer Osborne[15]; 13. 21-Shane Hopkins[20]; 14. 7C-Tony Gomes[4]; 15. 17-Anthony Snow[17]; 16. 94R-Ryan Rocha[16]; 17. 25-Seth Standley[7]; 18. 88A-Joey Ancona[2]; 19. 5-Kenny Wanderstadt[6]; 20. 13-Elijah Gile[10]

Hunt Tour:

1. 17J-Josh Young[1]; 2. 3T-Bryant Bell[5]; 3. 21-Shane Hopkins[2]; 4. 2STX-Brent Steck[7]; 5. 22-Braidon Moniz[6]; 6. 95-Joshua Wooten[8]; 7. 31P-Eathon Lanfri[10]; 8. 9-Paul Vandenberg[11]; 9. 92A-Jeff Scotto[12]; 10. 47-Heath Holdsclaw[9]; 11. 2-Kevin Box[14]; 12. 38-Austin Cato[19]; 13. 18-Josh Gillis[16]; 14. 53-David Johnson[18]; 15. 7D-Daniel Dekeyser[15]; 16. 36-Bob Newberry[3]; 17. 28K-Kaden Ramos[13]; 18. 3C-Carson Hawkins[17]; 19. 87R-Pat Richards[20]; 20. 7EJ-Jake Morgan[4]

Pure Stocks:

1. 17-Nick Baldwin[6]; 2. 30-Kevin Jinkerson[1]; 3. 16-Tommy Sturgeon[9]; 4. 86-Wayne Trimble[8]; 5. 23-Tyler Lightfoot[12]; 6. 25-Ryan Parkhurst[4]; 7. 12J-Jason Ramos[14]; 8. 08-Colton Arbogast[7]; 9. 29-Dan Jinkerson[13]; 10. 10N-Joe Conroy[16]; 11. 316-Ryan Murphy[5]; 12. 48-John Evans[17]; 13. 47-Michael Murphy[10]; 14. 54-Anthony Vigna[15]; 15. 10-Ted Ahart[11]; 16. 22K-Jason Palmer[3]; 17. 83-Ryan Peter[2]

Mini Trucks:

1. 16-Mike Miller[8]; 2. 28-Howard Miller[4]; 3. 92N-Noah LaPoint[9]; 4. 75-Brycen Bragg[10]; 5. 24K-Michael Barreno[1]; 6. 17-Luke Costa[7]; 7. 26-Paizlee Miller[3]; 8. 22-Nick Perkins[2]; 9. 70-Austin Struthers[6]; 10. 07-Tyler Goggin[5]; 11. (DNS) 33-Gaige Pope Joy