Hoseheads Sprint Car Photos & News

(October 8, 2019) Jim Allen, Sacramento, CA ... The King of the West-NARC 410 Fujitsu Sprint Car Series will bring their high-stakes championship battle to Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, this Saturday, October 12th, for the highly-anticipated 34th annual Cotton Classic. This program will also feature the Sprint Car Challenge Tour 360's and POWRi midgets, in a full show that promises to deliver plenty of exciting open wheel racing action.

With only two-races remaining in the 60th Anniversary King of the West-NARC season, all eyes will be focused on local driver DJ Netto, who is the series championship points leader. Netto, who has scored three career series wins, is still looking to make his first victory lane appearance of 2019. However, he has maintained his slim point lead (1896-1890) over 2017 champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell by being a model of consistency. He has scored 15 top ten finishes and managed to stay out of trouble all season, which is the key to winning a title.

To date, the series has already produced nine different winners, led by one of the hottest drivers in California: Dominic Scelzi of Fresno. Scelzi has captured two of the past three events, and five total this season, including a dominating performance at Kern County Raceway Park Saturday night. Scelzi has now moved to within eight points of Netto in the standings.

To put the pressure-packed battle into perspective, the points margin between Netto and Scelzi is the difference between winning and finishing seventh in the 30-lap main event. In addition, there are qualifying points up for grabs.

While the top teams continue their championship quest, all of the other competitors are basically delegated the role of playing spoiler. Among them is another Hanford driver, Mitchell Faccinto, who has claimed the past two Cotton Classic events. Ironically, those are the only two King of the West by NARC career wins on Faccinto's racing resume.

"We run good there because we have a lot of laps at that track throughout the years," explains Faccinto. "I think it helps in knowing how the track will change throughout the night and in the main event."

What are the chances of making it three-in-a-row? "We just have to qualify good and get into the dash," continued Faccinto, "which means a lot with this (racing) format. After that it’ll just come down to making good decisions. We have the speed to go three in a row."

Others top contenders will include Willie Croft and Colby Copeland of Roseville; Hollisters Ryan Bernal; Geoff Ensign of Sebastopol; Penngrove's Chase Johnson; Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts of Atwater; Elk Grove's Shane Golobic; Jason Statler of Grass Valley; and many others.

The King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Racing Series racing program will feature qualifying, three 10-lap heat races, a six-lap dash, and the 30-lap main event.

Pit gates open at 1:00 p.m. From gates open at 4:00 p.m. with racing set to get underway at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased by going to racekingsspeedway.com.

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Associate and product award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, ButlerBuilt, FK Rod Ends, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
November 2 - Stockton Dirt Track w/SCCT
November 3 - Championship Awards Brunch - Brookside Country Club - Tickets are on sale now - 714-397-7417 or info@NARC410.com

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series (10/8/19)
After 17 events in the 19-race series

DJ Netto, Hanford - 1894
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (2) - 1890
Dominic Scelzi, Fresno (5) - 1886
Willie Croft, Roseville - 1868
Ryan Bernal, Hollister (R) - 1848
Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol (R) - 1802
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater - 1743
Sean Watts, Atwater (1) - 1723
Kenny Allen, Chico - 1677
Chase Johnson, Penngrove (1) - 1627
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford - 1442
Shane Golobic, Elk Grove - 1326
Colby Copeland, Roseville (1) - 1313
Jason Statler, Grass Valley - 1233
Tim Estenson, Fargo ND (R) - 1092
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento - 1078
Matt DeMartini, Oakley (R) - 950
Rico Abreu, Rutherford (2) - 794
Jonathan Allard, Tracy - 712
Mark Barroso, Merced - 692

Other Winners: Tim Kaeding (2), Justin Sanders, Aromas (2), Kyle Larson, Elk Grove (1).

SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION
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(9/1/19) By Jim Allen, Calistoga, CA ... It was the Rico Abreu sprint car show at Calistoga Speedway Sunday night. The popular driver started on the pole and dominated the field, leading all 25-laps at the second night of the Louie Vermeil Classic for the King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Racing Series!

Combined with setting fast time, winning the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash, and the feature, Abreu cashed out $7800 for his nights efforts, plus the coveted "Louie" trophy. His winning ride was the potent Abreu Vineyards/Golden State McDonalds-sponsored number 24 sprint car. It was his 12th career victory on the historic half-mile oval. The only thing preventing a clean sweep was a second place finish in his heat race.

The 27-year old driver was the class of the field from the original green jumping out to a huge 10-car length advantage over Shane Golobic, Ryan Bernal, and Bud Kaeding. The first 15-laps ran non-stop with Abreu masterfully dicing through traffic until the caution flag came out for Colby Copeland. It came out again on lap 17 for Kenny Allen. On each restart, Abreu dished out more of the same and went on to score the popular victory.

"My guys gave me a car that I could run anywhere," said Abreu. "I was able to move up or down the track to get through traffic which was good because I didn't know if anybody was close behind."

After his interview, Abreu invited all of the young fans up to the podium to share in the thrill of victory.

Bud Kaeding, driving the Alviso Rock/Kaeding Performance Maxim, passed Bernal on the second circuit and picked off Golobic on lap 15 but eventually had to settle for the runner-up spot at the checkered. That was worth $3000. Golobic completed the podium finishers in his Elk Grove Ford/NOS Energy car, $2000 richer.

First night Vermeil winner Dominic Scelzi piloted the Roth Motorsports KPC to fourth after starting tenth. Fifteenth starter and points leader DJ Netto battled to a solid fifth place outing aboard the Netto Ag KPC. That effort earned him the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger Award.

The next five to cross the checkered were Bernal, JoJo Helberg, 17th starter Geoff Ensign, Mitchell Faccinto, and 20th starter Willie Croft.

Golobic, Sean Watts, and Bernal were heat race winners.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (25-laps): Rico Abreu, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, Ryan Bernal, JoJo Helberg, Geoff Ensign, Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Sean Watts, Shane Hopkins, Nathan Rolfe, Jason Statler, Matt DeMartini, Nathan Schank, Kenny Allen, Colby Copeland.

LAP LEADERS: Abreu 1-25

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (20 cars): Rico Abreu - 17.186 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (8 laps): Shane Golobic, Rico Abreu, Dominic Scelzi, Colby Copeland, Mitchell Faccinto, Nathan Rolfe, Nathan Schank.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (8 laps): Sean Watts, Shane Hopkins, Bud Kaeding, JoJo Helberg, Jason Statler, Geoff Ensign.

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (8 laps): Ryan Bernal, Sean Becker, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson, Willie Croft, Matt DeMartini, Kenny Allen

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Rico Abreu, Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Ryan Bernal, Shane Hopkins, Sean Becker

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(8/31/19) By Jim Allen, Calistoga, CA ... Dominic Scelzi passed Chase Johnson with only three laps remaining to score Saturday's exciting King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series feature event at Calistoga Speedway's Louie Vermeil Classic.

The victory was worth $6000 for Scelzi and the Dennis & Teresa Roth HR Livestock Transportation KPC team. It was their fourth series win of the season.

Johnson claimed the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash to earn the right to start the 25-lap affair on the pole. He jumped out to a healthy lead and despite some early race cautions consistently held his closest pursuers at bay. Ryan Bernal moved into the hunt and reeled in the frontrunner as the pair negotiated slower traffic midway through the event. Bernal managed to get past Johnson in the third corner on the 16th circuit and quickly expanded his advantage over the next mile and a half until his right rear tire shredded. This brought out the caution and handed the lead back to Johnson for the restart.

Both Scelzi and Willie Croft immediately jumped into the fray and the front trio battled wheel-to-wheel for a couple of laps until Johnson's ride sputtered going down the front straightaway. Both drivers jumped on the opportunity to get past the leader. Scelzi would hold on to his advantage and hold off Croft to score the win.

"I got lucky," said Scelzi afterwards. "Chase had a good car for most of the race, until I saw it sputter. That got me fired up because I knew I had a shot. I'm just glad I could get this win for my team at Calistoga. It's special to win here."

Croft secured second in his Amerikote/Holey Smokes BBQ sprinter. Eighth starter Bud Kaeding locked down the third spot in the Alviso Rock Maxim. King of the West by NARC championship point leader finished fourth in the Netto Ag/Rotella Shell KPC. Bullet Impressions fast qualifier Rico Abreu rounded out the top five in his Abreu Vineyards/McDonald-sponsored car.

The second five included Colby Copeland, Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, and Johnson. The Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award went to Geoff Ensign, who passed seven cars from his 19th starting position.

