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April 2011 Archives

 
 

4-2-11 Racing at All American Speedway is a Family Sport for Erick and Shelly Ray
Source RMG Race Media Group
All American Speedway


Husband and wife team, Erick and Shelly Ray of Ray Motorsports in Rocklin, are in it to win, race and have fun. Erick Ray, driver for Ray Motorsports, has been involved in racing since the early 90’s. Erick would assist his brother Rick Anable who raced Mini Stocks at All American Speedway and quickly adapted to the sport and began racing in 2001. His first year was a memorable one for Erick. He and his brother built Erick’s first Bomber machine and showed success on track. Not only did Erick have a new racecar but he met the love of his life Shelly.

Shelly who comes from Cave City, Arkansas, with family involved in dirt racing, came to All American Speedway one night with a friend and met Erick. The two became serious about their relationship and when they wanted to focus on a family, they took a break from racing.

Erick returned in 2007 and was dedicated to making racing his new hobby and to occupy his free time. He and his brother Rick won the All American Speedway 2007 Team Driver Championship and was the first ever team to capture the Team Driver Championship. In 2009 Erick was runner up in the points Championship along with seven-plus points race wins at All American Speedway, 20-plus Trophy Dash wins and three-plus Top Qualifiers. Erick also has wins in many open shows throughout the Northern California’s regional tracks. Erick’s Crew Chief, his brother Gene VanZandt, has helped Erick tremendously by funding parts and new motors for the race car.

Both Erick and Shelly play different roles as they prepare for the race weekend. Erick is the mechanic and makes sure the car is properly adjusted for the upcoming race. When it’s warm outside Erick’s kids will help their dad by wrenching on the car. He also makes sure his race car is clean and ready to go. “A clean race car is a must for the team. I want my racecar to be clean so that my sponsors can be visible,” Says Erick.

Shelly performs the cosmetic duties, making sure the stickers are visible, and making sure the car has a proper presentation, as well as checking the tire pressures and making sure the race gear is clean and ready. Shelly is very supportive of Erick in his racing and puts together Erick’s sponsorship packets. One of the few important things they do together before hitting the track is after they’ve both been buckled in they both say a little prayer together. In the previous year’s Shelly would do a few one-off’s as a rider. This year will be her first dedicated season as Erick’s rider.

Ray Motorsports is involved with a group of seven other drivers at the track and they all pit together in one area to help each other out. “It’s great to have such great friends at the track because we all pitch in to help each other out when needed,” says Erick. "My kids are always looking forward to the next race, they even talk about racing in their school projects or even try to mimic my autograph signature on their papers. They want to be race car drivers so I got one Quarter Midget for my two younger kids 6 and 3 years old.” Erick and Shelly hope to save their bomber for their kids when they’re old enough to race.

Outside of racing the Ray’s spend time as a family, playing with their dog Digger and BBQing with friends. Erick and Shelly’s favorite TV shows, besides NASCAR, are Two and a Half Men and American Idol. Erick love’s Shelly’s homemade meatloaf and mashed potatoes while Shelly love’s her homemade Biscuits and gravy. Erick’s favorite NASCAR driver is Dale Earndhardt Jr. but is now leaning towards to Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya while Shelly’s favorite is Mark Martin. Shelly likes Martin because he is also from Arkansas and she thinks he’s an "awesome driver." The Ray’s aren’t much into Pro sports and don’t keep up with the NBA, NFL or MLB, however they do enjoy watching the big games like the Superbowl, World Series and the Playoffs. Erick’s favorite track other than All American Speedway is Lakeport Speedway, where he says the bomber community is very “laid back and helpful”. The track Erick would love to race at is the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The biggest race Erick has attended was the NASCAR Infineon race while Shelly’s was the Lakeport Speedway Open Show. Shelly says she’s never been to a NASCAR race and hopes that someday she can attend one. Erick said, "I have a great wife that not only supports my racing but also takes good care of me by doing the laundry, cooking meals and delivering morning coffee in bed.

Erick loves racing his bomber because it’s affordable, fun and is the only class with a passenger. He enjoys sharing his racing experience with his sponsors and friends by allowing them to be a passenger in his bomber. He has helped spark the interest in racing with friends from sharing his racing experience. All American Speedway has created a racing community involving friendship and family among its competitors. As a family oriented sport, the Roseville Ca facility is dedicated to providing top level NASCAR racing for the fans while growing the elements that make up the foundation in which racing families continue to thrive on, family entertainment.

In 2011 Ray Motorsports will have the No. 77 Bomber Machine on display at the Tuesday Night Downtown Roseville Car show promoting his sponsors and the speedway. Erick, Shelly, Ray Motorsports crew, sponsors, friends and fans all head to Hacienda in Rocklin after the races to enjoy watching videos from the race day. Erick would like to personally invite everyone to join in on some racing footage after every race. Erick would like to thank his 2011 sponsors and partners: Ray Motorsports Powered by Gene VanZandt, Hacienda in Rocklin, MTFX, Allied Bail Bonds, Rick’s Automotive, California Transmission, Blue Moose Deli, Any Auto Repairs, Star Racing Supply and last but not least the All American Speedway fans for supporting Ray Motorsports and All American Speedway.




 

4-28-11 Marysville Raceway Park Hosts Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series This Saturday Night April 30
Source Gary Thomas
Marysville Raceway Park

The thundering sound of 410 sprint cars will invade Marysville Raceway Park this Saturday night when the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series hits the “Action Track of the West” for the fourth round of action in the 2011 season.

Since taking over the Marysville Raceway Park promoters Paul and Kathy Hawes have made a number of improvements to the track and facility, which is located just 45 miles north of Sacramento and 50 miles south of Chico.

Last season the Golden State Series brought 410 winged sprint car racing back to the track for the first time since 1999 and it saw eventual champion Kyle Larson of Elk Grove bring home the victory. This year KWS will be looking to bring even more excitement to the track with numerous things planned throughout the evening, including giveaways and driver autographs in the grandstands.

As noted Saturday’s event will be round number four in the battle for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series championship, which includes a $125,000 cash point fund that will be distributed at season’s end. The series is scheduled to visit 15 different tracks in 2011 and the show in Marysville will be a prelude of what is expected to come at next weekend’s annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in Chico.

Sitting atop the KWS point standings going into the Marysville Raceway Park is San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, who has won two of the three main events for far this season aboard Dennis & Teresa Roth’s beautiful No. 83 sprint car. Always worth the price of admission wherever he races “TK” captured his 50th career Golden State 410 victory last week and will be searching for three in a row on Saturday night.

Two-time Golden State 410 champion Jonathan Allard has moved to second in the standings after a third place effort last week and will be trying to chip away at Kaeding’s 25-point advantage on Saturday. The driver of the Morrie & Katie Williams No. 0 mount claimed victory in the opening round at Antioch, before an accident on the final lap in Tulare left him with a 17th place finish in week two.

Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs has had a consistent start to the year and currently ranks third in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series standings while driving his family’s No. 33e machine. A runner up finish on opening night for Suggs has been followed by a pair of top-10 finishes during the ensuing events and places him just six-digits back of Allard for second. Suggs last season finished third in the feature at MRP.

Fan-favorite Jason Statler of Grass Valley comes into Marysville sitting fourth in the Golden State KWS standings. Last season at MRP the “Big Guy” won the dash and led the first seven-laps in the main event, before finishing second to Larson aboard his familiar DF Rios Motorsports No. 00 mount. Statler is also coming off a fast-time effort last week and will be gunning to return to victory lane on Saturday.

Going into the Marysville Raceway Park there is currently a tie for fifth in the standings between Placerville’s Andy Gregg and Campbell’s Brent Kaeding.

Gregg is coming off his best night of the young season last week at Ocean Speedway, where he won a heat race and finished fifth in the main event at the helm of the Bret Ervin Racing No. 53 sprinter. The 7-Industries factory driver claimed his first ever California sprint car victory at MRP in 2007 and will be looking for his initial Golden State KWS win on Saturday.

Brent Kaeding is also fresh off his best outing of the year last weekend, which saw him win the dash and lead the first 11-laps of the main event, before finishing fourth at the conclusion. The driver of the famed Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 sprinter will return to Marysville Raceway Park this Saturday hoping to break a winless drought with the Golden State 410 Series that dates back to July of 2009.

Completing the top-10 in KWS points coming into Saturday is Sacramento’s Willie Croft, Stockton’s Brad Furr, Fremont’s Brent Bjork and Elk Grove veteran Bobby McMahan. Other drivers expected will include Elk Grove’s Billy Strange Jr., Chico’s Kenny Allen and Brad Bumgarner, Princeton’s Mason Moore, Merced’s Mark Barroso, Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg, Oakhurst’s Doug Gandy, Rio Vista’s Dan & Danielle Simpson, Grass Valley’s Pat Harvey and more.

The pit gate will open at 3pm on Saturday, the front gate opens at 5 and cars will be hitting the track for wheel packing around 5:30, with qualifying and racing to follow. A full program of qualifying Time-Trials, Heat Races, a Dash, Last Chance Qualifier and the 30-lap $3,000-to-win/ $500-to-start main event will be on tap in Marysville.

Adult tickets will cost $18 with juniors 10-17 being $15, seniors, disabled and active military also $15, kids 6-9 $10 and children 5 and under free.

The Marysville Raceway Park is located in Marysville, California. From the Junction of HWY 70 and HWY 20 (12th Street), go a quarter-mile east on HWY 20. Turn south onto Ramirez Road for 1.5 miles. The physical address is 1468 Simpson Ln, Marysville, CA 95901. Directions & hotels can be found at http://marysvilleracewaypark.com/maps.html

Upcoming events-

Next Saturday night May 7 the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will head for the 21st annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway. Lap money and extra goodies will be up for grabs during the night and for anyone that would like to contribute to the prestigious event please contact Dave & Dianne Durica at Durica1414@sbcglobal.net or call 916-988-5958.

More info on the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial can be found during the coming week at http://www.kwssprints.com

You can also follow KWS on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KWS410s#!/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907 and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s

 

4-28-11 Cora Speedway Money Race This Saturday Night

Just a reminder to everyone about our race this Saturday, April 30th. It has been a GREAT season this far with 3 of our points races complete. Also just a reminder about memberships, they are still being accepted until May 14th. The cost is $75 through May 7th and $100 after.

Hope to see everyone at the track !!!!
$$$$$ RACE $$$$
$500.00 TO WIN
IN EVERY CLASS
(With a 10 car minimum)

SATURDAY, APRIL 30TH
GATES OPEN @ 12
SIGN IN @ 3 HOT LAPS @ 5

$50.00 ENTRY FEE


Cora Speedway
http://www.coraspeedway.net











 

4-28-11 Brody Roa Scores First VRA Sprint Feature Win
Source Lance Jennings
Ventura Raceway

Last Saturday night, Buena Park's Brody Roa charged from the fourteenth starting spot to claim his first career victory with the Ventura Racing Association. Taking the lead from "The Animal" Derek Buckley on lap twenty-four, the young driver maintained his rhythm, survived a last lap charge from Cory Kruseman, and powered to the 30-lap feature win. "My dad (Brett) had it dialed in," remarked Roa, "It was a tough night, but definitely worth it in the end."

Oak Park's Dakota Kershaw and point leader Troy Rutherford of Ojai shared the front row of the twenty car main event. Looking for his fifth win in six starts, Rutherford took command at the drop of the starter's green flag. Behind the leader, Steve Conrad shot to second as "The Animal" Derek Buckley and Greg Taylor dropped Kershaw to fifth. Using the high line of the Ventura clay oval, Buckley quickly raced past Conrad for second and began to chase after the leader. Now sitting in the third spot, Conrad was under attack from Taylor.

Conrad held tough, but Taylor was able to wrestle third away from the former USAC TQ Midget graduate. After falling back to fifth, Kershaw looked to regroup and began to pressure Conrad for fourth. Seventh starting Brian Camarillo saw an opportunity to advance and went for a slide job pass on Kershaw. Unfortunately, contact between the two sent Dakota into the fence and a series of rollovers. While Kershaw's machine was in the air, he was tagged by Brian's younger brother Brent. Action was halted with a red flag displayed on the speedway and Dakota walked away uninjured.

On the restart, Rutherford set the pace with Buckley, Taylor, Conrad, and Brian Camarillo tucked close behind. As the cars picked up the throttle, Troy got the advantage as second was now a three way battle. Running the outside lane, Taylor shot to second and set his sights on the leader. Motivated to score his first win of the season, Greg closed in and launched a successful slide job pass on Troy at the east end of the track. With ten laps down, Taylor was out front, Rutherford in second, Buckley held third, and Camarillo sat in fourth.

As Rutherford looked to reel in Taylor, Camarillo shot for third with a turn one slide job that caught the inside berm. The move upset Camarillo's car and Buckley narrowly missed disaster by climbing the fence. Brian came to a stop bringing out the yellow flag, as Derek continued on. As the cars lined up in single file, Taylor was in command, followed by Rutherford, Buckley, Conrad, and Cody Kershaw. With the green flag waving, Taylor worked to shake free from Rutherford, as fourteenth starting Brody Roa motored past "The Kruser" Cory Kruseman for sixth.

The two leaders began to put some distance between themselves and the field and action was soon halted for Kyle Smith, who spun to a stop in turn four. Once again in single file formation, Taylor was out front, but Rutherford stayed close this time and pulled off a slide job pass. As the duo roared down the back chute and into the turns at the west end, it was a drag race in tight racing quarters. Rutherford tagged the outside fence causing front end damage to his car and his streak of four wins in a row would end on this night. Another yellow flag was displayed.

Taylor led the single file parade, followed by Buckley, Conrad, Roa, and Kruseman. Heading into turn three, Roa took third from Conrad. As the laps started to count down, it looked to be Taylor's night, but his car soon slowed giving the lead to Buckley on lap twenty-three. Roa was on the attack and pulled off the turn one slide job pass for the lead. Derek tried to battle back, but Brody was too strong. Kruseman shot past Buckley for second on the next lap with his own slide job and gave chase.

With the white flag waving, Kruseman had closed the gap on Roa and shot for the lead. The slide job pass did not work, resulting in a Kruseman spin. From there is was all Brody Roa, followed by Derek Buckley, Steve Conrad, Brandon Thomson, and Richard VanderWeerd. After the victory, a happy Roa stated "I just stayed patient and avoided all of the crashes that were happening on the fence. I kept looking forward and got around them. Somehow I got up there."

Driving the BR Performance #91R machine, backed by L.A. Prep and "Biker" Bruce Fischer, Brody Roa won his first career VRA Sprint Car feature. Earlier in the evening, last year's Wagsdash Champion had problems in his heat race and scored eighth place. Relegated to the semi-main, Roa took second in the twelve lap event. Starting fourteenth in the feature, the young driver earned "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors with the victory. To date, Brody has two top-10 finishes, led seven main event laps, and is now fifteenth in the point chase.

Ojai's Derek Buckley claimed second place on this night after starting fourth. Piloting the #76 Fatheadz Eyewear / Competition Suspension Inc. entry, "The Animal" claimed second in his heat race and is currently seventh in the points. In the 2011 campaign, Buckley has four heat race wins, three top-10 finishes, and has led one main event lap.

Steve Conrad of Quartz Hill came home third in the #56 Roy Miller Freightlines / SC Grafix car after finishing second in his heat race. The March 12th feature winner has one heat race victory, one hard charger award, five top-10 finishes, and eighteen main event laps led to his credit. Now second in the standings, Conrad is eighty-five points behind Troy Rutherford.

Norwalk's Brandon Thomson raced to fourth after starting tenth in the night's action. Driving the #92 ThunderHead Apparel machine, Thomson was fourth in his heat race and is currently sixth in the point chase. To date, Brandon has one heat race win, one semi-main victory, and one hard charger award on the season.

Richard VanderWeerd of Visalia claimed fifth after starting thirteenth in his first Ventura appearance. Piloting Tommy Horne's potent #13 sprint car, VanderWeerd was fifth in his heat race and won the 12-lap semi-main. Also earning transfer spots to the feature were Brody Roa, Don Gansen, Josh Ford, Clark Templeman III, John Nock, Kyle Smith, and Austin DeBlauw. Roa won the 30-lap event, Gansen was seventh, and Ford took ninth. Templeman claimed sixth, Nock scored tenth, Smith was eleventh, and DeBlauw finished eighth after starting twentieth.

Camarillo's Brian Camarillo won the night's first 10-lap heat race and is tenth in the points. Driving the #22 Agromin Soil / Waste Management car, Brian scored an eighteenth place finish in the feature. To date, Camarillo has two heat race wins, and two top-10 finishes on the year.

Ventura's "The Kruser" Cory Kruseman won his second heat race of the year. Piloting the #21K Lucas Oil / Sander Engineering car, Kruseman spun on the last lap while in second, resulting in a twelfth place finish. Now eighth in the point standings, Cory has three top-10 finishes to his credit.

Cody Kershaw of Oak Park won the program's third and final heat race. Driving the #26 Interprise Capitol Investments / Maxima Racing Oils car, Kershaw was seventeenth in the 30-lap feature. In limited action, the young driver is twenty-fifth in the championship points.

Ventura Raceway had five other companion classes scheduled on the night. Cory Kruseman won the VRA Midget feature and Aaron Rodarte won in the IMCA Modified division. The Ford Focus Midgets held two features, with veteran Wally Pankratz taking the win in the March 19th makeup race and Nick Carlson claimed the night's main event. Cole Custer won in Junior Ford Focus Midget action and Richard Renken took the Go Kart main event.

To catch all of the action of the VRA Sprint Car Series and Ventura Raceway, Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Ventura Raceway offers a live feed of every event at www.venturaraceway.com/live.html. The live feed will begin at 5:00pm PST.

The VRA Sprint Car Series will be off this weekend, but this Saturday, April 30th, Ventura Raceway will host the VRA Senior Sprints, VRA Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, Dwarf Cars, and Sport Compacts. The Front Gates will open at 3:00pm with Racing to start at 5:30pm. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com or call (805) 985-5433.

 

4-28-11 Eric Holmes Looking For a Win at Miller Motorsports Park
Source Kaye Reshaw
NASCAR K&N Pro West

Antelope, Calif. -- The No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry team from Bill McAnally Racing next heads to the western slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains to the town of Tooele, Utah. It’s the home of the Miller Motorsports Park which hosts many of the world’s most significant racing series including the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. This will be the fifth visit for the series to the track. The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix will be on Saturday April 30th with the West Series teams set to take the green flag at 4:30 pm MST.

“We’ll have a great No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry for the road course,” said Eric Holmes, driver of the No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry. “Duane Knorr (crew chief) and the BMR team back at the shop are on it as far as setting up the road course car. We’ve got a new Toyota that I really like .It’s a proven road course winner we acquired from Michael Waltrip Racing.”

“We recently tested at Miller. It’s like a brand new track for us with the new configuration. It’s more difficult in that it is narrow and tight and there’s not a lot of room to pass.”

“It’s going to be exciting for the fans. They’ll be able to see all of the action. We want to show our race partners, Toyota and NAPA Auto Parts that we have the Camry that can win here.”

It’s a close battle for the top-five positions in the chase for the 2011 championship. After only two races of the 14 race season, Holmes is only 41 points out of second. The NAPA team also looks to give Toyota their first win at this challenging road course.

The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix is on Saturday, April 30th. For ticket information please visit the track’s website at www.millermotorsportspark.com. The track is located just 35 minutes outside Salt Lake City. The green flag for the West race will drop at 4:30 pm with qualifying for the race slated for 1:30 pm MST.

The Toyota/NAPA AutoCare 150 from All American Speedway will be televised on SPEED Channel on Thursday, May 5th. Please check your local listing.

For more information on Bill McAnally Racing, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. Bill McAnally Racing is now on Facebook. Become a fan and stay up to date with the latest happenings with your favorite race teams.

 

4-28-11 No. 16 Hasa /NAPA Gold Filters Toyota Team on The Road to Miller
Source Kaye Reshaw
NASCAR K&N Pro West

Antelope, CA –The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will make its fifth annual appearance at Miller Motorsports Park on April 30, 2011. Bill McAnally Racing’s Moses Smith, driver of the No. 16 Hasa Pool Products/NAPA Gold Filters Toyota Camry heads to the 2.2-mile road course with the track record of the most to-five finishes in the West Series with three in five visits.

Miller has been a track where Smith has done well. He charged towards the front under a green-white-checked scenario to finish in fourth in 2008, returned to finish 5th in 2009 and fourth in 2010.

“We’ve had good finishes at Miller,” said Smith.”We’ve had a good strategy for the race, great pit stops, overall just a good time. Mario Isola and the Hasa team from BMR did an awesome job preparing our road course Camry.”

“Miller Motorsports Park is an awesome facility, easily becoming one of my favorite tracks to race at. We’re going to do whatever we can to record a victory this weekend.”

Smith is second in the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West chase for the championship. He is only 48 points out of first with a dozen races left in the 2011 race season.

The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix is on Saturday, April 30th. For ticket information please visit the track’s website at www.millermotorsportspark.com. The track is located just 35 minutes outside Salt Lake City. The green flag for the West race will drop at 4:30 pm with qualifying for the race slated for 1:30 pm.

The Toyota/NAPA AutoCare 150 from All American Speedway will be televised on SPEED Channel on Thursday, May 5th. Please check your local listing.

For more information on Bill McAnally Racing, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. Bill McAnally Racing is now on Facebook. Become a fan and stay up to date with the latest happenings with your favorite race teams.

For more information on Moses Smith, please visit www.mosessmith.com. You can visit our sponsors’ websites at www.hasapool.com, www.whiteflyer.com, www.napafilters.com and www.tcitransportation.com . You can also follow Moses on Twitter.

 

4-28-11 Metal Mulisha Star, Brian Deegan to Race VRA Midget At Ventura Raceway Saturday Night April 30
Source Cliff Morgan
Ventura Raceway

Ventura Raceway welcomes founding member of the "Metal Mulsiha" X Games and Freestyle Motocross star Brian Deegan to our Saturday Night April 30, VRA Midget event. On that night he will be participating in the VRA Midget portion our program, driving a VRA Midget from the Cory Kruseman racing stable.

Brian Deegan is one of the top freestyle motocross riders in the world. He was the first rider to do a 360 backflip in competition. The move he calls the "Mulisha Twist" is world famous. Deegan is the most decorated freestyle rider in X Games history with ten total medals, 3 gold and 7 bronze. He has competed in at least one event in all X Games held. He became a pro supercross rider at age 17, in 1997 at the LA Coliseum, where he won the 125cc main in a fashion that was the beginning of freestyle motocross.

In 2009 Deegan entered the Lucas Oil Off road Racing Series Unlimited Lites Division where, as a rookie he took the series championship. Saturday night he ventures into another form of four wheel racing in the VRA Midgets. He will be competing against his VRA Midget mentor Cory Kruseman, who has won the first two events in the 2011 season at Ventura Raceway and the rest of the stars of the VRA Midget Series.

Deegan and the Metal Mulisha have their own clothing line and other related forms of merchandise. Brian Deegan also has a toy line called Hevy Hitters available at many retail locations such as Wal Mart.

Come out Saturday and see this outstanding competitor make his VRA Midget debut. Racing will keep you on the edge of your seats.

Racing gets under way at 5:30 Saturday night with a full program of racing featuring VRA Midgets, Senior Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, VRA Dwarf Cars and Sport Compacts. Admission prices are $14.00 for adults, $11.00 for seniors/military/Juniors with kids 12 and under free. For more information, please call Ventura Raceway at (805) 985-5433.




 

4-27-11 Brunelli to Compete in NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West
Source Steven Blakesley
NASCAR K&N Pro West

Racers Drive announces that it will be fielding a stock car in the NASCAR K&N Pro series races at Las Vegas on June 11th and at Infineon Raceway as part of the Sprint Cup show the weekend of June 24 - 26.

The driver will be 18 year old Jessica Brunelli from Hayward, CA who is part of NASCAR's prestigious Drive for Diversity (D4D) program. She is tremendously fast, very personable and currently running stock cars on tracks back east for Revolution Racing. For more information on Jessica go to her website, www.brunelliracing.com.

We will be teaming Jessica up with Naake Motorsports of Roseville, CA and the Stephanie Bellotti Foundation. The Stephanie Bellotti Foundation was formed by Stephanie's parents after they tragically lost their daughter in an automobile accident. Their organization now provides funding for Teen Driving Clinics to give young drivers the competence and confidence necessary to keep them and their vehicle safe and under control in an emergency situation. The response from fans, sponsors and NASCAR to the foundation’s proactive approach to the development of safe driving skills has been outstanding.

The marriage between Jessica Brunelli, one of NASCAR rising young stars, Naake Motorsports, an established and successful K&N team, and the Stephanie Bellotti Foundation will ensure that any organization involved will enjoy the exposure and good will generated by the attention and press that this effort will attract.

We are actively seeking additional marketing partners to help fund this operation.

To learn how you can become a sponsor and marketing partner with the Racers Drive team, contact Mike Cesario at mike@racersdrive.com or 408-220-3167. Racers Drive, www.racersdrive.com, is a Los Gatos, CA based motorsports marketing management organization which acts as a matchmaker and motor sports advocate for drivers, race teams and marketing partners alike.
 

4-27-11 USAC West Coast 360s Clash at Tulare Saturday
Source Lance Jennings
USAC West Coast 360s

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series will return to action this Saturday, April 30th, at Steve Faria's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. Joining the popular series will be the Taco Bravo Ocean Sprints vs. ASCS Southern California Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stocks, and Vintage Super Modifieds. The Front Gates will open at 5:00pm, Time Trials will start at 6:00pm, with Racing at the lightning fast 1/3-mile facility to begin at 7:00pm.

