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Gold Cup Race of Champions
Silver Dollar Speedway | Chico, California
Friday, September 08, 2023
Race Recap  

SILVER DOLLAR THRILLER: Last Lap Pass Lifts Buddy Kofoid to Gold Cup Prelim Victory

Silver Dollar Speedway delivered yet again.

The northern California bullring is known for providing some of the most intense, wheel-to-wheel battles in Sprint Car racing. And that’s exactly what the Chico, CA quarter mile offered on Friday night.

The second and final prelim of the Curb Records Gold Cup Race of Champions presented by Riebes Auto Parts gave the fans a battle they’ll not soon forget. Two California heavyweights trading blows. A race coming down to the wire. And the outcome not being decided until the final lap.

When the dust settled at Silver Dollar Friday night, Buddy Kofoid arose triumphant after a fierce duel with Justin Sanders. After losing the lead coming to the white flag, Kofoid ripped back by Sanders on the final circuit to secure a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car victory in his home state. The grandstands erupted as one of their own climbed atop the wing of the California-based Roth Motorsports machine following a classic finish.

For the Penngrove native who has always held Gold Cup close to his heart, the victory brought out emotion amid the celebration.

“I grew up coming to the Gold Cup as a kid,” Kofoid said. “It was a family tradition for us to take the week off work and the week off school. We would stay here when I was four, five, six, seven, eight years old, so this race is super special to me. And to do it in the Dennis and Teresa Roth-owned #83JR is pretty damn cool.”

When the green flag flew, the war commenced right away between Kofoid and Sanders. Pole-sitter Chase Randall slipped back on the initial lap while Kofoid and Sanders traded the top spot multiple times. On the second circuit Kofoid looked under Sanders in Turns 1 and 2, but the yellow flag flew as they were side by side for a spinning Jonathan Allard.

On the restart Sanders was able to inch ahead, but Kofoid never let the Mittry Racing #2X leave his sights. Another caution on Lap 8 set up a pivotal restart.

Sanders maintained his advantage exiting Turn 2, but it was Spencer Bayston who stuck the bottom perfectly to get a massive launch down the back straightaway. Bayston slipped ahead of both of the top two and went high in Turns 3 and 4. Kofoid responded by throwing a huge slide job on the two to grab the top spot.

Once he took over the lead, Kofoid began to put some distance between himself and Bayston. Meanwhile, Sanders stalked the CJB Motorsports #5 in search of an opportunity to move back into the runner-up spot.

On Lap 22, the gap he needed opened as Sanders utilized a big run out of Turn 2 to slip by Bayston heading into the next set of corners. From there, the pursuit of Kofoid was on.

Sanders quickly began to cut into the lead little by little. A tenth or two was trimmed each lap as the duo navigated traffic until Sanders was on the tail tank of the Roth #83JR.

Buddy Kofoid races just ahead of Justin Sanders
Friday’s Gold Cup prelim came down to a late race duel between Californians Buddy Kofoid and Justin Sanders (Trent Gower Photo)

On Lap 29, Sanders gave the top in Turns 1 and 2 a try and was able to pull alongside Kofoid on corner exit before Kofoid nosed ahead as they roared into the next set of corners with the white flag in sight. Sanders again committed to the top and was able to clear Kofoid to take the lead as he raced across the line for the white flag.

Heading into Turn 1, Sanders had to dive under a lapped car and slipped up slightly off the bottom at the apex of the corner. Kofoid, who had been running the bottom every lap on that end of the racetrack, fully sent his machine at the cushion and nailed it perfectly to rip by Sanders off of Turn 2.

With the lead secured, Kofoid protected in the final set of corners to earn his first trip to World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Victory Lane since joining the legendary Roth Motorsports that’s long called Fresno, CA home.

“When we got to traffic, there were a couple guys that were just good enough that I couldn’t spring in front of them and put them away,” Kofoid explained. “Then I heard Justin, but I didn’t want to get off the bottom. I tried it once and didn’t feel good at all and moved right back down. I was content with the middle-top in (Turns) 3 and 4 because I could feel it cleaning off. Then I heard him and saw him, and then I saw the white (flag) and thought just my luck. Then I sent it on the top and that was the best it felt on the top all day. I kind of got lucky but also just had a really good car and great people working on it that allowed me to maneuver last minute and to pick him back off.”

On top of the victory, Kofoid also earned enough points to secure one of the two remaining spots for Saturday’s important Toyota Racing Dash.

Sanders came home with a bittersweet runner-up. The Aromas, CA native was three-quarters of a lap away from his first trip to World of Outlaws Victory Lane, and the defeat was a tough pill to swallow. But on the bright side, he snagged the final lock-in to the Dash for the finale to position himself strongly for a chance at $25,000 on Saturday.

