This message was edited on
July 13, 2009 at
10:26:21 PM by Gary Thomas
Photo's by Chuck Fryhttp://www.chucko.com/photo/2009-07-11-Santa-Maria-GSC/index.html
Tyler Walker dominates Doug Fort Memorial for sixth Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series victory of season
By Gary Thomas
Santa Maria, CA – July 13, 2009…The Golden State Challenge Series return to the Santa Maria Speedway proved to be a pivotal round of action on Saturday night as Los Angeles, CA's Tyler Walker utilized a dominating drive in the main event to pick up his sixth win of the season with the traveling 410 tour and re-take the point lead in the process in front of a packed house of race fans.
It marked Walker's 11th career Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series victory and moved him to within one win of tying Kevin Pylant and Jason Meyers for sixth on the all-time win list. "I just love driving for this team and I have a lot of confidence because I know this car is always going to be fast," said the driver of the SC Motorsports No. 24, who also turns 30 years-old this week. "I want to thank all you great fans for coming out tonight and hopefully we can keep coming back to this place."
Despite an earlier start to the program the 30 lap Doug Fort Memorial didn't hit the track until 11pm due to a fuse blowing in a transformer behind the track, which caused a 30 minute-plus delay as the lights went out at the track creating complete darkness. When the racing finally got underway in the main event it was all about Walker as he blasted into the lead from his outside front row starting spot at the waving of the green flag.
Early in the going Walker got a bit bogged down when traffic came into play and it allowed pole sitter Evan Suggs of Scotts Valley the chance to close in. With Suggs closing in to his rear bumper however, Walker made easy work of the two lap cars sitting directly in front of him and was able to put some distance once again between himself and the second place driver.
The only major incident in the feature occurred on lap eight when Easton's Tommy Tarlton looked to the inside of Elk Grove's Kyle Larson for third place on a restart, which resulted in the drivers banging wheels and ending with them upside down in the second corner. After going to the pits both drivers were able to make repairs and return to the track in time for the restart.
When the green lights came back on Walker held a two lapped car advantage and rocketed away from the field aboard his NMI Industrial Contractors, Stainless Distributors No. 24 machine. While many drivers bicycled numerous times on the sticky and heavy Santa Maria Speedway clay, Walker was able to keep his sprinter locked down with an expert set-up from crew chief Lee Lindgren and team, pulling away to a half-lap lead during parts of the 30 lapper.
The final number of laps were clicked off without any issue and Walker charged to the checkered flag to pick up victory, lapping up to seventh place in the 16 car main event. Walker's sixth win of the year has put him in position to break the all-time single-season win record with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series with six nights remaining. He is now just two wins away from tying the mark set by San Jose's Tim Kaeding in 2004 and will bring the GSC point lead into Antioch this coming weekend.
Crossing the stripe in second and earning his best ever Golden State Challenge Series finish was Suggs, who scored his first career podium finish with the traveling 410 sprint car tour. The 22 year-old had a career best night with GSC on Saturday as he also set his fourth fast-time of year to begin the evening and captured the six lap dash for the second time in his career. "We would have liked to win tonight, but we'll take a second to Tyler because he was really fast in the main event," said the driver of the Suggs Racing, Lucas Oil Products No. 33e. "We've needed a good finish like this so it's nice to come out here and run well tonight to hopefully build some momentum."
Earning his first podium finish of the season was Fresno's Craig Stidham, who drove his Brad Johnson Trucking, KRC Safety Equipment No. 3 to a solid third place result in the main event. It marked Stidham's third start of the season with the Golden State Challenge Series and the second top-five he has recorded in those outings. The veteran has always been a welcomed addition to the GSC roster and has arguably long been one of the most underrated drivers on the west coast when it comes to winged sprint car racing.
Finishing fourth in the feature was Ripon's Brandon Carey, who tied his career best Golden State Challenge Series finish in his first visit to the Santa Maria Speedway. It was also the second time in the past three weeks that the youngster has scored a fourth place finish aboard his Carey Racing, Vernon Transportation Company No. 55. Rounding out the top five was Campbell's Bud Kaeding in the BK Motorsports, Angello's ATV Rental No. 29. It marked Kaeding's seventh top-five finish in a row with GSC as he came off his first win of the season the previous weekend in Chico.
Thirteen-time King of California Brent Kaeding captured the Angello's ATV Rental Wheelie Contest during the night and ended the main event in sixth aboard his Al's Roofing Supply No. 69. Two-time and defending California Jonathan Allard ended the main event in seventh after battling "BK" for much of the 30 lap contest at the helm of his Williams Motorsports No. 0.
Full results will available at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
Next Saturday night the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series will invade the Antioch Speedway for Round #19 in the fight for the King of California title.
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Campbell's Brent Kaeding was the winner of the Angello's ATV Rental Wheelie Contest on Saturday night
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Reply to:
Posted By: Oakland Sprint Fan on July 13 2009 at 05:07:18 PM
Anyone have video clips from the race and/or the wheelie contest?? I was curious what the track looked like.
Nice win by T. Walker. The car count may be down this year but the GSC points battle may be cloest in history with the top three drivers only 10 to 20 points apart.
thanks
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I know this is late but the Santa Maria website has the wheelie contest and parts of the race.
"Ralphie, Senor, muchas gracias por una mas cerveza" -
Scott Daloisio @ the PAS
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