This message was edited on
June 02, 2009 at
10:25:40 PM by Gary Thomas
Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series makes the tow to Quincy this Saturday night for Round 13
By Gary Thomas
Quincy, CA – June 2, 2009…The beautiful Sierra Mountain town of Quincy will be the destination for the Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series this Saturday June 6 as teams, drivers and fans make their way to the American Valley Speedway. The night of action will be the 13th race of the GSC season and will also mark the third straight year that the traveling 410 sprint car series competes at the Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds track.
Along with Calistoga the American Valley Speedway is one of the most picturesque tracks on the schedule with it being surrounded by a number of trees and beautiful mountain ranges. The 3/8 mile dirt oval is also the second largest track the Golden State Challenge Series will visit this season and its long straight-aways and narrow turns are also very reminiscent of the Calistoga Speedway.
The first pair of visits by the Golden State Challenge Series to the American Valley Speedway have been unique experiences and the racing has been rather entertaining with the action much better than previously predicted. The 3/8 mile speedway is promoted by Curt Nieman with much help from event planner and race coordinator Jim Richardson of Graeagle. Announcing the event for the third straight year will be Chico's Troy Hennig, who is also known as an avid fisherman and hunter in the Plumas County area.
So far in 2009 the racing has been some of the best and most competitive we've seen in recent memory with the Golden State Challenge Series. In the 11 events held so far this season, eight of them have seen the battle for the win come down to the final pair of laps. The on track action has been fierce and we've also had one of the best point battles in many years as Chico's Jonathan Allard and Los Angeles, CA's Tyler Walker have been neck and neck all season long with the talented duo separated by just 11 digits coming into Quincy.
Allard has been Mr. Consistency this year, while Walker has been getting wins on a regular basis, including last Saturday night in Placerville where he held off Allard by just a couple car lengths for victory. In fact four of Walker's wins have come with Allard finishing a very close second to him, with each of them coming down to the final lap. Ironically Allard's lone win this season came when he passed Brad Sweet on the final lap at Silver Dollar Speedway's Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial.
Last season's Golden State Challenge Series event at the American Valley Speedway saw Allard pass San Jose driver Tim Kaeding in traffic with less than 10 laps to go en route to his first victory at the 3/8 mile dirt oval. The two-time & defending King of California is on an amazing streak of eight consecutive podium finishes with GSC as he searches for his third career title with the series. Allard's 10 top-five finishes at the helm of his Williams Motorsports, JP's Paint & Body No. 0 leads GSC in that category and he brings an 11 point lead into Quincy this weekend.
Walker comes into the American Valley Speedway with momentum following his fifth victory of the Golden State Challenge Series season and will look to close in on Allard at the 3/8 mile oval on Saturday. Last year he blistered the Quincy track in 14.537 seconds during qualifying aboard his SC Motorsports, NMI Industrial Contractors No. 24 and brought home a seventh place finish in the feature, following a heat race flip that forced him to start from the fifth row. Walker is also just three wins away from tying the all-time single season GSC win record, set by Tim Kaeding in 2004.
Campbell's Brent Kaeding continues to be another consistency machine as he sits third in points, just 22 back of Allard for the lead and 11 behind Walker for second. "BK" has claimed 11 top-ten finishes, which is tied with Allard for most in the series as he continues to search for his 14th King of California title. Kaeding has driven his Al's Roofing Supply, Kaeding Performance No. 69 to third place finishes in Quincy the last couple seasons and also won an open comp event at the track in August of '06.
Leading Golden State Challenge Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Larson comes into the American Valley Speedway fresh off his first career series victory last weekend. The 16 year-old Elk Grove resident led all 30 laps at the Ocean Speedway on Friday night to pick up the huge win aboard his Vertullo Racing, Starr Property Management No. 83v. Larson currently ranks fourth in the GSC standings and will make his first career American Valley Speedway 410 start on Saturday.
Rounding out the top five in points is Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, who brought home a fourth place finish with the Golden State Challenge Series last season in Quincy. The 22 year-old currently sits atop the track standings at the Ocean Speedway behind the wheel of his Suggs Racing, Riley Collins Body Shop No. 33e and continues to search for his first career GSC victory. Other possibilities to take to the American Valley Speedway in Quincy on Saturday will be 2004 King of California Jason Statler of Grass Valley, Ripon's Brandon Carey, Loomis' Kyle Hirst, Chico's Brett Miller & Brad Bumgarner, Roseville's Colby Copeland, Fremont's Brent Bjork and more.
The pit gate will open at 3pm on Saturday and front gate will open at 5, with racing scheduled to get underway around 7. Adult tickets will be $18, teens 13-17 $15, youth 5-12 $10 and 5 & under are free. The American Valley Speedway is located at the Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds at 204 Fairgrounds Road in Quincy, California. More info can be found at http://web.mac.com/curtnieman/Site/Welcome.html
Up next- Following the event in Quincy this Saturday the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series will head for the "Northwest Swing" beginning on Saturday night June 13 at the Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Oregon. After that the tour will then shift to the Cottage Grove Speedway on Monday evening June 15. Most teams will then continue the trek up I-5 for the 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington on June 18-20.
For more results, information and updated point standings log onto http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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The first pair of visits by the Golden State Challenge Series to the American Valley Speedway have been unique experiences as the track sits in a beautiful setting and is a welcome getaway. Sacramento's Willie Croft and Chico's Jonathan Allard have won main events at the track during the last two seasons.
The 3/8 mile speedway is promoted by Curt Nieman with much help from event planner and race coordinator Jim Richardson of Graeagle. Announcing the event for the third straight year will be Chico's Troy Hennig, who is also known as an avid fisherman and hunter in the Plumas County area. "I always enjoy bringing my fishing pole and doing a little fishing at the local lake's before the races," Hennig said. "It's definitely a soothing experiance before the rumble of the engines start at the track."
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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