Late race pass leads Justin Sanders to first ever national series win in 49er Gold Rush Classic

By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

Placerville-When you’ve been searching for that first National touring sprint car win, it means a lot to get it done at a track you know very well.

On Saturday night at Placerville Speedway, this is what Justin Sanders did as he led the final two laps on the 49er Gold Rush Classic to get the first National Touring Sprint Car win with Kubota High Limit Racing.

Sanders was able to win the event by getting around Kaleb Montgomery on lap 34 of the 35-lap feature. Before this, he had been showing him the nose. But on lap 34, he was finally able to make the move. 

“He was doing a good job at kind of using the racetrack up like he should have been,” Sanders explained of the winning move. “Because you’re leading and you don’t really know where to be.  And I just think I was able to move behind him and kind of see where I could gain on him. And I was just gaining on the top and gaining on the top, and I had to execute that pass off of four, and then I got scared on the last lap, going to the last corner, Kaleb’s going to run hard. I knew he was going to throw a slider on me if I left the door open, so sliding myself across the racetrack just did my best to block to the line.” 

Just last year, Sanders was a runner-up finisher to James McFadden, who failed to qualify for the main event this year. But after all the years of coming so close to getting a win with a National tour, winning a Placerville made it that much more special. 

“It’s pretty good,” Sanders said. “Placerville has kind of been a home for me for a lot of years now.  I think I started racing here consistently in like 2014 and kind of bounced back and forth, running 360s and 410s and 410s and stuff. It means a lot. It’s still kind of a whirlwind.”  

He also did this while driving the Ridge and Sons Racing 87 car for Aaron Reutzel, who injured his foot during the Kings Royal. Reutzel is the crew chief on the car, which made things easier for Sanders. 

It also helped that Sanders was able to find a bit more speed with Reutzel on the wrenches, and the RSR team is a national team that goes all over the country. 

“I think it’s just talking about the car,” Sanders said of how helpful it is to have Retuzel working on the car. “He kind of knows how to set up a car for the big race tracks, and when the track slows down, how to keep wing speed going, and just kind of the whole package, it’s everything. It’s the car. It’s tuning the motor.” 

Finishing second was Montgomery, who continues a career-best year that has made him a household name nationally, after racing all over the West Coast for years. 

In the event, he led a race-high 33 laps. But he was able to start on pole of the event with help from being the lowest number on the redraw wheel. In the dash, he held off Corey Day to start on pole. He was also able to do this by catching a caution every time he was about to hit lap traffic. 

“Very thankful, first off,” Montgomery said. “Because every time I got to lap traffic, they were three-wide in front of me.  They’re running top, middle, and bottom. And I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’  I would try and run the bottom just to protect and let it float all the way out on the straightaways, just to make my car as wide as possible.” 

With the top two finishers being West Coast locals, there is something to be said about home-field advantage, too. 

“California is no joke,” Montgomery added. “California, if you’re coming out here, it’s equal every single night.” 

Finishing third was Cory Eliason. He started fourth in the main event. He was the fast qualifier in flight B. 

The highest finishing full-timer on the High Limit circuit was Placerville native Brad Sweet. He charged from 15th to 4th in the event. This also helps him extend the owners’ and drivers’ championship points leads. 

“It’s a short track, and it’s real competitive here,” Sweet said. “And the track was a little bit wet and just narrow.”  

But beyond that, this event was even bigger and better than last year. This is something that, as a series co-owner, Sweet was happy with. 

“Yeah, it’s honestly really gratifying,” Sweet explained of the huge crowd. “We take a lot of risk, you know, to kind of step out of our comfort zone and build something that’s different with High Limit Racing. And to see the tickets and the fans supporting us is really amazing.”

The series will be back in action next Thursday through Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico for the 71st Gold Cup Race of Champions.