Ryan Bernal of Hollister sits atop the point standings heading into Saturday's event. The driver of the #11D Olmstead's Auto Racing Inc. / S&S Automotive Maxim scored a second place finish at Tulare on April 16th. To date, the former Wingless Spec Sprint Champion has three top-10 finishes and has led six main event laps on the season. Bernal will be looking to break through for his first career series win on Saturday.

Visalia's Jace VanderWeerd is fifteen points behind Bernal in the championship hunt. Piloting the family owned #88 VanderWeerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Jace claimed third on April 16th after starting ninth. The April 9th Santa Maria feature winner has three top-10 finishes and has led fourteen main event laps in the 2011 campaign. VanderWeerd will be working to add Saturday's feature win to his resume.

"Wide Open" Wes Gutierrez of San Martin is third in the point chase. Driving the WG Motorsports #007 DRC sponsored by Competition Suspension Inc. and ButlerBuilt, Wes was sixth after starting twelfth on April 16th. Currently, the hard charging driver has two heat race wins and three top-10 finishes on the year. Gutierrez will have his sights set on Tulare's 30-lap main event victory.

After claiming his second win of the year on April 16th, Campbell's Bud Kaeding is fourth in the point standings. Piloting Junior Bowman's #29 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Maxim, Kaeding has two heat race wins and has led forty-three laps of main event competition. As this writing goes to press, the 3-time USAC Silver Crown Champion has been competing in Australia.

Gardena's Greg Alexander sits fifth in the championship point chase. Driving Chuck Tyler's #72 Maxim backed by Trench Shoring and Amsoil, Greg placed sixteenth in the Tulare April 16th feature. To date, Alexander has one heat race win and two top-10 finishes to his credit. This Saturday, Greg will be looking to rebound with a main event triumph.

Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are Hanford's Justyne Hamblin, Visalia's Richard VanderWeerd, Fresno's T.J. Smith, "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton, Hanford's Jonathan Logan, Dennis Howell of Rancho Palos Verdes, Bakersfield's Rusty Carlile, and many more.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Port City Racing, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.

Tulare's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds at the corner of Bardsley and K Streets. Reserved Grandstand Tickets are $16 and Bleacher Tickets are $13. Advance tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling the track office at (559) 688-0909. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.tularethunderbowl.com.

For more information on the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series, visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, www.racesantamariaspeedway.com, or follow the series on facebook.

USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ryan Bernal 185; 2. Jace VanderWeerd 170; 3. Wes Gutierrez 161; 4. Bud Keading 148; 5. Greg Alexander 141; 6. Justyne Hamblin 136; 7. Richard VanderWeerd 133; 8. T.J. Smith 121; 9. Danny Faria Jr. 114; 10. Johnathon Logan 93; 11. Dennis Howell 86; 12. Rusty Carlile 84; --. Davey Pombo 84; 14. Ricky Kirkbride 73; 15. Nico Russo 59; 16. Peter Murphy 57; --. Andy Forsberg 57; 18. Cole Peard 55; --. Craig Stidham 55; 20. Marcus Niemela 49.

NEXT USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT RACE:
April 30th – Tulare, CA – Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway
 

4-26-11 Records Fall But Mother Nature Wins Night
Source Dan McIntire
Lakeport Speedway


It was the Founders Cup at Lakeport Speedway and it was set to be a very exciting night of racing with the debut of the Lake County Off Road Extreme Asphalt Outlaws along with all of the other division at the speedway. There were a total of 10 of the new outlaws making the debut race at the speedway this weekend, with the fast time and the track record for the division going to Kyle Tellstrom out of Ukiah Ca. with a 12.676. That was not the only track record to fall for the night at the track, Travis Thron of Lakeport Ca. completed a blistering lap in the bomber division setting the track record at a low 13.867.

The action started with the Lake County Off Road Outlaws taking the track for the dash which saw Wade Coleman of Lakeport take the checkered flag to claim his first dash victory for the season. The Taco Bell Bomber dash went to Evan Smith of Lakeport for his second dash this season. Other dash winners where Forrest Kuecker in the Coors Light Modifieds, Thomas Esberg in the Rental Solutions Mini Stocks, Buff in the Clover Hydro Jr. Jammers, and ElllisThronton in the Clover Hydro Pro Jamemrs.

The action was called at the end of the dashes due to rain that forced the track to cancel the rest of the night events and refund everyone there tickets for a future race date. From the action that was seen on the track in the Lake County Off Road Extreme Asphalt Out Laws during the dash, this is going to be a very exciting class to watch throughout the year.

The next race at Lakeport Speedway will be on May 7th which will feature the Coors Light Modifieds, Rental Solution Mini Stocks, Clover Hydro Jammers, The Taco Bell Bombers, and The Lake County Off Road Extreme Asphalt Outlaws. The gates will open at 5:00 pm and racing will start at 6:30 pm,

 

4-26-11 Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series Notes & Pertinent Info
Source Gary Thomas
Golden State King of The West


Marysville Raceway Park – Saturday April 30

What:

The Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series continues its 2011 season this Saturday night at Paul & Kathy Hawes’ Marysville Raceway Park. It will be just the second 410 sprint car event held at the track since 1999 after the Golden State Series returned to the facility last season.

When:

The pit gate opens at 3pm on Saturday, the front gate will open at 5 and cars will be hitting the track for wheel packing around 5:30, with qualifying and racing to follow.

Where:

The Marysville Raceway Park is located in Marysville, California. From the Junction of HWY 70 and HWY 20 (12th Street), go a quarter-mile east on HWY 20. Turn south onto Ramirez Road for 1.5 miles. The physical address is 1468 Simpson Ln, Marysville, CA 95901. Directions & hotels can be found at http://marysvilleracewaypark.com/maps.html

Tickets:

Adult tickets will cost $18 with juniors 10-17 being $15, seniors, disabled and active military also $15, kids 6-9 $10 and children 5 and under free.

About the track:

The Marysville Raceway Park is a quarter-mile semi banked clay oval and has undergone a number of changes in recent years, including upgrades to the facility and a reconfiguration of the track surface. Prior to last season 410 sprint cars hadn’t competed at the track for 10-years. Fast time last season was set by Alissa Geving with a lap of 12.455 seconds.

Last July at Marysville Raceway Park:

The Golden State 410 Series return to the Marysville Raceway Park saw Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson race to victory after an exciting duel with Grass Valley’s Jason Statler. The 18-year-old also took over the series point lead that night, which he would never relinquish. Statler finished second, with Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs in third, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan fourth and Campbell’s Brent Kaeding rounding out the top-five.

Top-10 in KWS points going into this Saturday night:

1. Tim Kaeding 468; 2. Jonathan Allard 443; 3. Evan Suggs 437; 4. Jason Statler 422; 5. Andy Gregg 419; 6. Brent Kaeding 419; 7. Willie Croft 404; 8. Brad Furr 402; Brent Bjork 387; 10. Bobby McMahan 374

On the internet:

Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series-

Official Website- http://www.kwssprints.com
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907
Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s

Marysville Raceway Park-

http://www.marysvilleracewaypark.com




 

4-25-11 Bernal Leads 360 Sprints to Tulare Saturday
Source Dick Jordan
USAC Western Coast 360s

Ryan Bernal of Hollister, Calif. is atop the 2011 USAC Western Coast 360 Sprint standings as the series returns to Gropetti Automotive Thunderbowl Speedway Saturday. He is 15 points ahead of Jace VanderWeerd.

Bud Kaeding has won both 2011 West Coast 360 features at the Tulare oval, with Bernal second in both.

Bernal is still seeking his initial USAC feature victory, while Jace VanderWeerd earned his first USAC triumph last year at Santa Maria, Calif.


USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS

1-Ryan Bernal-185; 2-Jace VanderWeerrd-170; 3-Wes Gutierrez-161; 4-Bud Kaeding-148; 5-Greg Alexander-141; 6-Justyne Hamblin-136; 7-Richard VanderWeerd-133; 8-T.J. Smith-121; 9-Danny Faria Jr.-114; 10-Johnathan Logan-93.



 

4-24-11 April 23rd Ventura Raceway Report
Source Cliff Morgan
Ventura Raceway

Brody Roa came back to Ventura Raceway after a few weeks off and made it a special night as he took his first ever VRA Sprint Car Main Event over a field of 20 top contenders. Brody opened the 2011 season with some less than hoped for finishes and took some time off. Saturday night he proved that the 2010 title of VRA Rookie of the Year was well earned with a 14th to first run in the feature after finishing second in the Semi Main to earn the feature starting spot. The race started off with Troy Rutherford jumping out front and leading the first nine laps. He and Greg Taylor battled until on lap 9 a turn four incident put Rutherford out of the event. Taylor then grabbed the lead and led until lap 22 when engine problems forced him into the infield. Derek Buckley then led one lap until passed by the charging Brody Roa who took the lead on lap 24 and led to the finish. Roa's final challenge came from Cory Kruseman who made a move to pas Roa on lap 29 only to spin to the edge of turn one as the field went on to the checkered flag. Following Roas across the finish line were Derek Buckley with another fine finish, Steve Conrad, Brandon Thomson and visiting USAC 360 front runner Richard Vanderweerd, who came from 13th to his fifth place finish after winning the Semi Main. There were three heat races run for the 23 cars signed into the pits for this Easter Eve event. Heat one went to Brian Camarillo, heat two went to Cory Kruseman and heat three went to Cody Kershaw. Rutherford who had won four of the first five VRA events in 2010 finished 16th but retains a 85 point lead over Steve Conrad and a 105 point lead over Greg Taylor in the season long point race.

Cory Kruseman came back with a vengeance from his VRA Midget win on March 19th to take the 30 lap VRA Midget race over a stellar field of 22 VRA Midgets. His second win of the season in this new series was a hard fought win over a field that saw 19 of the 22 starters finish on the lead lap. Starting 6th on the grid, Kruseman made a gigantic move to take the lead on lap two of the event from lap one leader Randi Pankratz. He then went on to lead the remainder of the event holding off a late race Banzi move on the top of the raceway by Brian Camarillo. while most racers were running the lower groves, Camarillo took the high line and passed several cars to take second place. Following Kruseman and Camarillo to the line were Josh Ford, Robby Josett who had started 16th and Josh Lakatos. Kruseman's keeps him out front in the season point race. Three heat races were competed Saturday night with wins going to Cory Kruseman in heat one, Brian Camarillo in heat two and Josh Ford in heat three. This fine new series will resume next Saturday night April 30.

The Ford Focus Midgets were also on hand Saturday night to run a program that included a make up feature from the rained out race on March 19th. That race went to Wally Pankratz with Tyler Dolacki, Jared Blondel, Daniel Williams and Robert Dolacki following him to the checkered flag. the regularly scheduled feature went to Nick Carlson with Jared Blondel, Wally Pankratz, Robert Dolacki and Casey Martinez following him to the finish. Two heat races were run with wins going to Pankratz and Robert Dolacki.

IMCA Modifieds were signed into the pits with 14 cars Saturday night. Two heat races were run with wins going to Austin Rodarte and Jack Parker. The 20 lap feature was a rough and tumble affair that saw several incidents in the first 10 laps. Jack Parker jumped out front on lap one only to be passed by Aaron Rodarte who went on to take the win over Brad Prows, Parker, Rob Green and Gary Curtis. Aaron Rodarte's win moved him into second place, 8 points behind Brad Prows in the point race.

VRA Junior Focus saw 7 cars signed into the pits with the heat race win going to Katlynn Leer. The 20 lap feature was a powerful run by Cole Custer who also took the win here on March 19. Following Custer across the finish line were Parker Colston, early race leader Christine Breckenridge who led lap1-17, Katlynn Leer and Austin Blair.

The final group racing with us on Saturday night was our VRA Go Kart division. Three heat races were run with wins going to Kenny Byers Jr in heat one, Rich Renken in heat two and Scott Bohle in heat three. Heat one saw a wild accident that saw Ken Ito flip in turn three. the 20 lap main event saw Rich Renken take the lead on lap five and go on to take his second win of the season. Finishing second through fifth were Kenny Byers Jr., Jared Byrd, Jamse Locy and Scott Bohle. Renken's win puts him 30 points out front in the point race over Locy after three races.



 

4-24-11 Tim Kaeding blazes to 50th career Golden State 410 victory with King of the West Sprints on Saturday night at Ocean Speedway
Source Gary Thomas
Golden State King of The West
 

Milestone victories only come around every so often and on Saturday night San Jose, California’s Tim Kaeding accomplished a special one at the Ocean Speedway with the Golden State King of the West Sprints.

The man simply known as “TK” made an early pass of father Brent Kaeding and then held off a fast-moving and hard-charging Justin Sanders to score his 50th career Golden State 410 Series win. The 32-year-old wheel-man becomes just the second driver to reach that mark in series history.

“It’s an awesome feeling to get that 50th win and I can’t say enough about Dennis & Teresa Roth and my whole team, because Bonzai and the guys gave me an awesome car,” said Kaeding. “That was some great racing right there and Justin Sanders did a heck of a job to finish second so I want to congratulate him as well.”

Despite a drizzly evening as the night wore on everything went off without a hitch and fans were treated to some tremendous racing throughout the program. Campbell’s Brent Kaeding scored victory in the KSE Racing Products/ Grant’s Fine Art Dash to earn the pole for the A-main and when the green lights came on he would blast into the lead on the hooked-up quarter mile clay oval.

The action was extremely intense over the opening laps of the feature with Tim Kaeding hounding “BK” for the lead and Jonathan Allard right there within striking distance. Lap-eight would see the first caution for fifth running Willie Croft, who slowed to a stop. “Double Down” restarted and made a valiant charge through the field to get back up to fifth at one point, before issues ended his night late in the race.

Following Croft’s first stop it created a double-file restart and during it Brent Kaeding jumped back into the lead, but “TK” and “JA” raced inches away from the black No. 69 machine. Rounding turn four to complete lap 12, T. Kaeding finally got the momentum he needed and rocketed around his dad to claim the lead. A caution just prior to the midway point then slowed things down, but on the restart young Justin Sanders made his presence known.

The 18-year-old had already made some nifty moves to get up to fourth and on the double file restart he would beat Allard into the first corner to claim third. Sanders wasn’t done just yet however, as he closed in on Brent Kaeding for second and on lap 18 sliced to the bottom and took over the runner-up spot. With the crowd coming to their feet he then closed in on T. Kaeding and made it a battle for the lead.

The final stoppage of the night came on lap 24 when Ken Fredenburg got upside down in the third and fourth corners to bring out a red flag. Also involved in the accident were Billy Strange Jr. and Nick Ringo Jr. The final restart of the night then saw T. Kaeding get a nice jump and pull away to a fairly healthy advantage, but with just a couple laps left he was slowed by traffic and it allowed Sander’s to close back in.

Entering the final corners T. Kaeding got a bit high and Sanders charged to the inside, but didn’t quite have enough and “TK” was able to hang on by a slim margin to score his second straight Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series win in the Roth Motorsports, HR Cattle No. 83.

The runner up finish for Sanders came during just his second night with a 410 power plant under the hood of his North County Plastering, Taco Bravo sponsored No. 17 mount. Sander’s last season finished fifth in the Taco Bravo 360 standings and showed just much local track knowledge means by putting together an impressive night of racing at his home track.

“I have to give a big thanks to Dennis Wuolett of Taco Bravo for letting me run his 410 tonight and this is just awesome to finish on the podium with the King of the West Series,” said Sanders. “I want to thank everyone that helps us out and it was pretty cool being able to get pass guys like Jonathan Allard and Brent Kaeding. I just got into a groove and it was a lot of fun.”

Allard made the move around Brent Kaeding for third with five-laps left in the race to record his second podium finish of the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series season aboard the Williams Motorsports, Red Line Oil No. 0. “It was a pretty good run for us tonight and I want give Justin Sanders congrats for getting second and Tim for another win,” Allard said. “We’ll just move on to Marysville and try to make up some points.”

Brent Kaeding finished the race in fourth at the helm of the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 with Placerville’s Andy Gregg rounding out the top-five aboard the 7-Industries No. 53 machine. Fremont’s Brent Bjork put together a very solid night and came home sixth, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan scored seventh, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs was eighth, Corralitos’ Jerry Bonnema was ninth and Rio Vista’s Danielle Simpson completed the top-10 to tie her best ever Golden State KWS finish.

Bonnema brought home the PitStopUSA.com hard charger award by carving his way from 21st to ninth in the main event and Willie Croft will receive the Dirt Solution hard luck award after problems took him out of the top-five on a pair of occasions in the main event.

The Last Chance Qualifier was picked off by Statler, with Brent Kaeding winning the dash as previously noted. The four 10-lap heat races were won by Andy Gregg, Tim Kaeding, Willie Croft and Brent Kaeding. Statler opened the night by setting fast time to earn $250 courtesy of Carwash Mike & a custom plaque courtesy of Tim Grant from Grant’s Fine Art.

The Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will be back in action next Saturday night April 30 at the Marysville Raceway Park in Marysville, California. To keep up with the latest happenings with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series visit http://www.kwssprints.com or catch us on Facebook and Twitter.

-------------------

Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series Results - Ocean Speedway Saturday April 23

28 cars

Fast time: Jason Statler 11.582

Heat 1: Andy Gregg, Kurt Nelson, Brad Furr, Billy Strange Jr., James Bondurant, Eli Deshaies, Jason Statler

Heat 2: Tim Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Bobby McMahan, Rico Abreu, Nick Rescino Jr., Pat Harvey, Kenny Allen

Heat 3: Willie Croft, Peter Murphy, Jonathan Allard, Evan Suggs, Jerry Bonnema, Dan Simpson, Nick Ringo Jr.

Heat 4: Brent Kaeding, Ken Fredenburg, Brent Bjork, Mark Barroso, Doug Gandy, Danielle Simpson

Dash: Brent Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Andy Gregg, Jonathan Allard, Brad Furr, Willie Croft, Brent Bjork, Justin Sanders

Last Chance Qualifier: Jason Statler, Danielle Simpson, Jerry Bonnema, Nick Ringo Jr., Kenny Allen, Nick Rescino Jr., Dan Simpson, Doug Gandy, James Bondurant, Pat Harvey

A-main: Tim Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Jonathan Allard, Brent Kaeding, Andy Gregg, Brent Bjork, Bobby McMahan, Evan Suggs, Jerry Bonnema, Danielle Simpson, Billy Strange Jr., Kenny Allen, Nick Ringo Jr., Mark Barroso, Rico Abreu, Willie Croft, Jason Statler, Ken Fredenburg, Brad Furr, Nick Rescino Jr., Kurt Nelson, Peter Murphy



 

4-22-11 Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series Race to Ocean Speedway in Watsonville on Saturday/ Note earlier start time
Source Gary Thomas
Ocean Speedway

Watsonville, CA – Fresh off his victory last weekend San Jose, California’s Tim Kaeding will lead the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series into his home track at Ocean Speedway this Saturday night April 23.

Please note an earlier start time will be in place on Saturday with the pit gate open at noon, front gate opening at 3pm, drivers meeting around 3:30, wheel packing at 4, qualifying around 4:45 and racing to follow. A full program of qualifying Time-Trials, Heat Races, Dash, Last Chance Qualifier and the 30-lap $3,000-to-win/ $500-to-start main event will be on tap in Watsonville.

On Friday night the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will also be holding its first Fan Fest event at Chevrolet of Watsonville, which is located at 490 Auto Center Drive Watsonville, CA 95607. The event will run from 4pm to 7:30 and will feature show cars and displays, including Andy Gregg's 7-Industries sponsored No. 53, driver autographs, sprint Car simulators, KPIG remote with music and giveaways, free hot dogs for fans, special fan test drives and more.

Fast time on Saturday will also have a special bonus with $250 up for grabs to the quick qualifier courtesy of sprint car super-fan Carwash Mike. Along with that a custom wood plaque will also be given out courtesy of Tim Grant of Grant’s Fine Art.

The always exciting Tim Kaeding currently holds a six-point lead in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series standings heading into Ocean Speedway on Saturday.

“TK” picked up his 49th career Golden State 410 Series victory last Saturday in Tulare and will be gunning for back to back wins this weekend. The third generation driver also won a Taco Bravo Series main event last Friday night at Ocean Speedway and captured the $5,000-to-win Johnny Key Classic last season at the track.

There is currently a dead-heat for second in the standings between Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs and Grass Valley’s Jason Statler.

So far this year Suggs has finished second and seventh in the first two events, placing him close to the point lead in what is his fifth season of winged sprint car racing. The 24-year-old is also the 360 track record holder at the Ocean Speedway and will be searching for his first ever Golden State Series win on Saturday.

Statler last weekend earned the PitStopUSA.com hard charger award by carving his way from 11th to fourth in the main event at the Thunderbowl Raceway. “The Big Guy” has had a strong start to the KWS season and also tallied a podium finish in Antioch two weeks ago. Statler last won with the Golden State 410 Series in ’08 and will be searching to change that on Saturday.

Round one winner Jonathan Allard will be hoping to rebound after a flip while battling for the lead on the last lap at Tulare dropped him to fourth in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series standings. The Ocean Speedway is one of the few tracks in Northern California that Allard hasn’t won a 410 main event at, but a victory this week would be a huge boost in making up ground in the points.

The top-five in points going into this weekend is rounded out by Stockton’s Brad Furr, who has a number of laps around the Ocean Speedway over the last few seasons. The Stockton driver has made a return to the 410 ranks in 2011 and also experienced one of his career highlights at the Watsonville based track in 2002, winning a main event with the World of Outlaws.

Other drivers expected for this weekend include 13-time Golden State 410 Series champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell, Sacramento’s “Double Down” Willie Croft, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Fremont’s Brent Bjork, Chico’s Kenny Allen, Elk Grove’s Billy Strange Jr., St. Helena’s Rico Abreu, Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg, Merced’s Mark Barroso, Rio Vista's Dan & Danielle Simpson, Oakhurst’s Doug Gandy and more.

Adult tickets will cost $20 on Saturday night, children 6 to 12 will be $15, seniors 65 and older are $18 and kids five and under will be free. A family pack featuring two adults and two children will be available for $55.

The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, two miles east of Watsonville, California on SR 152. The physical address is 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076. More info can be found at http://www.oceanspeedway.com

Upcoming events-

Next Saturday night April 30 the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will head to the Marysville Raceway Park in Marysville, California for the fourth round of action in 2011. After that the tour will get set for the 21st annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday May 7.

Bradway Memorial lap money is still for sale and is up for grabs in the Last Chance Qualifier and the 40-lap A-main. Laps cost $100 each and the money is split up among the top-three drivers each lap with the leader getting $50, second place $30 and third place earning $20.

Those looking to purchase a lap for the Bradway Memorial please contact Dave & Dianne Durica at Durica1414@sbcglobal.net or call 916-988-5958.

For more information on these fast approaching shows and to view the entire schedule of events for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series go to http://www.kwssprints.com

You can also follow KWS on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KWS410s#!/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907 and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s




 

4-20-11 Late Race Spin Has The No. 20 NAPA Toyota Finishing in Sixth at AAS
Source Kaye Reshaw Photo Pat Brandon
NASCAR K&N West Series

Antelope, Calif. -- NASCAR K&N Pros Series West Champion Eric Holmes and the No. 20 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota team made gains toward their goal of winning a 2nd consecutive NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship. They finished sixth in the Toyota/NAPA AutoCare 150 at All American Speedway. The championship winning team from Bill McAnally Racing moved into sixth in the chase and is only two points of the top three after two races.

Holmes and the No. 20 NAPA team always look forward to racing at their hometown track in Roseville, California. They came to All American with a record three wins in six visits. Driving a proven winner, Holmes was eighth fast during first practice and third on the timing and scoring sheet in final practice. He would qualify on the inside of row two missing his second pole award by only .053 seconds.

Twenty-four cars took the green flag for the 150-lap race with the No. 20 NAPA Toyota Camry running in the front pack. Early in the 150-lap race, Holmes moved into second and began to challenge the pole sitter for the lead. He kept after the leader thru four restarts. With less than 25 laps to go, Holmes charged to the inside of the race leader. At lap 134, Holmes took the lead. The next lap, the field bunched up in turns one/two. Holmes teammate was able to get the advantage on the outside and take over the lead. Still running in second, the third place car would catch the right rear bumper of the No. 20 NAPA Toyota sending it spinning. Holmes regained control but now in 11th with ten laps to go. He made a final hard charge towards the front and would take the checkered flag in sixth.

“It was frustrating,” said Holmes. “I was asked by a reporter before the race for three words to describe the race. One word was patience. We knew that would be key in winning this race. The NAPA Toyota was running good and we were ready to get it done. We had held off the pack of cars behind us and kept pace with the pole sitter ready to make our move during the final laps.”

“I wasn’t sure who got into me at that point but we went around. I couldn’t do anything but get back after it. It’s not the results we wanted but it was a good points night. It’s only race number two with a lot of racing yet to come this season. The NAPA team remains focus on winning races and giving our race partner NAPA Auto Parts a sixth series championship.”

“I want to thank the more than 1,000 NAPA customers, store owners and employees that came out to support us this weekend. We couldn’t do this without them as a member of our race team.”

The Toyota/NAPA AutoCare 150 will be televised on SPEED Channel on Thursday, May 5th. Check your local listing. Don’t miss the broadcast April 21st our race from Phoenix International Raceway. Our next race will be on April 30th at Miller Motorsport Park in Tooele, Utah.