Heat races were picked off by Johnson, DJ Netto, and Shane Golobic.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (25-laps): Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Rico Abreu, Colby Copeland, Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, Chase Johnson, Nathan Rolfe, Geoff Ensign, JoJo Helberg, Matt DeMartini, Nathan Shank, Shane Golobic, Ryan Bernal, Kenny Allen, Shane Hopkins

LAP LEADERS: Chase Johnson 1-16, Bernal 17-19, Johnson 20-22, Scelzi 23-25

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (20 cars): Rico Abreu - 17.559 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (8 laps): Chase Johnson, Dominic Scelzi, Colby Copeland, Sean Watts, Rico Abreu, Kenny Allen, Jenna Frazier

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (8 laps): DJ Netto, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, Nathan Rolfe, Matt DeMartini

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (8 laps): Shane Golobic, Ryan Bernal, JoJo Helberg, Nathan Shank, Jason Statler, Shane Hopkins

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Chase Johnson, Ryan Bernal, Willie Croft, Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto

https://narc410.com/2019/08/26/king-of-the-west-narc-sprint-cars-return-to-the-louie-vermeil-classic-at-calistoga/

(August 27, 2019) Jim Allen, Sacramento, CA … The 60th Anniversary King of the West by NARC season comes full circle when the 410 winged sprint cars return to Calistoga Speedway to compete at the Louie Vermeil Classic on Saturday and Sunday, August 31st and September 1st. The sanctioning body, which was started in 1960 by Vermeil in Calistoga’s famous Owl Garage, will join the non-wing USAC-CRA sprint cars to provide race fans with the best of all worlds at the historic half-mile located in the picturesque Napa Valley.

The lucrative two-day show features a stout $108,000 purse. The winner of each feature event will earn a $6000 payday. There is also a $2000 bonus for any driver who can win in both a King of the West by NARC winged car and a USAC-CRA non-winged sprint car.

The Calistoga races mark the 15th and 16th stop of the ultra-competitive 19-race King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Racing Seriescampaign. The series just wrapped up the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports this past weekend, adding two new names to the 2019 winners list (Kyle Larson and Tim Kaeding). That makes nine for the season even though several name brand drivers are still looking for their first score.

Hanford’s DJ Netto leads the high-powered series into Calistoga Speedway as the championship point leader. Even though he has yet to score a victory this year, he has been a remarkably consistent top finisher. The ability to finish in the top ten, even on what can be best described as an “off-night” is the key to winning the 2019 crown. Netto’s current margin over 2017 champ Bud Kaeding of Campbell is only 12-points (1558-1546). Kaeding is a two-time winner this season, including last Friday at the Stockton Dirt Track. Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi, a three-time winner, is another seven points back in third place.

Netto is looking forward to posting another productive weekend of racing on his resume’; this one on the high-testosterone high-speed half mile oval. “I think it’s going to be a great weekend for the Northern Auto Racing Club being back at the Vermeil Classic. It should be one that all race fans should really enjoy.”

“I hope we can run upfront and contend for wins this weekend,” said Netto. “That would represent a great two-days for my team. To have a chance to win at Calistoga, I have to be smooth and turn great laps. Qualifying is huge as well as having a good car.”

Others expected to compete include Rutherford’s Rico Abreu; Ryan Bernal of Hollister; Roseville’s Willie Croft, Colby Copeland and Sean Becker; Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts from Atwater; Chico’s Kenny Allen; Chase Johnson of Penngrove; Grass Valley’s Jason Statler; Sebastopol’s Geoff Ensign; Hanford’s Mithcell Faccinto; Shane Golobic of Elk Grove; Sacramento’s Jenna Frazier; and many others.

It should be pointed out that the Louie Vermeil Classic is more than just a couple of races. It’s an entire fun-filled weekend loaded with extracurricular activities. On Friday night at the Napa County fairgrounds, seven new members will be inducted into the prestigious Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame.

On Saturday, there will be live music at the fairgrounds pavilion, along with wine tasting activities with 25 local vintners and vendors from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Sunday, Beer Tasting will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The King of the West by NARC racing program includes qualifying, three eight-lap heat races, a six-lap trophy dash, followed by the 25-lap Fujitsu-sponsored headliner.

The ticket booth and pit gates open both days at noon. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. Qualifying is set to get underway at 6:00 p.m.

Calistoga Speedway is located at the Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga, approximately 25-miles north of Napa on Highway 29. For tickets and additional information, call 916-773-7225.

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Associate and contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, ButlerBuilt, FK Rod Ends, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

All King of the West-NARC events are available on Speed Shift TV – https://www.speedshifttv.com/

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 5 – Kern County Raceway Park

October 12 – Keller Auto Speedway w/SCCT

November 2 – Stockton Dirt Track w/SCCT

November 3 – Championship Awards Brunch – Brookside Country Club

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series (8/27/19)
After 14 events in the 19-race series

DJ Netto, Hanford – 1558
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (2) – 1546
Dominic Scelzi, Fresno (3) – 1539
Willie Croft, Roseville – 1529
Ryan Bernal, Hollister (R) – 1526
Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol (R) – 1481
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater – 1432
Sean Watts, Atwater (1) – 1410
Kenny Allen, Chico – 1375
Chase Johnson, Penngrove (1) – 1335
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 1226
Shane Golobic, Elk Grove – 1111
Colby Copeland, Roseville (1) – 1104
Jason Statler, Grass Valley – 1023
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento – 1003
Tim Estenson, Fargo ND (R) – 986
Matt DeMartini, Oakley (R) – 747
Jonathan Allard, Tracy – 712
Stephen Ingraham, Fair Oaks (R) – 689
Tim Kaeding, San Jose (2) – 687

Other Winners: Justin Sanders, Aromas (2), Rico Abreu, Rutherford (1); Kyle Larson, Elk Grove (1).

(8/24/19) By Jim Allen, Stockton, CA ... Tim Kaeding clinched the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports title with an impressive $10,000 King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series victory in front of a huge crowd at the Stockton Dirt Track's Champions Classic on Saturday.

It was his second victory aboard Rod Tiner's potent AB Company/Shark Racing Engines number 83 Helix sprinter during the four day event. He finished third in the other two races to walk away with an additional $2000 from the Sunnyvalley Bacon point fund. It was his 68th career series win.

Despite the popular victory, Kaeding was very apologetic in victory lane, after inadvertently running into the slower car of Jace VanderWeerd. While cutting through traffic with just five laps remaining, Kaeding clipped the front end of VanderWeerd's causing him to flip and bring out the only red flag of the 30-lapper. Luckily, he was unhurt.

"The first thing I want to say is I apologize to Jace and his team," said Kaeding. "I thought I had him cleared while going past him and I feel really bad. I know I hit him hard because it shook my head inside my helmet."

Surprisingly, Kaeding did not sustain any damage to his car, which allowed him to hold off a hardcharging Shane Golobic and King of the West by NARC championship point leader DJ Netto in the late going to secure the win.

"I can't say enough about Rod Tiner and all of the guys on this team," continued Kaeding. "They worked really hard to give me a great race car these past four days."

ARP fast qualifier and Pole Shuffler winner Dominic Scelzi led the first 10-laps, until Kaeding drove under him in turn one and motored out of the second corner with the lead. Golobic, who started sixth aboard Matt Wood's Elk Grove Ford ride, powered past Scelzi with six to go to move into the hunt. Golobic pressured Kaeding in the late going, but was unable to make anything stick.

Netto may have had the fastest car on the track after the red flag and charged into third with four remaining. Netto launched a couple of attacks at Golobic, but had to settle for third aboard the Netto Ag/Rotella Shell KPC.

Kyle Larson drove the Finley Farms-sponsored ride to fourth, followed by Scelzi in the Roth Motorsports KPC.

The second five to cross the checkered was Rico Abreu, Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft and Colby Copeland. Geoff Ensign earned the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award charging from 23rd to 11th.

Heat races were picked off by Golobic, Faccinto and Chase Johnson.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Tim Kaeding, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Kyle Larson, Dominic Scelzi, Rico Abreu, Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, Colby Copeland, Geoff Ensign, Ryan Bernal, Kyle Offill, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, Tim Estenson, Michael Sellers, Jace Vanderweerd, Cole Macedo, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, Kenny Allen, Jonathan Allard, Jenna Frazier.

LAP LEADERS: Scelzi 1-10, T. Kaeding 11-30

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (24 cars): Dominic Scelzi - 13.661 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (8 laps): Shane Golobic, Kyle Larson, Cole Macedo, Dominic Scelzi, Colby Copeland, Michael Sellers, Jason Statler, Kenny Allen.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (8 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard, Sean Watts, Rico Abreu, Jace VanderWeerd, Geoff Ensign.

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (8 laps): Chase Johnson, Ryan Bernal, DJ Netto, Willie Croft, Kyle Offill, Tim Estenson, Nathan Rolfe.

