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Double header on the coast up next this Friday & Saturday for the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series at Santa Maria & Ventura
By Gary Thomas
Santa Maria, CA – September 22, 2015…One of the most anticipated outings of the year for the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series is set to take place this weekend, kicking-off at the Santa Maria Raceway on Friday, followed by the second ever visit to the Ventura Raceway on Saturday.
This weekend will mark rounds 14 & 15 in the battle for the statewide championship, which has just five races remaining in 2015. Going into the double header an extremely close fight for the title has developed between a young upstart and one of the veteran drivers in all of California.
On Friday night the series returns to the always luxurious confines of the Santa Maria Raceway. The King of the West 410’s routinely play host to a packed house of fans whenever the series invades the one-third mile clay oval, which was built by the late Doug Fort in 1964.
Fort helped mold Santa Maria Raceway into one of the top dirt tracks in the country as the owner/promoter until his passing in 1999. The unique one-third mile clay oval has been named “Best Short Track Operation West of the Mississippi” on two separate occasions and is nestled in a semi amphitheater of natural terrain, sheltered by dense eucalyptus trees at the top and to the back of the bleacher area.
The Santa Maria Raceway is located 12 miles inland from the Pacific coast, three miles north of the city of Santa Maria and is located a 1/4-mile north of the US 101/166 interchange on Hutton Road. The facility is one hundred seventy miles north of Los Angeles and 260 miles south of San Francisco.
The following night the King of the West 410 Series heads back to the Ventura Raceway, for what will be the second ever Winged Sprint Car event at the track. The facility has been a favorite stop among Wingless Sprint Car & Midget fans/teams over the years and features one of the most picturesque settings you’ll find at any dirt track. Last year KWS sanctioned the inaugural Winged Sprint Car event and it was given a big thumbs up by all involved.
A past column by racing journalist Norm Bogan said of Ventura Raceway: “If you could pick a scenic location for a racing facility, the Fairgrounds at Ventura, California would be near the top of the list. As you sit in the grandstands, you can look to your right and watch surfers riding the waves of the Pacific. To your left, is a background of mountains, covered with many Spanish style, white stucco and red tile homes, interspersed with tall palm trees, while in the foreground, the Coastal Amtrak trains sweep by and blow their whistles. In front of you is one of the best maintained racing facilities in the country.”
“This is going to be a fun weekend once again for all the fans and teams,” commented Brent Kaeding, who captured Rookie of the Year honors at the Santa Maria Speedway in 1978. “It’s always a great trip heading down to Santa Maria and the fans really do an amazing job of packing the place when we come to town. Then on Saturday at Ventura it’s going to be an exciting night with KWS returning to the track for the second time. You’re definitely not going to want to miss it, so be sure and make the trip down to join us. The weekend is almost like a mini vacation for us all.”
After last weekend Lemoore’s Carson Macedo has taken back the KWS point lead. The 19-year-old becomes the fourth different point leader in five races. Bud Kaeding now finds himself in second, but less than 10-markers back of Macedo. The double header this weekend will play a factor in the championship outcome.
Bobby McMahan continues to maintain the third spot in points, but young DJ Netto is right on his heels, just seven-markers behind in fourth. Netto already has two wins this year and looks for more this weekend. Thirteen-time series champion Brent Kaeding rounds out the top-five going into the weekend.
Last year’s Santa Maria & Ventura double header saw Grass Valley’s Jason Statler & Chico’s Kyle Hirst bring home wins respectively. It was a bit of déjà vu for Statler, who claimed a World of Outlaws win at the Santa Maria Raceway in 1999. Going into the weekend Hirst has four KWS wins this season and he hopes to add on Friday & Saturday.
More drivers expected to take part in the weekend will include last Saturday’s winner Dominic Scelzi of Fresno, Chico’s Jonathan Allard, Los Angeles’ Tyler Walker, Gilroy’s Jarrett Soares, Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto, Easton’s Tommy Tarlton, Penngrove’s Chase Johnson, Hollister’s Ryan Bernal, Madera Rancho’s Dalton Hill, Ventura’s Greg Taylor & Cory Kruseman, Merced’s Mark Barroso and others.
Tickets at Santa Maria Raceway on Friday are $25 for adults. Kids 6-12 will be $6. Seniors / Military / Students $ 23. Five and under FREE. On Saturday at Ventura Raceway adult tickets will be $25, seniors/ students with id & military with id will be $15, kids 7-12 are $10, with children 6 & under free accompanied by an adult. The front gate on Friday will open at 4pm, while Saturday will open at 3pm. More information on the events can be found at http://www.santamariaraceway.com and http://www.venturaraceway.com
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at http://www.kwssprints.com
Be sure to like the KWS Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints and become a member of our Twitter community at https://twitter.com/KwsSprintRacing for all the latest breaking news regarding the series
Upcoming KWS events
Friday September 25: Santa Maria Raceway
Saturday September 26: Ventura Raceway
Saturday October 10: Thunderbowl Raceway (KRC Safety Fall Shootout)
Saturday October 24: Keller Auto Speedway (Cotton Classic)
Saturday November 7: Stockton Dirt Track (Tribute to Gary Patterson)
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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