For more information on Bill McAnally Racing, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. Bill McAnally Racing is now on Facebook. Become a fan and stay up to date with the latest happenings with your favorite race teams.




 

4-21-11 Sprint Cars and Midgets Headline Ventura Action
Source Lance Jennings
Ventura Raceway

VENTURA, CA – The traditional 360 Sprint Cars of the Ventura Racing Association will headline an action packed card this Saturday, April 23rd. Also featured at Jim Naylor's Ventura Raceway will be the VRA Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, Focus Midgets, Junior Focus Midgets, and Go Karts. The front gates will open at 3:00pm with racing at "The Best Little Dirt Track In America" to begin at 5:30pm.

To date, it has been a dream season for Ojai's Troy Rutherford. Driving the #11 Trench Shoring / L&H Consulting machine, the defending champion and current point leader has won four races in five starts. Rutherford holds a 120 point advantage heading into Saturday's action and has three heat race victories, one semi-main win, one hard charger award, and has led forty-eight main event laps in 2011. Troy will be one of the favorites on Saturday.

Ventura's Greg Taylor is second in the point chase. Last Saturday night, the pilot of the #7 Taylor Trucking & Crane Service / Four Paws Pet Grooming entry scored an eighth place finish. To date, the former track champion has three heat race victories, four top-10 finishes, and has led forty-nine main event laps. Taylor will have his sights set on a Saturday night victory.

Steve Conrad of Quartz Hill is third in the championship points. Driving the #56 Roy Miller Freight Lines / SC Grafix entry, Conrad led the first twelve laps of the feature before settling into second. The March 12th feature winner has one heat race victory, one hard charger award, and four top-10 finishes on the season. The USAC TQ Midget graduate is close to scoring another Ventura win.

Camarillo's Josh Ford sits fourth in the point standings. The pilot of the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining car came home fifth last Saturday night and won his first heat race of the year. Last year's All Coast 360 Challenge Champion has one hard charger award and four top-10 finishes in the 2011 campaign. This Saturday night, Ford will be looking to break through to victory circle.

Sitting fifth in the point chase is Rialto's Don Gansen. Driving the #71K Sander Engineering / Lucas Oil machine, Gansen scored seventeenth in the 30-lap feature. The California Lightning Sprint graduate has one heat race victory and two top-10 finishes on the year. Gansen will be looking to rebound with a strong performance this Saturday night.

Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are Norwalk's Brandon Thomson, Ventura's Cory Kruseman, Derek Buckley of Ojai, Camarillo's Brian and Brent Camarillo, Marcus Niemela of Santa Barbara, Justin Kierce of Reseda, Newbury Park's Jimmy Crawford, and many more.

Ventura Raceway is located on the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 West Harbor Blvd. in Ventura, California. Adult tickets are $14, Senior, Military, and Student tickets (ID Required) are $11, while Children’s tickets (12 and under) are FREE. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com or call (805) 985-5433.

To catch all of the action of the VRA Sprint Car Series and Ventura Raceway, Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Ventura Raceway offers a live feed of every event at www.venturaraceway.com/live.html. The live feed is scheduled to begin at 5:00pm PST.



 

4-21-11 Troy Rutherford Enjoys 4th Ventura Win
Source Lance Jennings
Ventura Raceway

 Series point leader Troy Rutherford of Ojai continued his winning ways last Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. The defending track champion powered by Quartz Hill's Steve Conrad on lap thirteen en route to his fourth VRA Sprint Car Series triumph of the year.

Sharing the front row with Camarillo's Brent Camarillo, Steve Conrad shot to the lead at the drop of the green flag. The March 12th main event winner set the pace, trailed by Camarillo, Santa Clarita's Guy Woodward, and a furious battle for fourth between Johnathon Henry of Stockton and Troy Rutherford. Woodward pressured Camarillo for second and momentarily fell back, finding himself in a three-wide battle with Henry and Rutherford. Rutherford got the better of the exchange and secured the third spot.

Conrad looked to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field. Rutherford was continuing his march forward and set his sights on Camarillo for second. Behind Rutherford, veteran drivers Cory Kruseman of Ventura and Camarillo's Josh Ford joined the fight for fourth with Woodward and Henry.

A few laps later, Rutherford executed a "slide job" pass on Camarillo for second. Now, with a clear path to the leader, Troy flew around the Ventura clay oval to close the gap. As Conrad stuck to the bottom groove, Rutherford carried extra momentum on the high side to secure the lead on lap thirteen. The duo began to approach slower traffic and missed a spinning Woodward, who ducked into the infield. Steve was back to challenge for the lead as Henry, now in third, was on the charge and closing in fast.

With fifteen laps down, Rutherford maintained the lead with Henry on his rear bumper. Conrad looked to challenge Henry, but fell back as the leaders weaved their way through the back markers. A yellow flag briefly stopped the action, as a car knocked down a piece of track wall on the racing surface. The track crew made a quick repair and racing resumed.

On the restart, Rutherford was in control and Henry made quick work of lapped car. Conrad charged after Henry and took second as Johnathon bounced his car off the cushion and lost valuable ground. From there, Troy Rutherford took the 30-lap victory, followed by Steve Conrad, Johnathon Henry, Brent Camarillo, and Josh Ford.

On the strength of four wins in five starts, Troy Rutherford now holds 120 point advantage heading into this Saturday's race. Driving the #11 Trench Shoring / State Ready Mix car, Rutherford won his third 10-lap heat race of the year and has led forty-eight feature laps. The defending champion is in "the zone" and will be looking to add another win to his resume.

Piloting the #56 Roy Miller Freightlines / SC Grafix entry, Steve Conrad had another strong outing with a second place run. Currently third in the point chase, Conrad was second in his heat race and has four top-10 finishes to his credit. The USAC TQ Midget graduate led the first twelve laps of the main event before falling to Rutherford and has one feature win on the year.

Johnathon Henry pressured Rutherford for the top spot before scoring third. Driving Kevin Kierce's #3 machine, Johnathon was second in his heat race and is now nineteenth in the point standings. The young driver has two top-10 finishes on the year and will look for the Ventura win on Saturday.

Brent Camarillo had his best finish of the season with a fourth place performance. The pilot of the #51 Agromin Soil / Waste Management special was second in heat race and battled for second early in the feature. The hard charger is currently sixth in the championship standings.

Driving the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining entry, Josh Ford came home fifth in the 30-lap feature. Earlier in the night's program, Ford claimed his first heat race win of 2011 and is now fourth in the points. Last year's All Coast 360 Challenge Champion will be in the mix for Saturday's win.

"The Kruser" Cory Kruseman scored the victory in the night's second heat race. Piloting the #21K Lucas Oil / Sander Engineering car, Kruseman was sixth in the main event and has three top-10 finishes to his credit. The 2-Time Chili Bowl Nationals Champion is eighth in the point chase heading into Saturday's action.

Ojai's Derek Buckley won his fourth heat race of the 2011 campaign and scored nineteenth in the feature. The driver of the #76 Fatheadz Eyewear / Competition Suspension Inc. entry has two top-10 finishes and is currently ninth in the points. The hard charger will be looking for Saturday's win at Ventura.

Brandon Thomson of Norwalk won the 12-lap Semi-Main. Also earning transfer spots to the feature were Dakota Kershaw, Cody Kershaw, and Clark Templeman III. Thomson earned the night's "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors with a ninth place run after starting seventeenth. Dakota scored fifteenth, Cody claimed twelfth, and Templeman recorded a thirteenth place finish.

Ventura Raceway had five other companion classes scheduled on the night. Rob Kershaw won the VRA Senior Sprint Car main event and Jack Parker claimed victory in IMCA Modified action. Ray Estrada scored the Pro Dwarf Car triumph and, Dan Hillberg won the California Lightning Sprint feature after Jarrett Kramer's car failed a post race tech inspection. Richard Renken won in the VRA Go Kart division.

To catch all of the action of the VRA Sprint Car Series and Ventura Raceway, Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Ventura Raceway offers a live feed of every event at www.venturaraceway.com/live.html. The live feed will begin at 5:00pm PST.

This Saturday, April 23rd, Ventura Raceway is back in action with the VRA Sprint Cars, VRA Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, Focus Midgets, Junior Focus Midgets, and Go Karts. The Front Gates will open at 3:00pm with Racing to start at 5:30pm. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com or call (805) 985-5433.
 

4-20-11 Moses Smith Podium Finish at All American Speedway
Source Kaye Reshaw Photo Pat Brandon
NASCAR K&N West Series

Antelope, CA – Bill McAnally Racing’s Moses Smith, driver of the No. 16 Hasa Pool Products/NAPA Gold Filters Toyota Camry kept his All American Speedway top-ten finish streak alive. He took the checkered flag in the Toyota/NAPA AutoCare 150 finishing in second; adding a fourth top-five to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West record book at AAS.

The No. 16 Hasa Toyota entry from Bill McAnally Racing looked fast from the first practice where Smith was 6th out of 28 entries for the West Series race. Second practice had the No. 16 in the top five. Smith continued that effort by qualifying on the outside of row two to begin the 150-lap race.

Before grandstands that included over 900 Hasa customers and employees that came to cheer for their favorite driver, Smith took the green flag. By lap 2, he had moved into third in the very tight field. He ran in the top-five thru lap 125. Then it was time to go. At lap 137, Smith took over the lead and ran out front for eight laps. On the final restart with ten laps to go, Smith was three wide with the No. 16 Hasa Toyota Camry in the middle. The eventual race winner was able to get the advantage with Smith bringing home a second place finish.

“That last restart, I just got squeezed,” laughed Smith. “Three wide going into the corners is not where I wanted to be. The No 16 Hasa Toyota Camry was much faster when I was running out front. But then I had a bull’s-eye on my bumper.”

“We had a good car all day. We were just trying to be patient and have something for the end of the race. I was running in third going into turn two when I dove to the inside took the lead. We really didn’t want to see the caution come out but it did. That was really good short track racing. I think the fans had another great show as they always do when we race at All American Speedway.”

“I want to thank the over 900 Hasa Pool Product customers and employees for come out to support us. They are part of our team.”

“I also want to thank our new race partner for the No. 16 HASA Toyota. It was great to have NAPA Gold Filters on the hood. They have had a long partnership with Bill McAnally Racing and we are happy to have them with us this season on the No. 16.”

Smith is now second in the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West chase for the championship.

The Toyota/NAPA AutoCare 150 will be televised on SPEED Channel on Thursday, May 5th. Check your local listing. Don’t miss the broadcast April 21st our race from Phoenix International Raceway. Our next race will be on April 30th at Miller Motorsport Park in Tooele, Utah.

For more information on Bill McAnally Racing, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. Bill McAnally Racing is now on Facebook. Become a fan and stay up to date with the latest happenings with your favorite race teams.

For more information on Moses Smith, please visit www.mosessmith.com. You can visit our sponsors’ websites at www.hasapool.com, www.whiteflyer.com, www.napafilters.com and www.tcitransportation.com . You can also follow Moses on Twitter.


 

4-20-11 Pierovich And Hunt Lead USAC To Shasta For "Jimmy Sills CLassic"
Source Steven Blakesley
Jimmy Sills Classic

With one pavement race and one dirt race in the books, the USAC Western Classic Racing Series will head to Shasta Raceway Park for the “Jimmy Sills Classic” with Scott Pierovich leading the points standings.

The 23 year-old Alamo, California driver finished eighth out of a 29 car field on the dirt at Chico in March, and had a wild back-and-forth duel with Tony Hunt at Madera before a mechanical problem relegated him to finish ninth. Pierovich will have his eyes on his first win of 2011 as he tries to extend his overall points lead over Hunt.

Saturday’s race at Shasta will honor Jimmy Sills, a North State legend who has won over 400 races around the world and more than 17 major race, track, or series championships. Sills’ USAC accomplishments include the Perris Oval Nationals and three USAC Silver Crown championships.

Tony Hunt picked up the win at Madera, giving him the points lead in the USAC Western Sprint Car Series on pavement. But a 24th place effort at Chico places Hunt behind Pierovich in the overall championship.

Folsom’s Jerry Kobza runs third in the Western Classic points with Finkenbinder teammates Geoff Ensign and Tim Barber rounding out the top-five. Hogg is sixth in the standings.

The pavement only contingent is led by Audra Sasselli who finished second at Madera. Also expected at Shasta are Brian McClish, Luis Ramos III, Gordon Rodgers, Cody Gerhardt, Marvin Mitchell, Don Emory, Bill Logan, and Tim Skoglund.

Skoglund finished 15th at Madera after a major fire in his Western Speed-owned Sprint Car in the early laps, while his teammate Cody Gerhardt recovered from an early spin to finish ninth in his series debut.

Action gets underway Friday with a testing day from 4-8 p.m. open to all USAC competitors. On Saturday, grandstands open at 5:00 p.m. with racing to start at 6. The USAC NorCal Ford Focus Midgets will also be in action.

More information on the USAC Western Classic Racing Series is available on Facebook at keywords “USAC Western Classic Racing Series”. The United States Auto Club is online at www.usacracing.com The USAC Western States is available at www.usacwesternstates.com with contact information and the latest news.

The USAC Western Classic Racing Series is brought to you by: Amsoil, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance.



 

4-20-11 Cora Speedway Race April 23rd
Source Cora Speedway PR

Hello and Welcome to all our returning racers and our new racers, Looks like this is going to be a GREAT season here at Cora.

As everyone should know we have our 3rd points race this Saturday, April 23rd and we have decided to bring a little fun to this race day... We will be having an Easter Egg hunt for all the kids at 2:00pm at the track, we will also be having Mr. T's Restaurant out there to BBQ food for purchase. Hope everyone is able to make it.

Just a reminder that this will be the last day you will be able to become a member and run for points and a championship fund at the end of the season. Up until 4\23 everyone points have been kept and are able to be viewed at our website www.coraspeedway.net after the 23rd only members points will be tracked and if you are not a member your points will disappear, so don't loose what you already have going check out the website and see where you stand !!!

Cora Speedway
http://www.coraspeedway.net





 

4-20-11 Scott Opens 2011 Campaign With Victory at Roseville
Source Steven Blakesley
All American Speedway

2010 All American Speedway track champion Matt Scott kicked off his 2010 NASCAR California State title race with a win in the “A-All Mini Storage 100” driving his #35 BJB Enterprises / RPM NorCal / Karp Capital Chevrolet.

The 19 year-old driver picked up his 14th career NASCAR victory in just 58 starts in the division.

19 cars flocked to the All American Speedway one-third mile for the special season opener. The race was held before a huge crowd as a precursor to Saturday night’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West action.

Scott shined under the spotlight, setting fast-time in qualifying and starting fifth after a five car invert.

The fifth starting spot didn’t slow Scott down, as he rocketed to third quickly. Scott slid underneath both 2009 champion Jason Romero and Zane Lovelace, Jr. coming down the backstretch to take the lead at lap seven.

Romero and Scott made contact coming into turn one, sending Scott at a four-wheel drift at a 90 degree angle.

But Scott gathered the car up with a strong save while Romero backed off the gas. During a prolonged green flag run, Scott extended his lead to a quarter track at one point. Scott held off a few challenges on late restarts to claim the big victory.

“The Hoosier tire rubber laid down by the tour cars meant that it took about eight laps for the track to come in,” Scott said. “I drove hard the first few laps to get the lead then I dialed it back about 70 or 80%”

Scott credited the victory to his crew especially with a special thanks to RPM NorCal’s Gary Quigley. Quigley’s shop houses the #35 car and sponsored three of the top-four finishing Late Models on Friday.

“We gave the trophy to Gary and Marcie for all of their help,” Scott said. “The support of RPM NorCal really really helps us a lot and I think the trophy will look really nice in their shop.

Matt Scott Racing will return to action for the second points race of the season on April 30.

Matt Scott Racing is sponsored by BJB Enterprises, Inc., RPM NorCal, Karp Capital, Kamps Propane, Jimboy’s Tacos, CatchYourEye.com, Halm Metal Fab, Pardee Lake Recreation, DoubleTree Hotel Monrovia, Hobbs Construction, T.A.S. Construction, Sumseeds, Red Corral Auto, and Blakesley Sports Media.

Additional sponsorships are available for both TOYOTA Speedway and All American Speedway NASCAR Late Model efforts. Matt Scott Racing is also actively pursuing opportunities to race in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West in 2011.

Race fans can learn more about Matt Scott Racing at www.mattscottracing.com or “Matt Scott Racing” on Facebook.

Sponsorship and media inquiries can be forwarded to Steven Blakesley at steven@norcalmedia.com




 

4-20-11 Bud Kaeding Scores Wingless Faria Memorial
Source Lance Jennings
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints

TULARE, California — Last Saturday night, Campbell's Bud Kaeding claimed victory in the wingless Faria Memorial at Tulare's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway. Kaeding bested Ryan Bernal of Hollister to win the time shortened feature with the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series.

With the green flag waving in the main event, Bernal charged to the lead over fellow front row starter Dennis Howell of Rancho Palos Verdes. Behind the lead duo, Buster & Ziggy Enterprise teammates Kaeding and fast qualifier "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton battled hard for third. A determined Faria was on the move, but close contact with another car flipped his machine. Danny walked away uninjured and the incident claimed Fresno's T.J. Smith. Howell, who was also involved in the tangle restarted at the back.

With four laps down, Bernal maintained command followed by Kaeding, Visalia's Jace and Richard VanderWeerd, and Jonathan Logan of Hanford. Kaeding was on the attack for the top spot, but Bernal held strong. The leader looked to stretch his advantage until a turn two bobble allowed Bud to close in. Bernal gathered up his car and it was a drag race for the lead. Kaeding slipped past the young driver and took the lead on lap seven.

Bernal tried to battle back and found the bottom groove to his liking in the south turns. With Kaeding choosing the outside line of the Tulare clay oval, the fight for the lead was shaping up. The two drivers swapped the lead back and forth, as Kaeding officially kept control of the event. As the laps counted down, several yellow flags for spinning cars interrupted the action. Nonetheless, the lead battle continued to rage as drivers fought for position throughout the field. After a spin on lap nineteen, track officials checkered the event for time constraints and Bud Kaeding was declared the winner. Bud was followed by Ryan Bernal, Jace VanderWeerd, Peter Murphy of Clovis, and Richard VanderWeerd.

Driving Junior Bowman's #29 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Maxim, Bud Kaeding won his second main event of the year. The third generation driver was second quick on the night and finished second in his heat race. In limited action, Kaeding has four career victories with the USAC West Coast 360 Sprints and currently sits fourth in the point standings.

With a four pill drawn for the main event inversion, Ryan Bernal inherited the pole position and led six laps before falling to Kaeding. The young driver fought hard on this night, but had to settle for second. Piloting Danny Olmstead's #11D Steve Watt Enterprises / S&S Automotive Maxim, Bernal was fourth fast in time trials and second in his heat race. The multi-time Wingless Spec Sprint Champion sits atop the point standings with a fifteen point advantage heading to Tulare on April 30th.

Jace VanderWeerd came home third after starting ninth in the family owned #88 Maxim sponsored by VanderWeerd Construction and Battery Worx. The previous week's Santa Maria winner was eleventh fast in qualifications and finished third in his heat race. On the strength of three top-10 finishes on the year, VanderWeerd is second in the point standings.

In his first start of the 2011 campaign, Peter Murphy scored a fourth place finish after starting eighth. Driving the Eberhardt Motorsports #4 Maxim backed by Ridgeline Framing and Pro Signs, Murphy was tenth fast in time trials and finished third in his heat race. The veteran driver is a threat to win when he signs in for action.

Richard VanderWeerd scored a fifth place finish in the feature after starting seventh. Piloting the family owned #10 VanderWeerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Richard was ninth fast in qualifications and won the night's DJ Safety Heat Race #3. With two top-10 finishes on the season, VanderWeerd is seventh in the point chase.

"Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr. earned his first Sander Engineering Fast Time Award over the twenty-three car field. Driving Junior Bowman's #2 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Bullet, Faria also won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. The veteran driver had an early exit in the feature after flipping his machine, scoring a nineteenth place finish. Danny is ninth in the points as the series will return to Tulare on April 30th.

"Wide Open" Wes Gutierrez of San Martin won the Saldana Racing Products / Keizer Wheels Heat Race #2. Piloting the WG Motorsports #007 DRC backed by Competition Suspension Inc. and ButlerBuilt, Gutierrez was fourteenth quick in time trials and claimed sixth in the feature after starting twelfth. Wes has three top-10 finishes on the year and is third in the standings.

Making his first appearance of the season, Kolby Araki of Clovis earned the Keizer Wheels "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors on the night. Driving Garrett Ishii's #71G MKI Designs / GKI Farms Maxim, Araki finished ninth after starting twenty-second. The 3-time Sprint Kart champion was sixteenth fast in qualifications and seventh in his heat race.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Port City Racing, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series will return to action on Saturday, April 30th, at Tulare's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway. Joining the action will the Taco Bravo Ocean Sprints vs. ASCS Southern California Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stocks, and Vintage Super Modifieds. Located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds at the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, the Front Gates will open at 5:00pm, with time Trials at 6:00pm, and Racing at 7:00pm. Advance Reserved Grandstand Tickets and Bleacher Tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling the track office at (559) 688-0909. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.tularethunderbowl.com.

For more information on the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series, please visit westcoastsprintcars.com, usacracing.com, racesantamariaspeedway.com, or follow the series on facebook.

 

4-20-11 Thorn Cleans Up At Roseville
Source SRL Southwest Tour PR
SL Southwest Tour

BAKERSFIELD, California — Derek Thorn drove to his third career SPEARS Southwest Tour Series victory Saturday night at Roseville’s All American Speedway. Thorn took the lead on lap 13, to go on to win the World’s Champion Hand Cleaner 140 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services.

After qualifying third, and starting outside row two, Thorn was second at the end of lap 1 and followed early leader Zane Lovelace until lap 13 when he moved to the point. The All-American Speedway 1/3 mile was tight quarters for the 26-car field, ten caution flags and lapped traffic were the only things that slowed Thorn on his way to victory. Thorn set the fastest lap of the race on lap 16.

“Roseville has been good to us (two wins in three starts), but I’ve struggled with trying to figure it out, it’s a tough place.” Thorn commented after the race. “The car was the best turning car I have ever had, Junior (Joiner) has something figured out with our JRI shocks and Eibach springs. We were out front so that let us run the line the car wanted, which helped save the Hoosier Tires. It was a great run for us, but we had some close calls, luck was on our side.”

“Last year we came out strong and then suffered some set backs which took us out of the championship. This year with the support of SP Crankshaft and Sigma Engineering we should stay strong all year and hopefully be there in the championship hunt all season.” Thorn added.

2010 SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series Rookie of the Year Jacob Gomes set the fastest time in qualifying with a lap of 13.26 seconds. Cole Cabrera qualified second, Thorn third, Eric Holmes fourth and Zane Lovelace fifth. A couple of surprises in qualifying were Jim Pettit, in sixteenth and winner of the season opener, M.K. Kanke in twenty-second. Gomes pulled a seven for the invert to set the line up for the 140-lap event.

Before the field ever pulled off the grid, Jonathan Mawhinney, who was scheduled to start from the pole, suffered a broken timing chain to end his night before ever taking the green.

At the drop of the green Lovelace jumped to the lead from the pole, Thorn moved to second and Dallas Montes was third at the end of lap 1.

The first caution flew on lap 5, when Jonathon Gomez made hard contact with Jared Vorse, sending Vorse spinning into the infield and Gomez to the pits for repairs.

The caution flew again for debris one lap later and it was on the ensuing restart that Thorn made his move to the lead. The top five were Thorn, Lovelace, Montes, Holmes and Gomes until the caution flew once again on lap 28, when Holmes, Cabrera, Tim Smith all spun to avoid the spinning car of Scott Sanchez. Holmes ended up parked under the rear of Cabrera’s Ag Source/Maxum Petroleum Ford; both drivers would lose three laps before returning to the field.

At lap 50, the running order was Thorn, Lovelace, Montes, Gomes, Carlos Vieira, Eric Schmidt, Pettit, Strmiska, Dave Byrd, and Keith Spangler in tenth. On lap 55, the top 10 changed as Lovelace suffered a flat left front tire and Eric Schmidt spun to avoid getting into Vieira to bring out the caution. Vieira move to fourth, Pettit up to fifth.

At the half-way point of the race, Thorn was in control at the front, Gomes was showing patience in second, Pettit was up to third, Vieira fourth, Spangler was fifth, Kanke sixth.

By lap 100, the top six remained unchanged, Justin Westmoreland was seventh, Vorse was up to eighth after his lap 5 incident, Montes was ninth, and Bear Rezesnowiecky tenth.

The caution fell for the eighth time on lap 118. On the restart it was go time for everyone in the top ten.

With three to go, Westmoreland and Spangler made contact in turns 3 and 4 racing for position, the caution flag was out for the final time.

For the three lap shoot out it was Thorn, Gomes, Vieira, Pettit – with a tire going down and Vorse making up the top 5.

Green flag, Thorn pulled away, and Vorse moved passed the slowing Pettit.

At the checkers, Thorn first, Gomes second, Vieira with a career high third, Vorse who drove from the rear of the field, Pettit, Kanke, Strmiska, Byrd, Spangler and Westmoreland rounding out the top 10.

After two of ten SPEARS Southwest Tour Series events, Thorn is now in the points lead with 345, Kanke second at 330, Pettit third with 325, Gomes 316 and Strmiska at 301.

Next race for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is May 14th at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the StreamPayPerView.TV “Blackjack 121.



