Chico, CA – October 15, 2008
Taylor Simas caps season with runner-up in 4th annual Wingless Nationals at Silver Dollar Speedway
After finishing runner-up in the Joe Hunt Magnetos/John Padjen Motorsports wingless point standings this year, young Taylor Simas came back at the final event of the season at Silver Dollar Speedway and raced to a second place finish during the fourth annual Wingless Sprint Nationals this past weekend.
Simas was able to charge up to a transfer spot in his heat race and make it into the main event where he started from the 18th position. Despite a strong wind during the day the track surface remained extremely hooked up and made passing opportunities very technical, but the 18 year-old racer was able to move forward and make late passes of winged sprint car driver drivers Mason Moore and Kyle Larson to carve his way into 11th where he would go on and finish.
With the second place finish at the Wingless Nationals it gave Simas his second runner-up in the two premier wingless sprint car events at Silver Dollar Speedway this season, as he also scored a second place finish at the Wednesday night Gold Cup Invitational, in which he led all the way till the last lap when veteran Billy Wallace got by to steal the win away. “It’s been a great season, but it seems like we keep getting these seconds this year,” smiled Simas, who also finished runner-up in the season long Hunt Magnetos point standings with four victories along the way. “We hate to see the year over, but we’re all looking to the banquet in November,” the 18 year-old concluded.
Aug. 15, 2008
Silver Dollar Speedway
The final main of the night was the wingless division. The track had wore out and the drivers struggled with the slick conditions. The race stared with 13 drivers, however, in the end only five cars remained. Leading all the laps were Taylor Simas. The semi-pro basketball player and Chico St. student won his fourth main event of the year. “I know the race was a little boring but I am still happy to get the win,” said Simas. “But I think that was the longest 15 laps in the history of a main event.” The race was halted for 15 minutes when a three car pile up in turn one resulted in Cody Myers fuel cell leaking. The fuel spilled onto the speedway and officials were in clean up mode for a while. Terry Shank Jr. made the race interesting as he tried the top and wanted to challenge Simas but there was not enough traction. Kenny Webber had a solid race to finish third. Brian Southers drove hard for his fourth place finish. Reyna Krueger finished fifth.
Aug. 9, 2008
Placerville Speedway
Taylor Simas of Chico scored his second Placerville win of the year following an exiting wheel to wheel race with veteran driver Jimmy Pettit. In the wingless sprint car feature event, the green flag flew and Pettit was quick to charge into the lead over pole sitter and series point leader Keith Bloom. Simas started on the inside of the second row and charged into second to challenge his Chico counterpart for the lead in an event that saw its share of red flags. The most serious incident took place on the back stretch when Mason Myers tumbled down the backstretch embankment collecting Jerry Kobza and finally, Jimmy Steward. Stewards colliding into Myers car head on as is fell to the ground, absorbing the impact in front of the roll cage. After being observed by paramedics, Steward was reportedly uninjured but shaken in the incident. Once green flag racing resumed, Pettit appeared to be on his way to a victory at the track where he has won his share of Pure Stock races several years ago. Simas, however, had a different view. Simas raced to the low side and the high side, pulling beside Pettit several times. On the 14th lap he passed for the lead in the fourth turn only to have a yellow flag recall his efforts. On the ensuing restart, Simas resumed his mission, darting high and low as he and Pettit put on one of the most exciting wingless performances of the season here. It was on the 15th lap when the battle reached its climax with Simas climbing the back stretch hill to gain the momentum to overtake Pettit for the lead. The two raced bumper to bumper for the remainder of the 20-lap feature event.
"I had to do something to get back into the lead, after that yellow flag came out Jimmy knew what I was going to do," said Simas. "So I set up a pass on the backstretch and I kind of ran out of room earlier then I expected back there but it worked. I loved racing with Jimmy tonight, this race was a lot of fun."
May 2, 2008
Silver Dollar Speedway
The wingless main event started with a bang as the lead changed three times in the first two laps. Justin Funkhouser's night ended early when he and another car made contact resulting in Funkhouser flipping over. Mason Myers led going into the first turn but Reyna Krueger dived to the bottom and lead coming out of turn two. She crossed the stripe as the lap one leader but it was short lived. Taylor Simas passed Krueger and was the new leader. Myers rebounded to pass Krueger and was now in the second spot. Charging through the field was Billy Wallace. The former winged star has now made a comfortable home in the wingless series. This week he was driving for Harley Van Dyke and moved the 5h into third spot. The other charger was point leader Keith Bloom. The rookie charger started eleventh but soon was inside the top five. Three yellows halted the race. On lap five Kenny Webber came to a stop in turn two. Phillip Shelby and Jeremy Wilson stopped on back to back laps in turn four. The race resumed with Simas leading. Wallace soon moved into the second spot and challenged Simas for the lead. Bloom moved by Myers and raced into the fourth spot. Laps were winding down and Simas held to the bottom of the speedway. He was slightly faster than the three cars behind him and held on to win the race. Simas is currently second in the points. Wallace held on to finish second and Bloom was third. Myers finished in the fourth spot and Krueger held on to finish fifth. Simas also won the eight lap heat race he entered. Billy Wallace and Brian Southers were the other two winners of heat race action.
