PLACERVILLE - The theory is pretty simple, if you promote it they will come.

They promoted it and they came. They came in droves to pack the stands at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. At the end, they stood and cheered in the pouring rain with lightning bolts illuminating the sky around them to cheer Auburn’s Andy Forsberg in victory lane of the rain-shortened event. Although the 30-lap feature race was shortened to 18 laps the return of Wild Winged Wednesday is being capped off as a huge success by Handy Racing Promotions and Placerville Speedway.

“This is awesome, this is a night that everyone will truly remember,” said Andy Forsberg as he stood in victory lane in the pouring rain. “Tonight we won this deal and we were more lucky then good but the real winners here tonight are all of these great race fans that supported this event. Keep supporting these special weeknight events and let’s have more of them.”

Prior to heat racing, Placerville Speedway was near standing room only as fans poured in to see the long anticipated first season appearance of the Civil War Sprint Car Series. Previously in the season two such events were lost due to wet weather. This special make up event, nearly suffered the same fate.

Early in the day promoter Alan Handy was near certain that Mother Nature would force him to cancel the event. Shortly after lunch time Handy uttered five simple words “we’re gonna go for it.” Those words resulted in one of the most intense nights of racing this year and Mother Nature wasn’t happy.

With lightning in the skies surrounding the fairgrounds, the feature event was under way at Placerville with Kyle Hirst of Loomis in a heated battle with series point leader and defending champion Sean Becker of Sacramento, as well as Forsberg and Saturday night winner Tyler Walker of Los Angeles. The front foursome was just four of the 37 cars that were in attendance Saturday night to mark the highest car count of the year at Placerville and in the Civil War Series.

As the rain closed in quickly, so did the intensity of the event. With 16 laps down both Hirst and Becker crashed within lapped traffic of the fourth turn, tossing the lead to Forsberg, who was comfortably racing the third position, battling with Walker. Once the race was restarted track officials were hopeful they would reach the 30-lap mark before the rain hit the track or at least exceed the halfway point of the race so its official and those who attended witnessed an action packed night of racing.

As the race reached the 18-lap mark the rain poured down just as Walker closed in on Forsberg. Herman Klein of Sacramento crossed the line in the third position and all three drivers celebrated in the pouring rain before the large crowd that remained in the grandstands cheering despite the heavy rain.

“This is quite a night at this place,” said Gene Moseley, who drove all the way from the North Bay to see the Civil War in action. Moseley works on weekends in this tough economy and was drawn to the event by its unique marketing campaign and timing that fit well with his schedule. “I saw the ads popping up on the internet and it fit my schedule. Had it gone the full 30 laps who knows how this would of ended but I know one thing, I will be back for the next one of these deals.”

Next one? Moseley wasn’t dreaming, after seeing the turnout for Wednesday’s event, Handy announced to the fans that he will work with the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in an effort to add an additional Wednesday night make-up race late in the season. As fans were leaving the facility, he stood at the exit ramp and repeatedly thanked the fans for coming, assisting many of them down the slippery walk way to insure a safe trip home.

Wednesday’s race was not the longest one, nor was it record breaking, ut for many it will be a night to remember at the small dirt track in the Sierra Foothills that took went back to taking chances Saturday night. Chances that entertained many.

Forsberg picked up his first win of the season in the Civil War Series Wednesday night to earn the Carls Jr. contingency bonus in victory lane. The McDonald’s Hardcharger of the race was Placerville’s Matt Barber who gained nine positions in the feature race. Hirst was named the Cold Springs Community Church Hard Luck Award recipient after losing the lead just two laps before the event’s conclusion.

Racing resumes at Placerville on Saturday night with championship point racing in the Red Hawk Casino series. Winged Sprint Cars, Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks and Dwarf Cars will be on hand. Don’t miss it. Visit www.placervillespeedway for more information and complete results.