 

4-20-11 Parmer Wins SRL Legends Tour Race At Roseville
Source SRL Legends Tour
SRL Legends Tour

The second race of the 2011 SRL Legends Tour took place at All American Speedway in Roseville, California. If it weren’t for an invert of ten cars, Cale Kanke in the 33 car would have been on the pole with his fast time of 15.421. The ten-car invert put Jessica Walker’s #21 on the pole. After a clean start, Walker took the lead, and the 15x car of Dallas Shane dropped into second. Walker got a big jump, and got a comfortable lead along with it. Austin Reed in the 14 went low and took second from Shane, which also opened the door for Micah Parmer in the 96 and Cale Kanke in the 33 to pass him by. Parmer looked high to get around Reed, but couldn’t quite get enough.
""The next SRL Legends Tour event will take place at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 14th""

On lap seven, Reed got around Walker for the lead, but then got passed right back and left the bottom open for Parmer and Kanke, falling back to fourth. Dallas Shane then got loose and looped his car on the backstretch on lap ten, bringing out the first caution of the night. That first caution was where the chaos began. About to return to green flag racing in a double file restart on lap ten, trouble broke out. Once the green flag dropped, everybody got right on the gas. However, Kanke was just a bit faster than Walker on the start. The two hit bumpers, sending Walker spinning going into turn one. Kanke got out of it, but seven other cars weren’t as lucky. Chase Majdic’s #42, Joe Leduc’s #20, Jeremy Doss’s #75, Bob Kuebler’s #5, Ryan Mosher’s #52, Walker, and Shane were all involved. Two tow trucks had to come out to clear up the damage.

During the caution laps, the 25B of James Bickford pulled into the pits. Kanke was sent to the rear of the field, but with the amount of cars lost, it wasn’t too big of a setback, putting him in fifteenth. Bickford then re-entered the track and slotted in behind Kanke. After a long string of caution laps the red flag finally came out. Because of the wreck, Parmer inherited the lead, Reed ended up in second, the 22 of Jeremy Wood, who qualified second, found himself in third, Robby Czub’s #05 was fourth, and Tony Mangini">Tony Mangini’s #7 rounded out the top five. Mosher’s car was too damaged to come out, so it had to stay in the infield for the remainder of the race.

After a smooth restart, Parmer rolled into the lead, Wood got past Reed for second, and Reed fell into fourth as Czub passed him for third. Parmer and Wood began to pull away from the rest of the field and found themselves side-by-side, battling for the lead. Wood got past Parmer and Czub and Reed then joined the two. Wood got a lead of about two car lengths and lapped the 19X car of Brian Mallin in the process. Meanwhile, Reed got around Czub for third place. Greg Baxter in the #25 machine, who was running towards the rear of the field, spun out, but was able to get on it again to prevent a caution. Wood got a big lead on Parmer, and Parmer broke away from the third and fourth place cars.

While all of this was going on, Kanke’s red 33 car began working its way back through the field. The 74M car of Luis Tyrell made his way up into fifth place, which was the highest he had been since the start of the race. However, Tyrell’s momentum and Wood’s big lead came to a stop when Bickford’s 25B spun coming out of turn four, bringing out another caution.

At this point in time, Wood was leading, Parmer was in second, Reed was third, Czub was in fourth, and Tyrell remained in fifth. On the restart, Wood got the slightest bit loose, which was just enough to let Parmer take the lead and Czub to take second. Reed tried to take third from Wood, but just couldn’t get enough. Lap twenty-eight rolled around, and seven laps remained.

The top three of Parmer, Wood, and Czub all broke away from the rest of the field. Kanke had come from fifteenth, and was battling for seventh place. Lap thirty-one finally came around, and Wood got by Robby Czub for second place. By the time the white flag rolled around, Parmer and his #96 car had a comfortable enough lead to stand another 1/3 mile around All American Speedway and bring home a first place trophy. When the checkered flag dropped, Micah Parmer had himself a victory, Jeremy Wood was second, Robby Czub was in third, Austin Reed wound up in fourth, and Luis Tyrell found himself rounding out the top five.

The next SRL Legends Tour event will take place at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 14th.

4-19-11 Hunt Takes First Career USAC Win and young Guns Points Lead
Source Steven Blakesley
USAC Young Guns

 12 year-old Trevor Hunt picked up his first career USAC win in his rookie season, leading all 20 laps to win the feature at the Las Vegas Bullring on Saturday night. With the win, Hunt holds a commanding lead in the overall USAC Young Guns standings and he is second in the USAC Pavement Young Guns championship.

Hunt drives the #11 FVP Midget for Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle based in Sacramento, Calif. The win makes Hunt one of the youngest winners in the history of the USAC Young Guns program.

The ultra-fast three-eighths mile bullring saw Hunt qualifying third quick with a time of 16.270 seconds. Hunt followed the up with a third place finish in the heat race.

Starting on the outside pole of the 20 lap main event, Hunt rocketed into the lead out of the gate. After chasing a setup that went between tight and loose all afternoon, Hunt hit on the setup for the feature.

Turning lap times at nearly 16 seconds flat, Hunt ran a smooth race to take the victory by .371 seconds.

Along with winning his first career race, Hunt has finished on the podium in all five USAC starts this year. He also has one pole and he scored a win last week in Micro Sprints.

“Trevor’s performance on Saturday night was nothing short of amazing,” Driver Coach Ron Sutton said. “He has adapted to the rigors of high speed asphalt racing very quickly and has the talent to win more races this year!”

Hunt’s busy schedule will continue as the USAC circuit heats to Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson, Calif this Saturday night.

Race fans can follow Trevor Hunt at his new website: www.trevorhuntracing.com

Trevor Hunt Racing and Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle thank partners: FVP, Awesome Racewear, K&N Filters, Scribner Plastics, Allstar Performance, Sunoco Race Fuels and Star Racing Supply.

For more information on Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle, log on to www.winners-circle-racing.com

 

4-19-11 Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series Notes & Pertinent Info Ocean Speedway – Saturday April 23
Source Gary Thomas
Ocean Speedway

What:

John Prentice’s Ocean Speedway will be next up for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series this Saturday night April 23. The track has grown to be one the premier sprint car venues on the West Coast over the last few seasons and this weekend will be the first of four events this year for KWS at the facility.

When:

An earlier start time will be in place on Saturday with the pit gate open at noon, front gate opening at 3pm, drivers meeting at 3:45, wheel packing at 4, qualifying around 4:45 and racing to follow.

Where:

The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, two miles east of Watsonville, California on SR 152. The physical address is 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076.

Tickets:

Adult tickets cost $20, children 6 to 12 will be $15, seniors 65 and older are $18 and kids five and under will be free. A family pack featuring two adults and two children will be available for $55.

About the track:

The Ocean Speedway is semi-banked quarter mile clay oval with the Golden State 410 Series track record being 11.496 set by Jonathan Allard on August 8, 2009. The all-time track record was set by Mark Kinser in 2000 with a blistering 10.949.

Last April at the Ocean Speedway:

Campbell’s Bud Kaeding won a thrilling Golden State 410 Series main event at the Ocean Speedway last April. The three-time USAC Silver Crown champion passed father Brent Kaeding for second with 10-laps left in the feature and then made the winning move around Kyle Larson on lap-24. Larson came home a close second, with Tommy Tarlton third, Brent Kaeding fourth and Peter Murphy rounding out the top-five.

Top-10 in KWS points going into the night:

1. Tim Kaeding 305; 2. Jason Statler 299; 3. Evan Suggs 299; 4. Jonathan Allard 289; 5. Brad Furr 282; 6. Willie Croft 279; 7. Kyle Larson 277; 8. Andy Gregg 272; 9. Tommy Tarlton 271; 10. Brent Kaeding 270

On the internet:

Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series-

Official Website- http://www.kwssprints.com
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907
Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s

Ocean Speedway-

http://www.oceanspeedway.com

 

4-19-11 Clark Maintains National Ford Focus Points Lead With Win
Source Steven Blakesley
USAC Ford Focus Midgets

17 year-old Jessica Clark scored her first career USAC Ford Focus Midget Series victory by winning the feature at the Las Vegas Bullring on Saturday night.

Clark also is tied with her Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle teammate Brandon White atop both the USAC Western and National Ford Focus standings.

The strong start to the season puts Clark in contention to be the only female national champion in USAC history.

The weekend started off with Clark timing in fifth quick at 15.590 seconds around the three-eights mile oval. Clark finished third in her eight lap heat race before turning attention to the 30 lap feature.

Much like her teammate Trevor Hunt did earlier in the night in the USAC Young Guns feature, Clark would win her first career main coming from the outside front row.

After Jimmy Moon led the opening lap of the race, Clark stormed to the lead. The race went by with few cautions and Clark ran consistent laps throughout the event.

“I'm so excited to get my first win on my favorite track,” Clark said. “After taking the lead in the second lap I buckled down, stayed intensely focused, and reminded myself to go deeper into the turn entries. I tried to hit my marks every lap until I saw the checkered flag.”

Clark drove away to a comfortable 1.6 second advantage to take the convincing win over White, Ricky Bowers, and Moon to give Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle a clean sweep of the top four positions.

“Jessica definitely earned her first career win,” Driver Coach Ron Sutton said. “Now that she has the first one out of the way, I have no doubt she is capable of winning many more races before the season is over!”

Jessica Clark Racing and Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle thank partners: Justice Brothers, Racecar Factory, Total Woman Gym & Day Spa, K&N Filters, Scribner Plastics, Allstar Performance, Sunoco Race Fuels and Star Racing Supply.

Jessica Clark Racing can be found at www.jessicaclarkracing.com

For more information on Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle, log on to www.winners-circle-racing.com

 

4-19-11 White Challenge For Young Guns And Focus Titles
Source Steven Blakesley
USAC FOrd Focus Nationals

14 year-old Brandon White used a strong weekend at the Las Vegas Bullring to stay tied for first in the USAC Ford Focus National standings and tied for second in the USAC Western Pavement Young Guns division. The Eureka, Calif standout drives the #9 Northcoast Lighting and Electric Midget for Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle.

In the USAC Young Guns division, White covered the three-eighths mile bullring in 16.061 seconds to take his second pole of the season. The eight lap heat race also went to White.

Hoping for a clean sweep on the night’s races, White went to work in the 20 lap main event. White jumped into third early in the race but was unable to reel in the second place car.

The third place finish places White tied for second in the USAC Young Guns points, just 11 points out of first.

The highly competitive USAC Ford Focus Midget division was also in action over the weekend and White qualified third with a 15.510 second lap.

White finished second in his eight lap heat race before the 30 lap feature. Starting third, White moved past teammate Jimmy Moon on lap four to take over second. He ran down the leader, teammate Jessica Clark, but didn’t have enough steam to take the lead.

White ran solidly in second and held off a surging Ricky Bowers to help bring home a Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle sweep of the top-four positions.

Clark won her first career race, and Clark is tied with White atop all the USAC Ford Focus Midget standings nationally and for the Western Pavement division. White moved into the full USAC Ford Focus Midgets late last season.

“Brandon only has nine or ten starts in the Focuses and leads the points nationally!” Driver Coach Ron Sutton explained. “That is a huge testament to his abilities as a 14 year old. His growth has been rapid and exciting to witness!”

White is slated to return to action on May 28 at Las Vegas Bullring.

Brandon White Racing and Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle thank partners: Northcoast Lighting & Electric Inc., K&N Filters, Scribner Plastics, Allstar Performance, Sunoco Race Fuels and Star Racing Supply.

Brandon White Racing is online at www.brandonwhiteracing.net

For more information on Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle, log on to www.winners-circle-racing.com
 

4-19-11 City of Stockton Night Produced Some Unbelievable Action With Aguirre and Lewis Splitting the Twins
Source David Holman
Stockton 99 Speedway

In March, the sun is a bird spreading its wings, little by little, from behind a tangled thicket of a hundred smokey rooftops. Above, wind stirs. It heats like the sap of every tree, sending a staccato from leaf to leaf through symphonies of sunlight and shade as nature announces her new-feathered youth. This day holds forth its promises to Spring. She, too, is here. And with her, the cyclic continuum circles forward to Stockton 99 Speedway where it's time to start your engines for another season and another night of great racing.

On Saturday, April 16 th, Stockton 99 Speedway presented City of Stockton Night, which featured the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Super Stocks in Twin 40's, Bombers, Basically-4- Cylinders, Mini Trucks, Mini Cups, and Vintage Hard Tops.

In the Super Stock Twin #1, there were no big surprises when Early Season Points Leader Jason Aguirre (45) of Atwater took the checkers ahead of the field. This Division continues to grow and the racing is always dynamic. And of course, they take no prisoners.

This one got underway with Aguirre pacing the field to green and the one and only Ben Lewis II (22) of Stockton ready to react on the outside. Lewis got that great jump, as often happens up there in the high groove on starts and restarts, and held strong for the first 23 laps, despite the relentless shark-like attack on his rear bumper by Aguirre. Finally, on lap 24, Aguirre's
tenacity paid dividends when he ducked low and gave Lewis no choice but to relent as the #45 powered his way by the #22 for the hard-earned lead. Lewis immediately fell into the clutches of Stockton's own Rich Harper (5), and slipped back to third. From that point onward, Aguirre owned that number one slot, but not without heavy pressure from Harper over the final laps, until finally, there was nothing left but the finish line and the checkered flag, both of which Aguirre gratefully accepted. "With about two laps to go, the clutch started slipping," said the well-spoken Aguirre, "I knew it was going out so I was happy to win this one." Harper held on to finish an impressively close second while Lodi's second generation driver and rookie Robbie Knittel (03) pulled off an exceptional podium finish in third. Lewis, after fighting a loose race car over the second half, collected himself in time to finish fourth with Oakdale's Mike Graham (93) rounding out the top five.

When the Super Stock Twin #2 hit the high banks, the crowd of nearly 1000 cheered for more of what they had seen in #1. This time, however, the race took on a whole new complexion with Ben Lewis II (22) of Stockton showing the way the entire way.

With an invert of four off Twin #1, Stockton's Ben Lewis II (22) and Lodi's Robbie Knittel (03) were elected rulers of that prime real estate up front. When the green flag flew, Lewis laid claim to the holeshot coming up off turn two where he held serve until lap 3 when the #47 of Lodi's Aaron Shankel spun down low in turn two which brought with it the single yellow of the race. After further review, officials deemed Mark Squadrito (3) of Livermore, guilty as charged of indisputable contact and relegated him to the tail-end of the longest line. On the restart, Lewis got some large forward bite out of four coming to the green and resumed his spot out front. There was some absolutely great racing going on for second on back, but on this night, Lewis would not be denied, going wire to wire, for the Victory. "We were pretty loose in the first one." said the quiet young Lewis, "But we brought it in and got it fixed up and did pretty good." Rich Harper, strong all night, would finish this one up in second just as he did the first Twin. West Modesto's young phenom, Garland Tyler (73), finished on the podium in third with Mike Graham (93) crossing the stripe in a close fourth. "The Kid" Robbie Knittel (03) rounded out the top five in the final event of the evening.

If you thirst for heavy metal, then the Bombers are your ticket. On this night, Mike Massone (007) of Stockton reigned supreme in undeniable fashion.

Jeremy Tucker (819) and Josh Hughes (247), both of Stockton, lined up on the front row to bring the field around to greet the green where Tucker beat the crowd down into turn one for the early lead. Unfortunately, an instant yellow came out when Hughes looped it getting into three. On the ensuing restart, Massone, sporting a brand new Chevy this year, put that new power to the asphalt and drove off into a little history of his own; completely dominating on this night by winning everything but fast time, securing the dust-broom sweep. These racers got strung out quickly, and although there were some challenges mid-pack, no one came close to challenging the overwhelming power of Massone as he crossed beneath the checkers over a half-lap ahead of his nearest competitor. "Wow! I'm happy, but I really don't know what to say," said the excited Massone, "I want to thank Leroy Hunt for building this car for me and everyone else who supports me." The #819x of Stockton's Bobby Simpson finished a very convincing second while 2010 Champ, Travis Tucker (350) of Stockton, making a rare appearance since moving up, finished on the podium in third. Stockton drivers Jeremy Tucker and the #043 of Andrew Rumsey rounded out the top five, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Basically-4-Cylinders roared back onto the speedy asphalt surface for the third week in a row. And, believe it or not, Joseph Reichmuth (6) of Manteca, once again stood on the top tier of the podium by winning his third in a row.

The pack lined up five deep on the grid with 2010 Champ Larry Toon (88) of Modesto and second generation driver, Samantha Williams (4) of Lodi, bringing the race under the green flag. Toon took charge early only to be displaced on lap 4 by a hard-charging Matt Anderson (5) of Stockton when Anderson drove it off hard into turn one and got underneath Toon with minimal contact. Over the next few laps Anderson began to chew away at the asphalt until lap 7 when the Racing God of Mechanical Woes took a huge bite out of his night as the #5 came to rest near the outside wall in turn one, which ended an otherwise promising race for the young, third generation driver. On the restart, Williams got the jump and held the lead for one long lap. But, unfortunately for her, Joseph Reichmuth had worked his way up through the field and took over that precious real estate out front on lap 9. And, of course, once out there, Reichmuth relished the fresh air and took it to the checkers for his third win in as many weeks. "First of all I have to wish my dad Happy Birthday," said Reichmuth, "This win is for him." Williams ran a brilliant race of her own and finished a very impressive second. Toon, after the earlier altercation, fought his way back to the podium in third while Modesto's JD Silva (56), starting deep on the grid, came home fourth. Kelle Bobbitt (61) of Stockton finished up the night with another top five in fifth.

The Mini Trucks made their first appearance of the year in what was an unexpected meager car-count. Guido Bindi (29) of Modesto managed to sweep the night away by staying out front throughout the event, setting fast time and winning both the Trophy Dash and the Main Event. Lisa Rutta (4) of Stockton, despite struggling with an ill-handling car all day, landed on the podium in second.

The Mini Cups returned for their second week with as much gusto as these little guys can possibly muster. In the end, 2010 Champ, Cody Johnston (50) of Stockton, would proudly accept top honors for the evening as he pulled out the broom and swept the field away in being fast qualifier, winning the Trophy Dash and dominating the Main Event. "The Philpotts help us the most," said the likable young Johnston, "They do all the setups and everything, so I would like to thank them." Jared Cronk (44) of Discovery Bay finished on the podium in second.

This was a night with a mixture of flavors. And, if you like history, the Vintage Hardtops will suit you quite well. Conrad Cavallero (2) of Santa Rosa would prove much too dominant to contend with as he crossed below the checkers to the glory land.

With the green flag waving and Mike McClure (5) of Santa Rosa and Mike Friesen (77M) of Oakdale strapped tight in their hotrods up front, these old timers put the pedal to the floor, and it was on! McClure jumped out early only to be out pedaled on lap 2 by Friesen. Friesen's comfort zone was short-lived as well when, on lap 7, Cavallero snatched away that top spot and held on through to the checkers for the Victory. George Conner (70) of Oakley, although mustering all the strength he had over the last several laps, simply ran out of time to do anything with the power of the #2 hotrod and had to settle for second. Friesen fell off, if only slightly, but still managed a podium finish in third. The #92 of Santa Rosa's Jack Low brought her home fourth while McClure, struggling with mechanical issues early on, finished her up in fifth.

Mark your calendars for next Saturday, April 23 rd for 99 Drift Competition. Plus Stunt Bike Show. Bring the kids, they'll simply love this show! Admission is only $5 for fans. Pits are open to the public. Practice starts at 12:30 with pits open at noon and competition slated for 2pm.

The New Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, ¼-mile west of Highway 99. For more information on tickets and times, please contact the Speedway Office at (209)466-9999 or visit their Website at www.stockton99.com.

 

4-18-11 Action at All American Speedway Late Model Season Opener
Source & Photos RMG Race Media Group
All American Speedway

ROSEVILLE, CA. All American Speedway hosted their season opener Friday Night with the Late Models for the NASCAR Whelen All American series. The Late models were the prelude to the BMR event which included NASCAR K&N West, SPEARS SRL and SRL Legends. 19 Late Models entered for the A-All Mini Storage Bonus Challenge 100 Presented by Pick-n-Pull with the highest paying Late Model Purse since 2008.

Practice opened up with No. 27 John Moore running fast time with a 13.785 seconds lap. 10 late models were all within .300 seconds from John Moore with the likes of No. 61 Shannon Mansch, No. 50 Gary Glenn and No.35 Matt Scott. 2009 champion No. 8 Jason Romero returned to action for the Late Model division. Romero had 13 wins during his championship run, tieing the current record of most wins in a season.

Romero was the first car to take the track for qualifying due to complications in practice which led him to lead the way to qualifying. Romero placed his number 8 at the top of the charts with a 13.954 second lap. That time held the fast time through most of qualifying until the last qualifier Matt Scott edged out Romero by .006 seconds with a 13.948 qualifying time. Both Scott and Romero turned down the opportunity to win an additional $1000 Bonus presented by A-All Mini Storage if they win the race by starting last. The invert for the starting lineup was 5 placing Lovelace and Moore on the front row. Lovelace lead the 19 car field down to the first green flag for the All American Speedway 2011 Season. Troubles struck early on completion of lap one causing the first yellow when contact between the No. 27 John Moore and the No. 61 Shannon Mansch which resulted in Mansch spinning in turn 1. During the caution flag the AAS Officials placed the number 27 Moore to the end of the line for his involvement in the yellow flag incident.

The Field went back to green for 33 laps until lap 39 when the No. 22 of Troy Nagosek spun in turn four. Nagosek who runs in the Modified Division made the jump to run a Late Model Race running the Old Media car from BMR. As the field went back to green, No. 55 Zane Lovelace led the field for two laps until No. 35 Matt Scott dove to the inside line in turn 3 to take the top position. Scott began racing with Romero on the straight away when both cars drove side by side into turn one, Scott got loose and almost looped his No. 35 car with 18 other Late Models approaching him. Scott regained control of his car and to hold on to the lead and open up a gap on second position on back. Romero began to fall back to third while a field of 9 cars behind him were all stacked up for the 4th position. After a caution, AAS Champs Scott and Romero both started on the front row. As the green dropped Romero got hung out on the outside which allowed No. 44 Ron Chunn, No. 50 Gary Glenn, No. 5 Chris Scribner and No. 16 Jamie Krizysik to get by thus putting Romero in the 6th position.

The third yellow waved involving drivers No. 51 Carlos Viera, No. 27 John Moore, No. 6 Kenny Smith, No. 88 Dylan Hutchison, and No. 21 Cameron Millard. Here Carlos Viera got spun in turn four which led to a group of cars with nowhere to go, all of which had minimal damage. Once the stacked field got the green, the first red flag came out on lap 48 due to No. 21 Cameron Millard and the KCRA Channel 3 News Reporter No. 20 Brian Hickey in a major collision in turn three which ended their night short leaving them watching the race from the pits. Shortly after the green flag was thrown on lap 54 an intense battle for the 4th position with the No. 5 Chris Scribner and the No. 16 Jamie Krizysik ensued. Passes being made on the outside caused Jamie to get loose in turn 4 caused the field behind him to check up, thus leading Jamie to battle back in the 10th position. Both the No. 27 car and the No. 22 car both suffered minimal damages from this incident. The track went green from lap 64 to the end of the 100 laps. As the No. 35 car Matt Scott cruised to a 1.437 second victory, the No. 44 Ron Chunn , No. 50 Gary Glenn and No. 11 Juan Pitta all battled for the second position in the closing laps. Drag racing to the line for fifth position was Chris Scribner and Shannon Mansch with Scribner edging out Shannon by .012 seconds.

All American Speedway's next Points race is scheduled on Saturday April 30, 2011 with Bombers, Street Stocks, Modifieds, and Late Models. More information about All American Speedway can be found at www.AllAmericanSpeedway.com. The Placer County Fairgrounds administration office is open for advance ticket sales Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm at 800 All America City Blvd. Roseville, CA. 95678, or contact the office at (916) 786-2025


#1 Points Race Results_1. 35 Matt Scott_2. 44 Ron Chunn_3. 50 Gary Glenn_4. 11 Juan Pitta_5. 5 Chris Scribner_6. 61 Shannon Mansch_7. 16 Jamie Krizysik_8. 42 Stanislov Osterlund_9. 72 Michelle Nagai_10. 55 Zane Lovelace_11. 6 Kenny Smith_12. 22 Brian Keck_13. 51 Carlos Viera_14. 88 Dylan Hutchison_15. 8 Jason Romero_16. 27 John Moore_17. 22 Troy Nagosek_18. 20 Brian Hickey_19. 21 Cameron Millard


The Bonus Challenge Special Awards were giving too:_$100 PRS 1st thru 5th Place Bonus for ARP body Panels: Matt Scott, Ron Chunn, Gary Glenn, Juan Pitta, Chris Scribner_$100 Trico Welding Bonus to the 16th Finisher: John Moore_$150 Trico Welding Bonus to the 12th Finisher: Brian Keck_$200 Alan Yordy Motorsports Hard Luck bonus to driver who falls the most positions from start to finish: Jason Romero & John Moore Both fell 12 positions_$200 Pick-N-Pull 10th Place Finisher Bonus: Zane Lovelace_$200 Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle for driver leading the event at lap 50: Matt Scott_$200 Docuware Award for the 6th Place Finisher: Shannon Mansch_$250 Les Schwab Lap Leader Award, Driver that Leads the Most Laps: Matt Scott_$250 Pick-N-Pull 5th Place Finisher Bonus: Chris Scribner_$250 PRS Hard Charge Bonus (Other than fast Qualifier if starts at rear) driver that advanced positions from start to finish: None_$500 Roseville Toyota, If race is won in a Toyota Camry: None_$1000 A-All Mini Storage Fast Qualifier Bonus if Fast Qualifier start Rear of the Field and wins: None
 

4-18-11 April 16th Ventura Raceway Report
Source Cliff Morgan
Ventura Raceway

Troy Rutherford continues to be the man to beat as he took his fourth VRA Sprint Car race of the new season to increase his season point lead to 120 points over Greg Taylor. Rutherford has been almost unbeatable this season as he goes for his second series championship. In five races only Steve Conrad's win on March 12 has broken his string of victories. Starting from fifth position in the 30 lap feature, Rutherford took the lead on lap 13 from Steve Conrad, who had led the first 12 laps from his front row starting position. From that point on Rutherford was never headed and took the checkered flag ahead of Conrad, Johnathan Henry, Brent Camarillo and Josh Ford. With 28 cars signed into the pits for the night's competition, four hear races were run. Heat race wins went to Josh Ford in heat one, Cory Kruseman in heat two, Rutherford in heat three and Derek Buckley in heat four. One Semi Main was run with the win going to Brandon Thomson with Dakota Kershaw, Tom Harper and Clark Templeman III joining in the transfers to the main event.