“I still don’t know if I would’ve went to the top on that last lap going into (Turn) 1,” Sanders said. “Honestly, when I ripped around those guys and got in front of Jonathan (Allard), I thought I was going to be clear. Buddy just kicked it into another gear and ripped around us coming off of (Turn) 2.”

Dominic Scelzi came home third to complete a second consecutive all California native podium sweep. The Fresno, CA pilot wheeled the Scelzi Motorsports #41 from 10th to earn a strong result in his home state.

“We were good. We were really good actually,” Scelzi said. “We’ve got to figure out the first half of the night. We’ve got to qualify better. I don’t know what I was doing in the Heat Race. I tried to be a hero on the start and missed the slider. I think I was just trying a little too hard. Jimmy (Carr) gave me an awesome race car tonight, especially in the Feature. The way the racetrack played out, we just kept getting better and better.”

Spencer Bayston and Rico Abreu rounded out the top five.

Abreu also earned the KSE Racing Hard Charger as he drove from 21st to fifth.

Tanner Carrick came out on top of Low-E Insulation Qualifying to claim Simpson Performance Products QuickTime honors.

CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to Chase Randall. NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four were topped by Justyn Cox, Ryan Bernal, and Justin Sanders.

Rico Abreu won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars return to Silver Dollar Speedway for the $25,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start finale of the 69th Gold Cup Race of Champions on Saturday, September 9. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the racing live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[3]; 2. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[10]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu[21]; 6. X1-Michael Faccinto[12]; 7. 22-Ryan Bernal[16]; 8. 2-David Gravel[6]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz[9]; 10. 5V-Colby Copeland[11]; 11. 57W-Chase Randall[1]; 12. 88N-DJ Netto[13]; 13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 14. 42X-Justyn Cox[17]; 15. 1T-Tanner Holmes[23]; 16. 9-Kasey Kahne[22]; 17. 83T-Tanner Carrick[8]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[14]; 19. 51-Shane Hopkins[24]; 20. 0-Jonathan Allard[5]; 21. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[19]; 22. 7-Ashton Torgerson[15]; 23. 115-Nick Parker[18]; 24. 25S-Seth Standley[20]

