Abreu & Kaeding Take Trophy Cup Prelims

Bud Kaeding (center) outran Jason Meyers (left) and Shane Golobic to win the second of two Trophy Cup preliminary features on Friday at Thunderbowl Raceway. (Joe Shivak Photo)

TULARE, Calif. – Rico Abreu and Bud Kaeding picked up preliminary victories Friday ahead of Saturday’s 22nd Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway.

Rain Thursday evening delayed the opening night of the 22nd annual Trophy Cup, but once the first night’s main event took the green on Friday afternoon, nothing delayed Rico Abreu as he stormed to the win.

Starting sixth, Abreu took the lead on lap nine and dominated the final 22 laps for the $2,500 win.

On Thursday group A finished their qualifying with Abreu fast time at 14.052 while group B had 13 cars left to time in when rain ended the evening.  All night track prep allowed a double show to run on Friday, starting with group B qualifying.

The afternoon track was very racy, faster than Thursday night initially, and Shane Golobic used fast time and heat points to be tied with Tim Kaeding at 180 points.  Golobic’s 13.729 was quickest after three drivers had to qualify at the end, taking one lap, due to having the wrong muffler installed.

The Friday afternoon heats were dramatic with intense duels for the top point car heat finish and main event transfer spot for most of the ten heats.  Each group had five heats, inverting six, and taking the heat winner plus the top point car to the A main.

The 24 car A main was inverted 12 by points, putting Golobic outside row six next to Tim Kaeding while Dusty Zomer and Jason Statler shared the front row.  Zomer led from the green and sixth starting Abreu wasted no time moving forward, taking second on lap two with a low turn one effort followed by a slider in turn four.

A lap later Bud Kaeding moved to third while Abreu closed on Zomer. On lap nine, Abreu threw a huge turn four slider on Zomer and took the lead.  Four laps laterZomer became a DNF with an ignition issue, allowing Bud Kaeding to move to second with Statler third.

Tim Kaeding moved to third on lap 16, a low groove turn four move, and the final 14 laps were scored with the podium cars unchanged.  Following the Abreu and two Kaedings across the line were Sean Becker and Statler.  The stands were cleared, track prep took over the oval, and the second show of the day started about an hour later.

Qualifying for the second night of action was next, with Carson Macedo fastest in group B thanks to a 13.676 lap.  Landon Hurst led group A with the fastest lap of the two shows, 13.589 for the former non-wing racer.

Just as in the first show of the day, five heats for each group moved the winner plus top point car to the A main.  Once again, racing for the top point car finish was the focus of the eight-lap runs.  The inside row three car of the invert six heats needed to finish two spots ahead of the outside row three starter to be top point car, while the outside row two car had a tougher task of being four places ahead of the fastest qualifier.

Macedo was the high point car following a heat win adding to his fast time points for the maximum 186 points entering the main.  Abreu was alongside Macedo in row six of the invert 12 by points main.  Zomer had the pole again and Sheldon Haudenschild was outside Zomer.

The 30 lap main quickly became one featuring attrition when an 8 car melee at the top of turn four led to six cars out after one lap. S. Haudenschild led over Zomer and Bud Kaeding when racing resumed and afternoon winner, Abreu exited with six laps complete.

Bud Kaeding took second from Zomer with a turn two slider on lap eight before disaster stuck the leader.  Leading during lap 11, Sheldon Haudenschild was collected by a spun car and was done for the night, handing the lead to Bud Kaeding over Zomer and Tyler Walker.

After 12 laps, the field shrunk further when Zomer came across the track leaving turn four and pushed Walker hard into the wall, eliminating both and the second and third place cars. In two laps, three cars running first to third at the time were out and Bud Kaeding now led Jason Meyers and Shane Golobic.

Craig Stidham took third on lap 14 out of turn four and with ten laps remaining, B. Kaeding had established a large lead.  Golobic used the cushion at the top of turn four to speed past Stidham for third on lap 22 to set the podium after the last 18 laps were nonstop.

Bud Kaeding’s win paid $3,000, Meyers collected $2,000 for 2nd and Golobic was took home $1,000 for third.  Saturday night’s finale will start with heat races for the top 48 in points, then a series of main events will lead to the 50-lap championship race with all 24 starters completely inverted by points.

With two preliminary shows complete, each driver will carry their better of the two nights point results on to Saturday big finale. Heats on Saturday will invert eight by points, earning the winner 36 with a three point drop per position. The top 20 in points after the heats will go directly to the A main.

Whichever of the back of the pack starters passes the most cars will become the 2015 Trophy Cup champion and win $20,000 for the event.  The total purse paid will be $160,000 with approximately $90,000 being paid to the 24 drivers that run the Saturday A main and therefore become part of the point payout.  To start the main event on Saturday guarantees $2,050.

The finishes:

Race One: Rico Abreu, Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Sean Becker, Jason Statler, Shane Golobic, Jonathan Allard, Jac Haudenschild, Mitchell Faccinto, Andy Forsberg, Heath Duinkerken, Jason Meyers, Tyler Walker, Willie Croft, Travis Rilat, Tyler Seavey, Andy Gregg, Terry McCarl, Steven Tiner, Reece Goetz, Ryan Robinson, Dusty Zomer, Craig Stidham, Ryan Bernal.

Race Two: Bud Kaeding, Jason Meyers, Shane Golobic, Mitchell Faccinto, Kyle Hirst, Carson Macedo, Justyn Cox, Terry McCarl, Brock Lemley, Craig Stidham, Jake Morgan, Ryan Bernal, Reece Goetz, Dusty Zomer, Tyler Walker, Sheldon Haudenschild, Jonathan Allard, Rico Abreu, Roger Crockett, Sean Becker, Tim Kaeding, Andy Forsberg, Colby Copeland, Ryan Robinson.