VRA Senior Sprints were back Saturday with 13 cars signed into the pits for two heat races and a 20 lap feature. Clif Warren took the win in heat one with Richard McCormick taking heat two. The 20 lap feature was a battle between Russell Deblauw, Rob Kershaw and Bruce Douglass. Deblauw led the first lap but series point leader Kershaw took over the lead on lap two and led to the checkered flag with Douglass trying to catch him. The win puts Kershaw 10 points out front in the season long point battle over Douglass and 100 points ahead of Deblauw. Finishing behind Kershaw and Douglass were Richard McCormick, Clif Warren and Russell DeBlauw.

IMCA Modiifeds ran two heat races Saturday night with wins going to Brad Prows and Austin Rodarte. Twelve of the 14 cars signed in started the 20 lap feature with the win going to past champion Jack Parker followed by Brad Prows, Austin Rodarte, John Romero and Rob Green. Prow's second place finish moved him ahead of 2010 series champion Austin Rodarte in the 2011 season run for the championship by a slim 4 point margin after four races.

VRA Pro Dwarf Cars saw a small field of 9 cars in attendance Saturday night. One heat race was run with the win going to Kevin Calvo. Their feature event went to past series champion Ray Estrada. He was followed across the line by Curt Cook, Kevin Calvo, Tom Stephens and Jason Horton.

The California Lightning Sprints made their first appearance at Ventura Raceway in 2011 Saturday. Heat race wins went to Jacob Will and Jim Squire III. the 20 lap feature went to Dan Hillberg after on track winner Jarrett Kramer failed post race tech.

Our final class that raced Saturday night was our VRA Go Karts. Four heat race s were run with wins going to Scott Bohle, Dave Pankratz, Richard Renken and Tyler Stover. One Semi Main was run with the win going to Josh Ford. The 20 lap feature went to Richard Renken followed by James Locey, Dave Pankratz, Jeremy Ellertson and Bill Didion.

Racing resumes next weekend with VRA Sprint Cars, VRA Midgets, Focus Midgets, Jr. focus Midgets, IMCA Modifieds and Go Karts.



 

4-18-11 Tim Kaeding Races to Victory With The Golden State King of The West Sprint Car Series at Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday Night
Source Gary Thomas
Thunderbowl Raceway

Going into the season one of the heavy championship favorites was San Jose's Tim Kaeding and on Saturday night at the Thunderbowl Raceway he definitely showed why, making an early pass of Tommy Tarlton for the lead, before holding off a surge from Jonathan Allard to score victory with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series.

The triumph for Kaeding was the 49th of his career with the Golden State 410 Series and came aboard the Central Valley based Roth Motorsports, HR Cattle No. 83 at the 18th annual Chris & Brian Faria Memorial.

“I just love racing at this place and it was fun there for a while racing with Tommy and then Jonathan came out nowhere too,” commented the 2002 series champion. “We’re racing back home this year with the King of the West Series and I have to thank Dennis & Teresa Roth for giving me the opportunity and my whole team for giving me a great car.”

When the green lights came on in the 30-lap main event at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway it was Easton’s Tommy Tarlton jumping into the lead by way of his pole position. An early caution created a double-file restart and during it things began to heat up with both Medford, Oregon’s Roger Crockett and T. Kaeding making a pair of bold moves to dispatch of Tarlton.

It was all for naught however, as the yellow lights would come on for a spun car and made for a single file restart on the next attempt. When things went back green a couple more laps would click off before the red lights came on for Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, who tipped over in the third and fourth corners. The 13-time Golden State champ was okay though and was even able to restart the race.

When racing got back underway “TK” would step up his challenges and shoot to the lead just prior to another caution period on lap-eight. On the restart Chico’s Jonathan Allard made his presence known and with 10-laps down made the move around Tarlton for second. “JA” let it all hang out riding the high-side of the one-third mile clay oval and charged passed T. Kaeding for the lead on lap 13, but a yellow flag would negate the pass.

After this the track surface began to take rubber more and more, but Allard continued to charge hard after the No. 83 sprinter. Late in the race T. Kaeding was fighting apparent engine problems and with just a couple laps left Allard closed up to his rear bumper. Looking to make a move with the white flag waving Allard’s bid would then come to a tough end, as he caught the front stretch wall and flipped to bring out a red flag.

With curfew looming ahead and concerns over the abrasive conditions, the decision was made to conclude the race and T. Kaeding officially tallied his second win of the season at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway. "TK" also earned a $100 certificate for Auto Meter Products Inc. by way of his win.

“We had the motor going away there late in the race so I’m really happy we were able to make it,” he said. “We’ll move on to Watsonville now and hope all you fans come and support us.”

Tarlton came home in second and fifth row starter Kyle Larson of Elk Grove completed the podium. Rounding out the top-10 was Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Crockett, Fresno’s Craig Stidham, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Tipton’s Mike Faria and Sacramento’s Willie Croft.

The PitStopUSA.com hard charger award for the main event went to Jason Statler who came from 11th to fourth aboard the DF Rios Motorsports No. 00 mount.

Puyallup, Washington’s Trey Starks claimed the 12-lap Last Chance Qualifier and Tommy Tarlton picked up victory in the KSE Racing Products/ Grant’s Fine Art Dash. Heat race wins during the night were picked off by Evan Suggs, Tim Kaeding, Craig Stidham and Tommy Tarlton.

Jonathan Allard set fast time for the second week in a row by cutting a 13.587 and earned seven championship points for doing so. Mike Faria, Brad Furr, Roger Crockett and Kyle Larson also earned points in qualifying. For setting quick time in the 32-car field Allard was awarded with a custom plaque from Grant’s Fine Art.

Allard will also receive the Dirt Solution hard-luck award for the night after his flip on the final lap relegated him to a 17th place finish.

The Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will resume competition next Saturday night April 23 at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway. Please note an earlier start time will be in place with the drivers meeting scheduled for around 3:45pm, wheel packing at 4 and qualifying about 4:45.

To keep up with the latest happenings with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series visit http://www.kwssprints.com or catch us on Facebook and Twitter.

…………

Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series Results- Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway “Chris & Brian Faria Memorial” Saturday April 16, 2011

32 cars

Top-10 in Qualifying-

Fast time: Jonathan Allard 13.587. 2nd Mike Faria 13.749; 3rd Brad Furr 13.786; 4th Roger Crockett 13.796; 5th Kyle Larson 13.861; 6th Willie Croft 13.887; 7th Jason Statler 13.924; 8th Cory Eliason 14.024; 9th Trey Starks 14.030; 10th Tim Kaeding 14.064

Heat 1: Evan Suggs, Kyle Larson, Peter Murphy, Jonathan Allard, Trey Starks, Kenny Allen, Ken Fredenburg, Sean McMahan

Heat 2: Tim Kaeding, Willie Croft, Mike Faria, Bobby McMahan, Brent Bjork, Charlie Louden, Mark Barroso, Doug Gandy

Heat 3: Craig Stidham, Jason Statler, Bud Kaeding, Brad Furr, Andy Gregg, Garrett Ishii, Danielle Simpson, Pat Harvey

Heat 4: Tommy Tarlton, Roger Crockett, Brent Kaeding, Cory Eliason, Eli Deshaies Billy Strange Jr., Mark Workentine

Dash: Tommy Tarlton, Craig Stidham, Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard, Roger Crockett, Evan Suggs, Mike Faria, Brad Furr

Last Chance Qualifier: Trey Starks, Brent Bjork, Andy Gregg, Charlie Louden, Garrett Ishii, Billy Strange Jr., Kenny Allen, Sean McMahan, Mark Workentine, Danielle Simpson, Doug Gandy, Eli Deshaies, Pat Harvey, Ken Fredenburg, Mark Barroso

A-main: Tim Kaeding, Tommy Tarlton, Kyle Larson, Jason Statler, Roger Crockett, Craig Stidham, Evan Suggs, Bud Kaeding, Mike Faria, Willie Croft, Peter Murphy, Brad Furr, Brent Kaeding, Andy Gregg, Garrett Ishii, Charlie Louden, Jonathan Allard, Billy Strange Jr., Cory Eliason, Trey Starks, Bobby McMahan, Brent Bjork



 

4-18-11 360's Return To Tulare April 30; Kaeding is 2 For 2 at Thunderbowl After Saturday's Win
Source Dick Jordan
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints

Ryan Bernal of Hollister, Calif. has the 2011 USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series lead but Bub Kaeding took home his second Tulare trophy Saturday night as the series again competed at the Gropetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway.

Kaeding, of Campbell, Calif., won Saturday night’s “Chris & Brian Faria Memorial” at Tulare in his Bowman Racing entry, leading the final 14 laps of the 21-lap race. He passed series point leader Bernal on lap eight and led the rest of the way to beat Bernal, Jace VanderWeerd, Peter Murphy and Richard VanderWeerd.

Bernal will take a 15-point lead over Jace VanderWeerd into an April 30 race at Tulare


USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS

1-Ryan Bernal-185; 2-Jace VanderWeerrd-170; 3-Wes Gutierrez-161; 4-Bud Kaeding-148; 5-Greg Alexander-141; 6-Justyne Hamblin-136; 7-Richard VanderWeerd-133; 8-T.J. Smith-121; 9-Danny Faria Jr.-114; 10-Jonathan Logan-93.

 

4-16-11 Tim Kaeding Wins First Ocean Sprints Feature of 2011
Source Steven Blakesley
Ocean Sprints

Tim Kaeding kicked off the 2011 Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo by winning the 30 lap feature after passing Tommy Tarlton for the lead in the lapped traffic. The win marked Kaeding’s second of 2011 after winning the ASCS National Tour race at Tulare in February.

“It was Tommy’s race to loose. He was running a good pace, but he just couldn’t get by lapped traffic,” Kaeding said. “It was definitely one of those things where Watonsville traffic always comes into play.”

Tarlton, the 2010 series champion, led the 22 car starting field out of the gate and a series of yellows slowed action early. James Bondurant, Jeremy Chisum, and Steve Osborne all had early spins to bring out cautions.

On lap four, business picked up for the lead when 2010 King of California Kyle Larson charged to the inside of Tarlton into turn one. Tarlton and Larson made contact causing Larson to slow dramatically. Fast-time qualifier Shane Golobic had nowhere to go, sending Larson for a spin.

All cars involved were able to continue, with Larson going on a torrid run from the back. Kaeding moved up into second past Golobic on lap seven.

A series of cautions by lap 13 saw Prundale’s Justin Sanders crack the top-five, but on the restart he slowed with a power steering failure.

By lap 19, Larson had used the outside to move all the up to seventh place while Kaeding began to reel in Tarlton. The move for the lead came on lap 21 when Kaeding passed Tarlton on the bottom coming out of turn two.

“We had a good race car, but we didn’t have a great race car,” Kaeding said. “So we kinda just tipy-toed around and Tommy just missed the bottom enough so I could get down into the moisture where I was good. Tommy is always good here and fast wherever he goes, but traffic always gets people.”

Kaeding also credited his victory from what he learned watching the Wingless Sprint main event. After a series of heat races where the top was the fast way around the track, the complexion changed in the feature as evidenced by Adam Kaeding’s run on the bottom to win the wingless main.

Larson continued his strong charge through the field by passing Mason Moore for fifth on lap 28, while Golobic made a late race charge after Tarlton.

Kaeding took the victory followed by Tarlton, Golobic, Ronnie Day of Salinas, and Larson. “Cowboy” Craig Smith won the DDNi Hard Charger award after qualifying 18th and finishing ninth in the feature.

Golobic’s fast lap of 12.002 seconds came during the new group qualifying format at Ocean Speedway, which Golobic credited for the pole.

“I like this new qualifying technique as I had something in front of me kinda like a carrot to chase after,” Golobic said. “It felt good to start the year off with a good qualifying run with how bad we’ve qualified in the past.”

The fast-time paid $75 from Ray Scheidt’s Electric and a $50 KSE gift certificate from Kaeding Performance.

Heat race wins went to Kaeding, Larson, and San Jose’s Ryan Rusconi who was a surprise scratch for the feature.

The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will return to action on April 30 at Tulare Thunderbowl with their next race at Ocean Speedway scheduled for May 6.

Full results are available on www.oceanspeedway.com or at mylaps.com

For more information on the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo, including post-race interviews, log onto http://www.oceansprints.com

For more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com


 

4-13-11 Taco Bravo Sprints Ready to Fire Off Friday After Delayed Start
Source Steven Blakesley
Ocean Sprints

After record rainfall throughout March that cancelled the March 25 opener, the Taco Bravo Ocean Sprint Car Series will finally get underway at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds dirt oval with a stellar field of cars expected to challenge 2010 champion Tommy Tarlton.

Drivers will be competing for the coveted Ocean Sprints championship ring and a variety of price awards throughout the season. Ray Scheidt’s Electric will pay $75 to the fast-qualifier while DDNi will pay $100 to the hard charger at each feature in 2011.

The pool of drivers running for the championship is large and is one of the deepest fields in any sprint car series in California. Newcomer and former motorcycle ace Jeremy Chisum will join Ronnie Day to form a two-car effort out of Salinas. Other newcomers include Tommy Laliberate, St. Helena’s Rico Abreu, James Boundurant (son of Bob Boundurant), and San Jose’s Nick Green (son of Tim Green).

18 year-old Justin Sanders of Prunedale, Visalia’s Cory Eliason, and “Cowboy” Craig Smith are all drivers who finished in the top-ten in last year’s standings that are looking to improve their status in 2011.

Orval Zane Burke, Jr., Nick Ringo, Jr., and Steve Osbourne have also announced plans to return to Ocean Speedway while Bud Kaeding and Brent Kaeding are expected to compete in part-time schedules.

Tarlton will face stiff competition from both Ocean regulars and a host of drivers who plan to compete at the track on a limited schedule. One of those is the red-hot Kyle Larson. The 18 year-old finished in the runner-up spot in the 2010 points and will be on hand for the opener on Friday. Larson’s main focus in 2011 will be the USAC National Midgets for car owner Keith Kunz.

Fremont, California gasser Shane Golobic will also be in attendance on Friday after scoring a win last Friday night at Placerville.

Countless other drivers are expected to be in attendance for this kick-off to the winged 360 series.

“I can’t thank our sponsors and competitors enough for their commitment to this series,” Promoter John Prentice said. “I am looking forward to yet another year of growth as we continue to offer a great weekly program for the fans!”

The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will race this Friday night with American Stocks, Wingless Sprints, and Four-Bangers also on the card. Adult tickets are just $17 with seniors 65+ $15 and kids ages 6-12 are $12. The family pass for two adults and two children is value priced at just $50. Racing will get underway at 6 p.m. with fan gates opening at 4:30 p.m.
For more information on the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com





 

4-13-11 Chris & Brian Faria Memorial This Saturday at Tulare
Source Lance Jennings
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints

This Saturday night, April 16th, the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series will compete at Steve Faria's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. Joining the traditional 360s will be the Golden State King of the West Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, and Vintage Super Modifieds. The Front Gates will open at 5:00pm, Time Trials will start at 6:00pm, with Racing at the lightning fast 1/3-mile facility to begin at 7:00pm.

Hollister's Ryan Bernal leads the point chase heading into Saturday's event. Piloting Danny Olmstead's #11D Steve Watt Enterprises / S&S Automotive Maxim, Bernal claimed fifth last Saturday at Santa Maria. The multi-time Wingless Spec Sprint Champion finished second in his Tulare debut on March 19th and currently holds a nine point advantage. Ryan will be looking for his first career series win on Saturday.

Gardena's Greg Alexander is second in the championship points. Driving Chuck Tyler's #72 Trench Shoring / Barnes Systems Maxim, Alexander placed tenth at Santa Maria and finished third in a photo finish at Tulare. Greg has one heat race win to his credit and will be in the mix for Saturday's Faria Memorial victory.

Sitting third in the point chase is Jace VanderWeerd of Visalia. Piloting Ron VanderWeerd's #88 VanderWeerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Jace won the Santa Maria 30-lap feature. VanderWeerd finished eighth at Tulare on March 19th and will look to make it two-in-a-row on Saturday.

"Wide Open" Wes Gutierrez of San Martin is fourth in the standings. Driving the WG Motorsports #007 DRC backed by Competition Suspension Inc. and ButlerBuilt, Gutierrez scored sixth at Santa Maria and Tulare. The hard charging driver will put on a show at the Faria Memorial.

Fresno's T.J. Smith is currently fifth in the points. Piloting Steve LeGras' #14 UHL Rubber / S&S Automotive Maxim, Smith was second at Santa Maria after leading sixteen laps. At Tulare, the Santa Maria track champion recorded a twelfth place finish and will among the favorites this Saturday.

Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are Campbell's Bud Kaeding, defending champion Craig Stidham of Fresno, Hanford's Justyne Hamblin, "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton, Kerman's Davey Pombo, Visalia's Richard VanderWeerd, Jonathan Logan of Hanford, Bakersfield's Rusty Carlile, and many more.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Port City Racing, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.

Tulare's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds at the corner of Bardsley and K Streets. Reserved Grandstand Tickets are $20 and Bleacher Tickets are $17. Advance tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling the track office at (559) 688-0909. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.tularethunderbowl.com.

For more information on the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series, visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, www.racesantamariaspeedway.com, or follow the series on facebook.




 

4-12-11 MPD Moses Smith en route to All American Speedway’s Season Opener
Source Kaye Reshaw
NASCAR K&N Pro Series

Antelope, CA – Three-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Most Popular Driver, Moses Smith, will pilot the No. 16 Hasa Pool Products/White Flyer Toyota Camry for Bill McAnally Racing at All American Speedway’s season opener. He will take the green flag on April 16th as the series makes its first of two appearances at the short track located at the Placer County Fairgrounds.

The veteran driver has three top-five finishes in six starts at Bill McAnally Racing’s home track. He retains the record for the most top-ten finishes at this .333-mile high banked oval in the heart of Northern California. Currently ninth in the chase for the series championship, Smith and the Hasa Toyota team look to keep their momentum going toward the top of the points standing. They finished fourth in the series last season.

The Hasa Toyota team is coming back stronger than ever to the BMR team’s home track. Led by series champion crew chief Mario Isola, the Hasa team is well prepared. They’re looking forward to getting back to short track racing and a being at a race venue that they get such great support. Having so many Hasa Pool Product customers cheering for them is amazing. Over 500 Hasa Customers were in attendance at last fall’s race and were on their feet as Smith raced door-to-door to bring home another top-ten finish. BMR can’t thank them enough for coming out and being a member of the team.

We would like to welcome NAPA Gold Filters as an associate sponsor on the No. 16 Hasa Pool Products Toyota Camry. BMR would like to thank all our fans and race partners for their support. NASCARHomeTracks.com will feature a live internet radio broadcast of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race from All American Speedway.

Advanced tickets are now on sale. Weekend tickets, single day tickets and VIP ticket packages can be purchased by phone by calling (916) 676-0256 or in person at Bill McAnally Racing, 8636 Antelope North Road, Antelope, CA 95843. Tickets are also available through the Placer County Fair office located at 800 All America City Blvd., Roseville, CA 95678. The event is once again expected to be sold out so don’t miss out. Gates will open at 5 pm on Friday.

For more information on Bill McAnally Racing, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. Bill McAnally Racing is now on Facebook. Become a fan and stay up to date with the latest happenings with your favorite race teams.

For more information on Moses Smith, please visit www.mosessmith.com. You can visit our sponsors’ websites at www.hasapool.com, www.whiteflyer.com, www.napafilters.com and www.tcitransportation.com . You can also follow Moses on Twitter.



 

4-12-11 Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial lap money for sale
Source Silver Dollar Speedway PR
Silver Dollar Speedway

The 21st annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway is almost here and as usual lap money is up for grabs to interested parties or individuals.

If anyone would like to purchase a lap please don't be shy to contact Dave and Dianne Durica at Durica1414@sbcglobal.net or 916-988-5958.

All the money goes back to the racers and helps make this event unique and special like it has been for so many years. The laps cost $100 and are split between the top 3 in the A-main and LCQ each lap. The leader gets $50, 2nd place $30 and 3rd place $20.

In addition to lap money if anyone has anything they would like to donate for the prestigious event contact Dave and Dianne to give them the details.

The Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial is considered the cornerstone event for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series and will take place on Saturday May 7. It will be the first ever appearance for KWS at the famed Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico and is expected to be a huge night of racing.

For more info on the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series visit http://www.kwssprints.com and for more on Silver Dollar Speedway log onto http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com



 

4-12-11 Jace Vanderweerd Wins Santa Maria Shootout
Source Lance Jennings
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints

Jace VanderWeerd of Visalia scored his third career USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series feature win last Saturday night. VanderWeerd reclaimed the lead from Santa Maria track champion T.J. Smith of Fresno on lap twenty-four and led the rest of the way to take the victory.
"I was a little tight in the beginning and the track started coming to me as it slicked off a little bit," remarked VanderWeerd. "I was catching him little by little and tried to drive really hard."

From his pole position starting spot, VanderWeerd set the early pace and led the first seven circuits. Fellow front row starter Smith found his rhythm and took advantage of a VanderWeerd miscue. Coming off turn four, Jace slid up from the bottom groove and this allowed Smith to power by for the lead. While the duo battled for the top spot, they had to contend with "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton, and Ojai's Troy Rutherford, the defending Ventura track champion.

Smith, who won four times last season, was looking to add another Santa Maria win to his resume. The former Plaza Park champion set a fast pace as VanderWeerd regrouped and gave chase after the leader. As Faria and Rutherford diced for third, another battle was shaping up for fifth between sixteenth starting Justyne Hamblin of Hanford, Hollister's Ryan Bernal, and San Martin's Wes Gutierrez.

As the leader chose the high line of the speedway, VanderWeerd found the bottom groove to his liking and began to apply pressure. By this time, Faria had shook free from Rutherford and set his sights on the leaders. With the trio catching slower traffic, Smith's progress was slowed and VanderWeerd shot for the lead. Slicing his way through, Jace vaulted the left rear tire of Santa Maria's Bill Jones. The contact moved Jones up the track, and Smith jumped over Bill's right rear tire. As VanderWeerd gathered up his machine, Faria's opening for the lead closed and the veteran drivers touched.

With seven laps to go, VanderWeerd was out front. Faria and Smith dueled for second, as Bernal and Gutierrez tried to wrestle fourth away from Hamblin. The remaining laps counted down and VanderWeerd took the checkered flag, followed by Smith, Faria, Hamblin, and Bernal.

By virtue of winning the 30-lap feature, Jace VanderWeerd now sits third in the point chase. Piloting the family owned #88 VanderWeerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Jace was ninth quick in time trials and fifth in his heat race. With an eight pill drawn for the main event invert, VanderWeerd inherited the pole position as one faster car did not transfer from the heat races. Jace sits twelve points behind the leader and will be looking to give himself an early birthday gift with a Tulare win this Saturday.

T.J. Smith led sixteen laps of the feature before falling to VanderWeerd. Driving Steve LeGras' #14 UHL Rubber / S&S Automotive Maxim, Smith timed in eighth fast on the night and won the Saldana Racing Products and Keizer Wheels Heat Race #2. T.J. is currently fifth in the point standings and is ready to make a bid for the series championship.

Piloting Junior Bowman's #2 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Bullet, "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr. scored his best finish of the year with a third place run. Still settling into his new ride, Faria was seventh fast on the night and claimed third in his heat race. Now seventh in the point chase, Faria will be determined to score Tulare's "Chris and Brian Faria Memorial" victory on Saturday.

Justyne Hamblin earned the Keizer Wheels "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors on the night with a fourth place finish after starting sixteenth. Driving the JH Motorsports owned Tachi Palace & Casino / Dias Law Firm #8 SpeedTech, Hamblin was seventeenth fast in qualifications and second in her heat race. The former series champion is now sixth in the standings and will look for the win at Tulare.

With his fifth place finish, Ryan Bernal now sits atop the point standings. Piloting Danny Olmstead's #11D Steve Watt Enterprises / S&S Automotive Maxim, Bernal was sixth quick in time trials and third in his heat race. The multi-time Wingless Spec Sprint Champion finished second in his Tulare debut on March 19th and will look to score Saturday's Faria Memorial victory.

