Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
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Golden State Challenge Series ready for bullring mania in Watsonville & Placerville

By Gary Thomas

May 28, 2008…After taking this past weekend off the Golden State Challenge King of California 410 Sprint Car Series will be back in action this Friday and Saturday with a double-header of competition at two of the smallest tracks on the schedule. The weekend will begin on Friday with the third stop of the season to John Prentice’s Ocean Speedway located in Watsonville. The quarter-mile bullring has become one of the nicest dirt track facilities in Northern California over the last few years and Friday's event will be the next to last GSC season visit to the track.

Then on Saturday the series will make the haul over to the Placerville Speedway for NMI Industrial Contractors Night. It will also mark the final visit of the season to the red clay bullring and will pay $3,900 to the winner of the main event thanks to the added money from Scott Chastain of NMI. A number of associates and people affiliated with the company are expected to be on hand at Placerville rooting on the green No. 24 sprinter.

Last years Ocean/Placerville double-header was captured by eventual King of California Brent Kaeding of Campbell. “BK” won’t be in action this weekend however, as he will join fellow Nor Cal Hall of Fame inductee John Padjen in Knoxville, Iowa where the pair will be inducted, (along with a number of others) into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Going into Friday’s event at the Ocean Speedway ’06 King of California Jonathan Allard holds onto a 51 point lead in the Golden State Challenge Series standings. With 10 races left in the season the Chico native is attempting to join Brent Kaeding and Steve Kent as the only drivers to have won multiple King of California titles. During the last GSC event at the Watsonville track Allard finished runner-up in the main event and will look to one better that this Friday board the Williams Motorsports No. 0. He also picked up a fourth place finish at Placerville in March.

The most recent winner in GSC competition is San Jose’s Tim Kaeding who goes into this weekend sitting seventh in the standings. Kaeding drove Tom Rolfe’s No. 10 sprinter to his second career victory in the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race less than two weekend’s back at Silver Dollar Speedway. In March “TK” brought home finishes of third at both Ocean and Placerville Speedway with the traveling 410 series. Last weekend saw him throw a 360 in the No. 10 machine and pick up a runner-up finish in Civil War Series competition.

Los Angeles’ Tyler Walker currently sits second in the Golden State Challenge Series standings and will look to make up ground this weekend. The driver of the SC Motorsports No. 24 will be in the spotlight on Saturday as his main sponsor, NMI Industrial Contractors, is sponsoring the night and adding an extra $900 to the winners share. Walker finished runner-up during the GSC stop to the Placerville Speedway in March and on the season has two victories with the series.

Current Ocean Speedway point leader Bud Kaeding of Campbell will look for his second victory of the season when the Golden State Challenge Series makes its way to his home track on Friday. The 28 year-old currently ranks fourth in the series standings and has tallied a pair of fifth place finishes aboard his Alviso Rock No. 29 during the two GSC stops at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds track this year. A couple Friday’s back also saw him pick up a 360 win at the track to boost his point lead in the Wright One Construction Series.

Sacramento’s Mike Henry picked up his biggest career victory when the Golden State Challenge Series stopped at Placerville in March and will look to make it a season sweep at his home track on Saturday. The two-time Civil War Series champ led all 30 laps from the pole in March to pick up the huge win in front of his hometown crowd. Henry will look to rebound this weekend following a tough outing in Chico at the Bradway where he failed to make the main event. Going into this weekend’s double-header he currently rounds out the top five in the points aboard the HMH Motorsports No. 93.

Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs will go into his home track of Ocean Speedway on Friday sitting sixth in the standings during his sophomore season of competition with the Golden State Challenge Series. The driver of the Suggs Racing No. 33e picked up a win in 360 action at the track on May 9. Another driver who calls the Ocean Speedway home is Los Gatos’ Jason Statler who ranks eighth in the GSC points. “The Big Guy” also won a 360 main event at the track this season, with his victory coming on April 18.

When the Golden State Challenge Series last visited the Ocean Speedway on April 12 it was all about young Shane Golobic who picked up his first career series victory aboard the Joe Von Schriltz No. 121. The 16 year-old dominated the night as he also set fast time, won the dash and just missed out on a clean sweep by finishing second in his heat race. The talented Fremont driver also finished sixth during the GSC event at the track in March.

Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson will go into Placerville on Saturday fresh off his second career Civil War Series victory, which came at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway just days ago. The immensely talented 15 year-old has been very impressive in limited starts this season and also brought home a fourth place finish during 410 point action in Chico a couple Friday’s back. In addition to that Larson and his Vertullo Motorsports team currently sit just 12 points out of the Civil War Series point lead. The youngster is also set to compete aboard a BCRA Midget during the night of racing in Placerville this Saturday. Larson was a guest on the Full Throttle Racing show this past Tuesday and can be heard at http://www.dirtvision.com

Current Silver Dollar Speedway point leader Andy Forsberg will be looking for his first Placerville Speedway Golden State Challenge Series win this Saturday. The veteran driver has won four GSC main events in his career, but none have come at the track he calls home, although he has come oh so close on a number of different occasions. Forsberg set fast time during the Placerville event in March piloting his A & A Motorsports No. 92 and was charging forward in the main event when he got upside down putting an end to his night.

Loomis’ Kyle Hirst is also routinely tough to beat at the Placerville Speedway and it should be no different on Saturday. The 20 year-old driver won a Civil War Series main event at the speedway in April and has won a number of big races at the track in the past. Hirst had a very good run going a couple weeks back at the Bradway until contact sent his GP Development No. 6 off the track while leading with just nine laps left in the feature. He’ll look for redemption this weekend.

Placerville’s own Andy Gregg will look to hold up the local honors on Saturday while driving his Guts Racing No. 16x. In late March Gregg re-set the all-time 360 track record at Placerville and also brought home an eighth finish with GSC at the track during the weekend prior to that. Sacramento’s Willie Croft will be looking for good things after picking up his second win of the season last weekend in Chico. The driver of the Holey Smokes BBQ No. 29 also picked up a Placerville Speedway point race win earlier this season.

Other drivers expected in action this weekend will include Elk Grove’s Greg Decaires, Chico’s Stephen Allard, Easton’s Tommy Tarlton, Fremont’s Brent Bjork, Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg, Fresno’s Mark Workentine, Rio Vista’s Dan Simpson and more.

The front gate at Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm on Friday night with adult tickets costing $20, children 6 to 12 $10, seniors 65 and older $15 and kids five and under will be free. The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California. For more info on the track visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com

On Saturday the front gate at the Placerville Speedway will open at 5pm with adult tickets being $16, juniors $11 and children $5. Also in action during the night will be the full sized Midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association. The Placerville Speedway is located at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville. For more information on the track visit http://www.placervillespeedway.com

www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com

Wright One Construction 360 track points for Ocean Speedway:



1. Bud Kaeding
Campbell Ca
114
Leader


2
Brent Kaeding
Campbell CA
109
-5


3
Tommy Tarlton
Fresno CA
106
-8


4
Jason Statler
San Jose CA
100
-14


5
Evan Suggs
Scott Valley CA
96
-18


6
Brad Furr
Pleasanton CA
94
-20


7
Jerry Bonnema
Watsonville Ca
85
-29


8
Craig Stidham
Fresno CA
77
-37


9
Keith Day
Salinas CA
74
-40


10
Andy Ferris
Mariposa CA
59
-55


11
Craig Smith
San Jose Ca
55
-59


12
Rick Wright
Morgan Hill CA
52
-62


13
Steven Allarad
Fresno CA
49
-65


14
Justin Sanders
Prundale Ca
42
-72


-
Kurt Nelson
Gilroy CA
42
-72


16
Jason Newton
San Jose CA
36
-78


-
Mark Barroso
Merced CA
36
-78


18
Matt Sargent
San Jose CA
34
-80


19
Burt Foland, Jr
Campbell CA
30
-84


20
Chase Wood
Milpitas CA
26
-88


21
Tayler Malsam
Mill Creek CA
25
-89


-
Ronnie Day
Morgan Hill Ca
25
-89


-
Ken Fredenburg
Gilroy Ca
25
-89


24
Tyler Schmidt
Hollister CA
24
-90


25
Mike Stallings
Fresno Ca
21
-93


26
Shane Golobic
Fremont CA
20
-94


-
Brent Bjork
Fremont CA
20
-94


28
Myles Bishop
Escalon Ca
18
-96


29
Anthony Simone
Freson Ca
17
-97


30
GARRETT ISHII
Caruthers Ca
10
-104


31
Wayne Katen
San Jose CA
8
-106


-
JEFF DELTE
San Jose Ca
8
-106


33
DANIEL HOOD
Corralitos Ca
6

www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com

Saturday night's event at the Placerville Speedway will award $3,900 to the winner of the Golden State Challenge Series main event. The extra money is coming in courtesy NMI Industrial Contractors who are sponsoring the evening of racing.

Tyler Walker will look to put the SC Motorsports No. 24 into victory lane during his car owner and sponsors night. Photo by Davy Thomas

www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com