SUNNYVALLEY BACON/FOUR CCCC'S CONSTRUCTION POLE SHUFFLE: Netto beat Larson; Golobic beat Netto; T. Kaeding beat Golobic; Faccinto beat T. Kaeding; Scelzi beat Faccinto.

(8/23/19) By Jim Allen, Stockton, CA ... Bud Kaeding put together a dominating sprint car performance at the Stockton Dirt Track Friday Night leading all 30-laps of the King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series Champions Classic feature event.

Kaeding, piloting the Morrie Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock/AV Solutions/Williams Roofing Maxim, started on the pole after winning the dash and became the third different winner during the "Fastest Four Days in Motorsports" series. His second win of the season was worth $5000.

Willie Croft bird-dogged Kaeding for most of the contest making a couple of serious challenges as the pair negotiated through lap traffic. However, Kaeding answered the call, taking no prisoners, eventually winning by about a 10-car length margin.

"That was a lot of work," said Kaeding in his victory lane interview sitting on his tire, "and I'm glad all of you fans enjoyed it. That $5000 isn't too bad either."

Croft swapped positions with Tim Kaeding midway through the event, but Croft battled back to secure the runner-up position in his Amerikote-sponsored ride. Kaeding scored his third podium finish in as many nights aboard Rod Tiner's Shark Racing Engines Helix. T. Kaeding is the current point leader for the special Sunnyvalley Bacon four-day point fund.

Current King of the West by NARC championship point leader DJ Netto secured fourth aboard his Netto Ag KPC. NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson rounded out the top five in Paul Silva's Finley Farms/McDonalds Eagle.

The second five to cross the checkered were Shane Golobic, Rico Abreu, Geoff Ensign, Mitchell Faccinto, and Dominic Scelzi.

Heat races were scored by Bud Kaeding, Croft and Golobic.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, Tim Kaeding, DJ Netto, Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic, Rico Abreu, Geoff Ensign, Mitchell Faccinto, Dominic Scelzi, Colby Copeland, Ryan Bernal, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, Nathan Rolfe, Tim Estenson, Jenna Frazier, Cole Macedo, Sean Watts, Kenny Allen

LAP LEADERS: Bud Kaeding 1-30

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (20 cars): Kyle Larson - 13.624 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Nathan Rolfe, Kyle Larson, Chase Johnson, Colby Copeland, Tim Estenson, Ryan Bernal.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Geoff Ensign, Rico Abreu, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, Jenna Frazier.

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Dominic Scelzi, Mitchell Faccinto, Tim Kaeding, Cole Macedo.

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Tim Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Kyle Larson

(8/22/19) By Jim Allen, Chico, CA ... Tim Kaeding found himself in the right place at the right time and capitalized to score round two of the King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series "Fastest Four Days in Motorsports" at Silver Dollar Speedway. He pocketed $5000 for his efforts!

Kaeding, started the 30-lapper in the fourth spot aboard Rod Tiner's Shark Racing Engines Helix sprint car and watched the race unfold in front of him. He motored past fast qualifier Andy Forsberg on the second circuit for the runner-up spot and then had a front row seat when race leader Shane Golobic's motor blew on lap six. At the same time that was happening, the race came to a screeching halt when Stephen Ingraham took a nasty barrel roll down the backchute. He suffered a knee injury but limped away from his destroyed race car under his own power.

Kaeding inherited the lead for the restart, but had to fend off a tailgating Kyle Larson and the freight train that included Forsberg, Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding and Colby Copeland. Larson began to challenge the leader as the pair zigged and zagged through slower traffic. However, Larson charge ended when he jumped the cushion and spun on lap 17, bringing out the caution.

The two-time King of the West champion continued where he left off and survived two more caution periods on his way to his 67th career series victory. Kaeding put an exclamation point on his win with a massive crowd pleasing wheelie at the checkered.

The battle for the runner-up position was a classic open wheel battle that saw the next three drivers swap positions on a corner by corner basis. Pole Shuffle winner Mitchell Faccinto ultimately won that battle in the TSG Recycling Disposal KPC. Forsberg settled for the show position aboard his own A & A Stepping Stone sprint car. Fourteenth starter Bud Kaeding drove the Alviso Rock Maxim to a fourth place finish. That earned him the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award. Colby Copeland scored fifth piloting the Antaya Motorsports Maxim.

"This one feels real good," said a happy Kaeding in victory lane. "I don't know how many of these wins I have left in my career so I'm enjoying every one! I can't say enough about Rod Tiner and this team who gave me a great race car. This one was a lot of fun!"

The second five to take the checkered was 11th starter Nathan Rolfe, series point leader DJ Netto, ninth row starter and semi-winner Dominic Scelzi, Larson, and Rico Abreu.

Willie Croft also got upside down early in the feature. He was unhurt.

Heat races were claimed by Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Jonathan Allard, and Michael Ing.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Tim Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, Andy Forsberg, Bud Kaeding, Colby Copeland, Nathan Rolfe, DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu, Jonathan Allard, Geoff Ensign, Ryan Bernal, Sean Watts, Heath Hall, Chelsea Blevins, Michael Ing, Gary Paulson, Shane Golobic, Stephen Ingraham, Cole Macedo, Willie Croft, Sean Becker.

LAP LEADERS: Forsberg 1, Golobic 2-6, T. Kaeding 7-30.

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (29 cars): Andy Forsberg - 11.258 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Colby Copeland, Andy Forsberg, Kyle Larson, Geoff Ensign, Dominic Scelzi, Jason Statler, Travis Moore.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Nathan Rolfe, Mitchell Faccinto, Sean Becker, Chelsea Blevins, Blake Carrick, Chase Johnson.

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Jonathan Allard, Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Heath Hall, Sean Watts, Gary Paulson, Rico Abreu.

KAEDING PERFORMANCE CENTER FOURTH HEAT (10 laps): Michael Ing, Kenny Allen, Tim Kaeding, Stephen Ingraham, Ryan Bernal, Cole Macedo, Jenna Frazier.

FOUR CCCC'S CONSTRUCTION/SUNNYVALLEY BACON POLE SHUFFLE (6 laps): Croft beat Ing; T. Kaeding beat Croft; Golobic beat T. Kaeding; Faccinto beat Golobic; Faccinto beat Forsberg.

SAFECRAFT SAFETY EQUIPMENT SEMI (12 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Rico Abreu, Cole Macedo, Chase Johnson, Gary Paulson, Blake Carrick, Jason Statler, Jenna Frazier, Travis Moore.

(8/21/19) By Jim Allen, Placerville, CA ... Kyle Larson kicked off the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports with a thrilling sprint car victory to claim Wednesday's King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series 30-lap headliner at Placerville Speedway. Larson also won the BCRA midget feature.

Larson started the Paul Silva Finley Farms/McDonalds-sponsored sprint car in the fourth spot in the 24-car grid and took advantage of a pair of late race cautions to set up his winning move. The last one allowed him to negotiate his way past Shane Golobic with only a mile remaining on the quarter-mile high banks to score the popular $5000 victory.

Pole Shuffle winner Mitchell Faccinto paced the frantic field for the first five laps, holding off the aggressive advances of Tim Kaeding, Golobic and Larson. Kaeding finally won a drag race down the front straightaway on lap six to take the point. Golobic and Larson followed suit two laps later. The top four cars battled closely in a high speed game of cat and mouse through traffic as track champion Andy Forsberg also moved into contention.

Golobic, piloting the Elk Grove Ford/NoS Energy sprinter, pestered Kaeding for several laps and finally powered past the leader as the pair crossed the flagstand on lap 20. Larson mastered the cushion and moved into second with five laps left when the red came out for Blake Carrick who got upsidedown on the back straightaway. He was unhurt.

That bunched up the field for the restart and Larson quickly went to work. He maneuvered under Golobic in the fourth turn with four to go and cruised to the win. It was the 2010 King of the West champion's eighth career series win.

"That caution helped me in the end," admitted Larson. "It took me a little while to get through the field, but the yellow bunched them up at the right time."

Golobic scored the runner-up spot, chased by Kaeding in the Shark Racing Engines Helix. Forsberg settled for fourth in his A & A Stepping Stone ride, chased by 12th starter Rico Abreu.

The second five to cross the checkered was Colby Copeland, Faccinto, Chase Johnson, Sean Becker, and Dominic Scelzi. Bud Kaeding earned the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award after starting 21st and finishing 12th.

