PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY HOSTS 18TH ANNUAL TRIBUTE TO AL HINDS THIS SATURDAY
(April 7, 2021 from Gary Thomas) – The El Dorado County Fairgrounds based Placerville Speedway is locked and loaded to host one of its longest running events at the quarter-mile bullring, with the 18th annual “Tribute to Al Hinds” set to take place this Saturday night.
Tickets for the show went on sale Monday and will be available at www.placervillespeedway.com until the maximum number sold is reached due to continued capacity limitations. Pit passes are also available to watch from the hill and can be purchased ahead of time via the Pit Pay Mobile Pit Pass App.
Al Hinds was the second promoter of Placerville Speedway. Hinds took operation of the track with business partner Richard Hirst from its founder, Bruno Romani, in 1968, three years after it first opened when the facility was built around an existing community football field.
The operator of a local machine shop by trade, Hinds loved the community where he lived. In his final years of life he enjoyed sitting with some of his best friends every night in the grandstands at Placerville Speedway and loved watching young talent make a name for themselves in the sport.
Former track announcer, publicist and historian Bill Sullivan said of Al Hinds, “From the day he set foot on the red clay at Placerville Speedway to the very last race he attended, Hinds continued to display his true love for auto racing and the community in which he brought it to. Even in his final years he continued to help young drivers, entertain fans and most importantly he spent a great deal of time talking to and mentoring those that helped in speedway operations. When Hinds spoke, anyone who cared remotely about the future of the sport would sit down and listen.”
In action to help honor Hinds on Saturday will be the Thompson’s Family of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks and the Nor-Cal Dwarf Car Association. Aromas, CA’s Justin Sanders and Diamond Springs driver Kevin Jinkerson captured wins with the Sprint Cars and Pure Stocks last weekend respectively. For the Ltd. Late Models and Dwarf Cars it marks their first appearance of the 2021 campaign at the speedway.
The pit gate will open at noon this Saturday, with the front grandstand gate opening at 3pm. Happy Hour is offered from 4-6pm in the grandstands featuring discounted Coors Light and Coors Original at the beer stand. Drivers meeting will be held at 4:30pm, with cars on track for wheel packing at 5. Hot laps, ADCO Driveline qualifying and racing will follow.
If you haven’t done so yet, be sure and download the Pit Pay Mobile Pit Pass App to purchase pit passes online and help streamline the sign in process this season. The COVID-19 form is also built into Pit Pay, which saves everyone the need to print it out weekly.
To use Pit Pay, participants will download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and create a profile. They can then purchase passes for Placerville Speedway events and sign all waivers electronically. At the track, they will simply proceed to the Pit Pay Priority Line, show their mobile pit pass, and get an armband. For those that don’t have a smart phone, you will still be able to sign in and pay the traditional way.
The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto http://www.placervillespeedway.com
Join over 14,000 followers of Placerville Speedway on Facebook, where you can keep abreast of updates for the 2021 season. You can also find Placerville Speedway on Twitter by following us https://twitter.com/pvillespeedway – In addition, Placerville Speedway is also on Instagram. Please follow us @PvilleSpeedway.
The quarter-mile clay oval is operated by Russell Motorsports Incorporated, which can be reached at the track business office at 530-344-7592. Contact Kami Arnold or Scott Russell directly for sponsorship opportunities at the office.
Upcoming events at Placerville Speedway:
Saturday April 10: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks and Nor-Cal Dwarf Cars | 18th annual Tribute to Al Hinds
Saturday April 17: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and BCRA Lightning Sprints
Saturday April 24: Tri-State Pro Stock Series, Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks and Mini Trucks | Tilford Tribute
