PETERSEN MEDIA- Justin Sanders and Dale Miller Motorsports put together another dominant campaign at Placerville Speedway in 2022 and the duo capped it off with a second-place finish during the final 360ci event of the season at the track.
“We really had a good year at Placerville Speedway, and we were in contention to win each feature event we entered up there,” Justin Sanders said. “Last week I made a mistake that tore the car up pretty good, and Dale did a great job of getting it back together and it was just as good as it had been all year.”
The two-day NorCal Posse Shootout marked the final two-winged 360ci events of the 2022 season, and Sanders was poised to get back on track after a rare miscue during the point season finale one week prior.
Saturday night, Sanders opened the night up by timing the Thompson’s Buick-GMC/Thompson’s Jeep-Ram/Dale Miller Septic Inc backed No. 4SA in fastest in his qualifying group before an impressive heat race saw him charge from fourth to grab the win.
Advancing into the nightly redraw, the Aromas, CA pilot pulled the three and took the green flag from the second row for the 30-lap feature event.
Jumping into second when the green flag was displayed to the field, Sanders kept Michael Faccinto in striking distance as he navigated around the slick ¼ mile bullring.
Running second for the first half of the race, Sanders made his move on lap 16 as he powered into the race lead as they ran through traffic. Continuing to lead the way, Sanders would feel pressure from Shane Golobic as the duo battled for the race lead.
In the waning laps of the race, contact from Golobic would send Sanders off the track and result in him getting upside down which brought his night to and early close.
Back in action on Sunday night for one final opportunity at another 360ci win at Placerville Speedway, Sanders came out on fire as he set the standard in time trials and earned quick time honors.
Lining up fourth in his heat, Sanders simply needed to finish inside the Top-5 to lock into the redraw and he did just that as he picked up a third place finish and went on to draw the two pill.
On a very slick Placerville Speedway surface, Sanders was in prime position to hunt after another win as he shared the front row with Tanner Carrick. As Carrick got the jump, Sanders slipped back to third as Dylan Bloomfield got underneath him on the start.
Running in third during the opening laps, Sanders was able to surge past Bloomfield once the leaders got into traffic on the ninth lap. Running second in dense traffic, a lap 19 yellow put Sanders alongside Carrick for a clean air restart with just sixteen laps left in the race.
When the action resumed, Sanders kept pace with Carrick and made a trio of bids for the race lead only to see Carrick negate each advance.
Settling into second, Sanders would be patient until traffic came back into the fold with just six markers remaining in the ‘A’.
Closing in on Carrick, traffic fell in the leaders favor and Sanders held on to finish second.
“We were really good in the feature, but we just couldn’t catch him (Carrick),” Sanders said. “I figured some things out and closed in on him, but then he’d sneak back away. It was a great season up on the hill for us, and hopefully we can continue to run well in some of these big shows to close things out.”
The Dale Miller Motorsports team would like to thank Thompson’s Buick-GMC, Thompson’s Jeep-Ram, Dale Miller Septic Inc., North County Plastering, Hangtown Billiards, 24 Hour Road Side Service, Anrak Corporation, Smith Titanium, Absolute Auto Glass, Frank’s Body Shop, Champion Brands Racing Oil, Rider Racing Engines, Walker Performance Filtration, Factory Kahne Shocks, Vortex Wings, TJ Forged Wheels, FK Rod Ends, Triple X Race Co., King Racing Products, and A.R.T. Speed Equipment for their support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts- 14, Wins- 5, Top-5’s-10, Top-10’s-12
ON TAP: Dale Miller Motorsports and Justin Sanders will be back in action tomorrow night at Silver Dollar Speedway with the SCCT to open the season up.
PETERSEN MEDIA: Petersen Media is a promotional agency that can handle your public relations, marketing, and any other media needs. Petersen Media utilizes multiple tactics to help you reach your intended audience, to boost awareness.
For more information contact sales@petersenmediainc.com, by phone at 916-342-3424, visit www.petersenmediainc.com, www.facebook.com/PetersenMedia, or following www.twitter.com/petersen_media.