ARP Fast Qualifier Andy Gregg claimed top honors in the 12-lap semi. Heat races were picked off by Scelzi, Cole Macedo, Golobic, and Abreu.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic, Tim Kaeding, Andy Forsberg, Rico Abreu, Colby Copeland, Mitchell Faccinto, Chase Johnson, Sean Becker, Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Ryan Bernal, Stephen Ingraham, Kenny Allen, Shane Hopkins, Brad Sweet, Andy Gregg, Geoff Ensign, Nathan Rolfe, Blake Carrick, Cole Macedo, Jonathan Allard.

LAP LEADERS: Faccinto 1-5, T. Kaeding 6-19, Golobic 20-25, Larson 26-30

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (32 cars): Andy Gregg - 10.493 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Mitchell Faccinto, Tim Kaeding, DJ Netto, Jonathan Allard, Ryan Bernal, Andy Gregg, Matt DeMartini.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Cole Macedo, Kyle Larson, Sean Becker, Bud Kaeding, Geoff Ensign, Willie Croft, Jason Statler, Jenna Frazier.

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Andy Forsberg, Chase Johnson, Stephen Ingraham, Kenny Allen, Shane Hopkins, Gary Paulson.

KAEDING PERFORMANCE CENTER FOURTH HEAT (10 laps): Rico Abreu, Colby Copeland, Blake Carrick, Brad Sweet, Nathan Rolfe, Michael Sellers, Sean Watts.

SUNNYVALLEY BACON/FOUR CCCC'S CONSTRUCTION POLE SHUFFLE: Larson beat Forsberg; Larson beat Copeland; T. Kaeding beat Larson; Golobic beat T. Kaeding; Faccinto beat Golobic.

SAFECRAFT SAFETY EQUIPMENT SEMI (12 laps): Andy Gregg, Willie Croft, Ryan Bernal, Shane Hopkins, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, Gary Paulson, Michael Sellers, Jenna Frazier, Matt DeMartini

And just like that ..., BAMM! ..., we’re at the halfway point of the King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car 60th Anniversary season. Ten races down and nine to go! It has been more than interesting up to this point and with some special events on the horizon, that status promises to get elevated a few more notches.

So ..., before I get into some mid-season awards, let’s talk about those special events. The next couple of weeks will feature six events, including the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports and the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway. By now you should know that the one and only Kyle Larson will be racing at all four of the August 21-24th events. If you don’t, you need to get better Wi-Fi in your cave! Now throw in Brad Sweet, Rico Abreu, and USAC star Spencer Bayston on top of the normal star-studded King of the West by NARC driving roster and we’ve got a high profile stage set that should impress any cave or basement dweller. There's $120,000 up for grabs, with the first three races paying $5000 to win, and the ATM machine at the big Stockton Dirt Track Champions Classic finale doling out $10,000 to the winner! That one pays $1000 to start the A-Main. It promises to be a great four-day road show. And yes, Peter Murphy is now involved in this Brad Sweet Promotion, so expect it to shine!

Then as soon as you catch your breath from those four days, it’s time to head to the wine country for the August 31-September 1st Louis Vermeil Classic. This is a perfect tie in to our 60th Anniversary season, returning to the half-mile oval honoring honor the man who got this Northern Auto Racing Club gig started way back when. Tommy & Jeannie Hunt have their normal spectacular racing showcase on tap that actually kicks off with Friday’s Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame dinner at the Napa County Fairgrounds. Then it’s two-straight days of King of the West by NARC and USAC-CRA sprint cars. These two shows pay $6000 to win and $600 to start. It will be interesting to see how many drivers compete in both divisions. By the way, the Hunt’s also announced that they're giving away 10 Hoosier right rears each night by way of random draw – five to each division. For those of you haven’t hung out at the Fairgrounds for this event, it’s loaded with extracurriculars, including wine tasting on the fairgrounds. We plan to put some engine whine into the wine country.

Now, for those of you who might have missed the last two events on our schedule, here is a quick recap:

OCEAN SPEEDWAY (HOWARD KAEDING CLASSIC): Willie Croft earned his third ARP Quick Qualifier Award of the season, plus a commemorative Billy Albini “Tuned to Perfection” fast time award sponsored by Norm Rapp (and 300 bucks.) He also claimed the Mike Avilla fast time award at Chico earlier in May to put the two best quick time awards of the season in his trophy case. … Bill Aton picked up where he left off at Petaluma the week prior, leading the first six laps. … Sean Watts pocketed a cool grand for winning the Williams Roofing Dash for Cash. The dash rewarded drivers who have made every show and had their number pulled during the season lucky fan pill draw. He beat Dominic Scelzi, Kenny Allen and Geoff Ensign to the line. … Bud Kaeding, who has been dominating at Ocean this season in the iconic 69 Kaeding Performance 360 sprint car, scored top honors to claim his first KWS-NARC victory since his photo finish over Kyle Hirst at Tulare last season. It was worth $5000, and his victory lane celebration was entertaining. Once Kaeding got past Shane Golobic and Billy Aton, he was the class of the field. Shane Golobic and Willie Croft were the other two on the podium. Don't look now but Willie Croft is quietly creeping up the point standings. …

... Thank you to Al’s Roofing Supply and ALL the supporters of this great two-day show. More importantly, thank you to the entire Kaeding family who put a lot of work into making this race a success. Good things don't happen by accident. … Two-day weekend shows are the best. Campers everywhere making for a great family atmosphere. ... Miles McAtee and his crew served up another gem of a lunch at the Howard Kaeding Luncheon. … Overall, more than $5000 was raised for the NARC Benevolent Fund. … Cole Macedo = Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger. 20th to seventh. … 35 cars … Mitchell Faccinto and Stan Greenberg have experienced more than their share of mechanical issues this season. They ended up 23rd. …

SANTA MARIA RACEWAY (WINGED MADNESS): The return to Santa Maria was like going to your five-year high school reunion. You saw old friends, relived old memories, and had a great time. The only thing you didn't have was the girlfriend who broke your heart, but she's divorced now with her three kids. This reunion was well supported as Aussie promoter Nick Duggan reported that he enjoyed his largest crowd of the season. The racing was spectacular also with Dominic Scelzi picking off Chase Johnson with two to go to score the “W.” … Nathan Rolfe had a career night, qualifying third fast, winning the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash, and scoring sixth in the headliner after leading the first six laps. … Hanford’s DJ Netto was fifth and retook the point lead from Ryan Bernal. … 20 cars (which is a great field for Santa Maria). …

… The only possible downside of the event was the highly anticipated HammerDown! Wheelie Contest. We earned an “A” for effort, but a “F” for actual "get it up" performance. Santa Maria is the type of place where you can’t apply too much water because as soon as the sun goes down and the tide rolls in, it comes pumping to the surface. After qualifying four classes of cars, “hooked up” moisture was in short supply. The best way to describe the rest of this promotion would be to say they found the antidote for Viagra. Kaleb Montgomery, Jenna Frazier, Bud Kaeding and Dominic Scelzi all gave it their best shot. Except for Kaeding, who got down in the infield to find enough moisture to get the front end up, it turned into a stunt show. Kaeding basically won the event with a series of about 15 doughnuts on the front stretch that got the crowd fired up. End result, $1000 for Kaeding, $500 for Scelzi and $250 for the other two. … Jenna Frazier, who was under the weather for the six-hour drive down from Sacramento, didn’t even know she was in the wheelie contest until she read it on Facebook. Car owner Jim Paniagua “volunteered” her but forgot to tell her. … Not that I’m in the business of rating bathrooms, but Santa Maria Raceway may have the most stylish and cleanest bathrooms in California. It’s like something out of model home. We need more of that. … When asked how he is planning to do in the wheelie contest, Dominic Scelzi answered, “I don’t know because I don’t do wheelies on purpose.” … Thank you to track manager David Castanada for tying all of the loose ends together. ... Look for the King of the West by NARC sprint cars to return to Santa Maria in 2020.

So, there you go, now you’re basically caught up. Now let’s get to some mid-season awards:

SHOW ME THE LAP MONEY AWARD: This one must go to Justin Sanders. Give him the scent of lap money and Sanders gains superhero Avengers type driving skills. The Bradway Jr. Memorial and the Marcel Cassulo Classic both sported the aforementioned money and Sanders claimed them both in impressive fashion. In fact, he claimed all three when you count doubling down at the Cassulo Classic by leading all 30-laps of the SCCT feature. Those were two impressive paydays at Chico and Placerville. In Sander’s three KWS-NARC appearances, he has nailed down a pair of wins and a fourth. We need to get him a full-time ride with championship aspirations. …

THE FIRST WIN IS THE HARDEST AWARD: How about Sean Watts taking no prisoners at the Stockton Dirt Track in June for his first King of the West by NARC career victory? Watts is a low-key – but very competitive - driver/owner operator who works his butt off to race with the big boys of 410 sprint car racing. He beat the likes of DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, and Bud Kaeding to the checkered which was like putting the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae – a great finishing touch. They say the first win is the hardest. Now that he has gotten that out of the way, let’s see what’s next.