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Results  
Feature Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
13+283JRMichael Kofoid 300.00022Running90$10,000
2202XJustin Sanders 30-0.4898Running90$5,500
310+741SDominic Scelzi 30-0.858Running90$3,200
4405Spencer Bayston 30-2.209Running90$2,600
521+1624Rico Abreu 30-4.377Running90$2,350
612+6X1Michael Faccinto 30-4.570Running90$2,150
716+922Ryan Bernal 30-5.542Running90$2,100
86-22David Gravel 30-5.560Running90$1,950
99015Donny Schatz 30-6.161Running90$1,900
1011+15VColby Copeland 30-6.655Running90$1,850
111-1057WChase Randall 30-7.482Running90$1,400
1213+188ND.J. Netto 30-8.018Running90$1,200
137-617Sheldon Haudenschild 30-8.525Running90$1,000
1417+342XJustyn Cox 30-9.729Running90$950
1523+81TTanner Holmes 30-10.625Running90$900
1622+69Kasey Kahne 30-12.076Running90$900
178-983TTanner Carrick 30-12.762Running90$900
1814-43ZBrock Zearfoss 30-15.380Running90$900
1924+551Shane Hopkins 30-16.938Running90$900
205-150Jonathan Allard 29-1 LapsRunning90$900
2119-246JRJoel Myers Jr29-1 LapsRunning90$900
2215-77Ashton Torgerson 29-1 LapsRunning90$900
2318-5115Nick Parker 29-1 LapsRunning90$900
2420-425SSeth Standley 29-1 LapsRunning90$900
KSE Hard Charger: Rico Abreu
Last Chance Showdown Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
12+124Rico Abreu 120.0003Running0$0
21-19Kasey Kahne 12-0.5489Running0$0
3301TTanner Holmes 12-1.545Running0$0
46+251Shane Hopkins 12-2.655Running0$0
55045Jake Morgan 12-4.910Running90$300
611+515SMichael Sellers 12-5.475Running90$250
78+156CCarson Hammes 12-6.491Running90$225
89+191JDrake Standley 12-7.148Running90$200
910+171WMichael Wasina 12-7.642Running90$200
1013+321MMichael Ing 12-8.444Running90$200
114-721SJesse Schlotfeldt 12-8.838Running90$200
1215+34LDoug Lippincott 11-1 LapsRunning90$200
1314+12SJayce Steinberg 6-6 LapsRunning90$200
147-754SWilliam Fielding 0-12 LapsRunning90$200
1512-37WDennis Scherer 0-12 LapsRunning90$200
161602WWyatt Brown 0-12 LapsRunning90$200
Heat 1 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
14+357WChase Randall 110.0002Running
220X1Michael Faccinto 11-1.1979Running
36+383TTanner Carrick 11-1.669Running
45+10Jonathan Allard 11-2.859Running
59+425SSeth Standley 11-3.324Running
63-324Rico Abreu 11-3.735Running
71-645Jake Morgan 8-3 LapsRunning
87-154SWilliam Fielding 8-3 LapsRunning
98-17WDennis Scherer 8-3 LapsRunning
Heat 2 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
11022Ryan Bernal 100.00010Running
22088ND.J. Netto 10-1.365Running
34+115Donny Schatz 10-2.885Running
45+15Spencer Bayston 10-3.200Running
53-27Ashton Torgerson 10-4.532Running
6609Kasey Kahne 10-4.721Running
77051Shane Hopkins 10-5.937Running
88071WMichael Wasina 10-8.300Running
9902SJayce Steinberg 10-9.036Running
Heat 3 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
11042XJustyn Cox 100.00010Running
2203ZBrock Zearfoss 10-2.466Running
35+283JRMichael Kofoid 10-2.945Running
46+217Sheldon Haudenschild 10-4.849Running
54-15VColby Copeland 10-5.749Running
63-31TTanner Holmes 10-7.564Running
77056CCarson Hammes 10-11.656Running
88021MMichael Ing 10-13.225Running
9904LDoug Lippincott 9-1 LapsRunning
Heat 4 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
15+42XJustin Sanders 100.0007Running
26+42David Gravel 10-0.152Running
34+141SDominic Scelzi 10-2.670Running
41-346JRJoel Myers Jr10-3.5313Running
53-2115Nick Parker 10-4.695Running
62-421SJesse Schlotfeldt 10-5.912Running
78+115SMichael Sellers 10-10.287Running
87-191JDrake Standley 10-12.976Running
9902WWyatt Brown 0-10 LapsRunning
Qualifying Flight 1 Results
POSStartCarDriverHometownTimeDifference
13083TTanner Carrick Lincoln, CA11.7360.000
2359Kasey Kahne Enumclaw, WA11.742-0.006
33417Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH11.829-0.093
4112David Gravel Watertown, CT11.847-0.111
5290Jonathan Allard Chico, CA11.959-0.223
635Spencer Bayston Lebanon, IN12.014-0.278
7883JRMichael Kofoid Penngrove, CA12.025-0.289
8172XJustin Sanders Aromas, CA12.082-0.346
92757WChase Randall Waco, TX12.088-0.352
10215Donny Schatz Fargo, ND12.092-0.356
11365VColby Copeland Roseville, CA12.140-0.404
123141SDominic Scelzi Fresno, CA12.153-0.417
13924Rico Abreu St. Helena, CA12.156-0.420
14257Ashton Torgerson Glendale, AZ12.159-0.423
15161TTanner Holmes Jacksonville, OR12.174-0.438
1624115Nick Parker Tucson, AZ12.213-0.477
175X1Michael Faccinto Hanford, CA12.229-0.493
181888ND.J. Netto Hanford, CA12.235-0.499
1973ZBrock Zearfoss Jonestown, PA12.281-0.545
201421SJesse Schlotfeldt Arlington, WA12.326-0.590
211345Jake Morgan Fair Oaks, CA12.371-0.635
22422Ryan Bernal Hollister, CA12.538-0.802
232242XJustyn Cox Sacramento, CA12.574-0.838
241946JRJoel Myers JrSanta Rosa, CA12.605-0.869
252854SWilliam Fielding Olivehurst, CA12.682-0.946
262651Shane Hopkins Placerville, CA12.690-0.954
27156CCarson Hammes Marysville, CA12.697-0.961
283391JDrake Standley Yuba City, CA12.737-1.001
29217WDennis Scherer Elverta, CA12.830-1.094
302071WMichael Wasina Elverta, CA12.841-1.105
311521MMichael Ing Chico, CA12.874-1.138
32615SMichael Sellers Sacramento, CA12.931-1.195
331025SSeth Standley Yuba City, CA12.951-1.215
34322SJayce Steinberg Chico, CA13.026-1.290
35234LDoug Lippincott Minden, NV13.165-1.429
36122WWyatt Brown Chico, CA13.215-1.479
Hot Laps Results
POSStartCarDriverHometownTimeDifference
13417Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH12.2970.000
2359Kasey Kahne Enumclaw, WA12.505-0.208
33083TTanner Carrick Lincoln, CA12.575-0.278
4290Jonathan Allard Chico, CA12.665-0.368
52757WChase Randall Waco, TX12.672-0.375
63141SDominic Scelzi Fresno, CA12.735-0.438
7172XJustin Sanders Aromas, CA12.767-0.470
8257Ashton Torgerson Glendale, AZ12.788-0.491
9365VColby Copeland Roseville, CA12.793-0.496
102242XJustyn Cox Sacramento, CA12.916-0.619
111888ND.J. Netto Hanford, CA12.954-0.657
12112David Gravel Watertown, CT12.970-0.673
135X1Michael Faccinto Hanford, CA13.027-0.730
141345Jake Morgan Fair Oaks, CA13.068-0.771
15215Donny Schatz Fargo, ND13.078-0.781
1624115Nick Parker Tucson, AZ13.151-0.854
17883JRMichael Kofoid Penngrove, CA13.215-0.918
183391JDrake Standley Yuba City, CA13.234-0.937
19322SJayce Steinberg Chico, CA13.236-0.939
20422Ryan Bernal Hollister, CA13.242-0.945
2173ZBrock Zearfoss Jonestown, PA13.244-0.947
22924Rico Abreu St. Helena, CA13.262-0.965
232651Shane Hopkins Placerville, CA13.320-1.023
241521MMichael Ing Chico, CA13.341-1.044
2535Spencer Bayston Lebanon, IN13.350-1.053
26161TTanner Holmes Jacksonville, OR13.360-1.063
272854SWilliam Fielding Olivehurst, CA13.362-1.065
281421SJesse Schlotfeldt Arlington, WA13.407-1.110
291946JRJoel Myers JrSanta Rosa, CA13.488-1.191
30156CCarson Hammes Marysville, CA13.531-1.234
31217WDennis Scherer Elverta, CA13.625-1.328
322071WMichael Wasina Elverta, CA13.635-1.338
33234LDoug Lippincott Minden, NV13.894-1.597
341025SSeth Standley Yuba City, CA13.920-1.623
35122WWyatt Brown Chico, CA13.924-1.627
36615SMichael Sellers Sacramento, CA13.924-1.627
DIRTVision Highlights  
Event Info  

