This message was edited on
May 31, 2010 at
09:28:17 PM by Gary Thomas
Photo by Steve Lamothe of http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
Bud Kaeding comes out on top of late-race duel with Tim Kaeding Sunday night at Calistoga Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Calistoga, CA – May 30, 2010…Winning at the Calistoga Speedway is always a special time for any driver and on Sunday night it was Campbell, California’s Bud Kaeding getting his very first taste of victory at the historic track after claiming the 25-lap Golden State Challenge Series sanctioned Salute to Walter T. Ross main event.
The victory for Kaeding was the eighth of his GSC career, which moves him into a tie with Sean Becker and Jason Statler for 10th on the all-time series win list
“I’ve been trying for a long time to win a race here at Calistoga and it feels awesome to finally get it done,” commented Kaeding. “To be able to come forward in the main event and race like that with my brother for the lead was a lot of fun and hopefully all the fans that came out enjoyed it. There's been so many great drivers that have won here and to add my name to that list is pretty cool.”
The 25-lap feature began with front row starters Kyle Larson and Tim Kaeding going side-by-side in the first set of corners with Kaeding getting the advantage down the back stretch aboard the Roth Motorsports, DTR Transport No. 83. The San Jose driver would stretch out a solid advantage over the first handful of circuits, but just prior to completing the 10th lap Larson proceeded to reel in the leader and make it a fight for the top-spot as lapped traffic came into play.
The driver of the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Casino No. 99 hounded the rear of Kaeding’s machine, looking for a way by in a bid to win his first career main event at the famed half-mile. With the top-two running close together on the speedway sixth starter Bud Kaeding, who had passed Bobby McMahan for third on lap-seven, started to close in and try to make it a three-way tussle for the lead. Just as soon that happened however, the yellow lights came on for Penngrove’s Alissa Geving, who had come to a stop in turn four with 17-laps down.
On the restart Bud Kaeding then shot to the bottom in turns one and two and sliced his way under Larson to put his Alviso Rock, K&N Filters No. 29 into the runner-up spot. Current Golden State Challenge Series point leader Jonathan Allard also tried to follow along for third and got to the youngster's inside in turn three on the same lap, but contact between the pair would ensue in the fourth corner and resulted in Larson’s mount coming to a stop parked sideways to bring out a caution. The Elk Grove driver was able to restart and eventually get back to seventh by the finish to save valuable points in the battle for the King of California crown.
When the green lights came back on Bud Kaeding continued his impressive march to the front and charged to the high-side of older brother Tim to power his way into the lead off the second corner. The fight for third also began to heat up with Vancouver, Washington’s Zach Zimmerly coming after Allard and getting to his inside a couple different times, until making a beautiful pass on the bottom in turn one with just three-laps remaining. Unfortunately for the talented 16-year-old, just after taking the position he would suffer a blown left rear tire and come to a stop in turn four to bring out the final caution of the race.
With only three-laps left T. Kaeding gave it a huge run to the bottom in turn one on the restart and inched ahead of brother Bud, but the three-time & defending USAC Silver Crown Series champion stayed committed to the high-line and rocketed back to his outside to re-claim the lead. T. Kaeding stayed within striking distance over the final couple of circuits, but Bud never faltered and charged off to cross under the Ryan Riley checkered flag to earn his second Golden State Challenge Series win of the season. The extremely excited 30-year-old driver leaped from the car following the race and proceeded to climb the fence to the roar of the enthusiastic crowd on hand.
Tim Kaeding crossed the stripe in the runner-up spot for the second night in a row with Saturday’s winner Allard scoring third aboard the Williams Motorsports, Red Line Oil No. 0 sprinter. Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs put together a strong run in the feature after starting 10th and had an entertaining battle with Allard late in the race, in which he actually passed the two-time King of California with just a couple laps left, before Allard was able to get back by on the final circuit. The driver of the Suggs Racing, Lucas Oil No. 33e finished just behind Allard in fourth to tally his best ever Calistoga Speedway finish. Rebounding from a blown motor in his heat race Grass Valley’s Jason Statler completed the top-five in the main event aboard his DF Rios Construction, YAK Graphics No. 00. For the “Big Guy” it marked his sixth top-five effort of the GSC season.
Rounding out the top-10 in the main event were the C&H Veteran Enterprises No. 26b of Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Kyle Larson, the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 of Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, Zach Zimmerly and the Copeland Motorsports No. 24c of Roseville’s Colby Copeland. Larson claimed the win in the six-lap dash while Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard and Alissa Geving picked up heat race victories during the night. T. Kaeding started the evening by setting fast-time for the second night in a row with a clocking of 17.293 around the half-mile dirt oval. Full results are available at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
The Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series will now head for the Placerville Speedway this coming Saturday night for the 13th round of the season.
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