GET THE POINT AWARD: Pardon my language, but “Holy Crap!” We can’t even consider giving this award away. Usually, by the halfway point in most racing seasons, the championship battle for the top spot get significantly narrowed down to a couple of hard-charging teams – maybe three. Well, we have completely blown that theory out of the water in 2019! We’ve got five drivers/teams within a dozen points of each other. Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Bernal, and DJ Netto have all enjoyed time sitting atop the throne, but Willie Croft and Bud Kaeding are lurking close by. All five have enjoyed great nights and a spattering of off nights and it’s mighty congested at the top. This is like playing musical chairs and the music is going to stop nine more times. With the Four Fastest Days in Motorsports right around the corner, it’s going to be interesting to see who gets hot at the right time.

REALLY AWARD? Ten races have produced seven different winners. Rico Abreu, Chase Johnson, Colby Copeland, Sean Watts have all laid claim to one! Mr. “Lap Money” Sanders has a pair (pardon the expression), and Dominic Scelzi has three with scores at Kern County, Ocean Speedway, and Santa Maria. You would think that three wins would get him closer to the top of the championship points standings. He sits fifth. Really? Yes, really! The good news is that the NARC points schedule awards a three-point bonus for a win. That erases a few mistakes, but also allows a team to get hot and shoot to the top.

NARC NOTES: Special thanks to Dan Allen of Chico Truck & RV for donating $1000 check to the NARC Benevolent Fund. … We've got a $6000 Sunnyvalley Bacon point fund for the top five teams during the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports. Speaking of Bacon, we are hauling 72 pounds of man's favorite food to those four days. Thirty-six pounds for lucky race fans, and 36 for four dash winning drivers. Try explaining that to the CHP officer when you get pulled over! ... Geoff Ensign is due to score a win in Clayton Snow's number 7 sprint car. ... Make sure visit some of the champions of the 60th Anniversary season during the special autograph session at Stockton on August 24th. ... If you haven't already done so, please "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. ... Thank you to Fujitsu General Heating & Air Conditioning and Hoosier Racing Tires for your fantastic support of our series! ...

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA. We will see you at a race track near you! And ... Bring a Friend!

(8/15/19) Jim Allen, Sacramento, CA ... The high-powered 410 sprint cars of the King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Racing Series are about to embark on the most aggressive segment of its 2019 racing schedule with the "Fastest Four Days in Motorsports." As the name implies, this stretch will feature four racing events, which will be held at three dirt oval tracks in just four short days.

This blitz of open wheel racing excitement kicks off on Wednesday, August 21st at Placerville Speedway with the Gold Country Showdown. The series moves to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico for Thursday Night Thunder (August 22nd) and concludes with the lucrative two-day Champions Classic at the Stockton Dirt Track (August 23-24th).

Up for grabs will be more than $120,000 in prize money, plus product contingency awards. The first three events pay $5000 to the winner of the 24-car 30-lap Fujitsu-sponsored headliner. Saturday's Fastest Four Days Finale at Stockton will award a season-high $10,000 in victory lane. In addition, there is a special $6000 Sunnyvalley Bacon fund for the top five point earners in the four-race series, including two grand for the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports champ.

The money and tight-knit flurry of sprint car action has attracted national attention and an assortment of traveling racing teams. Heading the list is NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson (Elk Grove), who is taking advantage of a rare weekend off on the NASCAR schedule to return to his racing roots in California. Larson cut his racing teeth in the Golden State, including winning the King of the West championship in 2010. That helped catapulted his career to the national stage making him one of the most recognizable drivers in America. He will be driving a Sacramento-based car owned by Paul Silva and is a threat to win anytime he puts on his helmet.

Other name-brand travelers expected to compete is World of Outlaw point leader Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, USAC star Spencer Bayston of Lebanon, Indiana, and homegrown national traveler Rico Abreu of Rutherford, CA. Each will be looking to play the role of spoiler and run away with the lions share of the purses. However, they will have their hands full battling against one of the strongest King of the West by NARC driving rosters in recent memory.

In fact, the battle for the 2019 60th Anniversary championship crown rates as one for the ages. The top five drivers in the King of the West by NARC standings are separated by only 12-points. That is the difference between winning and 11th place, and with four consecutive days of racing on tap, every lap and race finish gets magnified tenfold. Hanford's DJ Netto is the current leader by only three points over Ryan Bernal of Hollister (1116-1113). Roseville's Willie Croft is seven markers off the pace in third, followed by 2017 champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell and Dominic Scelzi of Fresno. Scelzi has already won three times this year, in a season which has already produced seven different winners in ten rounds.

Others drivers that have already committed to race include Tim Kaeding of San Jose; Sebastopol's Geoff Ensign; Elk Grove's Shane Golobic; Colby Copeland and Sean Becker of Roseville; Penngrove's Buddy Kofoid and Chase Johnson; three-time King of the West champ Jonathan Allard; Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts of Atwater; Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford; Chico's Kenny Allen; Tim Estenson of North Dakota; Grass Valley's Jason Statler; Andy Forsberg and Richard Brace Jr. of Auburn; Sacramento's Jenna Frazier; Fresno's Cole Macedo, Kyle Offill of Tracy and many more.

Qualifying is set to get underway at 5:30 p.m. followed by racing at 6:30 p.m. The King of the West by NARC Fujitsu racing program features qualifying, followed by four 10-lap heat races, the popular six-lap "pole-shuffle" dash, a 12-lap last chance qualifier, and the big money 30-lap feature event.

Placerville Speedway is located at the El Dorado Fairgrounds in Placerville, just off the Forni Road exit and US 50. For tickets and other information, call (530) 344-7592.

Silver Dollar Speedway is located at the fairgrounds in Chico, just west of US 99. For tickets and more information, call (530) 350-7275.

The Stockton Dirt Track is located at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. For tickets and information, call 916-370-9417.

For additional information, you can also go to NARC410.com, or call 714-397-7417.

EDITOR NOTE 2: Race fans have the opportunity to win a special "meet and greet" luncheon with Kyle Larson at the Stockton Dirt Track. Thirty (30) lucky fans who purchase online pre-sale tickets for Friday, August 23rd have a chance to participate in VIP lunch with the NASCAR superstar.

EDITOR NOTE 3: There will be a chili feed after Friday night's races at Stockton for pit pass holders. There will be a Pancake Breakfast in front of the grandstands under the trees on Saturday morning between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Cost is $10. There will also be a live band and Car Show on Saturday afternoon.

EDITOR NOTE 4: Saturday's Champion Classic at the Stockton Dirt Track celebrates 60-years of racing history. It will feature a special autograph session with past champions of the Northern Auto Racing Club and King of the West Series. It will take place between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. near victory lane.

EDITOR NOTE 5: The King of the West by NARC muffler rule is in effect at all four events.

EDITOR NOTE 6: The Stockton Dirt Track finale will pay $1000 to start the 24-car A-main.

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires and Hydrochem PSC. Associate and contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, ButlerBuilt, FK Rod Ends, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

All King of the West-NARC events are available on PPV on Speed Shift TV - https://www.speedshifttv.com/

UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 21 - Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA - $5000 to Win Gold Country Shootout
August 22 - Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico, CA - $5000 to Win Thursday Night Thunder
August 23 - Stockton Dirt Track, Stockton, CA - $5000 to Win Champions Classic (Night One)
August 24 - Stockton Dirt Track, Stockton, CA - $10,000 to win Champions Classic

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series (8/20/19)
After ten events in the 19-race series

DJ Netto, Hanford - 1116
Ryan Bernal, Hollister (R) - 1113
Willie Croft, Roseville - 1009
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) - 1105
Dominic Scelzi, Fresno (3) - 1004
Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol (R) - 1068
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater - 1025
Sean Watts, Atwater (1) - 1019
Kenny Allen, Chico - 1010
Chase Johnson, Penngrove (1) - 952
Tim Estenson, Fargo ND (R) - 786
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford - 784
Shane Golobic, Elk Grove - 675
Colby Copeland, Roseville (1) - 671
Matt DeMartini, Oakley (R) - 661
Jason Statler, Grass Valley - 644
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento - 635
Mark Barroso, Merced - 588
Richard Brace Jr, Auburn - 582
Kyle Offill, Tracy (R) - 521

(7/20/19) By Joe Shivak & Jim Allen, Watsonville, CA ... Bud Kaeding won the fast paced 30-lap feature which honors his legendary grandfather Howard at Ocean Speedway on Friday night. The NARC-King of the West presented by Fujitsu 410 Series event paid $5,000 to the winner. Kaeding drove the famous No. 0 Morrie Williams-owned Alviso Rock-sponsored Maxim sprint car

Shane Golobic brought the Matt Woods Nos Energy Drink-sponsored car home in the runner up spot after being passed by Kaeding. Willie Croft scored third in his Amerikote sprinter after being in the hunt for most of the contest.

