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June 7th
Placerville, CA

POWERFEED VS CIVIL WAR #3 - "IT DOESN'T GET MUCH 
BETTER THAN THIS"

  By Uncle Gummy Round three of the 2008 Civil War series for winged 360 powered sprint cars was again hosted by Padjen Motorsports Placerville Speedway Saturday Night May 3 with Dave "Powerfeed" Robinson, Jr and Team F&F holding a slim points lead after rounds one and two. That's right race fans, old Methuselah, the dude they call "Powerfeed" after his unique method of operating automatic indexing lathes and such has staked F&F Racing to an early lead in this traveling wingding for open 360 cars. And we could not be happier for Dave and all the Family and Friends who make Team F&F what it is and for all of you out there in sprint car land who root for Feed week in and week out. And to our sponsors and marketing partners who provide the wherewithal to make it happen, you have our utmost thanks for your continuing support. Race three is one of the series highlights as it is billed as a "Tribute to Al Hinds" who was a local all around good guy and early Placerville track booster. Family Chevrolet in Shingle Springs lead by Tony Montalbano stepped up big time with a $1000 winners' bonus and after a great promo effort by Padjen Motorsports and Family Chevrolet throughout the weeks leading up to the race, the stands were jammed with race fans looking for the type of open wheel racing action served up by sprint cars on dirt. For more history and background on Al Hinds and this race, please check out Bill Sullivan's feature articles on www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com. When Dave returned to the seat of the x1 after a two-year snooze, the team was not quite sure whether to toss him some red meat or a bowl of pabulum. That question was soon answered at March's Silver Cup in Chico when Feed hung an 8800-rpm lap on the x1 and started looking for more. Commenting that he had a little "unfinished business" to take care of, that statement soon became the rallying cry for team F&F and the 2008 season. Mr. "Unfinished Business" has been driving with a controlled aggression that netted him a second and fourth in the first two Civil War races, which resulted in the aforementioned overall points lead. Using the same formula that proved successful in rounds one and two - accurate car set-up, edgy hot laps, solid qualifying, a few assorted sleight-of-hand moves in the heat races, and a banzai-like ride in the main - produced an unforgettable win for Dave and the team on an unforgettable night! Here's what it looked like from the F&F pit. Team F&F spent part of the day displaying the sprint car at Family Chevrolet down the road in Shingle Springs as part of the big promotional surge for the race. After wolfing down a little B-B-Q provided by the hosts, the boys of summer pulled on up to the track and set up near the top of pit road for easy access to the race track. The racecar was rolled out and prepped for mudpack and then for hot laps where Feed and the x1 were "impressive" as Vader would say. The World Famous Pukin Dogs were happy with the set up and just changed the left rear for qualifying. Pronounced ready to rock, Feed was pushed to the infield where he parked along with everybody else to await his turn on the track. Slated 18th to qualify, Dave was finally nudged onto the track where he fired the car and posted two laps on the clock with a best of 10.685 for eighth quick. Looking back at Civil War #1 at this track, Feed was also eighth quick with a 10.752 and almost won that main event so we took it as an omen of good things to come for the night. Since he would not be racing until heat four, most of the crew watched a few heats where we saw Forsberg (92) ride up on the cushion in turns two and three, spin and collect Sweeney (20j) in heat one; Becker (2sb) also spin in turn three, and Breshears (10x) spin Kinney (25k) into the inside of turn two and roll him over, all in heat three. By heat four, a mini berm had developed in the middle of turns three and four which forced drivers to commit to the top or bottom and depriving them of the middle of the track. Whatever, it didn't seem to bother Powerfeed as he launched from the inside of row three driving under Benson (77) on lap one and then engage in a slugfest with Furr (2f) for the remainder of the race. Dave kept constant pressure on Furr and finally got underneath him coming out of turn three for the pass rumbling home in third place and picking up three valuable heat points. Too bad he doesn't get style points for wheelies as Dave pulled the front wheels off the ground several times during the race showing the x1 was hooking up! Wow! Chief wrench AB felt the bottom of the track was starting to burn down and the top looked like the place to be and how prophetic this comment would become. With the car cooling down after the heat, the crew had it up on the jack with the rear wheels off waiting for the C and B mains to be run after which the call would be made on car set-up for the A main. The x1 apparently thought the night was over as it let out a little sigh and tried to roll toward the trailer by slipping off the jack. The crew immediately wrestled the car into the air, banged