Gold Cup Race of Champions
Friday, September 08, 2023
Silver Dollar Speedway
2343 Fair St.
Chico, California 95928 

Event Description
The 69th edition of the Gold Cup Race of Champions is here to bring the Silver Dollar staple back to nationwide prestige.

Series Racing
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series

Event Schedule
Gates at 3PM, Racing at 6PM
*All times Pacific

Ticket Options  
Ticket Phone
(530) 350-7275

Grandstand Type
bleacher with some seat backs

Reserved Seating
reserved seats may be purchased by calling 530-350-7275

Handicapped Seating Location
Below the main grandstand with the box seats, turn four. A reserved seat is required. Companion seating is available.

Pit Age Requirement
All persons must be at least 14 years of age to enter the pits. Persons 14-17 years of age need a signed and notarized parental consent form submitted to the office prior to entering pit area.

Parking Cost
Free

Camping Availability
electric hookup, non-electric, onsite

Camping Cost
Call 530-350-7275

Frequently Asked Questions  
Reserved Seating
reserved seats may be purchased by calling 530-350-7275

Type of Grandstand
bleacher with some seat backs

Handicapped Seating
Below the main grandstand with the box seats, turn four. A reserved seat is required. Companion seating is available.

Pit Age Limit
All persons must be at least 14 years of age to enter the pits. Persons 14-17 years of age need a signed and notarized parental consent form submitted to the office prior to entering pit area.

Personal Coolers
No personal coolers allowed

ATMs
1

Credit Card Use
Ticket Window

Alcohol Sales
alcohol is available for purchase

Smoking Policy
no smoking in the grandstands

Parking Cost
Free

Camping Availability
electric hookup, non-electric, onsite

Camping Cost
Call 530-350-7275

Track Info  

Silver Dollar Speedway
2343 Fair St.
Chico, California 95928 

Track Phone
(530) 891-6535

Ticket Phone
(530) 350-7275

Track Type
0.250; High-banked

Sprint Car Track Record
10.918 seconds by Daryn Pittman on 3/22/13

Closest Airport
Chico, CA (CIC / KCIC) Chico Municipal Airport

Other Airport
Sacramento, CA (SMF / KSMF) Sacramento International Airport

Track Map
Competitor Info  

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