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Tim Kaeding puts on clinic at Thunderbowl Raceway to win thrilling Saturday night main event and collect third Trophy Cup title

By Gary Thomas

Tulare, California – October 26, 2009…Over the past number of seasons no driver has been more thrilling at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway than 2002 King of California Tim Kaeding and this past weekend the San Jose racer lived up to that billing once again by putting on one of the greatest drives in recent memory to charge all the way from 24^th to first in the feature on Saturday night aboard the Roth Motorsports, DTR Transport No. 83 jr. to capture his third career Trophy Cup championship.

Kaeding went into the 16^th running of the event on the heels of back-to-back wins to close the GLR Investments 360 Series season at Watsonville's Ocean Speedway and parlayed the momentum into becoming the first driver to ever start dead-last in the Trophy Cup main event and drive all the way through the field for victory. "I feel a bit like Leroy Van Connet right now cause guys like him used to always start in the back and win races like this," said an exuberant Kaeding in victory lane. "That main event right there is what sprint car racing is all about and I hope all you fans enjoyed that one."

Going into the 50-lap, 24-car main event on Saturday night T. Kaeding and Oklahoma's Shane Stewart, arguably the two favorites going into the weekend, sat tied atop the Trophy Cup point standings. The totally inverted feature saw action right from the get-go as drivers tried to find the right spots to put their machines on as the Thunderbowl Raceway had slicked off nicely and created multiple-groove racing. Medford, Oregon's Roger Crockett jumped into the lead early on behind the wheel of his SKS Racing, Omlid and Swinney No. 11 sprinter as he looked to have things going his way out front in the opening stages.

During the first 15-circuits many of the drivers from the rear of the field hadn't made progress as much as expected, with the exception of Chico's Jonathan Allard however, who had been putting on a show from his 18^th starting position. By the time a yellow flag on lap 15 became the mandatory stop for fuel and adjustments, the two-time King of California had charged all the way up into seventh at the helm of his Williams Motorsports No. 0 and was the high-point driver up till that part of the race. Things would change on the restart though as Allard appeared to bicycle in-between turns one and two, which resulted in him getting upside down to put an end to his Trophy Cup chances.

With Allard out of the race the focus was back on Kaeding and Stewart and when the green flag came back out the duo began picking their way forward as the competition intensified throughout the field. While eyes were focused on the point battle Crockett continued to lead out front, but his hopes at victory came to an end on lap 21 when he spun out in turn four. This handed the lead to San Jose's Randy Hannagan, who had also won the past two Trophy Cup Saturday night main events and was in search of making it three-in-a-row. Stalking Hannagan in second however, was Elk Grove's Kyle Larson as the 17-year-old racer looked for any kind of an opening to make his move for the top-spot aboard the Al's Roofing Supply, Stadelhofer Construction No. 99.

Larson looked to the bottom of turn four a couple times and finally got the bite off the exit he needed to slice by Hannagan and claim the lead at the stripe on lap 26, but the "Hurricane" would cut back to the bottom in turn two and put his Terry Hannagan Racing No. 1x machine back out front. At this point Kaeding and Stewart had been putting on a show as well with their thrilling battle for the Trophy Cup point title being a back-and-forth fight. By the time there were 15-laps to go both drivers had worked their way into the top-five with "TK" sitting in fourth and Stewart in fifth. With the race winding down Stewart was able to make his way by Kaeding and put his Paul Silva Motorsports, Probilt Construction No. 57 back atop the Trophy Cup standings, but Kaeding would have none of it and charged back to bottom of the raceway to take back fourth with a little over 10-laps left.

Kaeding though wasn't happy with just riding the race out and continued to show the aggression that has made him one of the most thrilling drivers in all of sprint car racing as he made an amazing move to the bottom of the raceway in turn three to thread-the-needle under Nashville, TN's Paul McMahan and Larson to claim second with just around 10-laps remaining. The 31-year-old then closed in quickly on Hannagan and the pair would proceed to put on an exciting duel for the win as they traded the lead a few different times on the one-third mile clay oval. As Hannagan appeared to not be able to hold the bottom off the exit in turn four "TK" took advantage on lap 46 to put his Dennis and Teresa Roth owned No. 83jr into the top-spot that he would never relinquish, as he pulled away and the large crowd gave Kaeding a standing ovation as he crossed under the checkered flag.

