CHICO, CA (3-22-08) – Sixteen year-old Alissa Geving of Penngrove, California began her sophomore season behind the wheel of her family owned Chick-O-Motorsports, Pit Stop USA, A1A Muffler, Auto Repairs Unlimited, Matt Cordiero Enterprises #3 sprint car last weekend in the annual Silver Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.
With over 60 cars in competition, earning a starting spot in the preliminary A-feature on Friday night was a feat for even the veteran drivers in the field. With no time for qualifying, heat race line ups were determined by a pre race pill draw and a starting spot in the invitational A-feature was determined by passing points in the four preliminary heat races.Starting 11th in the last row of her heat race, Geving wasted no time in charging towards the front of the field and with the combination of several passes and a number of cars dropping out early a 5th place finish earned her enough passing points to start ninth in the A-feature, one position ahead of heat race winner and former Silver Dollar Champion Tim Kaeding.

In Friday’s A-feature, Geving was initially passed by Grass Valley’s Brad Sweet and David Robinson of Foresthill as they approached the green flag but adjusting to the bottom of the track in the first turn she redeemed the positions, passing both of the top drivers and moving back into the ninth position and setting her sights on Steven Tiner of Sacramento for her next battle.

For several laps Geving and Tiner battled for position until she overtook him and began to pressure Sacramento’s Kyle Hirst, a top driver and former Rookie of the Year at Silver Dollar Speedway. Hirst eventually fell victim to a crash that Geving narrowly avoided and put her in the fifth position with Kaeding in her wake as the red flag came out.

Following the restart, Geving maintained the position over Kaeding until a lapped car forced her to slow down and allowed Kaeding to overtake her. At the checkered flag, Geving finished an impressive fifth place behind winner Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, Tyler Walker and Kaeding, all of which have extensive national experience with either the World of Outlaws of All Stars tour.

“Silver Cup was a totally new experience, I have never run head to head against such well known respected drivers,” said Geving. “I feel that I have learned a lot competing with these drivers and I have come to respect them event more. The track was fast and my team set the car up to its best. To finish fifth against California’s best was great.”

On Saturday, many race fans were geared up to see if Geving could charge her way to the front of the field once again. During night two of the classic spring event, however, a series of challenges set the team back prior to the checkered flag of the A-feature.

Starting on the pole of the heat race and being very cautious to not “jump” the start and be penalized, Geving took the green flag as Tiner jumped into the lead out of turn four to steal the top position. With car extremely loose, Geving maintained the second position until a restart later in the race when Randy Hannagan passed her. She finished third in the preliminary event, good enough for a 13th place starting position in the A-feature.

After a number of changes to the car’s set up and some advise from her well respected counterpart Stephen Allard, Geving returned to the track in fine fashion. Using the low line of the track she advanced into the ninth position by the just the fifth lap. Shortly thereafter Geving’s run at the Silver Cup would come to a close when a slight collision with an infield safety tire damaged the front axle of her car.

“I was having a hard time finding my line on Saturday and the track was completely different from the night before,” said Geving. “My crew made some big changes after my heat race and the car was much better in the A-main. I was having fun and getting my line down until the sudden contact with the tire in the infield. The Silver Cup was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back to Silver Dollar Speedway.”

This Saturday Geving will return to her home track of Petaluma Speedway to begin the 2008 weekly championship series. Last year she earned Rookie of the Year at both Petaluma and Antioch Speedway’s and was named the Motorsports Press Association’s “Rising Star” for 2008. On Wednesday, April 9th she will begin her run at the 2008 Civil War Series which opens at Placerville Speedway.

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