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Golden State Challenge Series set for big finale weekend this Friday & Saturday
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – July 22, 2008…An exciting weekend of competition is on tap as the Golden State Challenge King of California Series will put an end to the 2008 racing season this Friday & Saturday with the annual two-night finale at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. A big weekend is expected with extra money and special items on the line beginning with Friday’s festivities that will pay $4,000 to win the A-main, courtesy extra money being kicked in by Specialized Parts Planet.
Then on Saturday it will be the 25th annual Tribute to Gary Patterson, which is being held at the Silver Dollar Speedway for the very first time. Also known as the Dancing Phantom, the Preacher, the Hostile Hippie or just simply “GP”, Patterson was one of the most colorful characters of his time and was a winner of multiple races including the Gold Cup Race of Champions, the Super Dirt Cup and the Turkey Night Grand Prix.
Patterson unfortunately lost life his life in a sprint car crash at the Calistoga Speedway on Memorial Day weekend 1983 and an event in his memory had been held at the half-mile track ever since. With Calistoga not holding any Golden State Challenge Series events this season however, the decision was made to move the Tribute to GP to the Silver Dollar Speedway so the tradition could continue for many years to come. For more information on Gary Patterson please visit http://www.garypattersonracing.com/index.htm
As the Golden State Challenge Series heads into the final weekend of action Chico’s very own Jonathan Allard remains atop the point standings going into his home track of Silver Dollar Speedway. The 2006 King of California is looking to join an elite group as only Brent Kaeding and Steve Kent have won multiple championships with the Golden State Challenge Series since it started in 1986. With just two races remaining in the season Allard holds onto a 31 point lead in the standings and also goes into this weekend as the defending champion of the Tribute to Gary Patterson.
Los Angeles charger Tyler Walker has been giving it his all over the last few weeks in an attempt to catch Allard in the points and comes into this weekend fresh off a victory last Friday and a third place finish on Saturday. The always exciting driver has rolled up the stats this season with eight fast times, nine heat race wins and four main event victories, but Allard’s consistency has held the point advantage in check for much of the year. Walker will be looking for his first career Silver Dollar Speedway win this weekend to help gain ground on the Chico driver.
The most recent winner in Golden State Challenge Series competition is San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, who last Saturday in Antioch claimed his second main event victory in the last three races. T. Kaeding has won a series high five main events this year with GSC and has captured the two most recent series visits he has entered in at the Silver Dollar Speedway, including the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in May. The 29 year-old will be tough to beat this weekend competing in the always potent Roth Motorsports No. 83jr. and is just one victory away from becoming the second driver to reach the 40 win plateau with the Golden State Challenge Series.
Adding to the excitement this weekend will be the expected Silver Dollar Speedway return of Germantown, Tennessee’s Sammy Swindell, who will be behind the wheel of the Tom Rolfe Racing No. 10. The three-time World of Outlaw Series champion has competed in limited action over the last two seasons, but did bring home a fourth place finish at the Gold Cup Race of Champions last September. In his career Swindell has one GSC main event win, which came during the ’02 season at the Salute to Walter T Ross in Calistoga while driving for Dennis Roth.
Thirteen-time King of California Brent Kaeding will look to rebound this weekend after a tough outing at the Silver Dollar Speedway during the Golden State Challenge Series visit two weekends back. The Campbell racer began that night by being deemed too loud on both of his qualifying attempts and finished the evening as a flip victim on two separate occasions in the main event. In his career “BK” has won the Tribute to Gary Patterson four times, tying him with Steve Kent for the most victories in the event.
Campbell’s Bud Kaeding holds onto the third spot in the GSC standings going into this weekend and will look to build off a second place finish at the Silver Dollar Speedway in early July. Sacramento’s Mike Henry ranks fourth in the GSC points and also finished in the fourth position when the series visited Chico two weeks back. Rounding out the top five in the GSC point standings is second year driver Evan Suggs from Scotts Valley who scored back-to-back sixth place finishes at the Silver Dollar bullring earlier this month.
Other drivers expected to take part in some of the weekend will include former King of California’s Jason Statler of Los Gatos & Sean Becker of Oroville, Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Chico’s Stephen Allard, Brett Miller, Brad Bumgarner, Kevin Sharrah, Jason York & Zack West, Sacramento’s Willie Croft, Loomis’ Kyle Hirst, Fremont’s Shane Golobic & Brent Bjork, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Princeton’s Mason Moore, Grass Valley’s Mark Hall and many more.
In addition to the extra main event money on Friday night, Mancamp Motorsports along with Twin Cities Trophies will also be supplying two trophies for each heat race winner and the dash winner. The winners will stop on the front stretch and do a quick interview before heading up into the stands and giving one trophy to a boy and one trophy to a girl. Mancamp Motorsports will also be giving each heat race winner and the dash winner two sleeves of tear-offs.
The overall weekend will also feature a $1,000 bonus put up by Mike & Carol McCann of Cherry St. Mini Storage to the driver who earns the most points over the two-night event. All in all it has the makings of being a very fun weekend with a number of top stars taking to the Silver Dollar Speedway to put a wraps on the 2008 Golden State Challenge Series season.
The front gate will open at about 5:30 pm with adult tickets costing just $16, juniors $11 and kids $5. Racing is expected to kick off sometime around 7 pm each night. The Silver Dollar Speedway is located at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, California. More information can be found at http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com
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