By Gary Jacob
Calistoga, CA -- Veteran Golden State Challenge Series competitor Kevin Pylant from Santa Cruz turned a pole position start into a feature win Saturday night as the Calistoga Fairgrounds Speedway half-mile opened it's 2004 season. Pylant became the sixth different winner in 8 races on the Golden State Challenge schedule in 2004 as only the absent Tim Kaeding has more than a single victory with three. Pylant outdueled fellow front row starter Andy Forsberg for the win with series point leader Jason Statler finishing 3rd after starting third. Fifth starter Brian Coelho and 7th starting Brent Kaeding rounded out the top five finishers.
Wheeling the Henderson mount, Steve Kent was quickest of the 24 cars on hand with a 16.893 clocking. The only driver to break into the 16's was Kaeding at 16.985. Friday night Chico winner Blake Robertson stood third at 17.082 and Coelho ran a 17.154. Jim Skinner was fifth at 17.160 and the top 8 was rounded out by Jason York, Statler and Forsberg. Pylant ranked ninth. Series point challenger Dennis Moore Jr had to race with a special arrangement on the car after a four wheeler accident during the week and he timed in 10th quick. The cars were divided into three invert six, take five heat races. Mike Benson won the first from the pole as fellow front row starter Sparky Howard ran second ahead of 4th starter Statler and Coelho. John Gray turned an outside front row start into a win in heat 2 as 4th starter Forsberg battled to 2nd ahead of fifth starter Skinner. Outside front row starter Doug Lippincott from Nevada won heat 3 with 4th starter Pylant second ahead of Craig Stidham. When York struggled to a sixth in this event, that allowed 9th quick Pylant to gain the pole for the feature race when the inversion option came up 8. Front row starters York and Moore ran 1-2 in the B Main ahead of Rob Johnson, Stuart Krum and Andy Gregg.
The A Main started all 24 cars and the 8 car inversion put Pylant, Forsberg, Statler, Skinner, Coelho, Robertson, Kaeding and Kent in the front four rows. Calistoga has dramatically improved it's lighting system for 2004 and turn 3 is no longer the black hole that it was. Pylant charged to the win with fellow front row starter Forsberg second. Statler's third place run allowed him to improve his point lead to 18 points over Moore Jr who ran to 15th place. Forsberg moved up into a tie with Robertson for third in points, just 22 tallies behind Moore Jr. Coelho was fourth in the feature ahead of Kaeding, Kent, Robertson and 9th starting York. The top 12 were rounded out by Stidham, Benson, Howard and Gray. With a 23rd place finish, Sean Becker dropped back into a tie with York for fifth in points, 15 behind the tied Robertson and Forsberg. Pylant is now 9th in points behind Stidham and the departed Tim Kaeding, who is now racing on the World of Outlaws series.
Next up for the Golden State Challenge Series is the prestigious Dave Bradway Memorial race in Chico which pays $4000 to win and $50 a lap to lead in the 40 lap main event. Many of the teams will also run the regular Friday night point show at Silver Dollar Speedway on May 7th before racing the Bradway event on May 8th.
Summary Fast Time-Steve Kent 16.893 Heat 1-Mike Benson, Sparky Howard, Jason Statler, Brian Coelho, Kent. Heat 2-John Gray, Andy Forsberg, Jim Skinner, Brent Kaeding. Heat 3-Doug Lippincott, Kevin Pylant, Craig Stidham, Blake Robertson, Shain Matthews. B Main-Jason York, Dennis Moore Jr, Rob Johnson, Stuart Krum, Andy Gregg, Ricky Richardson, Josh Blakely. A Main-Pylant, Forsberg, Statler, Coelho, Kaeding, Kent, Robertson, York, Stidham, Benson, Howard, Gray, Williams, Matthews, Moore, Lippincott, Blakely, Rob Johnson, Krum, Gregg, Richardson, Skinner, Sean Becker, Carl Enns.