Justin Henderson Chico Gold Cup summary

Henderson has a Golden Weekend! September 11, 2006 (Chico, CA) World of Outlaws Rookie of the year contender Justin Henderson was all smiles Saturday night after climbing out of his Jolt Energy Gum Schnee ...

Henderson has a Golden Weekend!

September 11, 2006 (Chico, CA) World of Outlaws Rookie of the year contender Justin Henderson was all smiles Saturday night after climbing out of his Jolt Energy Gum Schnee #D1. Henderson had just finished 7th in his first ever Gold Cup Race of Champions. The Gold Cup is one of the the biggest winged sprint car events in the country and this year there were 103 other cars all vying for the $50,000 grand prize. Many of the best California drivers were on hand and many had either won races at the ¼ mile high bank race track or championships, none of that mattered to Henderson. The young Sioux Falls, ND hot shoe was unphased by the competition and was the highest finishing first time Gold Cup racer.

It all started on Thursday night where Justin was the 3rd fastest qualifier out of 45 cars, however it looked like that might be the highlight as the youngster was involved in an incident in his heat race and had to start at the rear and would only come up to 7th and forced to run the "B" main. All was back on track however as the Jolt Energy Gum #D1 jumped to the lead on the opening lap and never looked back to the checkers. In the preliminary "A" main from his 11th starting position he would finish 6th and be 11th in the points for Saturday nights "A" main event.

Henderson would start 11th in the "A" main of the 53rd annual Gold Cup Race of Champions. From the onset the rookie was moving forward. Through both the yellow and red flags Henderson continued to progress. When the chers flew on the 40 lap event the Jolt Energy Gum #D1 would finish 7th and continuing to impress fans.

"We were just a little too tight." Said Henderson with a smile. "I am not complaining you do not want to be too loose on this track. Hey we just finished 7th at the Gold Cup Race of Champions. We had a bit of a late night at the Chili Feed so we just basically loaded up on the Jolt Energy Gum all afternoon and were pretty fresh for the feature. It's great to come to prestigious event and have a good finish, it especially great that we did it right as the Outlaws announced it's new TV Deal with ESPN 2. All in all this weekend was Golden."