Teenage racing star Braden Chiaramonte scored his best finish in a 360-winged sprint car when he raced past the checkered flag third in the main event last Friday at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California. The impressive young driver led 21 of the 25 laps in the crowd-pleasing race.
Chiaramonte was only making his fifth appearance, and the first since last August, at the famous track that is 600 miles north of his El Cajon, California home. However, driving the Tiner/Hirst-owned Slade Precision Shocks/Larry Davis Farms/System 1 Pro Ignition #94TH, he looked like a veteran who has spent decades on the ¼ mile oval.
The field was split into two groups of 22 cars each for qualifying. Chiaramonte found himself in the first group and he stopped the clocks at 11.954. That was fourth best in his group and seventh best of the 44 cars on hand. The time landed the talented young driver the pole position for the second eight-lap heat race. When the green opened the preliminary, he flew into the lead, never looked back, and scored a convincing win.
Chiaramonte’s prowess in qualifying and his heat garnered the third starting spot for the A main. The confident young driver did not stay third for long. He flew by the second-place car near the end of the first circuit and then went to the top of the track to stalk the leader.
Like his tenure in third, his time in second place was short-lived. In turn two on the third go around, the leader flipped and brought out a red flag. That handed the lead to Chiaramonte. When the race resumed, he flexed his muscles at the front. He immediately began to pull away from the remainder of the field. By the end of lap six, he had extended his advantage to nearly a half straightaway.
Just past the halfway point, Chiaramonte was enjoying a comfortable lead. However, it got uncomfortable in turn four on lap 16. As he was about to lap the car at the back of the pack, the car spun in front of him. Fortunately, Chiaramonte in all of the cars chasing him steered around the spinner. Unfortunately, that meant when the race resumed the good-sized lead “Spare Change” had built up, went by the wayside.
This time when the race restarted, the competition turned up the heat on the young driver. Nevertheless, Chiaramonte fended off their advances and maintained his lofty position at the front of the pack. He held the top spot until turn four on the next to last lap when veteran Shane Golobic slid him for the lead. Chiaramonte was still second going into turn three on the last lap when he was clobbered by another car coming up the inside. That pushed him back to third at the finish.
“It is still good, but we almost had that (the win),” Chiaramonte told longtime announcer Chad Hennig after the race. “It is only, I don’t know, my eighth winged sprint car race. To be up here is really good. Just a couple of mistakes cost me the win. But will learn from those and come back even better. I am looking forward and keeping my head up. Just learn from my mistakes and hopefully, we will be two spots better.”
“Big thank you to Steven Tiner and Kyle Hirst and everyone who helps on this car,” Chiaramonte continued. “A.M. Ortega, my mom and dad, my grandpa and everyone else. Without them, this would not be possible.”
After the race, gracious winner Golobic praised Chiaramonte.
“That 94TH has been fast,” hats off to those guys Golobic said. “Those guys are ripping. It says something for a young kid like Braden Chiaramonte. He is a young racer who does not have a lot of laps on this track. To be able to hop in and run that curb on that big rough top like that is really a good job.”
Details of his second night of racing last weekend (at the Placerville Speedway) will be coming in the next day.
For the next two weeks, Chiaramonte will be visiting a track that will be new to him. It is the Marysville Speedway which is located in Northeast California. This week he will be contesting a 360 winged race to get in some laps for next week’s Sprint Car Challenge Tour race. He will finish the month of May on Friday the 31st when the Sprint Car Challenge Tour visits Placerville.
Chiaramonte would like to thank all his sponsors who have made his racing efforts possible. RTL Traffic Control, AM Ortega, OCC Motorsports, Hyper Racing, Chop Design, Adams Motors, Hacienda Casa Blanca Fine Mexican Dining, Evil Plus Injection, King Racing Products, Tyner, and Keizer Wheels. If you would like to be a partner with one of America’s fastest-rising racing stars, please contact Daniel Chiaramonte via email at mailto:[email protected] or by calling (619) 988-7563.
Chiaramonte Racing PR
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