This message was edited on
July 20, 2008 at
02:37:42 PM by Gary Thomas
Tim Kaeding holds off Brent Kaeding in Antioch for 39th career GSC main event win
By Gary Thomas
Antioch, CA – July 19, 2008…Just one night after Tyler Walker got his fourth Golden State Challenge Series win of the season, San Jose’s Tim Kaeding came back on Saturday at the Antioch Speedway and held off all challengers to pick up his fifth feature event victory of the year with the series, moving him back out in front of the wins column.
The evening started off with questions regarding track conditions as a much drier surface was seen on this night early on, but during the main event drivers were able to do a great job and some were able to maneuver around different portions of the tight quarter-mile. Various rough spots had developed in turns one and two which kept drivers on the edge of their seats as it had upset of number of cars during the feature and created a variable to make things interesting.
The initial start of the 30 lap main event saw Campbell’s Brent Kaeding jump into the lead for the second night in a row, but a collision between Destiney Hays and Brent Bjork created a complete restart. When flagman Willie Williams waved the green again “BK” got the hole shot once again to take command in turn one. Pole sitter Tim Kaeding had settled into second, but bicycled in the rough stuff in turn two after one lap was down and it allowed Chico’s Jonathan Allard to slice underneath for the runner-up spot.
A caution just after that however occurred for another collision between Hays and Bjork, which reverted the lap back and put T. Kaeding back in front of Allard for the restart. After getting a couple of more laps run under green conditions a yellow came out on the third circuit and it created a race changing restart. Both Brent and Tim Kaeding went into turns one and two and hit the rough patches, but Brent bicycled more than Tim off turn two and “TK” drove underneath to put the DTR Transport JEI No. 83jr into the lead.
At this point Los Angeles’ Tyler Walker began ripping around the high-side of the Antioch Speedway bullring as he put the NMI Industrial Contractors JEI No. 24 above the ruts in turns one and two. The winner of the previous night’s main event then made the move around Allard on lap five to take over the third position and set his sights on the leaders. Another caution then came out on the 10th lap for Evan Suggs who had contacted one of the big white tires on the inside of the track. Following this however, a long green flag run was seen and gave a chance for traffic to make things exciting up front.
“TK” continued to sit out front, but when traffic came into play it allowed “BK” and “T-Dub” to close in and make it a race as they navigated their way through the thick and heavy lapped traffic. All three drivers sliced and diced their way through the slower cars and did a great job on the tight bullring as inches separated them from the lapped cars. T. Kaeding was on his game and was able to change lanes with great finesse as he continued to cowboy the car through the rough spots in turns one and two and hang on to the top spot.
Walker then began to really step up his challenge and started to hound “BK” for the second spot and on lap 20 he would make the move to take the position, but the 13-time King of California wasn’t giving up easy and shot back by moments later. Just while that was happening however, current Golden State Challenge Series point leader Allard was running a smooth and conservative race in fourth, but on lap 22 tried to get around a couple lapped cars up high off turn two.
As Allard got above them, one of the drivers cut across the groove and clipped his front end, which sent the Williams Motorsports Maxim upside down wildly on the backstretch. It created drama and a number of crew members went to work franticly in the pits hoping to get the car fixed and get him back out to try and make up as many points as possible. They were able to get it fixed as much as they could and he was able to tag the rear of the field and finish the race in ninth.
The final restart of the night saw eight laps remaining and it made for some exciting racing between “TK” and “BK” out front. As the laps wound down it was a battle for the lead as Brent methodically closed in on the No. 83jr machine and with just a few laps remaining a bit of lapped traffic came into play. “BK” looked low a couple times, but couldn’t get the drive he needed and as the white flag waved he continued to be glued to the rear of Tim.
With the pair rounding the final corner a number of lapped cars sat in front of them and “BK” charged to the low side in turn three, but Tim was able to maneuver expertly off the fourth corner to cross the stripe in first for his 39th career Golden State Challenge Series victory. “BK” charged after the younger Kaeding and gave it everything he had, but came up one spot short aboard the Al’s Roofing Supply Maxim. It was still a strong run for the defending GSC champ and kept everyone on their toes as the laps wound down.
Walker finished the main event in the third spot, but very nearly lost it in turn three with about five laps remaining in the race as he bicycled badly in turn three, but was able to do a great job to wheel the car back down. By finishing third it allowed him to cut into Allard’s point lead a bit going into next weekend’s two-night finale in Chico.
Sacramento’s Mike Henry picked up a fourth place finish for the second straight Saturday aboard the World Environmental No. 93 and Campbell’s Bud Kaeding crossed the checkered flag in fifth aboard the MPD Racing Products No. 29. Having an impressive run was Los Gatos’ Jason Statler who broke a shock on the opening lap and was able to wheel the DF Rios Construction No. 00 to a sixth place finish. Despite the car violently bouncing throughout the track Statler was able to manhandle the car through traffic and pick up his second straight sixth place result with the Golden State Challenge Series.
Easton’s Tommy Tarlton came home in seventh with Brandon Carey, Allard and Mark Worketine rounding out the top 10. Full results are available at http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com/gsc/2008/results/index.html
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Tim Kaeding and crew in victory lane at Antioch Speedway. Photo by Paul Trevino Racing Photos
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