Jonathan Allard and Billy Aton brought the 24-car field to the green with Aton taking the early lead when Allard stumbled in the first turn. The race would go three laps before a caution for a Jeremy Chisum and Danny Faria spin in the middle of the third and fourth turns. Aton led Croft and Golobic on the restart. On the seventh circuit, Golobic took over the second spot. Three laps later, sixth place starter Kaeding, who methodically advanced each lap, would pass Golobic for the runner-up spot.

A caution on lap 16 for a Sean Watts spin in the third turn would bunch the field back up. Aton was still leading at that point, but the restart proved costly as he would fade under the pressure from a high-speed freight train of Kaeding, Golobic and Croft.

A three-wide traffic jam in the third turn would bring out the caution flag with only six laps remaining. The shunt left Allard with a flat left rear tire and Dominic Scelzi with a bent front wing among other mechanical issues, forcing him to pit for repairs. Both cars returned to action.

The restart quickly turned back to yellow when Kyle Offill spun in the middle of the third and fourth turn. The caution proved costly for Justin Sanders who had just passed Croft for third but got put back a spot.

Kaeding was not to be denied the final six laps holding off both Golobic and Croft. The Campbell, California third generation driver performed a series of patented Kaeding victory donuts in the fourth turn to celebrate the victory. His car eventually stalled after doing no less than a dozen spins, so Kaeding jumped out of the stopped car and ran across the finish line in “Ricky Bobby” style.

"I wanted this one real bad," admitted an energetic Kaeding in victory lane. "We had a ton of family here who don't normally make it out to the racetrack and it was great to win in front of all of them." Kaeding went on to thank his team, car owner, and the many sponsors and supporters of the Howard Kaeding Classic.

Two-time King of the West winner Justin Sanders and Colby Copeland rounded out the top five. The second five to cross the checkered were 14th starter Jason Statler, 20th starter and semi-winner Cole Macedo, championship points leader Ryan Bernal, 16th starter Jeremy Chisum and DJ Netto. Macedo's efforts earned him a $800 hardcharger bonus from Swift Metal Finishing and various sponsors.

Heat races were picked off by ... Aton, Allard, Golobic & Kaeding. Allard claimed the Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Justin Sanders, Colby Copeland, Jason Statler, Cole Macedo, Ryan Bernal, Jeremy Chisum, D J Netto, Billy Aton, Dominic Scelzi, Brad Furr, Kyle Offill, Nathan Rolfe, Danny Faria, Kenny Allen, Sean Watts, Geoff Ensign, James Ringo, Trent Canales, Jonathan Allard, Mitchell Faccinto, Chase Johnson

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Billy Aton, Chase Johnson, Willie Croft, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, Kurt Nelson, Jenna Frazier, Mark Barroso, Matt DeMartini

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Jonathan Allard, Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Trent Canales, Danny Faria, Jason Chisum, Nathan Rolfe, Vaughn Schott, Burt Foland

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Kyle Offill, Sean Watts, Ryan Bernal, Colby Copeland, Kenny Allen, Blake Carick, Tim Estenson

KAEDING PERFORMANCE CENTER FOURTH HEAT (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Geoff Ensign, Jeremy Chisum, Brad Furr, Cole Macedo, James Ringo, Craig Stidham.

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Jonathan Allard, Bill Aton, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding.

WILLIAMS ROOFING DASH FOR CASH (4 laps): Sean Watts, Dominic Scelzi, Kenny Allen, Geoff Ensign

SAFECRAFT SAFETY EQUIPMENT SEMI (12 laps): Cole Macedo, Nathan Rolfe, Kenny Allen, James Ringo, Matt DeMartini, Blake Carrick, Vaughn Schott, Mark Barroso, Craig Stidham, Burt Foland, Tim Estenson, Jason Chisum, Jenna Frazier, Kurt Nelson.

NARC NEWSLINE - JULY 18, 2019, By Jim Allen … It took eight races before the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series finally revisited a race track this season. And, that’s the way it should be. Not to take anything away from points chasers who lock in to a local track, but I think the true talent of a driver and team shines through when they must adjust to new variables, or in this case, different racetracks on a weekly basis. It’s the same reason why I have played at over 450 golf courses in 29 states and four different countries during my lifetime. It never gets boring and you always have to be on top of your game, or you get your butt kicked.

For those of you at home who need a quick refresher on what has happened, and what is happening, on the King of the West-NARC tour, here you go:

OCEAN SPEEDWAY NOTES (6/21/19): The 32nd annual Pombo-Sargent Classic marked the fifth round of the Fujitsu-sponsored series and it didn’t disappoint. Anytime you have 410 sprint cars on a quarter-mile bullring, you only need the edge of your seat. This one was a Willie Croft vs. Mitchell Faccinto shootout during the first half of the race, before evolving into an exciting “can Dominic Scelzi outrun Ryan Bernal” chase to the finish. In the end it was Scelzi by two-car lengths over Bernal and another four over 13th starter Colby Copeland. Said Copeland afterwards, “That was a fun one to watch. I had a front row seat for the whole thing.” … Rear end issues knocked Faccinto out of the hunt at the midway point. … DJ Netto entered Watsonville in front of Bernal by 12-points and pulled out of the Ocean pits leading by eight. Netto scored sixth after starting 11th… Croft’s save after clipping the infield tire exiting turn four in the main may have qualified as the save of the year. The fact that he kept his number 29 Amerikote ride from barrel-rolling through the infield was commendable. Croft finished fifth. … Just in case being a car owner isn’t tough already, try getting attacked by yellow jackets. That’s exactly what happened to Shawn Thomas, who was casually standing in the push off area with his 68 Maxim. With absolutely no warning, he was randomly attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets. He suffered at least five stings giving him an ice pack and a perpetual “I’m pissed” look on his face the rest of the night. To make matters worse, his motor blew up early in the feature. … Scelzi becomes the first two-time winner this season.

STOCKTON DIRT TRACK NOTES (6/22/19): Every season has at least one race that I best describe as a “Battle Royale.” It’s one of those unpredictable WWE, no-holds barred, clench the wheel for dear life, hope your rock guard does its job, and let the last man standing win sort of deal. And yes, that’s exactly what it was. No knock on the track or promoter, but like a race car, sometimes you just miss the set up on track prep. Sometimes, the best laid plans don't work out. This one didn’t cooperate at all as mud-packing had to be done three-times to make it race-worthy. ... And when it was all said and done, Atwater’s Sean Watts was essentially the last man standing. He became the 83rd different winner in series history, driving his own Billet America/Kaeding Performance Maxim. Watts led all 25-laps, surviving challenges by both Dominic Scelzi and DJ Netto. In victory lane, it was the feelgood celebration of the season for the unheralded team in a race where only seven cars finished. Let’s count them … Watts, Netto, Scelzi, Kaeding, Jason Statler, Bernal and Matt DeMartini. Everybody else got purple hearts. Once again, almost the last man standing sort of deal. ...

... It was a season best performance for Statler and a King of the West-NARC best for the 19th starting DeMartini. … By the way, the track preparation issues have since been worked out by promoter Tony Noceti and Placerville’s dirt-master Scott Russell, who promises a gem for the two-day $70,000 Champions Classic in August. Proof is the Stockton track surface at the SCCT race two weeks later. … While he had enjoyed a tremendous save at Ocean, Willie Croft didn't get one at Stockton. The steering box broke and Croft took a nasty tumble down the frontstretch - with emphasis on the word nasty! The culprit was a broken steering box. In fact, everything on the car was broke, so it could have been everything broke at once. Croft had some sore knees after exiting the carnage but was okay otherwise. We thank God for safety equipment. ... To stay in the points hunt, Chase Johnson drove his own number 24, because the motor in Shawn Thomas’s car was sitting at Shaver Racing Engines. … Jonathan Allard made his second outing of the season in the Weldon Offill Country Builders 88. Said Allard, “My wife said it was time for me to go racing again,” and like any good husband, we all live by the “happy wife, happy life” mantra. The 40-year old three-time champion has been spending most of his time coaching up rookie driver Kyle Offill, and it shows. Allard started on the front row, but had his muffler sheared off on the second lap. … Back to Watts. He was extremely happy but sort of subdued in victory lane. He said later that the victory didn’t really set in until Tuesday after the event. …

PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY NOTES (6/29/19): Two words: Justin Sanders! Two more words: Two wins. Yes, this one was officially the Marcel Cassulo Classic, but could've easily been renamed the Justin Sanders Showcase by the end of the night. Mr. Sanders took no prisoners and claimed the Sprint Car Challenge Tour ... AND... the King of the West-NARC features, driving for a pair of different car owners. He dominated the 35-lapper SCCT main and outfoxed track veteran Andy Forsberg in traffic with less than two to go to steal the King of the West main. And like all features at Placerville, they was a frenetic, hold your breath, don’t you dare blink affairs. … With a combined $4400 in Marcel Cassulo lap money added to both payoffs and the $900 Double-Down bonus, Sanders probably sported a bounce in his step as he sauntered into his bank this week. … The “Century Club” made up the front row of the KWS feature – Forsberg and Sean Becker. That can refer to either their combined wins at the Placerville, or their combined age. Your call! … Kenny Allen performed the wheelie of the season in his heat. Unfortunately, it was because the starting field checked up at the start of his heat race, causing him to jump the rear tire of DJ Netto and shoot up in the air. By the time the car pirouetted and landed, just about everything you can bolt on a car was broke on the Ed Butterfield machine. … DJ Netto had an off-night finishing 13th and Bernal scored his second runner-up of the season. Bernal left the event leading the championship standings by a single point. … The age-less CJ Humphreys finished 10th. … Back to Sanders. This was his second appearance of the King of the West-NARC season. The first one was at the Bradway Memorial, where he also pocketed a huge purse and lap money. His next race: The Howard Kaeding Classic. Hmmm? … Scelzi jumped the turn one cushion “after” winning his heat race and flipped the Roth Motorsports KPC. Lots of damage that caused him to miss the dash. Said Scelzi after climbing from the wreckage, “that was dumb.” … Thank you Jeff & Jennifer Pippin for making the first MCC a winner.

PETALUMA SPEEDWAY NOTES (7/13/19): And finally, the return trip to Petaluma Speedway. The fastest 3/8th mile oval in Northern California has had more than its fair share of drama and excitement this season. First, the triple-OT KWS-NARC thriller won by Colby Copeland over Chase Johnson in June. Then the SCCT Scelzi-Golobic scrum in early July, eventually won by Chase Johnson. With that in mind, it only seemed logical that Chase Johnson would play a factor in this one. … After setting quick time and winning the Sunnyvalley bacon in the dash, Ryan Bernal was the man to beat in this 30-lapper. Unfortunately, lap traffic had other plans after leading the first half of this show. In the end, Johnson passed Bill Aton to score his second career King of the West-NARC win. From yellow jacket stings, to blown motors, to a sweet victory is about as radical a swing as you can endure. And to top it off, it was done with a borrowed Shaver motor, because their regular powerplant wasn’t fixed yet. … Billy Aton second place. Best ever 410 finish. … Willie Croft was third. ... Klint Simpson was driving Ted Finkenbinders iconic 3F. A surprised entry was Dave Lindt in the Petaluma-famous blue 52. Unfortunately, their night ended with engine issues after qualifying. … Kenny Allen, second quick in qualifying. … Jonathan Allard drove Larry Antaya's 16A to an eighth place finish. He was subbing for Colby Copeland who was "Speedweeking" in Oregon. ... DJ Netto earned the Hardcharger award, starting 14th and finished sixth. Bernal rebounded from his lap traffic melee and scored tenth. Bernal still leads by one. … Checkered was waved at a minute before 9:00 p.m. … It was the largest crowd of the season, according to promoter Rick Faeth! … Chase Johnson became the sixth different winner this season.

So there you go! Now you’re caught up and ready to move forward with our next two shows. That would be the July 20th Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway and a trip down to Santa Maria Raceway on July 27th.

The ninth annual HKC (presented by Al’s Roofing) is shaping up to be a gem. The 30,000-foot view showcases a $30,000+ purse paying $5000 to win and $800 to start the 24-car feature. Plus, there's big money for fast time and hardcharger. Throw in an “After-Hours” party after Friday’s Civil War race and the HKC luncheon on Saturday afternoon and you have an epic weekend in store. This race weekend will help raise money for the NARC Benevolent Fund. Make sure you stop by the Bullet Impressions trailer and pick up a benevolent fund t-shirt. All proceeds go to the fund! By the way, there's a lot of work that goes making this a successful weekend, most of it handled by Bud and Brent Kaeding - plus a ton of sponsors who have contributed to the show. We thank them all!

There will also be a special $1900 Williams Roofing Dash for Cash at Ocean. Steve Williams has been extremely generous rewarding dedicated points chasers on the King of the West-NARC campaign. He also gives away $100 per night to a lucky fan during the frisbee throw each night with the potential to give away $1000 to the feature event winner based on a fan pill draw. Based on those pill draws so far this season, Kenny Allen, Sean Watts and Geoff Ensign have earned starting spots in the four-lap dash, because they have competed in every event. Ryan Bernal, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft and Nathan Rolfe will be drawing for the final starting spot. The dash pays $1000 to win, $500 for second, $250 for third, and $150 for last. Think about that for a second … $1000 for about 48 seconds worth of work! Where do I sign up? …

A week later, it’s a trip to Santa Maria for some Winged Madness! It’s been five-years since the King of the West 410 sprint cars invaded this action-packed facility. And this one will feature a $2000 HammerDown! Wheelie Contest - $1000 to the winner. As of right now, Bud Kaeding has officially entered. Crew chief Paul Baines said that Tarlton Motorsports is considering entering, as well as Jenna Frazier. Stay tuned for more on that. Just think - $1000 for digging a rear nerf bar into the mud and shooting out a dirt rooster tail for about 100-yards. Where do I sign up?

And finally, thank you for your support of sprint car racing! And the next time you make it to a race - Bring a Friend. Coming to you live from Auburn, CA. See ya!

(7/13/19) By Jim Allen, Petaluma, CA ... Chase Johnson passed Bill Aton with nine-laps remaining to score Saturday's fast-paced King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series 30-lap headliner before a hometown crowd at Petaluma Speedway.

Wheeling the Shawn & Cyndi Thomas-owned Fire Suppression Systems Shaver-powered Maxim, Johnson pocketed $3000 for his second career series victory, both of which have come at Petaluma.

Johnson had the best seat in the house after starting fourth in the grid. Fast qualifier and dash winner Ryan Bernal appeared to be the class of the field until he got caught up in lap traffic on the 15th circuit. This brought out the caution for Bernal, Nathan Rolfe and Klint Simpson. After getting around Willie Croft on the opening lap, Johnson was now cruising in second behind Aton on the restart. However, Aton wasn't about to take any prisoners and held off his aggressive tailgater until the 22nd lap when Johnson made his winning move.

Johnson catapulted out of the second turn and won a high-stakes drag race with the leader down the backchute to take over the point entering the third corner. The rest is history.

"This feels really good," admitted Johnson in victory lane. "We've had some bad luck this season and it's really nice to get the win."

Aton's runner-up finish in his own Bill Aton Painting XXX sprinter was a series career best. Croft put together a strong workmanlike effort in his Amerikote-backed sprinter to fill out the podium.

Dominic Scelzi and Bud Kaeding battled throughout the contest, with Scelzi winning the war and scoring fourth in the Roth Motorsports KPC. Kaeding rounded out the top five in the Alviso Rock Maxim.

The second five to cross the checkered were DJ Netto, Kyle Offill, three-time series champ Jonathan Allard, Geoff Ensign, and Bernal. Netto's effort earned his the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award after starting 14th.

Despite finishing tenth, Bernal still maintains a slim one-point advantage over Netto in the championship points standings (897-896.)

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Chase Johnson, Bill Aton, Willie Croft, Dominic Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Kyle Offill, Jonathan Allard, Geoff Ensign, Ryan Bernal, Sean Watts, Kenny Allen, Nathan Rolfe, Richard Brace Jr., Jenna Frazier, Klint Simpson, Tim Estenson.

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Klint Simpson, Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Bernal, Tim Estenson, Richard Brace Jr.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Willie Croft, Chase Johnson, Nathan Rolfe, Geoff Ensign, Kenny Allen, DJ Netto,

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Jonathan Allard, Sean Watts, Billy Aton, Kyle Offill, Jenna Frazier

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Ryan Bernal, Billy Aton, Willie Croft, Chase Johnson, Dominic Scelzi, Klint Simpson

(6/29/19) Placerville, CA, By Jim Allen ... Justin Sanders picked off race leader Andy Forsberg with less than two-laps remaining to score Saturday's thrilling 30-lap Marcel Cassulo Classic King of the West-NARC Fujitsu sprint car headliner at Placerville Speedway. It marked a big money sweep for Sanders and the Joe Von Schriltz North County Plastering XXX team, who also claimed the Sprint Car Challenge Tour main event on the same card.

