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Paul Trevino Photo
Bud Kaeding wins a final lap thriller at the Jimmy Sills Classic in Stockton on Saturday with the King of the West Sprint Car Series
By Gary Thomas
Stockton, CA – June 18, 2016..In a race fitting to honor the legendary Jimmy Sills on Saturday night at the Stockton Dirt Track, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding was able to get by Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto on the final lap of the main event en route to his second King of the West victory of the season.
Kaeding & Sills happen to be the only three-time champions in the storied history of the USAC Silver Crown Series and in another ironic tie in, Kaeding also passed Sills to win his very first 410 Sprint Car race at the Pombo/Sargent Classic in 1997.
The win was Kaeding’s very first at the Stockton Dirt Track and the 14th of his King of the West career, moving him into a tie with Jason Meyers for eighth on the all-time series list. After finishing runner up in points the last two-years he is currently locked in a tight three-way battle with Kyle Hirst & Jonathan Allard with five races complete.
“That sure was a fun one right there,” said a joyful Kaeding after executing some donuts and leaping from the familiar Williams Motorsports 0 Sprinter. “It means a lot to win the Jimmy Sills Classic and to do it like that makes it even sweeter. Jimmy was one of my favorites growing up along with my dad. I still remember racing & passing him to win my first 410 race back in the day. I can’t thank this whole ZERO team enough for all their hard work. I’m glad we could give Morrie & Katie Williams another win tonight.”
The 30-lap Jimmy Sills Classic started out with pole sitter Faccinto jumping into the lead, while in search of his first ever King of the West win. The second generation driver did a fantastic job in holding off the relentless charges of Fresno’s Cory Eliason over the first half of the race. Eliason was looking for his second career series win and looked very strong in hounding Faccinto’s rear bumper, but would drop to third on lap 17 when Chico’s Jonathan Allard made the move to get by. At that time you could throw a blanket over the top-five as the action intensified over the later stages.
On lap 21 Kaeding then shot by Eliason to claim third, before dispatching of Allard for second one circuit later. He then slowly closed in on Faccinto while driving hard to the high side through turns three & four. Kaeding continued to get a huge launch down the front stretch with the higher line and when the white flag waved he made his move. As the pair raced into one & two for the final time he motored to the inside of Faccinto and inched his way to the lead down the back stretch. That was all she wrote for Kaeding, as he charged through the final corners to take the Ed Entz checkered flag for victory.
Although disappointed Faccinto matched his career best King of the West finish in second aboard the Western Metal Company No. 37 mount. “That one definitely hurts right there,” he commented. “I hate it for all my guys, because I feel like I let them down on the final lap. But it was still a really good night for us and I want to thank everyone that makes it possible to drive this 37 car. We’ll now move on to a couple of tracks that I really like next week with KWS and try to get a win there.”
Allard crossed the stripe in third to cap a solid night in the Tri-C Manufacturing No. 3c machine. “I really wanted to give my team a win tonight, so I’m a little bummed to come home in third, but we’re continuing to get better & better,” he said. “Jimmy Sills was a hero of mine growing up and I think it’s really cool that we have an event in his honor here at Stockton. I want to thank Clyde & Marion Lamar and all my guys. We are looking forward to Watsonville & Calistoga next week.”
Sacramento’s Willie Croft made some nice moves to come home fourth at the conclusion, as did Watsonville’s Justin Sanders, who tallied his second top-five finish of the season. The top-10 was completed by Paradise, Ca’s Kyle Hirst, Hanford’s DJ Netto, Fresno’s Craig Stidham, Eliason and Penngrove’s Chase Johnson.
Mitchell Faccinto won the dash, while the three 10-lap heat races were picked off by Jonathan Allard, DJ Netto and Bud Kaeding. Willie Croft opened the night by pacing the 20-car field in qualifying with a lap of 13.522 around the Stockton Dirt Track.
A-main finish: 1. 0 Bud Kaeding, 2. 37 Mitchell Faccinto, 3. 3c Jonathan Allard, 4. 29 Willie Croft, 5. 17 Justin Sanders, 6. 21x Kyle Hirst, 7. 88n DJ Netto, 8. 3 Craig Stidham, 9. 5h Cory Eliason, 10. 68 Chase Johnson, 11. 31c Justyn Cox, 12. 7 Steven Kent, 13. 98 Sean Watts, 14. 12 Jarrett Soares, 15. 93 Stephen Ingram, 16. 00 Jason Statler, 17. 49 Mike Monahan, 18. 54 Bill Hopper, 19. 2r Richard Brace Jr.
The King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will be right back in action this coming week. Friday night will find the tour at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway for the 31st annual Pombo/Sargent Classic, before heading to the famed Calistoga Speedway half-mile on Saturday for the Wine Country Classic.
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Mitchell Faccinto came oh so close to his first King of the West win on Saturday night, but matched his career best series finish in second. Chuck Fry
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