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Thunderbowl Raceway hosts Chris & Brian Faria Memorial this Saturday May 10
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – May 6, 2008…When the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series makes their way to the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway this Mother’s Day weekend we will be honoring the memory of brothers Chris & Brian Faria. The night of competition will be the 11th race of the year for the traveling series and will also mark the halfway point of the 22 race season.
This will be second season in a row that the event, which started out as the Chris Faria Memorial, pays tribute to both brothers who lost their lives far too early. Running alongside the GSC sprinters this weekend will be the mighty warriors of the Western States Modifieds as they compete in their third race of the season.
Chris Faria was an up and coming driver who was the youngest of five children to Danny Sr. & Arlet Faria. Chris grew up on their farm in Tipton and was known as the prankster of the family. He unfortunately lost his life at the age of 21 during a farming accident and his memory has been kept alive with a memorial race at the Thunderbowl Raceway ever since. Brian was the oldest of the five Faria children and was taken from us in January of 2006 when a fallen tree hit his truck while driving on a highway. Brian enjoyed helping out with the track preparation at the Thunderbowl Raceway as he drove the water truck and the grader among other things.
Current Golden State Challenge Series point leader Jonathan Allard will lead the charge into the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial after picking up his first win of the season last weekend in Quincy. The Chico driver has raced his Williams Motorsports machine to top 10 finishes in all but one event and has scored top five’s in all but two. The ’06 King of California also leads the series with four heat race victories and will bring a 52 point lead into Tulare this Saturday. Allard was the winner of the Chris Faria Memorial in ’03.
San Jose’s Tim Kaeding will look to make it back to back wins at the Thunderbowl after picking up his first GSC win of the season at the track less than two weeks ago. The former King of California won a thrilling main event in Tulare driving his Tom Rolfe Racing No. 10 on April 26 and is coming off a runner-up finish with the traveling 410 series last Saturday. Kaeding has finished among the top five in all but one of his GSC starts this year and always runs well at the Thunderbowl.
Continuing to run second in the point standings is Sacramento’s Mike Henry who drives the HMH Motorsports No. 93. Henry has been running full-time with the Golden State Challenge Series for the first time in his career this season and has done a solid job competing against a number of 410 veterans. The former Civil War and Placerville Speedway champion has tallied finishes of sixth and ninth during the previous two GSC stops at the Thunderbowl this season.
Thirteen-time and defending King of California Brent Kaeding has used much consistency over the last month to close in on Henry, despite not yet picking up a win this year. The driver of the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 has picked up podium finishes in four of the last six series events, but hasn’t quite yet shown the strength he possessed last season when he won eight GSC main events during the year. BK is the defending champ of the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial however, and has also won the event once before this decade.
The battle for fourth in the GSC standings continues to heat up with Los Angeles’ Tyler Walker leading Campbell’s Bud Kaeding by just two points. Walker has shown much speed this season aboard the SC Motorsports No. 24 and was part of a great battle for the lead during the GSC stop at the Thunderbowl a couple weeks back. The exciting driver had taken the lead with a couple laps left in the feature, before settling for a second place finish behind T. Kaeding. Walker has been the quick qualifier three straight weeks with GSC and has turned the fastest lap in qualifying four times overall this year.
Two-time & defending USAC Silver Crown champ Bud Kaeding has been very consistent over the last handful of weeks, which includes a win in Petaluma a few weeks back. He and his BK Motorsports team have finished in the top five during four of the last five GSC events, but have yet to crack that stat at the Thunderbowl Raceway. The 28 year-old veteran will look to change that at the Chris and Brian Faria Memorial on Saturday as well as move himself up in the series standings.
Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs has also been extremely consistent over the last month and like Bud Kaeding, has also been in the top five during four of the last five races. Suggs in fact has finished in the fourth spot on three different occasions since early April and continues to show more improvement on the track in his sophomore year of racing a winged sprint car. The driver of GLR Investments sponsored machine hasn’t had the greatest success at the Thunderbowl the past two seasons though, and will be looking for better things this weekend.
Former King of California Jason Statler is another driver who will be looking for a better outing at the Thunderbowl this time out, following a tough one on April 26. The Los Gatos charger became a dad last Tuesday and then went out and finished sixth during the feature on Saturday in Quincy aboard the DF Rios Construction No. 00. Statler won the Chris Faria Memorial in ’05, which also marked his first career win at the 1/3 mile clay oval.
Other 410 winged sprint car drivers expected for the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial on Saturday will include Easton’s Tommy Tarlton, Loomis’ Kyle Hirst, Caruthers Garrett Ishii, Fresno’s Craig Stidham & Mark Workentine, Tipton’s Danny Faria Jr, Fremont’s Brent Bjork, Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg, Rio Vista’s Dan Simpson and more.
Brian Cass currently leads the Western States Modifieds point standings after picking up back to back wins to start the season, but is followed closely by Paul Stone who finished runner-up last season in the standings. Drivers continue to gear up for the big $20,000 to win U.S. Western Modified Nationals on September 25, 26 & 27 at the Thunderbowl Raceway.
The front gate at the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial will open up at 5 pm this Saturday with reserved grandstand tickets costing only $18 and general admission bleacher tickets just $15. Log onto http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com to view a seating chart and then call (559) 688-0909 to get the seats you want. The Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare.
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