|
Photos by M&M Racing Photos
Kyle Hirst holds off late surge by Jonathan Allard to claim his third career Calistoga Speedway win at the King of the West Wine Country Classic on Saturday
By Gary Thomas
Calistoga, CA – June 29, 2015…Late race drama at Calistoga Speedway on Saturday saw race-long leader Rico Abreu lose a left rear tire just two-laps shy of victory, allowing Kyle Hirst the chance to claim the lead and hold off a hard charging Jonathan Allard for his 13th career King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series win.
It also marked Hirst’s third career triumph at the Napa County Fairgrounds half-mile, with his other victories coming at the 2009 Salute to Walter T Ross and the 2012 Louie Vermeil Classic. For car owner’s Dennis & Teresa Roth it was their 15th career win at the track, which ranks number one all-time at the Calistoga Speedway.
“That was definitely a turn of events with Rico getting the flat, but it certainly worked out for us,” Hirst commented. “We had a really good car all night though and it was great to bounce back after struggling at Ocean Speedway on Friday. I can’t thank Dennis & Teresa Roth enough for the opportunity and all my guys for all their hard work. Anytime you can win at Calistoga it’s a special feeling and I couldn’t be happier right now. Thank you all the fans for packing this place and supporting us.”
At the waving of the green flag in the 25-lapper Abreu jumped out into the lead and held the field at the bay for much of the contest. The 2015 Chili Bowl Nationals champion had won the previous two KWS appearances in Calistoga and was certainly the man to beat on Saturday. Early on Hirst & current KWS point leader Dominic Scelzi fought for the runner up spot, before Lemoore’s Carson Macedo was able to get by Scelzi on lap nine. With a very fast pace being set early on a few drivers were making some noise, including Fremont’s Shane Golobic.
Golobic was running the low side of the speedway to perfection and carved his way forward in exciting fashion. The defending Civil War & Ocean Sprints champ took over fourth on lap 12 from Scelzi and then third from Macedo on lap 17. Golobic then closed in on Hirst for the second spot and looked to find a way by, but disaster struck on lap 20 when his left rear tire let go and sent him into the turn three wall. When going back green Abreu once again got a great restart, but heartbreak city would ensue when his left rear tire would let go off the second corner on lap 23.
This handed the lead to Hirst and would have put Macedo up to second, but during the yellow flag period Macedo’s left rear tire also went down, forcing him to the work area. The green, white, checkered restart then saw Hirst leading 16th starting Jonathan Allard, who gave it a hard run to go after his first King of the West win of the year. The final set of corners saw Allard drive it in super hard to the bottom of the speedway and get a great bite out of turn four, but Hirst was able to hang on by 0.184 seconds for the victory. Hirst’s 13th career KWS win moves him to within one victory of tying Jason Meyers & Tyler Walker on the all-time list.
The exciting and very close finish was a season best for Allard and a great rebound after a tough ending on Friday at Ocean Speedway. “I thought we had a shot off that final corner, but just came up a bit short tonight. It was a great finish for us after starting so far back in the field. Big thanks to my owners Clyde & Marion Lamar for believing in me. Clyde was in the hospital yesterday and drove all the way to Calistoga to be here tonight. I also want to thank Brian Crockett for the track prep and everyone at Calistoga Speedway. This place is absolutely fantastic now. The work they’ve done here is phenomenal and I hope all the fans are enjoying it.”
Bud Kaeding crossed the stripe in third after starting from the 13th position in the main event. The three-time USAC Silver Crown champ made some strong moves late in the going to claim the final spot on the podium. “We fought through some motor problems all night, so to finish third feels like a win for us. We always love coming to Calistoga whenever we get the chance. Hopefully we can come back here for the Vermeil and get a win. I want to thank Morrie & Katie Williams for the opportunity to drive this car and the whole team for all their hard work. We are excited to head for the HK Classic at Ocean Speedway July 10 & 11.”
King of the West point leader Dominic Scelzi finished the race in fourth, with Hanford’s DJ Netto rounding out the top-five. Netto made some thrilling moves on the high-side of the speedway to come forward late in the race. Roseville’s Colby Copeland scored sixth, Hollister’s Ryan Bernal came from 17th to seventh, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding went from 15th to eighth, Macedo scored ninth and Los Angeles’ Tyler Walker was 10th. Walker was another who suffered a deflating left rear as the race wound down.
Kyle Hirst won the dash, with the three eight-lap heat races picked off by Dominic Scelzi, Carson Macedo and Shane Golobic. Santa Rosa’s Jo Jo Helberg kicked-off the night by setting his second career KWS fast time by touring the half-mile in 16.912 seconds. Full results are available at www.racepmg.com
A-main: 1 83JR Kyle Hirst 2 3C Jonathan Allard 3 0 Bud Kaeding 4 41 Dominic Scelzi 5 88N DJ Netto 6 5V Colby Copeland 7 56 Ryan Bernal 8 69 Brent Kaeding 9 21X Carson Macedo 10 88 Tyler Walker 11 25 Bobby McMahan 12 7 JoJo Helberg 13 24 Rico Abreu 14 12 Jarrett Soares 15 22 Shane Golobic 16 12X Scott Parker 17 00 Jason Statler 18 37 Mitchell Faccinto 19 68 Chase Johnson 6/28
Make plans to join us at the 5th annual Howard Kaeding Classic coming up at the Ocean Speedway. The big weekend will be kicked-off on Wednesday night July 8 with the 2ndannual HK Classic Car Show & BBQ, held at the High Five Pizza located at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose. The Car Show takes place from 5pm to 9pm, with Dinner served from 6pm to 8pm.
Proceeds from the Wednesday event go to the Silver Creek Sportsplex Foundation, which aims to ensure that every child, regardless of financial ability, is able to participate in local amateur athletic training and competition. Please come out and enjoy a fun night with some great food, all put on for a great cause.
The racing weekend then begins on Friday night July 10 at the Ocean Speedway with the Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster taking on the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo. The event concludes Saturday July 11 with the Howard Kaeding Classic finale featuring the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series & Joe Hunt Magnetos Wingless Sprints. We’ll have a post race party Friday night and a Saturday afternoon lunch as part of the festivities. More info will be out in the coming week.
The weekend will also benefit the Northern Auto Racing Club Benevolent Fund, which uses 100% of the funds raised to support the families of injured drivers, crew members and officials running Sprint Car Series’ in California. Various beneficiaries of the fund over the last 10-years include Dennis Moore Jr., Billy Sellers, Danny Faria Jr., the family of Alan Urias, Randy Hannagan, Tom Milne, Brad Bumgarner, the family of David Tarter and Peter Murphy.
The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California with the physical address being 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076. Camping for the weekend will be allowed on the grass area behind the grandstands. Hook ups cost $40 with dry camping $20.
---------------
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
|
