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Kyle Hirst holds off a charging Colby Copeland to win his third straight King of the West Sprint Car Series main event on Saturday at Placerville Speedway’s Bullring Nationals
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – July 18, 2015…Chico’s Kyle Hirst has been red hot since re-joining the Roth Motorsports team in mid-May and put together another tremendous performance on Saturday at the Bullring Nationals, racing to his third consecutive and fourth overall King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series victory of the year.
The win gave Hirst a season-sweep of the two KWS events at Placerville Speedway and tied the most victories he’s ever had in a single season with the series. It was also his 15th career King of the West triumph, which ties him with former series champion Tim Green for fifth on the all-time win list.
“We’ve been on a roll lately and I just kept focusing on hitting my marks on all the restarts, as well as late in the race,” commented the two-time King of the West champion. “I can’t thank Dennis & Teresa Roth enough for the opportunity to drive this car. I definitely hope to keep doing it for years to come. I also want to thank all the fans for coming tonight. You guys packed the house and that’s what we love to see. Hopefully we can continue this momentum at the Peter Murphy Classic next week. There’s lot of money on the line at the Murphy and it’s a race that all of us want to win.”
The front row came to the line with KWS point leader going into the night, Carson Macedo of Lemoore on the pole, with Hirst to his outside. The always challenging & tight confines of Placerville Speedway certainly made things interesting as always and when the green lights came on, it was Hirst charging out to the lead. He soon had company in the form of Fremont’s Shane Golobic, who was in search of his first Placerville KWS win. The two drivers battled for the lead, before Golobic was able to slice to his inside for the top-spot. It didn’t last long however, as contact with the infield tire left him without steering on lap-nine.
With Golobic slowing down the front stretch, Macedo had nowhere to go and the two came together creating a caution period. Both drivers looked to be challengers for the victory before the incident. Golobic would go on to have another issue on lap 24, ending his night, while Macedo got upside down just before the checkered flag in turn four on the final lap, resulting in a 17th place finish. The surface got slicker & slicker as the race went on, but Hirst was able to hold the field at bay, despite a lot of moving & shaking going on behind him. Auburn’s Andy Forsberg at times looked like he would challenge Hirst for the win, but was never able to find a way by the fast moving 27-year-old.
The fight for second through seventh was an entertaining one and anybody’s race over the final half of the feature. Roseville’s Colby Copeland continued his strong efforts as of late and made some fantastic moves on restarts to pick cars off. Copeland ran high & low moving his way forward and gave a hard run after Hirst on a restart with three-laps to go. Any slip up by Hirst and Copeland would have gobbled up the lead. That never happened however, and Hirst took the Ed Entz checkered flag by 0.770 seconds over Copeland for the win. In four of the last five King of the West races Hirst has earned three wins and a runner up aboard the Dennis & Teresa Roth owned No. 83jr.
Copeland’s runner up finish was a career best with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series at the helm of his Bianchi Farms/ Van Lare Steering Repair No. 5v mount. The previous week in Watsonville he had earned his first series podium by finishing third. Copeland is one of the drivers in California that has blossomed in 2015 and has certainly gained strength with the year going on. Forsberg fell back some spots late in the going, but in typical “Mr. Excitement” fashion was able to fight his way back forward to round out the podium in the PT Shocks/ Pit Stop USA No. 7c machine. It was Forsberg’s first KWS podium at Placerville in many years and was fun to watch as always.
Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi finished fourth and in doing so has re-taken the King of the West point lead going into next weekend’s Peter Murphy Classic. The 18-year-old finished fourth in both of the Placerville visits this year. Campbell’s Bud Kaeding completed the top-five and now sits just seven-points behind Scelzi for the top spot in the standings. Kaeding this year is in search of his first KWS title. Placerville’s Andy Gregg showed speed all race long and tallied a sixth place finish at the conclusion. It was nice to have the former KWS regular as part of the field for the first time in 2015.
Los Angeles, CA’s Tyler Walker also spent time dicing it up among the top-five, before finishing seventh at the conclusion. Sixteenth starter Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove came home eighth, Coarsegold’s Scott Parker had a great run in ninth and Campbell’s Brent Kaeding earned the KSE Hard Charger Award coming from 20th to 10th. Full results will be available at www.racepmg.com
Bobby McMahan won the night’s 12-lap B-main, while Carson Macedo captured the six-lap dash. The four 10-lap heat races were won by Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler and Andy Forsberg. Carson Macedo kicked-off the night by setting his first fast time of the season with a lap of 10.471 around the quarter-mile. A field of 28-cars was on hand at the Placerville Speedway.
The King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series is now geared up to invade the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway next Saturday July 25 for the second annual Peter Murphy Classic. The huge night of racing & entertainment is paying $11,000-to-win & $1000-to-start the KWS main event. The USAC West Coast 360 Sprints will also be on hand to make for a can’t miss night of Winged & Wingless Sprint Car racing. Camping is available on the fairgrounds for those that want to bring RV’s, trailers or tents.
Reserved grandstand seats for the Peter Murphy Classic cost just $20 with general admission bleacher tickets only $18. To reserve your seat contact (559) 688-0909. The front gate will open at 4pm with racing expected to get underway around 7pm. Make plans to arrive early, as extra money on the line in qualifying is sure to make it one of the best sessions of the year for both classes.
The Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, California. From the junction of SR 99 and SR 137, go west on SR 137. At South K go south one-half mile to the Fairgrounds. More info can be found at http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Colby Copeland scored a career best King of the West Series finish of second on Saturday at Placerville Speedway. The 23-year-old has had his best ever season behind the wheel of a Sprint Car in 2015. Photos courtesy Race Photos by Donna & Tim Holland
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