Visalia's Richard VanderWeerd earned his first Sander Engineering Fast Time Award of the year by besting the twenty-seven car field. Driving Ron VanderWeerd's #10 VanderWeerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Richard was fourth in his heat race. Unfortunately for VanderWeerd, he had an early exit in the main event after being involved in his second tangle. This resulted in an eighteenth place finish for the young driver as he sits ninth in championship points.

Kevin Barnes of Fresno held of a hard charging Troy Rutherford to claim victory in the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Piloting his unsponsored #36B Eagle, Barnes was thirteenth fast on the night and had mechanical issues in the feature. Officially scoring a twenty-second place finish on the night, Kevin is now seventeenth in the point standings.

Rancho Palos Verdes' Dennis Howell won the DJ Safety Heat Race #3. Driving the family owned #62 San Pedro Auto Body / Howell-Meyer Racing Maxim, Howell was fifteenth quick in time trials. The USAC Western Midget Series graduate was involved in an early tangle that ended his night, scoring a twentieth place finish. Dennis is currently eighteenth in the point chase as the series heads to Tulare.

Davey Pombo of Kerman won the night's 10-lap Competition Suspension Inc. Semi-Main. Piloting Joey Eames' #3E TCR backed by Eames Trucking and Cool Hand Luke's Saloon, Pombo was fourth fast on the night and sixth in his heat race. Davey was involved in an early main event tangle that resulted in later mechanical problems. The Southwest Contractors 360 Clash Champion's night ended early and he was credited with a nineteenth place finish. As this writing goes to press, Pombo is eighth in the point standings.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Port City Racing, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series will return to action this Saturday, April 16th, for the "Chris and Brian Faria Memorial" at Tulare's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway. Joining the action will the Golden State King of the West Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, and Vintage Super Modifieds. Located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds at the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, the Front Gates will open at 5:00pm, with time Trials at 6:00pm, and Racing at 7:00pm. Reserved Grandstand Tickets are $20 and Bleacher Tickets are $17. Advance tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling the track office at (559) 688-0909. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.tularethunderbowl.com.



 

4-12-11 Ray Scheidts Electric fast time award for Ocean Sprints
Source Steven Blakesley
Ocean Speedway

Ray Scheidts Electric Inc, an electrical contracting company serving the Santa Clara County and surrounding areas of California, has announced they will support the Taco Bravo Sprint Series at Ocean Speedway by sponsoring the 2011 series fast time award. That award will provide $75.00 to the fast time qualifier at Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo Series events.

Ocean Speedway would like to thank Rich & Steve Morin, owners of Ray Scheidts Electric, for their support, and also Rick Bragg for his efforts regarding this award.

While Ray Scheidts Electric comes on board as a Taco Bravo Series sponsor, sprint car racing is not new to the company as they are also involved with the sprint car teams of Steve Osborne Motorsports and Brad Furr Racing. We look for both of those teams to be in competition at Ocean Speedway this year and are sure they pass on their thanks to Ray Scheidts Electric as well.

Ocean Speedway promoter John Prentice thanks Ray Scheidts Electric, as well as Rich & Steve Morin, and is happy to see another area business show interest in the series.

Ray Scheidts Electric Inc. Is an electrical contracting firm for commercial and industrial projects. Since 1962, they have designed and constructed numerous power and control systems for major companies throughout Santa Clara County and the Bay Area.

Originally founded to service a handful of small, neighboring customers, they now send their truck fleet and dozens of highly qualified electricians throughout the Greater Bay Area on diverse projects for numerous companies.

For more on Ray Scheidts Electric Inc please go to www.rayscheidtselectric.com

For more on the Ocean Sprint Series presented by Taco Bravo, including ticket and schedule information, please visit www.oceansprints.com

For more information on Ocean Speedway please visit www.oceanspeedway.com



 

4-12-11 Tulare Hosts 360 Sprints Saturday; Santa Maria Feature Goes to Jace Vanderweerd
Source Dick Jordan
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints

Ryan Bernal of Hollister, Calif. sits atop the 2011 USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car standings entering this Saturday night races at Thunderbowl Speedway in Tulare, Calif.

Bernal finished fifth in last Saturday’s 30-lap feature at Santa Maria, Calif. and has a nine-point lead over Greg Alexander, who was 10th at Santa Maria.

Jace VanderWeerd of Visalia, Calif. wheeled his VanderWeerd Construction/Battery Worx Maxim/Shark to victory at Santa Maria Speedway, leading the first seven and last seven laps. T.J. Smith, who led laps 8-23, finished second ahead of Danny Faria Jr., Justyne Hamblin and Bernal.

Bud Kaeding won last month at Tulare in a race where Bernal and Alexander finished second and third.


USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS

1-Ryan Bernal-122, 2-Greg Alexander-113, 3-Jace VanderWeerd-110, 4-Wes Gutierrez-108, 5-T.J. Smith-101, 6-Justyne Hamblin-88, 7-Danny Faria Jr.-85, 8-Davey Pombo-84, 9-Richard VanderWeerd-77, 10-Bud Kaeding-76.




 

4-11-11 All American Speedway Ready for Large Fields and Fierce Competition in 2011
Source RMG Race Media Group
All American Speedway

ROSEVILLE, CA. All American Speedway is looking to grow its weekly NASCAR shows by not only putting fans in the stands, but preparing for the toughest competition on the West Coast. The AAS management took the first step forward in the off-season by hiring long time racer, and former SRL Tour Series owner, Steve Fensler to head up the track and driver side of the operations. With the hiring brings prestige to AAS but more importantly the level of competition is sure to rise in 2011 under his direction. In addition to the rise in competition comes the rise in car count, and with bigger competition comes more fans. Here's a look at a few of the drivers to watch in 2011.


In the Late Model division Defending Champion, Matt Scott, will return to the Roseville, California speedway for the full schedule as the No. 35 vies for State Points in the NASCAR Whelan All American point structure. Returning to full time will be No. 27 John Moore as he hopes to capture a championship in 2011, however he will have to go through No. 11 Juan Pitta who finished out the 2010 season strong, as well as No. 51 Chris Scribner, who will debut a brand new Late Model at the April 15th opener. Returning to the driver's seat this year will be veteran Mike Mansch in the No. 9 car. Mansch has spent the past few years crew chiefing for his wife Shannon, No. 61, but in the off-season Mike put together his own car and will be racing full time. No. 21 Cameron Millard will also be returning for his sophomore season. Millard is a senior in high school and is building a Late Model for his senior project which he hopes to debut in May. No.84 Dylan Hutchison and Canadian resident BMR's Jamie Krzysik, No. 20, will be competing for Rookie of the Year honors.


In 2010, the Modifieds sometimes stole the show with action-packed racing and big fields. One driver to watch will be No. 77 Michael Ostrowski. Ostrowski ran fast last year but did not run the full season. The young pilot made some updates in the off-season and will be competing full time for a championship in 2011. One driver making the jump from Dirt to asphalt is No. 3 Don Swartz. Swartz, a 45-year-old veteran in Dirt Modifieds, will be competing against the young guns of AAS, such as No. 21 Bobby Runyan, Canadian resident Steve Cote, No. 4, and Fritz Croy, who will be fielded by Ron Sutton's Winners Circle. Runyan had an impressive showing for Sutton in the Ford Focus Midgets last year and will be making the step up to the Modifieds. No. 68A Cody Thompson, Runyan's teammate in the Midgets last year, will be fielding a modified of his own adding to the stellar lineup of rookies. Another rookie to watch will be No. 14 Mason Millard, younger brother to Cameron, will be making his debut in the Modifieds and on asphalt. Mason is stepping up from Dirt Outlaw Karts. No. 8 Andy Field will return this year for a full season after taking two years off.


Both the Street Stocks and the Bombers had very impressive showings last year with full fields and close racing. No. 77 Steve Geiser will be joining the AAS Street Stock division this year, making the trip up from Stockton where he raced last year. Husband and wife team, No. 04 Dana and Mike Kelly, will be making a comeback after a two-year break from racing as a team. Two-time Champion No. 50 Chris Lambert is in the contest to three-peat in the Street Stock Division for his third title. However, No. 08 Mickey Owens, who was very close to capturing the 2010 Championship, will be returning to stand in the way of Lambert. The Bomber Division will have No. 37B David "Shotgun" Thompson, who currently holds the 2010 Track Record and gave 2010 Bomber champion Jim McGinnis, No. 3B, a run for his money, will be looking to seal the deal in 2011. Another husband and wife team, No. 77B Eric and Shelly Ray, are looking to repeat for another Bomber team championship. With over 200 wins, 2010 Champion Jim McGinnis will be returning for the full season to compete for another championship.


All American Speedway is gearing up for its first NASCAR Late Model points race on Friday, April 15, 2011 promoted by Bill McAnally Racing, while the Bombers, Street Stocks, and Modifieds will begin on April 30, 2010 for the second points race. More information about All American Speedway can be found at www.AllAmericanSpeedway.com. The Placer County Fairgrounds administration office is open for advance ticket sales Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm at 800 All America City Blvd. Roseville, CA. 95678, or contact the office at (916) 786-2025


2010 ALL AMERICAN SPEEDWAY TOP 5 FINISHES
BOMBER 2010 POINTS
Jim McGinnis
David Thompson
Matt Camp
Eric Bocksberger
Cody Rickard


STREET STOCKS 2010 POINTS
Chris Lambert
Mickey Owens
Wayne Crossland
Matt Cockrum
Mel Wilson


MODIFIED 2010 POINTS
Scott Winters
Jason Philpot
Josh Brock
Nik Romano
Gary Glenn


LATE MODEL 2010 POINTS
Matt Scott
Jonathan Mawhinney
Chris Scribner
Bobby Grewohl
Juan Pitta


 

4-11-11Back and forth Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series opener goes to Jonathan Allard at Antioch Speedway on Saturday
Source Gary Thomas
Golden State King of The West

There was no shortage of excitement during Saturday’s season opener for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series and when all was said and done it was Chico’s Jonathan Allard standing in victory lane at the Antioch Speedway.

A huge crowd was on hand to witness the inaugural King of the West Series event and they also saw a bit more history, as the triumph marked Allard’s 25th career Golden State 410 win, making him the fourth driver to reach that mark.

“It’s great to come out here and win the first King of the West race tonight and I just can’t thank my guys enough,” said Allard, who joins Brent Kaeding, Tim Kaeding & Steve Kent as drivers who have won at least 25 races with the Golden State Series. “Getting fast time and winning the main event is a tremendous way to begin the season and we’ll try to do it again in Tulare next week.”

The 30-lap Golden State King of the West Series main event started out with dash winner Bobby McMahan getting the jump and pacing the field in the first set of corners at the helm of his McMahan Racing No. 25 sprinter. The Elk Grove driver looked strong in the early stages with drivers trying to find their groove on the extremely hooked up 1/3 mile oval.

As traffic came into play McMahan looked solid trying to keep the rest of the competitors at bay, but things came to a crashing halt on lap seven when contact with a lapped car left him upside down in turn one. It was a tough way to end the night for the veteran driver, who was looking to score his first series victory in a number of years.

Just one lap prior to McMahan’s accident, Allard had passed Grass Valley’s Jason Statler for second so when racing went back green it was the Chico driver leading the field back down for the double file restart. When the green lights came back on however, a big melee ensued when a car got sideways coming out of turn four and resulted in multiple cars flipping down the front stretch, including Tommy Tarlton, Shane Golobic and Billy Strange Jr.

After getting the accident scene cleared things went back green and the action began to intensify with some great side by side racing seen at the front of the field. On lap nine Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs would dispatch of Statler to assume second and then started to close in on Allard for the top-spot. At the same time the man on the move was reigning Golden State 410 champ Kyle Larson, who was marching his way to the front in the Stadelhofer Construction No. 99 mount.

Making some hair-raising moves on the rough and fast surface the 18-year-old soon found himself in second and quickly tracked down leader Allard. With the crowd coming to their feet Larson charged to the high side and blasted around Allard to take command of the race on lap 18. The youngster then pulled away and worked traffic like a magician until the caution lights came on with just eight-circuits remaining.

On the restart Allard then shot to the bottom of the speedway and made a great move to slide in front of Larson and put the Williams Motorsports No. 0 back out front. The duo remained stuck together over the next couple laps as Larson hounded the rear of Allard, but his chance at victory came to an end when he bicycled hard in the third and fourth corners and flipped to bring out a red flag.

The final restart with six laps to go saw Allard easily pull away and drive off to record victory for the second year in a row at the Golden State 410 Series opener. The two-time series champion also set fast time to begin the night, earning seven bonus points for doing so and will be the point leader after one night of racing.

Suggs and Statler had a close battle for second over the final couple of laps and in the end it was Suggs narrowly winning out for the runner up position aboard the Suggs Racing No. 33e. It also marked the second April event in a row at the Antioch Speedway that Suggs has finished second to Allard.

“It seems like we keep finishing second to Jonathan around here, but one of these days we’re going to get him,” Suggs joked on the front stretch. “I really have to think my whole team, because we had some extra people helping out tonight and that made it nice. I also want to give props to Dan Simpson and everyone with KWS for doing such a great job and it’s going to be a fun year.”

Statler’s third place finish continued the consistency that he put together at the end of last year’s Golden State 410 campaign, as he looks to get back into victory lane with the series this season while driving his familiar DF Rios Motorsports No. 00.

“Last year we didn’t have all that many podiums so to get one right out of the box this season is pretty cool,” said Statler, who captured a Golden State victory at the Antioch Speedway in 2003. “We had the car pretty good all night so I have to thank my crew and definitely want to thank all you fans for coming out and supporting us tonight.”

Completing the top five was row six starter Tim Kaeding of San Jose in the Roth Motorsports No. 83 and Stockton’s Brad Furr in the Ray Scheidts Electric No. 2 machine. Finishing sixth and earning the Pit Stop USA.com hard charger award after starting 16th was Sacramento’s Willie Croft, with Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, Puyallup, Washington’s Trey Starks and Chico’s Kenny Allen rounding out the top-10. B. Kaeding was running among the top-five on the final lap when an incident in turn two resulted in him not crossing the stripe.

Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series Managing Director Dan Simpson of Rio Vista captured the 12-lap Last Chance Qualifier with Bobby McMahan claiming the six lap dash. Heat race victories were taken by Brent Kaeding, Bobby McMahan, Jason Statler and Andy Gregg. A total of 28-cars were on hand for the KWS opener and Antioch Speedway track record holder Jonathan Allard kicked off the night by setting fast time with a clocking of 12.483 seconds around the 1/3 mile oval.

The Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will return to action next Saturday night April 16 for the running of the annual Chris & Brian Faria Memorial at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. Tickets are on sale for the event and can be acquired by contacting the track office at 559-688-0909. Reserved tickets cost $20 with general admission bleachers being $17.

More information can be found during the coming week at http://www.kwssprints.com and http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com

 

4-11-11 The NASCAR Whelen All American Series Returned To Get Their Season Rolling
Source Stockton 99 PR
Stockton 99 Speedway


On Saturday, April 9th, the NASCAR Whelen All American Series rumbled onto the high-banks for their opening night of the Season. The agenda for the evening included the return of the Western Late Models in Twin 50s, Grand American Modifieds, Super Stocks, Bombers, Basically-4- Cylinders, and Mini Cups. The action got underway very quickly, and for this time of year, there was some fantastic hard-core racing that took place in each Division. The 2500 fans in the stands were on the collective edge of their seats for the entire event, going wild with approval.

The First Twin for the Western Late Models produced that much needed adrenaline to kick off the Season in the right direction with no less than 23 cars rumbling on the grid. There was no surprise winner in this one, but Jeff Belletto's win added to the excitement in the air.

This one got up to speed with Jeff Belletto (12x) sitting P1 and third generation driver, and nephew, Nic Belletto (15) already nibbling at his right-side door panel coming off four to the green. Of course, as most often happens, experience won out on this night with the elder Belletto grabbing that certain huge hunk of forward bite which slung him out to that much-coveted real estate at P1. Once there, although he had to deal with the constant gnawing at his back bumper by nephew Nic, along with six caution periods, followed by six restarts, J. Belletto managed to ward off all evil and take the checkers, going flag to flag, for the extremely popular victory. "It was fun racing out there with Nic(Belletto). I'm happy to see him run so well," said the always gracious Belletto, "I was hoping we would finish one, two. I don't know why the #52(Ryan Philpott) had to do that to him." Meanwhile, N. Belletto, after shadowing his uncle's every move, was bumped back to a fifth place finish when, going through three and four on lap 49, Ryan Philpott (52), dove deep and low making contact with the #15 and sending him up to the wall. The move turned out well for Philpott when he vaulted into second across the stripe. The battle for third through fifteenth was fierce at times, thus the six yellows, but when the dust settled, it would be the #78 of Superstar driver Dave Byrd on the podium in third. Another third generation driver, and 2009 Track Champ, Justin Philpott (05), drove a clean, solid race and finished up fourth. N. Belletto, through no choice of his own, managed to hang on to a top five.

Twin #2 was just as exciting as the first, however, the results were quite the contrary with 2009 Champ, Justin Philpott (05) grabbing the winner's spoils in a very popular victory.

Because of the invert off Twin #1, Sammy Solari (3x) and second generation driver Colby Potts (12) laid claim to the front row and pulled around, field in tow, to greet the green. Solari jumped out early where he appeared quite stout. And so it went, but not without being riddled with yellows, just as the first twin. After leading the first sixteen circuits, Solari surrendered to the opposing force of Justin Philpott (05). Once Philpott took charge on lap 17, it was remnants of 2009 as he cradled that number one spot like he owned it. And own it he did, enjoying the fresh air the remainder of the race. But his pleasure did not come without challenges. Challenges from the likes of Guy Guibor (61) and the ferocious pressure he applied lap after lap until there was nothing left but the checkered flag and the sweet taste of Victory. "I would like to thank all my buddies for coming out, and all the fans who stayed around to watch," said the young Philpott, then added, "And I want to thank you, Wayne, for coming back to 99." Guibor, always a threat, just used up too much car trying to get around the power of Philpott. So in the end, he simply had to settle for second. Potts hung around the front most of the night, but at one point was relegated to the tail-end of the field after being spun. He fought extremely hard making his way back through the pack, and for his stunning efforts, he was rewarded with a career-best podium finish in third. Jeff Belletto (12x), after winning the first Twin, was penalized early on in this one, but still managed to make his way back up to a fourth place finish. The #6 of Mike Beeler, starting severely deep on the grid, showed his strength through traffic and pulled out a fifth.

In the Grand American Modified Division, 16 cars took to the grid with some great names included. Wes Miller (57), one such sensation, powered his way to a thrilling and glorious Victory.

This star-studded field came to life when Jason Philpot (15a) and Rich Lindgren (45) jumped all over the go pedal coming up off turn four to the green. Philpot managed to make the most of it as he soared down into one with the lead. "Mr. Modified", Scott Winters (24), as a by-product of such a powerful start, was pulled along for the ride. Unfortunately, the race was slowed almost immediately when Leroy Hunt (63) looped it getting into turn three where he came to rest against the wall facing the oncoming traffic and bringing with him the first yellow of the night. On the lap 3 restart, Winters, as he usually does, jumped out front where he would ride comfortably, despite a couple yellows, until lap 19 when Ryan Stepps lost control of the #98 coming out of two which sent the yellow waving high in the night sky. On the restart, Winters and Miller had gained control of row number one, but going past the flagstand their cars made certain contact, giving Miller the edge and the lead while shuffling Winters back where he finally tucked into the number four slot. Once out front, Miller would prove to be just strong enough to take it the rest of the way to the outstretched arms of Victory. "I have to thank Mike(Garcia), it's pretty much his car," said the well-spoken Miller, "First and foremost, we're all going to miss Mike Roos, we still actually have his setup on the car right now." Winters would rally back to finish what was most likely a disappointing second with Philpot hanging around to finish on the podium in third. The #2x of Chris Smith had a solid race and a solid finish in fourth while Lindgren, although he fell off a bit, still managed to battle his way to fifth.

The Super Stocks produced a first-time winner in the form of Garland Tyler (73). To his credit, however, it certainly didn't come as a big surprise to anyone that he had what it took to come home Victorious. This one has been a long time coming.

Ben Lewis II (22) and Tyler inherited row number one due to the invert. Tyler took full advantage of the opportunity by getting to the gas just a bit quicker than Lewis with the green flag flying. Just as quickly, Tyler put his long-awaited stamp on that rare piece of property out front where he held on, begrudgingly so, throughout the thirty laps, despite the aggressive biting and chewing at his back bumper and fenders from teammate and friend, Jason Aguirre (45). Coming off four to the checkers you could almost hear him sigh and take his first breath in twenty minutes, knowing he just won his first race going wire to wire. "I want to thank my family and friends for all their support," said the quiet-mannered Tyler, "This has been a special week and I want to dedicate this win to Jason's(Aguirre) dad." Aguirre, after a win last week, finished the night up in second. On the podium in third, Lewis ran his usual clean, consistent race. There was some intense warfare from fourth on back, some absolutely great racing. But when the checkered flags rose above the asphalt surface, Rich Harper (5) and Mark Squadrito (3) rounded out the top five.

The Bombers race came up with a large surprise: a first-time winner in his first race. The #050 of Doug Highfill turned his debut at the track into a dream come true by crossing the line well ahead of the field.

This one got underway with Tony Karsting (312) and Tyler Guzman (93x) sharing the front row and showing the field to green. Guzman grabbed the early lead, however, a quick caution on lap 2 would prove detrimental to the #93x when, on the ensuing restart, Highfill got a great jump, and from that point forward, he absolutely took it to the house, taking no prisoners, and no challengers. Also, by leaving no doubt who was in charge on this night, he may be the one to be reckoned with this year. "I would like to thank all my sponsors for making this possible," said the excited Highfill, "I want to dedicate this race Wade's(Martin) grandma, my first win." Bobby Simpson (819x) finished a distant second with an excellent run of his own. David Tucker (350), in his first appearance, put together a marvelous showing in finishing on the podium in third while Karsting fell off the pace just a bit, but still managed a fourth place finish. Jeremy Tucker (351) brought her home in fifth.

In the Basicly-4-Cylinders, Joseph Reichmuth (6) backed up his win from last week by winning his second in a row. However, this time he did it coming from deep in the field.

Jennifer Corder (24) and the #61 of Kelle Bobbitt got this one underway from the first row with Bobbitt gaining the holeshot and holding strong, despite some severe racing going on behind him, until lap 18 when third generation driver Matt Anderson (5), after dealing with several close calls along the way, snatched the lead away from Bobbitt with a great move down low through three and four. Unfortunately, that lead would be short-lived when, on lap 21, Reichmuth, after starting from the last row, and after showing much patience by methodically working his way through the field, grabbed the lead and never looked back, notching his second win in as many weeks. Anderson held on to finish a career-best second with Bobbitt slipping back, if only slightly, to finish on the podium in third. 2010 Champ Larry Toon (88) brought her home in fourth while Andrew Rumsey (101), despite challenging for the lead early on, capped off the night in fifth.

The Mini Stock Division went green with Jackson Ezell (15) and Bryce Napier (03) heading the field into turn one, but the green changed to an immediate red when, coming off turn four, three cars tangled with the #1 of Andrew Vanderpool taking the worst of it as he came sliding down the front-stretch, flipped onto his lid and hit the outside wall just before the flagstand. Fortunately, for all involved, they were checked at the Infield Care Center and released. On the lap 1 restart, Ezell assumed his well-known position out front where he put on a clinic in how to get a Mini Cup around the high-banks of this old Speedway by taking the checkers over a half-lap ahead of his nearest competitor, which landed him in an all-too-familiar Victory Lane. His nearest competitor came in the form of Bryce Napier as he finished a solid second with 2010 Champ, Cody Johnston (50) putting his hotrod on the podium in third. The #22 of Hunter Franklin wound up fourth while the #10 of Kyle Wininger rounded out the top five.

Mark your calendars for next Saturday, April 16 th, when Stockton 99 Speedway presents City of Stockton Night featuring NASCAR Whelen All American Series Super Stocks in Twin 40's, Bombers, Basically-4- Cylinders, Mini Trucks, Mini Cups, and Vintage Hard Tops.

ATTENTION: A little something new for this year: This Saturday, if you are a resident of Stockton, it will be $10 for General Admission with proof of residency, for instance, a driver's license. Likewise, on all other City Nights, if you are a resident of that particular city, with proof, General Admission will be $10.

The New Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, ¼-mile west of Highway 99. For more information on tickets and times, please contact the Speedway Office at (209)466-9999 or visit their Website at www.stockton99.com.
The New Stockton 99 Speedway is sponsored by Jackson Rancheria Casino Hotel, California Welding Supply, Budweiser, Alamo Alarm and Stockton Hampton Inn and Suites and Lodi Holiday Express.
 

4-9-11 Hunt to Relinquish Driving Duties
Source Steven Blakesley
USAC Western Sprints

 After celebrating his 52nd USAC feature win at the Madera Speedway during the 8th Annual Gerhardt Classic on April 2nd, Tony Hunt has announced that he will relinquish driving duties of the Metal Works Racing Team primary car to open the door for young racing talent.

Hunt will move his driving over to the #50 eBay Motors sponsored entry that currently serves as the back-up car for the Mike Phulps-owned organization. While defending his title and contending for a 7th USAC Championship Hunt will help guide and mentor a hopeful to his winning ways.

“I’ve considered this decision for several months and would like to assist someone in enjoying the success that I have had. I know our equipment is top notch and would like to see it used to its potential,” Hunt said.

The #56 Metal Works car, which won the USAC Western Sprint Car Series championship in 2010, will be open to any qualified and funded candidates. The ideal candidate will be a young driver looking to gain the necessary pavement experience to move through the ranks of motorsports.