the rear wheels on and gave it a quick inspection, which showed no apparent damage. Prepping the car involved a front shock change, rear bar change and the car was reblocked while AB put some extra grooves into the rear tires. After a short visit by a track official with some special instructions for the parade lap where the field would salute Al Hinds, Powerfeed strapped in and gave us the thumbs up. A six pill had been drawn for the inversion, which put Mr. "Unfinished Business" on the outside of row one for the start. Man, we were liking this! The field formed up with Hirst (6), the defending champ, in the "missing man" solo position out front followed by seven rows of three cars each in a special remembrance of Al Hinds. The speedway was rocking with energy and excitement as we were all straining to see the show when the field reformed into eleven rows of 2 cars each to take the green for the 5th annual Tribute to Al Hinds race - fight's on! Defending champion Hirst (6) broke in front with Feed taking the x1 to the top of the track where he went to Warp 9 and drove around Hirst (6) in turns three and four for the lead on lap one. Geving (3x) spun on the inside of turn two on lap two bringing out the first yellow flag of the race and Feed lead the field into the first single file restart of the race with a bunch to follow. Running on the top, Dave steadily pulled away from the field as Geving (3x), the Ursaline high School junior was bitten by turn two and spun out again. Unfortunately, two charged yellows disqualifies the driver for the race, so Geving was dry docked for the night. Another "evil Roy" single file restart saw Powerfeed down near the middle of the track as he roared out of turn four and down the front straight. Staying on top and out of trouble, Feed was chased by Hirst (6), Wiesz (35), Furr (2f), and Becker (2sb) when turn two claimed Bailey (01). Another restart, another two laps in and another collision with Gregg (16x), Moore (22) and Larsen (83v) giving each other a power point presentation on the home stretch of how to successfully bring out a red flag. On the gas once again, Dave got one lap in when Compton (69c) spun off turn four as a precursor to what happened next as the same driver and car caught the cushion in turn four a couple of laps later and flipped in front of the grandstands. Upon clearing the mess, officials zapped the track with Tooch's electric B-B-Q match to burn off puddled fuel. We didn't hear if the fuel was spilled as a result of the three car wreck or the single car flip, but officials apparently felt the fuel residue was a track hazard and needed to be dealt with. With only 14 laps complete, everybody stowed their marshmallows and coat hangers, as it was time to go racing. Powerfeed was really hammering the top of the track as Wiesz (35) moved into second and began chasing the x1. Dave finally caught the pack and began moving through lapped traffic with a couple of his patented "power slides." The race had finally run down to it's final stages when, with about six laps remaining, Bishop (7) spun in turn two and then two laps later, Wiesz (35), running hard in second place, caught the cushion in turn four, spun and slowly rolled over ending any hope of catching Feed. On the restart, Dave ran one lap before Tiner (94) spun in turn two and as he lead the field into the white flag lap, the entire crew were screaming their lungs out while Hirst (6), Becker (2sb), Furr (2f), and Forsberg (92) were doing everything they could to deny Powerfeed his victory. Forsberg (92) bobbled in turn one and Russell (14r) smacked him a high hard one sending the 14r into the fence and bringing out the last red flag of the night. Feed had yet another great restart and after running lap 29 over again he took the white flag and not to be denied, then thundered across the finish line as the winner of Civil War #3/Tribute to Al Hinds. The crowd was going bonkers, we were going bonkers and Feed was flashing that "unfinished business" grin as he stopped in victory lane along with Hirst (6) and Becker (2sb). After doing his best "dancing with the stars" routine and making some heartfelt comments, Dave headed the car toward the scales and the FnF pit to decompress. Collecting a $3000 purse to win, the team felt nothing but elation and satisfaction as well wishers streamed by to offer their congratulations and seek autographs. Reversing the one-two finish of Civil War #1 at Placerville where it was Hirst/Robinson, this time it was Robinson/Hirst as Feed was a missile on the top for the entire race and simply dominated. Asking what his race strategy was, Dave answered softly by stating "I wanted 30 smooth laps; I wasn't too concerned about leading on lap one, but obviously I wanted to be running first on lap 30. The racecar was perfect and running out front let me stay out of trouble. It was simply an unforgettable night!" Well said, Dave well said. Thanks for bringing us along for the ride, and we sincerely hope you readers will catch a little of the electricity generated by this race as Powerfeed added to his first place points total with as perfect a race as one can drive - it doesn't get much better than this!

2008 Stats

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