The performance was also reminiscent of a pair of other races at the Thunderbowl Raceway in which Kaeding put on similar charges to claim victories in the past, including a Thanksgiving weekend 410 event in 2002 that saw him come from 16^th to first in the feature, as well as the '06 National Sprint Tour finale where he charged from 13^th to pick up the win. "I have to thank Dennis and Teresa Roth for giving me the opportunity of a life-time and all my guys because this car was amazing again tonight," Kaeding said. "The Trophy Cup is one of the best races around and it's all about supporting the kids of Make-A-Wish and Dennis Roth just told me that he is going to donate the winnings from tonight to the foundation."

Finishing second through 10^th in the 50-lap Trophy Cup finale were Hannagan, Larson, 23rd starter Stewart, Paul McMahan, Fresno's Craig Stidham, Chico's Stephen Allard, Campbell's Brent Kaeding, Friday night winner Andy Forsberg of Auburn and Sacramento's Mike Henry.

The final top-10 in the Trophy Cup standings for the weekend was comprised of Tim Kaeding, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, Andy Forsberg, Kyle Larson, Brent Kaeding, Randy Hannagan, Campbell's Bud Kaeding, Stephen Allard and Craig Stidham.

A total of 68 cars competed in the 16^th annual Trophy Cup this season and had to be considered one of the most exciting in the history of the event, a trend that seems to be happening each and every year. "It was definitely a great Trophy Cup and it was great to see all the support this weekend," said event founder Dave Pusateri. "I want to thank all the drivers and teams, everyone with Thunderbowl Raceway, the sponsors, the volunteers, the announcers, the officials, the fans and everyone who helps support us. I also have to give a big thanks to Dennis and Teresa Roth for their generosity. We still have our golf tournament coming up, but no matter what we're going to be giving Make-A-Wish at least $50,000."

Next up at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway will be the season finale at the 1/3 mile clay oval when the USAC National and CRA Sprint Car Series' invade the track for the Pacific Coast Nationals on Saturday and Sunday November 14 and 15. Many of the top wingless 410 drivers in the country will be on hand at the event including Dave Darland, Levi Jones, Jerry Coons Jr, Cole Whitt, Bryan Clausen, Brad Sweet, Tracy Hines, Kevin Swindell, Jesse Hockett, Damion Gardner and many more. Tickets will be the same price both nights with Reserved Grandstand seats being $35 and General Admission Bleacher tickets being $30. Children under 12 will be half-price in the bleachers. Saturday's show will be a standard start time, while Sunday will be a twilight event starting around 4pm.

Full results from the 16^th annual Trophy Cup and more info on the Pacific Coast Nationals in the coming weeks can be found at http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com

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San Jose drivers Tim Kaeding and Randy Hannagan shaking hands in victory lane after a thrilling Saturday night main event at the Trophy Cup. It also marked the second weekend in a row that the duo has battled it out for a victory in California sprint car racing competition. Photo by http://www.jacksracephotos.net

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Saturday night Trophy Cup results courtesy Ron Rodda-

D main 1---Randy Pierce, Jim Richardson, Roberto Kirby, Burt Foland Jr., Pat Harvey, Steve Jaquith, Albert Pombo (DNS)

D main 2--Kurt Nelson, Andy Ferris, Steve Dyer, Jonathan Logan, Rusty Carlisle, Koen Shaw

Heat 1--Geoff Ensign, Chad Groves, Randy Hannagan, Kyle Hirst, Bradley Terrell, Cory Eliason, Shane Stewart, Kyle Larson

Heat 2--Jason Statler, Mike Reinke, Davey Pombo, Tim Kaeding, Craig Smith, Brad Furr, Henry Van Dam, Steven Tiner

