Chad Boat and his crew arrived at Manzanita Speedway on a hot, dry Saturday night anxious to continue their success with the AMRA midgets and to celebrate the 4th of July Independence Day.

Chad began his night of racing by starting on the outside of the front row of his heat race. The pole sitter, Mike Courtney, got the jump at the wave of the green flag, but he pushed high coming off of Turn 4 and Chad went to the inside and had the lead at the end of the first lap. Chad pulled away from the field, but a yellow flag waved on Lap 5 and the cars were nose to tail for a restart. On the restart, Chad took the lead, with Bugs Norbury moving into the 2nd position. On the final lap, Norbury made the pass on Chad to win the heat race with Chad finishing in the 2nd position.

On a dry, dusty 1//3 mile track, Chad started the 20-Lap Main Event on the inside of Row 2. Dustin Burkhart started on the pole and had the lead with Chad running 2nd at the end of the first lap. Chad held on to 2nd and put the pressure on Burkhart for the lead for several laps, before he lost the position but was running a strong 3rd, looking to gain the position back. A yellow flag flew on Lap 10 with Chad running in the 3rd position. While the cars were under yellow, the car in front of Chad came to a stop on the track and he had to jam on the brakes to keep from hitting the car and he lost power and also came to a stop.

Chad had to restart at the back of the field in the 12th position. Chad was able to pass several cars but the hard, slick track put a premium on passing and Chad ran out of laps before he could get to the front, but he did manage a 7th place finish.

During intermission, the track announcer paid tribute to all of the veterans in the grandstands and asked Chad to say a few words in gratitude for their service to our Country. Chad said, “I want to say thank all of you for making it possible for me to live my dream of becoming a race car driver.” A great fireworks show followed to celebrate our Country’s Independence Day.