Along with access to the team’s race winning set-ups and car prep, Hunt will also offer his many years of driver coaching as an added value to his teammate.

The Metal Works team finished second and third in the 2010 Turkey Night Grand Prix with Hunt and Bobby East behind the wheel.

“We don’t really have a primary car so to speak,” Hunt said. “All of our cars are built with the same attention to detail and we take pride in their consistency to run up front.” The team is also in the process of adding a third car to their fleet.

Interested parties can reach Tony at tony@tonyhunt.com The next race for the USAC Western Sprint Car Series is April 23 at Shasta Raceway Park for the “Jimmy Sills Classic.”

Tony Hunt Motorsports Marketing partners include the following: MW Metal Works, Thompson’s Toyota, eBay Motors, Paul Oil, Redline Oil, Earl's, Intercomp, GoPro, Hoosier, MPD, Justice Brothers, Racing Electronics, Eibach Springs, Wilwood, Simpson, JB Racing Products, Mr. Espresso, Lajoie of Seating, K&N Filters, Hunt's Race World, Carmichael Auto Service, Mettec, Outlaw Graphics, Permatex, Gold's Gym of Lincoln, Meguiar's, Oakley, Scribner Plastics., Fuel Safe, and Blakesley Sports Media.





 

4-11-11 Jackson Rancheria Night Produced Some High-Octane Excitement To Get 2011 Roaring To Life
Source David Holman
Stockton 99 Speedway

If you are one, in the unbelievable crowd of many, who happens to believe racing is just a hobby, then you are one who simply does not feel that certain jolt of high-powered excitement course through your veins as the first green flag of the year flies high above the asphalt surface. Fortunately, for the rest of us, there are just as many who believe racing is a way of life. If you belong to this crowd, then the smell of fresh paint mixed with gas fumes and hot dogs means it's time to breathe once again, and it's time to go racing!

On Saturday, April 2nd, the NASCAR Whelen All American Series rolled onto the high-banks at the storied venue to open the 2011 Season. Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel presented Jackson Rancheria Night at the Races, which featured the all-new Premier Division Super Stocks in Twin 40's, Basically-4-Cylinders, Pro-4 Modifieds, Legends of the Pacific, and Enduro Series Race #1. The 1000 fans in the stands were not denied a fantastic first night as all Divisions put their collective best foot forward to appeal to all who entered the Old Girl's gates. If tonight was any indication, this promises to be an absolutely glorious year forthcoming.

The Super Stocks Twin #1 was a no-brainer when Mike Graham (93) of Oakdale started on pole and cruised, quite comfortably, to a wire-to-wire victory.

With Graham on pole and Garland Tyler (73) already nibbling at his right-side door handle, the green flag went flying above this fast-paced start where Graham jumped out quickly to grab the holeshot with Tyler in tow, gnawing on his back bumper. Throughout the race, the margin from first to second would grow, then shrink. But for all his heart, Tyler just would not have enough to overcome the strength of Graham on this night as Graham took the checkers for his first win in several years. Once this race strung out, it would remain pretty much the same order with occasional challenges for position deeper in the pack. Unfortunately for most, the race went yellow-free, which made it nearly impossible to make up any ground from mid-pack back. Tyler held on to finish second with Jason Aguirre (45) finishing on the podium in third. "Rompin" Rich Harper (5) came home in the number four spot while the #3 of Mark Squadrito finished fifth.

The outcome of the Super Stock's second Twin produced a second winner in the form of Jason Aguirre (45).

Mark Squadrito (3) and Rich Harper (5) shared the front row to get this one up and running with Squadrito snagging the early lead and holding service over Aguirre until lap 25 when the #45 decided it was time for him to shine on this night as he dove low into three and came off four with the lead. Aguirre would take charge from that point and would never look back despite two yellows. During the first half of the race, the top four cars were nose to tail in a great display of driving talent as they swapped positions lap after lap. This was most definitely the best race on this evening's ticket. "All the racers out here are going to get a feel of what they (officials) are going to let us get away with, and we'll go from there," said the always exciting Aguirre. Squadrito would hold on to finish second, but had to feel like he let one get away. Harper raced onto the podium in third while Graham didn't fare as well as he did in the first, but nonetheless, he finished fourth. Rookie, and second generation driver, Robbie Knittel (03), rounded out the top five.

When the Basically-4-Cylinders hit the hot asphalt surface it was nothing short of wonderful in the fact that thirteen cars showed up to take the green as opposed to three the first year. When a Division continues to grow, it is nothing but good news for all involved. On this night, Joseph Reichmuth (6) would come from deep in the field to capture his first-ever win.

This one got underway with Frank Furtado (16) and Samantha Williams (4) heading the field to greet the green. Unfortunately, for the front two, the #61 of Kelle Bobbitt had grabbed the lead as they came back around to complete lap 1. Bobbitt was stretching it when on lap 6 the #9 of Dave Kong went up in smoke drawing the first caution of the night. The restart was bobbled by the #28 of Tommy Wood and the #4 of Williams which brought out a quick second yellow. Once the smoke cleared and this one went back to green, Reichmuth took control of the race and, although Bobbitt battled back and recaptured the lead at one point, Reichmuth was having none of that as he sped back to the front and would not be denied as he crossed below the checkers in winning fashion. "It was crazy out there at times, but I'm happy we won," said the excited Reichmuth, then added, "I would like to thank my sponsors, family and friends for their support." After a great jump at the start, Bobbitt would have to settle for second while Young-Gun and third generation driver, Matt Anderson (5), brought her home on the podium in third. 2010 Division Champion, Larry Toon, after being plagued by handling problems most of the day, finished fourth with the #13 of Dan Durbin rounding out the top five.

Up next were the Pro-4 Modifieds, making their one and only appearance of the year. These little 4-cylinder Modifieds were extremely quick around the quarter-mile with fast-timer, Ken Gifford (86), turning a speedy lap at 14.453 seconds. Greg Van Cleave (13) took the checkers ahead of the field.

This one got up to speed with Kevin Barba (90) starting on point and the #87 of Curt Lewis glued to his side. Cleave made quick work of the front row, and once out front, although he did encounter major challenges from a hard-charging Neo Nuno (54), he would never be headed on this night as he crossed below the checkers to the land of glory where he reaped the victors share of the spoils. "I don't have a real big pit crew, it's me and me," laughed Cleave, "I'm a one man show. You get a good motor, pay a little attention and stay out of trouble, and you can do pretty good sometimes." With the white flag waving, Nuno washed up a bit coming off turn two, which ended his challenge for the lead and he had to settle for second. Barba held strong to end with a podium finish in third with Lewis and the #6 of Vince Van Cleave rounding out the top five.

The Legends of the Pacific, always a welcome sight at the Speedway, had to endure a rare wreck-riddled race with Superstar Robby Czub (05) outlasting the field for the victory.


Luis Tyrell (74m) and Fred Clement (58) of the infamous Racing Clement Clan, rolled the field around to greet the green with Clement grabbing that huge hunk of forward bite, and with it came the lead. To Clement's misfortune, the race was slowed to a stop almost immediately when on a lap 3 restart, no less than four cars tangled going off into three with the #8 car of Keith Clement ending up on his lid. All drivers were checked at the Infield Care Center and released. However, their cars were not as fortunate. On the restart, Tyrell took command of that much coveted real estate out front bringing Czub along for the ride until lap 6 when the #05 squirted by to stake his claim as the new owner of that priceless piece of property. And claim he did as he took it to the house for the very popular, although lopsided, win. "I knew there were going to be a lot of yellows, a lot of wrecks, so I just kept my head cool for the first couple laps," said the young driver, "and once it got single-file, we just made our move up to the front." Tyrell held strong through the entirety and finished a respectable second while Jessica Walker (21), jumped up on the podium in third. Ryan Mosher (52), starting P12 on the grid, worked his way up to fourth and the #63 of Cody Berger finished fifth.

The Enduro got busy very quickly as Enduro's do. 2010 Champ, David Papst (2), brought this one to life from P1 on the grid with Mark Anderson (5) at his side with Papst jumping out early at the green where he held point until lap 18 when the #18 of Ron Wills slid by for the lead. Once out front, Wills would dominate the remainder of the race, except for one small hiccup on lap 101 when the #7 of Chris Lancaster got a quick breath of fresh air before Wills assumed his natural position in the number one slot. The 13x of Loren Chitwood, the only other car on the lead lap, managed his way through the watery debris to claim a beautifully ran second place finish. Robert Brasher (01), the first car a lap down, was a lucky dog by finishing on the podium in third. Two race favorites, Papst and Lancaster, both Enduro Superstars, both finished a lap down in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Join us next Saturday, April 9th, opening night for NASCAR’s Whelen All American Series. On the docket for the event will be the return of the Western Late Models in Twin 50s, Grand American Modifieds, Super Stocks, Bombers, Basically-4- Cylinders, and Mini Cups.

The New Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, ¼-mile west of Highway 99. For more information on tickets and times, please contact the Speedway Office at (209)466-9999 or visit their Website at www.stockton99.com.
The New Stockton 99 Speedway is sponsored by Jackson Rancheria Casino Hotel, California Welding Supply, Budweiser, Alamo Alarm and Stockton Hampton Inn and Suites and Lodi Holiday Express.


 

4-8-11 Wing Stop of Watsonville to Sponsor The Kids At Watsonville
Source Steven Blakesley
Ocean Speedway

Ocean Speedway and promoter John Prentice have announced a new partnership with Wing Stop of Watsonville that will see all kids under 12 admitted free into the races for most of the stock car events at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds dirt oval.

Wing Stop is new to Watsonville as of last year and owner Ed Laughlin took an instant liking to the racing action at the speedway. Wing Stop will stay open until midnight after the races and is located at Airport and Freedom Blvd next to Safeway.

“In the few times I have been to Ocean speedway I was very impressed with the facility and the racing,” Ed Laughlin said. “I am proud to let other business owners know that we are a part of this great operation. Also when I was there I thought the Four-Bangers put on some great racing!”

Wing Stop is just the latest in a long list of great sponsors to either join or continue their relationship with Ocean Speedway for 2011.

“I’m very happy in this tough economy that we were able to attract businesses that want to be a part of Ocean Speedway,” Prentice said. “With Watsonville Chevrolet coming aboard this year and now Wing Stop, along with all the returning sponsors, this will help the Speedway immensely. I’m looking forward to my first visit to Wing Stop of Watsonville!”

The free ticket offer for kids under 12 will be good for all regular weekly shows, not including the Taco Bravo Sprints and special events. Area families will have an affordable option to see IMCA Modified, Late Model, Four-Banger, Dwarf Car, 600 Micro Sprint, Wingless Sprint, and American Stock racing action all summer.

For complete dates and schedules, please visit www.oceanspeedway.com

The Ocean Speedway will race this Friday night with Modifieds, American Stock, Dwarf Cars, 4-Bangers, Late Models and Micro 600s on the card. Adult tickets are just $14 with seniors $12 and kids under 12 are free!

The Taco Bravo Ocean Sprints will begin their 2011 campaign on Friday April 15. The Ocean Sprints has quickly become one of the premiere weekly 360 programs in the country.

For more information on the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com










 

4-7-11 Drivers and teams set for Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series opener in Antioch on Saturday
Source Gary Thomas
Golden State King of The West

With the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series season-opener set for this Saturday night at the Antioch Speedway drivers and teams are geared up to begin what is expected be a huge year for Northern California 410 sprint car racing.

This Saturday’s Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series opener will be the 15th winged 410 sprint car event at the Antioch Speedway since the Golden State Series returned to the track in 2003. Prior to the ‘09 season the Antioch Speedway was revamped, with additional banking added and the track surface lengthened to what is now a one-third mile dirt oval.

Arguably two of the biggest KWS championship contenders judging by wins last season are sure to include Tim Kaeding and Jonathan Allard, who combined for nearly half of the main event victories last year with the Golden State Series. Last season “TK” led the tour with six triumphs and “JA” was just behind that mark scoring five victories throughout the campaign.

Kaeding is coming off a runner up finish with the World of Outlaws last Friday in Merced and will look to kick off the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series season in grand fashion aboard the famed Roth Motorsports No. 83 mount. The 32-year-old won the Golden State Series title in ’02 and is expected to be back full time with the series for the first time in nearly eight years. “TK” has claimed a pair of 410 victories in his career at the Antioch Speedway and will be searching to make it number three on Saturday.

Last season Allard led the Golden State 410 Series standings for much of the year, before taking off for the Midwest. However, in 2011 he is set to stay in California full-time to compete for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series title at the helm of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 sprinter. The Chico veteran scored his first ever Antioch Speedway Golden State Series victory last April and will be gunning to duplicate that performance on Saturday night.

Since his return to the Antioch Speedway in ’03, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding has won a series high four main events at the track and always seems to be a factor when signing in at the back gate. This Saturday “BK” will be looking to break an uncharacteristically long winless drought with the Golden State 410 Series that dates back to 2009 aboard the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 machine.

Despite not running full-time this season reigning Golden State champion Kyle Larson will be in the field at Antioch Speedway on Saturday and will be searching for back-to-back wins, after racing to victory last July at the track. The 18-year-old is also fresh off a fantastic weekend with the World of Outlaws, where he earned the hard-charger award on consecutive nights behind the wheel of his Stadelhofer Construction No. 99. The Saturday event in Calistoga saw Larson earn a strong podium finish after starting 21st.

Former Golden State 410 Series champion Jason Statler of Grass Valley captured the 410 return to Antioch Speedway in 2003 and will be looking to put his name at the front of the field this year with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series. “The Big Guy” came close to victory last July in Marysville and ended the 410 year in consistent fashion while driving the DF Rios No. 00.

After putting together a strong year in 2010 Vancouver, Washington’s Zach Zimmerly will be back at it with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series this season in the McMillen Motorsports No. 94. The 16-year-old became the youngest winner in series history last June when he claimed the annual Tribute to Gary Patterson in Chico.

Former Golden State Rookie of the Year Andy Gregg of Placerville has thrown his name into the mix this season with the King of the West Sprint Car Series. The driver of the Bret Ervin Racing No. 53 nearly scored his first career Golden State 410 victory in Santa Maria last season, only to finish third after a tremendous duel with Sean Becker on the final lap.

Returning to full-time 410 sprint car competition this year with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will be Stockton’s Brad Furr, who has spent the last few seasons running primarily at Ocean Speedway on Friday nights. Despite not getting into victory lane the former World of Outlaws regular had a number of strong runs last season in the Brad Furr Racing No. 2 mount.

Also making a return to the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series this year will be Clovis resident and Australian native Peter Murphy, who ran full-time with the tour from 1998-2002. This likable driver has experienced much success in the wingless 360 ranks over the past few years and will be a welcomed addition back to the traveling 410 roster.

Veteran Bobby McMahan is sure to be a contender this year with the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series while driving his own No. 25 sprinter. The former NARC Speedweek champion had a hiatus from racing from 2003-’08 before returning to full-time competition in ’09 and capturing the Silver Dollar Speedway track title.

The Hosheads.com/Grant’s Fine Art Rookie of the Year Award is expected to see a number of drivers in the running this season. Those scheduled to start out in Antioch this weekend that are considered rookies will include Chico’s Kenny Allen, Puyallup, Washington’s Trey Starks, Elk Grove’s Sean McMahan, Rhode Island’s Eli Deshaies and Canadian Noah Ennis.

Other competitors expected to compete at the Antioch Speedway on Saturday will include Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, Sacramento’s Willie Croft, Fremont’s Shane Golobic and Brent Bjork, Prunedale’s Justin Sanders, Elk Grove’s Billy Strange Jr., San Martin’s Craig Smith, Oakhurst’s Doug Gandy, Grass Valley’s Pat Harvey, Cupertino’s Steve Osbourne, Elk Grove’s Geoff Duppman, Rio Vista’s Dan and Danielle Simpson and more.

The front grandstand gate will open at 5pm this Saturday April 9 with hot laps around 6, qualifying at 6:30 and racing to follow. Adult tickets cost $20.

The Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds on the corner of 10th & L Streets in Antioch, California. Take SR-4 East (Highway 4) to the Somersville Road North Exit. Follow Somersville Road to 10thStreet. Turn Right on 10th Street. The address for the track is 1201 W. 10th Street Antioch, CA 94509.

Coming events-

After this weekend’s season opener, the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will be back in action on Saturday April 16 at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare for the annual Chris & Brian Faria Memorial. Tickets are on sale for the event and can be acquired by contacting (559) 688-0909.

The Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will then head to the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville on Saturday April 23, before finishing off the month of April with an event at the Marysville Raceway Park on April 30. For more information on these shows and to view the entire schedule of events go to http://www.kwssprints.com

You can also follow KWS on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KWS410s#!/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907 and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s


 

4-6-11 Rutherford 3 for 4 in Ventura Sprint Car Action
Source Lance Jennings
Ventura Racing Association

Ojai's Troy Rutherford claimed his third victory of the young season last Saturday night. After a crash on lap twenty-nine knocked Ventura's Greg Taylor and Derek Buckley of Ojai out of contention, Rutherford got the best of Oak Park's Dakota Kershaw to score the 30-lap feature win at Ventura Raceway.

Quartz Hill's Steve Conrad and Greg Taylor shared the front row of the 30-lap feature. With the green flag waving, the two veteran drivers shot into the first turn. Conrad took to the low groove as Taylor chose the high line around the Ventura clay oval. Coming off the second corner, Taylor used the extra momentum to carry himself past Conrad for the top spot. Taylor led the first lap with Conrad in second, as Buckley and Kershaw battled for third.

Buckley dropped Kershaw to fourth as the Kruseman Motorsports teammates of Don Gansen of Rialto and Cory Kruseman of Ventura gave chase. Norwalk's Brandon Thomson looked to battle with Team Kruseman as the yellow flag was shown for Reseda's Justin Kierce. Point leader Troy Rutherford went to the work area with problems and was able to rejoin the field.

With the cars in a single file restart, Taylor set the pace as Conrad was on the attack. Buckley shot to the high groove and was able to secure second from Conrad. Taylor began to stretch his lead, as mid-pack drivers diced for position. The Ventura bullring provided tight action in close quarters as another yellow flag was displayed for Brent Camarillo. The young driver's right rear wheel broke off his machine after hard contact. Camarillo's crew made repairs and the young driver was able to rejoin the feature.

On the restart, Taylor and Buckley preferred the high line with Conrad continuing his assault from the bottom groove. As the laps counted down, Taylor's progress was slowed by lapped traffic. Buckley used this opportunity to close the gap. As the lead duo sliced their way through slower cars, action was again halted for a tangled Jimmy Crawford and Marcus Niemela. Kruseman slowed to avoid contact and Brian Camarillo landed upside down after driving over the Kruseman machine. Brian walked away uninjured and was scored eighteenth.

Taylor maintained command followed by Buckley, Kershaw, Gansen, Josh Ford, and Guy Woodward. Woodward and Ford battled for fifth with Steve Conrad and a charging Troy Rutherford close behind. Rutherford soon carved his way through the pack to claim fifth. With five laps remaining after a yellow for Brent Camarillo, Buckley continued to pressure Taylor. The former track champion fought off the challenge as Gansen and Rutherford battled for fourth.

The cushion was getting treacherous for the lead drivers and Buckley began to reel in Taylor. After taking the white flag, the lead duo roared down the back straight. Derek saw an opportunity and launched a slide job pass heading into the third turn. The attempt fell short and caught Greg's left front wheel, resulting in both cars stopped on the track.

With a one lap dash remaining for the win, Dakota Kershaw looked for his first career Sprint Car victory. It was not to be on this night, as Rutherford executed a veteran slide job pass at the east turns. Rutherford took the main event victory, ahead of Kershaw, Gansen, Ford, and Conrad.

Piloting the #11 Trench Shoring / State Ready Mix car, Troy Rutherford was fifth in his heat race and won the twelve-lap semi-main. Starting back in the seventeenth spot, the new point leader rebounded after an early incident sent him to the back with repairs. Troy earned "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors on the night after taking the win, his third victory in four starts. The defending champion has a thirty point lead as the series enjoys an off weekend.

Dakota Kershaw battled hard to stay up front during the main event. Driving the #28 Roll Control / Interprize Capitol Investments entry, Kershaw won the night's first heat race. Dakota had a shot at his first feature win, only to have Rutherford take it away. The young driver has shown steady improvement and sits thirteenth in the point chase.

Don Gansen took third in the 30-lap feature after starting sixth. Piloting the #71K Sander Engineering / Lucas Oil machine, Gansen was second in his heat race to Greg Taylor. The California Lightning Sprint graduate is currently fourth in the point standings as he looks to break through with another feature win.

Camarillo's Josh Ford scored fourth in the main event after starting seventh. Driving the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining entry, Ford took second in his heat race to Dakota Kershaw. Last year's All Coast 360 Challenge Champion is now fifth in the point chase.

Steve Conrad piloted his #56 Roy Miller Freightlines / SC Grafix car to a fifth place finish. The USAC TQ Midget graduate won the evening's third 10-lap heat race and is currently third in the points. Conrad battled early for another feature win before settling into fifth place.

Greg Taylor looked for his first 30-lap main event win of the season before tangling with Buckley. Driving the #7 Taylor Trucking & Crane Service / Four Paws Pet Grooming entry, Taylor won the program's second heat race and led the first twenty-nine laps. Officially scoring a thirteenth place finish, the former track champion lost the point lead to Rutherford.

"The Animal" Derek Buckley of Ojai won the night's fourth heat race. Piloting the #76 Fatheadz Eyewear / Competition Suspension Incorporated car, Buckley's shot for the lead fell short and relegated him to a fourteenth place finish. The hard charger is now eighth in the standings.

Following Troy Rutherford out of the Semi-Main, were Justin Kierce, Jimmy Crawford, Kyle Smith, and Austin DeBlauw. Troy took the feature win as Kierce was twenty-first after an early exit. Crawford claimed tenth, while Smith scored twelfth, and DeBlauw finished sixteenth.

Ventura Raceway had nine other companion classes scheduled on the night. Bruce Douglass won in VRA Senior Sprint Car action, while Danny Lauer scored his third IMCA Modified victory of the year. Ray Estrada won the Pro Dwarf Car feature and George Calvo won in the Senior Dwarf Car division. Kevin Alverson claimed the VRA Mod Lite victory and Trevor Fitzgibbon won with the Sport Compacts. In the kid's classes, Brennan Rogers won the Junior Midget feature, Nick Velasquez claimed the Mini Dwarf Car Supercharger victory, and Jake Aguilar scored the Mini Dwarf Car Piston main event.

To catch all of the action of the VRA Sprint Car Series and Ventura Raceway, Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Ventura Raceway offers a live feed of every event at www.venturaraceway.com/live.html. The live feed will begin at 5:00pm PST.

This Saturday, April 9th, Ventura Raceway will be dark. Action will return on April 16th with VRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Pro Dwarf Cars, California Lightning Sprints, and Go Karts. The Front Gates will open at 3:00pm with Racing to start at 5:30pm. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com or call (805) 985-5433.


 

4-6-11 Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series ready for action packed season opener this Saturday at Antioch Speedway
Source Gary Thomas
Golden State King of The West

Following months of preparation the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series is set to officially kick-off the 2011 racing season this Saturday night April 9 at the Antioch Speedway.

During the off-season, a number of changes have gone on within the California sprint car racing scene and the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series has certainly been a big part of that.

At the top of the list of changes for the traveling 410 series is new management, which has introduced a much increased point fund, extra money to start the A-main & Last Chance Qualifier, the implementation of double-file restarts and a different format among others.

For 2011, the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will be racing in 26-point paying events at 15 different tracks and features an overall cash and contingency fund that currently stands at $1.4 million.

An extensive contingency program is in place, as a complete sprint car with engine and a complete race engine will be given away at the year-end banquet.

The standard nightly A-main will see $3,000 going to the winner and a minimum $500-to-start each night. The Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) with KWS will have a total payout of $3,250 with $350 going to the first non-transfer and a guaranteed $200-to-start the LCQ.

For the Antioch opener this weekend however, there is also extra money on the line with the C-main paying $200-to-start and the Last Chance Qualifier awarding a very solid $300-to-start.

A slightly different format will be in place this year that sends the heat race winners and the next four fastest qualifiers that transfer through their heat (in a four heat race format) to the dash. Those heat winners will then draw for the first two rows in the dash lineup with the balance of the six-lap contest lined up by qualifying times. It is hoped that the new format will create competitive racing in the heats, with more emphasis on winning.

Extra officials, fan fest parties, a souvenir trailer, a show car, traveling push trucks, a weekly internet show, the VIP Road Warrios Club and much more will be among the various other additions that KWS is introducing this season.

The front grandstand gate at the Antioch Speedway will open at 5pm this Saturday April 9 with hot laps around 6, qualifying at 6:30 and racing to follow. Adult tickets cost $20 Saturday.

The Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds on the corner of 10th & L Streets in Antioch, California. Take SR-4 East (Highway 4) to the Somersville Road North Exit. Follow Somersville Road to 10th Street. Turn Right on 10th Street. The address for the track is 1201 W. 10th Street Antioch, CA 94509.

Visit KWS on the internet at:

Official Website- http://www.kwssprints.com
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907
Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s



 

4-6-11 Redwood Acres Raceway set to open the 2011 season
Source Matthew J. Sullivan
Redwood Acres Raceway

It s that time of year again when the roar of the engines fill the ears of eager fans and the sight of fast cars thrill young and old alike. The 2011 season at Redwood Acres Raceway is less than two weeks away. This past weekend, an open practice was held to whet everyone s appetite while also giving drivers and crew members a chance to test out new cars and/or new setups going into the year.