Heat 3--Paul McMahan, Brad Bumgarner, Tommy Tarlton, Shane Golobic, Tyler Walker, Greg DeCaires, Matt Barber, Ronnie Day

Heat 4--Roger Crockett, Jonathan Allard, Mark Dobmeier, Chad Compton, Stephen Allard, Mason Moore, Andy Forsberg, Matt Sargent

Heat 5--Brock Lemley, Peter Murphy, Stan Yockey, Brent Kaeding, Mike Henry, Andy Gregg, Zach Zimmerly, Bobby McMahan

Heat 6--Brett Miller, Sean Becker, Wayne Johnson, Bud Kaeding, Cameron Mendes, Justyn Cox, Craig Stidham, Anthony Simone

C main--Zimmerly, Miller, Compton, Bumgarner, Pierce, Nelson, Sargent, Ferris, Richardson, Foland, Kirby, Logan, Groves, Yockey, Dyer, Simone (dns)

B main--Hannagan, Murphy, Moore, Crockett, Golobic, Statler, DeCaires, Terrell, Becker, Miller, Reinke, D. Pombo, Day, Cox, Bumgarner, Gregg, Zimmerly, Barber, Compton, Smith, Lemley, Mendes, Ensign, Tiner (dns)

A main--T. Kaeding, Hannagan, Larson, Stewart, P. McMahan, Stidham, S. Allard, B. Kaeding, Forsberg, Henry, Van Dam, Crockett, B. Kaeding, Johnson, Tarlton, Dobmeier, Walker, Moore, B. McMahan, Furr, Hirst, J. Allard, Murphy, Eliason

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Trophy Cup DVD info from Grove Hill-

The entire 2 day show is available on 2 DVD's for $25. including postage. It was the most incredible performance I can remember. No one just rolled out of TK's way and let him go. He had at least a dozen hard fought battles getting to the front.

When he caught the Hurricane, he shot by with ease but Randy ran him down and took the lead back a couple of times. Shane Stewart was right on TK's heels through most of the 50 laps and took the spot away from Tim 2-3 times.

Everyone was asking me if I'm coming out of retirement? Not yet! But I will never miss the Trophy Cup. Since I retired Quality Race Video, I no longer have a credit card account or a bank account for the bussiness. You can send a check to:

Grove Hill

19318 Bumpy Lane

Grass Valley, CA 95949

530 268-0197

OR . . . you can go to Paypal and access my account with my email address and ask for the Trophy Cup. The price is the same either way. I get almost instant response from them on any order. DVD's will be ready to ship no later than this thursday.

email [email protected]

2 hrs and 45 minutes but you can select which events you want to go to off the menu, so you won't have to weed through everything to find the events you're looking for.

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Final top-10 in Trophy Cup standings for 2009-

1. Tim Kaeding
2. Shane Stewart
3. Paul McMahan
4. Andy Forsberg
5. Kyle Larson
6. Brent Kaeding
7. Randy Hannagan
8. Bud Kaeding
9. Stephen Allard
10. Craig Stidham

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Next event at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway:

Pacific Coast Nationals-

November 14th & 15th, 2009
USAC National & CRA
Wingless 410 Sprint Cars Series

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Notes from Trophy Cup by Bobby Gerould at http://hammerdownusa.com/

Thanks to Bobby Gerould, Troy Hennig and George Hague for announcing Trophy Cup as always. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better announcing combination than those three.

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I would like to also thank the announcing team this past weekend, GREAT JOB!

Gary, it was nice talking to you again at the races. I look forward to great things next year and hopefully we will see more awesome races like this past weekend.

WHAT A RACE!! TK "is" the threat anytime he shows up at Thunderbowl... he just plain knows that track. I hope the custom "TK" hitch cover I made for him brings even more good luck...LOL

"Winged or non-winged its all about 
the sprint cars for me!"
http://mattmusselldesigns.daportfolio.com

No doubt about it Matt great talking to you all too. It was a great weekend during the races as well as hanging out in the campground. Good times all the way.

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