Several cars representing all four local divisions were in attendance on what was a cold and windy day. Larry Pries, Angelo Marcelli, Dennis DelBiaggio and rookie, Jeremy Yarberry were on hand to test their sportsman cars. Bruce Ziemer, Paul Peeples Jr. and Randy Olson were out for the thunder roadster cars along with 2010 track champion, Thomas Payne and Chris Sarvinski sporting a new number and new colors.
Several roadrunners were in attendance, Kolby Jackson chief among them along with Brett Murrell and Michael Lawrence. Real Stock rookie, Dax Kinsey was the lone driver in that division who took advantage of the practice.

The 2011 schedule for Redwood Acres Raceway spans 15 races in 14 weeks beginning April 16th and ending September 24th and 25th in the season finale, the Fall Spectacular. For the second straight year, the Airport Auto Brokers Late Model touring series will be joining the regular program. The AABLM will be racing at the Acres twice in 2011, first on June 25th during the Redwood Acres Fair and July 23rd. The Tri-Track Challenge Modified Series will be making it s only stop on July 9th. This is the first time in several years that the I.M.C.A.
Modifieds have raced at Redwood Acres Raceway. The popular Northern California Pro-4 Modified tour will be making three stops to the Acres, first on June 4th, later on August 27th along with the Fall Spectacular weekend in September. As usual, the feature event for the season ending Fall Spectacular will be the 100-lap late model open race. Many of the drivers from the AABLM series are expected to take part in the event, along with other drivers from the region.

Redwood Acres Raceway would like everyone to know of their new website www.redwoodacresraceway.info . You can direct any questions to track promoters Rich and Linda Olson by calling the track office
707-442-3232 and leaving a message. It promises to be another exciting year of racing at Redwood Acres Raceway. Don t miss out!

2011 Redwood Acres Raceway Schedule
April 16th - Best Appearing Car Contest
April 30th - Pepsi Night
May 7th - Mother's Day Race
May 21st
June 4th - Northern California Pro-4 Modifieds June 11th - Father's Day Race June 25th - Fair Race - Airport Auto Brokers Late Models July 9th - Tri-Track Challenge Modified Series July 23rd - Airport Auto Brokers Late Models July 30th - $5 Night August 6th - California Truckers Association Appreciation Night August 27th - Back-To-School Night - Northern California Pro-4 Modifieds September 10th - Memorial Race September 24th & 25th - Fall Spectacular Open Show Featuring Late Models and Northern California Pro-4 Modifieds



 

4-4-11 Hunt Takes 100 Lap Gerhardt Classic At Madera
Source Steven Blakesley
Gerhardt Classic

 After a wild back-and-forth duel with Scott Pierovich, Tony Hunt of Lincoln, CA picked up his 52nd career United States Auto Club victory by winning the 100 lap Fred Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway.

The event marked the first pavement race for the USAC Western Classic Racing Series and the eighth annual running of the Gerhardt Classic.

Hunt took over the lead for good from Pierovich on lap 57, leading the final 43 laps to victory. The win gives Hunt the points lead in the pavement portion of the series and just three points back from Pierovich in the overall series standings.

Fair Oaks’ Shauna Hogg led the 15 car field to green over Audra Sasselli. Local product Tim Skoglund of Fresno got a piece of the wall on the opening lap and slowed dramatically down the backstretch with a large fire underneath the Western Speed entry. Skoglund was pulled from the car uninjured but done for the night.

On the restart Pierovich began to make his presence felt and he led briefly before the caution came out for Cody Gerhardt spinning into the inside wall in turn four.

Gerhardt was able to resume and on the restart Pierovich seized the lead from Hogg. A three wide battle ensued with Hunt making a bid for the top spot

Pierovich and Hunt traded back and forth with side-by-side racing for five consecutive laps. The caution came out on lap 40 for Shauna Hogg stalling on the backstretch, and Pierovich took off from Hunt on the restart.

Hunt ran on the rear nerf bar of Pierovich for the next 17 laps as their duel continued. Hunt finally took the lead on lap 57.

With Hunt’s lead in tact, the action picked up through the field. Fast-time qualifier Brian McClish battled with Sasselli, while rookie Geoff Ensign, Gordon Rodgers, and Luis Ramos III traded blows for fifth place.

Pierovich came to a stop for a broken throttle linkage on lap 90 to bring out a caution. On the shootout to the finish Ensign and Sasselli battled for the second position. Ensign, in his first ever pavement Sprint Car race, settled for third in the Ted Finkenbinder owned entry.

Hunt cruised to a comfortable victory over Sasselli, Ensign, McClish, and Ramos. Sasselli recently became a mother and spent the last three weeks working out extensively to prepare for the rigors of a 100 lap Sprint Car race. Ensign was awarded the Kaeding Performance award for his run in the feature.

McClish and Skoglund were the heat race winners with McClish setting fast time at 13.888 seconds. The series will resume on April 23 at the three-eights mile Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson, Calif. with the “Jimmy Sills Classic.”

In other USAC action at Madera on Saturday night, 13 year-old Brodie Kostecki from Perth, Western Australia won the USAC Young Guns feature while the 50 lap USAC Ford Focus main event went to 14 year-old Ross Rankine of Ohio.

More information on the USAC Western Classic Racing Series is available on Facebook at keywords “USAC Western Classic Racing Series”. The United States Auto Club is online at www.usacracing.com The USAC Western States is available at www.usacwesternstates.com with contact information and the latest news.

The USAC Western Classic Racing Series is brought to you by: Amsoil, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance.

USAC AMSOIL WESTERN/WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT RACE RESULTS: April 2, 2011 – Madera, California – Madera Speedway – 8th “Gerhardt Classic”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Brian McClish, 69, Kaiser-13.888; 2. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-13.950; 3. Scott Pierovich, 14, Pierson-13.951; 4. Luis Ramos III, 21, Kaplan/Gennuso-14.081; 5. Audra Sasselli, 77, Sasselli-14.157; 6. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-14.177; 7. Cody Gerhardt, 40, Western Speed-14.261; 8. Tim Skoglund, 60, Western Speed-14.427; 9. Gordon Rodgers, 94, Rodgers-14.626; 10. Tim Barber, 3T, Finkenbinder-14.736; 11. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-14.772; 12. Jerry Kobza, 93, Kobza-14.862; 13. Don Emory, 50, Emory-NT; 14. Bill Logan, 98, Logan-NT; 15. Marvin Mitchell, 68, Mitchell-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. McClish, 2. Gerhardt, 3. Pierovich, 4. Sasselli, 5. Rodgers, 6. Ensign, 7. Emory. NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Skoglund, 2. Hunt, 3. Hogg, 4. Kobza, 5. Ramos, 6. Barber, 7. Logan, 8. Mitchell. NT

FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Tony Hunt, 2. Audra Sasselli, 3. Geoff Ensign, 4. Brian McClish, 5. Luis Ramos III, 6. Gordon Rodgers, 7. Jerry Kobza, 8. Cody Gerhardt, 9. Scott Pierovich, 10. Marvin Mitchell, 11. Tim Barber, 12. Don Emory, 13. Shauna Hogg, 14. Bill Logan, 15. Tim Skoglund. NT
-----------------------------------

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Hogg, Laps 26-56 Pierovich, Laps 57-100 Hunt.

NEW WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT POINTS: 1-Pierovich-91; 2-Hunt-88; 3-Kobza-86; 4-Ensign-75; 5-Barber-74; 6-Bill Rose-69; 7-Hogg-68; 8-Kyle Hirst-65; 9-McClish-65; 10-Andy Forsberg-64.
NEW AMSOIL WESTERN SPRINT POINTS: 1-Hunt-72; 2-McClish-65; 3-Sasselli-64; 4-Ensign-57; 5-Ramos-55; 6-Rodgers-49; 7-Kobza-47; 8-Gerhardt-46; 9-Pierovich-46; 10-Barber-34.

 

4-5-11 Sutton Teammates Share USAC Western Ford Focus Points Lead
Source Steven Blakesley
USAC Western Ford Focus

 With three USAC Western Pavement Ford Focus midget races in the books, the Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle team has swept the top three spots in the points including Eureka’s Brandon White and Westlake Village’s Jessica Clark tied atop the points standings.

Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle is a NASCAR-oriented driver development program with 27 drivers from all over the world racing in USAC, NASCAR, and ARCA competition for the program.

The RSWC Ford Focus team is one of the most accomplished teams in the history of the series and in 2011 they are off on the right track towards another big season. Along with recording three wins in the USAC Young Guns they have had several runner up finishes in the USAC Ford Focus Midgets.

Clark kicked off her 2011 season with a second place finish at Blythe followed up by a fifth place run at Havasu the following week. On Saturday night at Madera Speedway, she was running third when the fuel pump broke to end her night.

The 17 year-old will be competing for both the NASCAR S2 Sportsman title at TOYOTA Speedway and the USAC Ford Focus titles in 2011 and her NASCAR season kicks off on Saturday at Irwindale.

White has put together a pair of sixth place finishes and a season best fourth at Havasu. His qualifying results have given him a huge boost in the points, timing in second at Blythe and third at Havasu. White is also in the mix for the SoCal Young Guns championship after winning at Blythe.

White and Clark’s teammate Paul Graham, a rookie to the Ron Sutton program and Ford Focus racing, is just one point back in third to round out the trifecta.

“The two series veterans have picked up where they left off last year,” Head of Driver Development Ron Sutton said. “To have our drivers leading the top three in the USAC Western points is a good start with our NorCal drivers still waiting to start their season!”
The USAC SoCal Ford Focus Midgets will resume on April 16 at the ultra-fast Las Vegas Bullring while the USAC NorCal Ford Focus Midgets will kick off their campaign on April 23 at Shasta Raceway Park.

Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle thanks partners: K&N Filters, Scribner Plastics, Allstar Performance, Sunoco Race Fuels and Star Racing Supply.

For more information on Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle, log on to www.winners-circle-racing.com



 

4-5-11 PitStopUSA.com to sponsor hard charger award with Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series
Source Gary Thomas
Golden State King of The West

With excitement in the air for the fast approaching Golden State King of the West 410 Sprints season we are pleased to announce that Petaluma, California based PitStopUSA.com has partnered with the series and will present the hard charger award each night.

PitStopUSA.com will also become “The Official Online Motorsports Superstore” of the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series for 2011 and will award the hard charger a $200 product certificate each week. The KWS Series is slated for 26 events at 15 different tracks in California, Oregon and Nevada this season.

“We are excited to partner with the King of the West Sprint Car Series this year as a sponsor of the hard charger award and proud to become ‘The Official Online Motorsports Superstore’ for KWS,” said Pit Stop USA President Ed Coughenour. “Dan Simpson and his staff have done a great job so far with the KWS and it’s an exciting time for 410 sprint car racing on the West Coast.”

Pit Stop USA recently announced the Grand Opening of their new retail showroom April 6th adjacent to the company’s corporate offices located at 1310 Ross Street in Petaluma, California. The store will feature a full assortment of Sprint Car parts and accessories in addition to a huge selection of driver Safety Equipment.

"We are pleased to be opening our new Pit Stop USA retail showroom", commented Coughenour. "We have had so many requests over the years from our customers to open a retail outlet, so we are very excited to finally have the opportunity to welcome them to our new store opening in April."

In April of 2000, Pit Stop USA became one of the first companies ever to open a circle track online store. Since that time the company has grown very rapidly and 2011 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet for the California based company.

Things started in November of 2010 when the company unveiled their new website that had been in development for over a year. The new website allows customers to search through their huge inventory and order parts online with same day shipping and low prices.


Pit Stop USA has become a leading retailer of circle track parts and accessories and currently offers over 40,000 parts and accessories from over 400 manufacturers. Pit Stop USA’s goal is provide a one-stop shopping environment featuring the widest assortment of circle track racing products available at low everyday prices.

For more on Pit Stop USA please log onto http://www.pitstopusa.com

The 2011 season for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will kick off on Saturday April 9 at the Antioch Speedway. More information can be found at http://www.kwssprints.com




 

4-5-11 USAC West Coast 36s Return to Santa Maria Saturday
Source Lance Jennings
USAC West Coast 360 Sprints

 This Saturday night, April 9th, the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series will return to action at Chris Kearns' Santa Maria Speedway. Joining the powerful 360 sprints will be the Toste Mini Stocks, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, and the USAC Quarter Midgets. The Front Gates will open at 4:00pm, Time Trials will start at 5:00pm, with Racing at "The West Coast's Best Short Track" to begin at 6:00pm.

Last season, events at the 1/3-mile facility played a key role in the championship chase. Fresno's T.J Smith claimed the Bud Stanfield Memorial on July 24th and the 360 Clash on August 28th. Santa Maria's "Showtime" Danny Sheridan, Series Champion Craig Stidham of Fresno, Visalia's Jace VanderWeerd, and "Wide Open" Wes Gutierrez of San Martin scored Santa Maria victories.

After scoring the 30-lap feature win at Tulare's Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway on March 19th, Campbell's Bud Kaeding sits atop the point standings. Driving Junior Bowman's #29 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Maxim, Kaeding also has two heat race wins on the year. The 3-time USAC Silver Crown Champion carries a seven point advantage heading into Santa Maria and is always a threat to win.

Gardena's Greg Alexander is second in the championship point chase. Piloting Chuck Tyler's #72 Trench Shoring / Barnes Systems Maxim, Alexander won the Competition Suspension Inc. Heat Race #4 at Hanford's season opener. The following night, the young driver placed third in a photo finish at Tulare. Alexander has enjoyed success at Santa Maria, winning the 360 Grand Slam Series feature on August 8, 2009.

Ryan Bernal of Hollister sits third in the point standings. Driving Danny Olmstead's #11X Steve Watt Enterprises / S&S Automotive Maxim, Bernal claimed second in Tulare's 30-lap feature. The multi-time Wingless Spec Sprint Car Champion pressured Kaeding for the top spot at Tulare and will be in the mix for the Santa Maria victory.

Kerman's Davey Pombo is fourth in the point chase. Piloting Joey Eames' #3E TCR sponsored by Eames Trucking and Cool Hand Luke's Saloon, Pombo scored fifth in the Tulare main event. Last season's Southwest Contractors 360 Clash Champion sits fourteen points behind Kaeding and is poised for a championship run in his new ride.

"Wide Open" Wes Gutierrez of San Martin is fifth in the point standings. Driving the #007 WG Motorsports machine sponsored by ButlerBuilt and Competition Suspension Inc., Gutierrez won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1 and was sixth in the Tulare main event. The hard charger won at Santa Maria on September 18th and will be looking for the top spot on Saturday.

Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are defending champion Craig Stidham of Fresno, Visalia's Jace and Richard VanderWeerd, Fresno's T.J. Smith, Rusty Carlile of Bakersfield, Hanford's Justyne Hamblin, Tipton's "Hollywood" Danny Faria Jr., Jonathan Logan of Hanford, and many more.

The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Port City Racing, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.

Santa Maria Speedway is located 1/4-mile north of the 101/166 interchange at 1900 Hutton Road in Nipomo, California. Adult tickets are $16, Senior, Military, and Student tickets (13-17) are $14, Kids tickets (6-12) are $6, and Children’s tickets (5 and under) are FREE. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.racesantamariaspeedway.com or call (805) 922-2232.

For more information on the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series, visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, www.racesantamariaspeedway.com, or follow the series on facebook.





 

4-4-11 Celebration of Life: Ron "Bug" Roach

Ron “Bug” Roach
April 17, 1946 – March 13, 2011

“CELEBRATION OF LIFE”
Sunday, April 17, 2011 – 2:00pm
Stockton Elks Lodge – 8900 Thornton Road, Stockton
“No Host Cocktails”
(Entrance by the Purple Awning)
The family requests in lieu of flowers that remembrances be sent to Memorial Fund for Ron Roach at Bank of Stockton, Headquarters Branch Account # 3210009183

We at Stockton 99 Speedway would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and the many friends of Ron Roach. Ron was a great guy and will be dearly missed. His contributions to Stockton 99 Speedway and to West Coast Racing in general were countless. Please join us in his Celebration of Life. RIP, Ron.

UNTO OLD DEATH

Unto Old Death I shall not beg
For Mercy be His name.
Behold the Sun of Light I pray,
Tis He to cleanse my shame.
Into these eyes I look but once
And never once again,
And wonder brushes silent thought,
To wit: a stroke of pain.
Beneath my breast does throb my pulse,
And woe does course my veins,
And all the while Heaven exalts;
Death fain waits, tight with reins.


The soul exhaled from whence entombed
And flesh begat from dust,
And Angels armed with satin wings;
To this in God We Trust.
My mind I lend to such fair school
Of Life's prerequisite:
From whence we came shall we return,
With dust we do so knit.


Mistake thee not for whom is He,
He's not one for to fear,
For rather He than sound of soul
Be flesh to Him adhere.
And pain does Death so well undo,
Therein Mercy does lie;
Where in time of His need fear not,
All once shall surely die.


Here, Death and Mercy hand in hand
Unto new eyes shall flee;
When next the reins Death tugs again,
Another soul shall free.

 

4-4-11 360s Head For Santa Maria Saturday, Kaeding Still #1 in West Coast 360 Points
Source Dick Jordan
USAC West Coast Sprints


Bud Kaeding remains atop the 2011 USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car series standings after last Thursday’s race at Hanford, Calif. was postponed. No new date has been released for the conclusion of the rained-out March 18 event.

Kaeding holds a seven-point lead over Greg Alexander going into this Saturday’s race at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway, where the standings are sure to be jumbled.

Santa Maria hosted six West Coast 360 races last year and five different winners emerged. They included two-time winner T.J. Smith, Danny Sheridan, series champion Craig Stidham, Jace VanderWeerd and Wes Gutierrez.


USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS

1-Bud Kaeding-76; 2-Greg Alexander-69; 3-Ryan Bernal-63; 4-Davey Pombo-62; 5-Wes Gutierrez-58; 6-Andy Forsberg-57; 7-Craig Stidham-55; 8-Richard VanderWeerd-49; 9-Jace VanderWeerd-43; 10-Garrett Ishii-39.


 

4-4-11 Spencer Seeks Record #4 At Hanford May 7th After Staying Undefeated With Perris Win
Source Dick Jordan
Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprints


Defending AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Champion Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. will try to set one record and tie another May 7 when the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car series resumes at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif.

Spencer remained undefeated in 2011 USAC/CRA competition Saturday night, winning at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway. He hopes to extend his series-opening record victory streak to four at Hanford, while a fourth consecutive win would tie the all-time series record set by Damion Gardner in 2005.

Spencer caught Rickie Gaunt on lap 10 at the PAS and paced the final 21 circuits around the half-mile dirt oval in his Madera Produce/Grubstake Mini Storage Maxim/Shaver. Blake Miller finished second ahead of fast qualifier David Cardey, Matt Mitchell and Richard VanderWeerd. The win vaulted Spencer into third on the all-time USAC/CRA win list with 21.

Spencer’s point lead in quest of a record fourth consecutive series title stands at 29 over Cardey after Saturday’s Perris race.


AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS

1-Mike Spencer-214; 2-David Cardey-185; 3-Blake Miller-184; 4-Matt Mitchell-163; 5-Greg Bragg-139; 6-David Bezio-117; 7-Rickie Gaunt-116; 8-Cody Williams-102; 9-Nic Faas-98; 10-Danny Sheridan-94.




 

4-4-11 Evan Suggs Looks To Breakthrough For First Golden State 410 Victory When King Of The West 410 Sprints Open Season at Antioch Speedway this Saturday
Source Gary Thomas
Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA – Toward the end of last year’s Golden State Series season one of the hottest drivers on tour was Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs. Keeping that in mind the 24-year-old will look to continue that trend when the King of the West 410 Sprints open the season on April 9th at the Antioch Speedway.

Last season Suggs ranked third place in the final Golden State 410 Series standings behind Kyle Larson and Brent Kaeding, to earn a career best point finish with the tour aboard his Suggs Family Racing No. 33e sprinter.

Suggs finished off the Golden State season in strong fashion by earning three consecutive podium finishes, which included leading 27 of 30 laps at the season-finale in Placerville, before getting passed by former series champions Tim Kaeding and Sean Becker in the final circuits.

“It was definitely disappointing at the end of last season since we came so close to winning our first Golden State race, but just couldn’t seal the deal,” commented Suggs. “On the positive side though we were able to put ourselves in position to do it and I have a lot of confidence that it will happen this year.”

For Suggs the Golden State King of the West Sprints opener this weekend at Antioch Speedway comes at a track where he tallied a runner up finish last April and always seems to run well.

“We are always pretty good in Antioch so I’m looking forward to getting there on Saturday,” said the former Dirt Cup preliminary night winner at Skagit Speedway. “Last April we ran second to Jonathan Allard at Antioch and were really fast in July there and should have been on the podium, but got sideways trying to pass Brent Kaeding for second in the last turn and lost a couple spots.”

Overall the Scotts Valley racer tallied a pair of second place efforts throughout the Golden State year to mark his career best finishes with the traveling 410 circuit. In addition to the runner up in April at Antioch, Suggs’ other second place finish came at Petaluma Speedway in May. An interesting note for that night in Petaluma was the fact that he also missed his college graduation to be in action.

“When you’re racing against guys like Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard and Kyle Larson, it makes it real tough and with everything Dan Simpson and the KWS team is doing it will make it even more competitive,” said Suggs. “We love racing 410’s and are really excited about opening the Golden State King of the West season and hope to see everyone in Antioch this weekend.”

In addition to Suggs, other drivers expected to compete in the KWS season-opener at Antioch Speedway on Saturday April 9 will include Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson, San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, Chico’s Jonathan Allard, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Vancouver, Washington’s Zach Zimmerly, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Stockton’s Brad Furr, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Chico’s Kenny Allen and many more.

The front gate will open at 5pm this Saturday night with qualifying expected to get underway around 6:30 and racing to follow.

The Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds on the corner of 10th & L Streets in Antioch, California.

The Golden State King of the West Series is a traveling Winged 410 Sprint Car Association that will be racing in California, Oregon and Nevada this season. The 2011 season will be the 26th year of competition for the Golden State 410 Sprint Car Series. For the schedule, registration forms and more info please visit http://www.kwssprints.com

Follow KWS on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KWS410s#!/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907 and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s




 

4-4-11 April 2nd Ventura Raceway Report
Source Cliff Morgan
Ventura Raceway



After a rainout on March 26, Ventura Raceway got back to action Saturday night April 2, with a full program of wild and exciting racing action. It was a very busy night as seven adult classes and three kids classes competed.ace

Greg Taylor led the first 29 of 30 laps of the VRA Sprint Car feature only to see it go away in turn 4 of the final lap when he and Derek Buckley, who had been running second almost all race got together coming to the finish and stopped at the top of the track bringing out the yellow flag. That put Dakota Kershaw out front for the restart with one lap to go. Troy Rutherford who had one off the track early in the race for a pit stop came from last spot to be in second as the green flew for the final lap. Rutherford was able to pass Kershaw in turn two and went on the take the win and regain the season points lead. Kershaw finished second with Don Gansen third, Josh ford fourth and Steve Conrad in fifth. The turn four incident on the last lap placed Taylor 13th and Buckley 14th in the final standings. Saturday's race saw 27 cars in the pits with four heat races competed. Wins went to Dakota Kershaw, Greg Taylor, Steve Conrad and Derek Buckley. One semi main was run with the win gong to Troy Rutherford.

VRA Senior Sprints returned to action Saturday with two heat races and a 20 lap feature. The heat race wins were taken by Rob Kershaw and Bruce Douglass. The 20 lap main event went to Douglass with Russell Deblauw second, Kershaw third, Victor Davis fourth and Richard McCormick fifth. Douglass's win puts him into first place in the point race over 2010 season champion Kershaw.

IMCA Modifieds raced two heats with wins going to Danny Lauer and Austin Rodarte.
the 20 lap feature had to be shortened to 15 laps due to many on track incidents that took 1/2 of the starting field out of the race. Lauer had a tough start in the event but came from last to first to take his third IMCA win at Ventura this season. Following him across the finish line were Chris Crompe, Brad Prows, Rob Green and Doug Thornton.

VRA Dwarf Cars ran in two divisions with heat race wins going to George Calvo and Mike Neal in Seniors and Kevin Calvo and Mike Lewis in pros. The two divisions then ran a combined main event for the 22 cars in attendance. Wins went to Ray Estrada in the Pros and George Calvo. The race saw a large accident before a compete lap was run that sent Kevin Calvo to the hospital to be checked out after he flipped on the front straight. This and several other on track incidents caused the race to be shortened to 15 laps.

VRA Mod Lites ran their second event with four cars in attendance. The heat race went to Jim Chapp and their 15 lap feature went to Kevin Alverson.

The final adult class racing Saturday night was the VRA Sport Compacts. Two heat races were run with the wins going to Gary Marshall Jr. in heat one and Trevor Fitzgibbon in heat two. The 15 lap feature went to Fitzgibbon followed on the track by Marshall, Cody Greiman, Brent Underwood and Jess Carlucci. After the race, Marshall's car failed a post race tech inspection and was removed from the finishing order.

The three VRA Kids classes also ran Saturday night with wins going to Destyn Garcia in the Supercharger heat, J D Brown in the Piston Heat and Tommy Velasquez and Oliver Blades in Junior Midget heats. Main event wins went to Brennan Rogers in Junior Midget, Nick Velasquez in Superchargers and Jake Aguilar in Pistons.