Sanders started seventh in the 24-car grid, and patiently worked his way to the front of the pack. He motored into fourth on lap 16, got past Sean Becker for third on lap 18, before sliding around Ryan Bernal into the runner-up spot with just two-miles remaining.

Forsberg, who started on the pole, rode the cushion to perfection aboard his A&A Stepping Stone ART sprinter and led the first 28-laps. He fended off some early race challenges by Sean Becker until lapped traffic became more of a factor.

Sanders came knocking on Forsberg's door on the 28th lap as the pair sliced through heavy traffic. Sanders drove under Forsberg as the pair powered into turn three and slide up in front of him coming out of the fourth corner to take the lead with the white flag waving. The rest is history.

"I don't think I would have caught Andy if it weren't for traffic," said a happy, but physically tired Sanders in victory lane. "I was moving around on the track trying to find a different line to run and it worked."

Including lap money, and the double-down bonus for winning both main events, Sanders pocketed almost $10,000 and a pair of Marcel Cassulo cowboy hats for his nights work.

Bernal skated under Forsberg on the final corner of the race to secure second in the Tarlton Motorsports KPC. A disappointed Forsberg finished third.

"I only made one mistake in traffic," explained Forsberg, "but that is all it takes here. The lapped car was running his own race so it was up to me to make a move, and I made the wrong one."

Fifteenth starter Colby Copeland was in the hunting mode from the start and scored fourth driving the Good Guys Customs & Rod Association Maxim. That earned him the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award and a $450 bonus. Becker claimed fifth for the Menne Motorsports team.

The second five to cross the checkered were Willie Croft, 16th starter Shane Golobic, Billy Aton, 17th starter Geoff Ensign, and CJ Humphries.

There were two red flags in the feature. The first happened when Andy Gregg took a tumble over turn one on lap 16. Jason Statler also flipped after the checkered appeared. Neither driver was hurt.

Forsberg blazed a 10.463 second lap around the quarter-mile oval to set the ARP qualifying standard for the 26-car field. He also won the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash.

Heat races were picked off by Becker, Dominic Scelzi, and Bernal. Mitchell Faccinto claimed the 10-lap semi.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Justin Sanders, Ryan Bernal, Andy Forsberg, Colby Copeland, Sean Becker, Willie Croft, Shane Golobic, Billy Aton, Geoff Ensign, CJ Humphries, Blake Carrick, Mitchell Faccinto, DJ Netto, Bud Kaeding, Sean Watts, Stephen Ingraham, Jason Statler, Dominic Scelzi, Tim Estenson, Nathan Rolfe, Jenna Frazier, Richard Brace Jr., Kalib Henry, Andy Gregg.

Dominic Scelzi won the frantic 30 lap NARC-King of West Series Pombo-Sargent Classic presented by Fujitsu sprint car feature at Ocean Speedway on Friday night. Ryan Bernal and Colby Copeland followed the No. 83 Roth Motorsports KPC in front of a good crowd at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds dirt oval.

Early race leader and front row starter Willie Croft edged out Bud Kaeding to fill out the top five finishers. Croft took the lead from pole sitter Mitchell Faccinto at the drop of the green. Croft pulled away from the rest of the 20 car starting field until the red flag flew for Nathan Rolfe who did a soft flip in the second turn making him the first retiree.

The restart saw Croft leading Faccinto and Chase Johnson however Billy Anton would spin in the first turn on lap 10 to slow the race. Johnson would pull into the infield with an expired motor while running in the third spot. The second place Faccinto’s TSG Recycling No.37 would slow on lap 14 and pull off the track with a broken rear end. This would move both Scelzi and Bernal into contention. Anton would be charged with another yellow flag when he spun in the fourth turn on lap 16.

Leader Croft was momentarily slowed in traffic on the 23rd circuit and Scelzi would take a gamble with a low pass in the third turn which would pay off. A rattled Croft got sideways coming off the fourth turn, clipped an infield tire, sending his car into the infield. The bobble cost Croft two more positions before he could get his No. 29 back on the track.

Ryan Bernal quickly reeled in Scelzi and launched a massive third turn slide job on the 28th circuit, but Scelzi returned the favor coming out of the fourth to extinguish the threat. Scelzi earned a $3000 first place prize for his two car length victory. He also paced the 20 car field in qualifying. Bernal's efforts came aboard the Tarlton Motorsports KPC.

"I knew he was back there and coming for me," explained Scelzi in regards to Bernal's late race blitz. "I knew the slide job was coming, I just didn't know when."

Bernal countered, "I knew I had to give it a shot, I just did it one lap too soon!"

Copeland would earn the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award for his drive from the 13th starting spot aboard the Good Guys Rod & Custom Association Maxim.

The second five to cross the checkered were championship point leader DJ Netto, Shane Golobic, Geoff Ensign, Kurt Nelson and Sean Watts.

The Sunnyvalley Bacon Dash was won by Faccinto with BMRS heat race wins going to Bernal, D J Netto and Sean Watts.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Bernal, Colby Copeland, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, D J Netto, Shane Golobic, Geoff Ensign, Kurt Nelson, Sean Watts, Jason Statler, Kenny Allen, Jayson Bright, Matt DeMartini, Chris Nelson, Mark Barroso, Billy Aton, Mitchell Faccinto, Chase Johnson, Nathan Rolfe

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Ryan Bernal, Dominic Scelzi, Nathan Rolfe, Colby Copeland, Jayson Bright, Matt DeMartini, Shane Golobic

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): DJ Netto, Chase Johnson, Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Bud Kaeding, Mark Barroso, Chris Nelson

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Sean Watts, Willie Croft, Geoff Ensign, Kurt Nelson, Kenny Allen, Billy Anton

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Chase Johnson, Sean Watts, Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Bernal

(6/22/19) Stockton, CA, By Jim Allen ... Sean Watts pulled off what seemed to be the impossible by beating the best King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series drivers to score his first series career victory in the Salute to First Responders headliner at the Stockton Dirt Track.

Watts, piloting his own Billet America/Kaeding Performance Center Maxim, ran a mistake-free race from the pole and led all but the first lap of the 25-lap headliner. His march to victory lane was slowed by five caution periods and a red flag for Willie Croft with 10-laps remaining. Croft took a nasty spill down the front straightaway that completely destroyed his car. Luckily, Croft was only bruised in the accident.

Seventh starter and King of the West-NARC championship point leader DJ Netto methodically worked his way through the frontrunners on the rough track to take the runner-up spot from Dominic Scelzi with eight circuits to go. Netto reeled in Watts five laps later and pressured for the lead, but Watts answered the call with flawless laps around the 4/10's mile oval.

Netto began experience motor issues in the final laps, but held on to score the runner-up spot in the Netto Ag/Rotella Shell 88N. Scelzi motored to third in the Roth Motorsports KPC and was one of the first drivers to congratulate the winner.

"I didn't even know he was there," admitted Watts in victory lane, when asked about Netto applying pressure in the final laps. "I was just extremely focused on what I had to do and I finally got here (victory lane.) I don't know if this win has set in yet," continued the calm winner, "but I know it took a lot of hard work from my team to get here and I thank them all."

It was a clean sweep night for Watts, who also claimed his heat race and the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash. Watts earned $3200 for his endeavors.

Bud Kaeding aboard the Alviso Rock Maxim and 11th starter Jason Statler in the DF Rios Maxim rounded out the top five. Ryan Bernal, and Matt DeMartini were the only other survivors running at the checkered. DeMartini first ever top 10 finish earned him the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award after starting 19th in the starting grid.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (25-laps): Sean Watts, DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, Ryan Bernal, Matt DeMartini, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Mark Barroso, Jonathan Allard, Geoff Ensign, Gary Paulson, Nathan Rolfe, Kenny Allen, Tom Estenson, Chase Johnson, Richard Brace Jr.

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Sean Watts, Jonathan Allard, Shane Golobic, Matt DeMartini, Mark Barroso, Mitchell Faccinto, Geoff Ensign.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Jason Statler, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Kenny Allen, Gary Paulson

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Chase Johnson, Willie Croft, Ryan Bernal, Nathan Rolfe, Richard Brace Jr., Tom Estenson

SUNNYVALLEY BACON DASH (6 laps): Sean Watts, Jonathan Allard, Dominic Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft

NARC NEWSLINE – June 19, 2019, By Jim Allen … If you ever needed a reminder that sprint car racing is unpredictable and always worth the price of admission, all you had to do was attend either of the first two King of the West-NARC Fujitsu events in June. They were off the chain unpredictable! How good? To quote Bob Gerould directly at the Peter Murphy Classic, he called it “unpredictable mayhem.” I’d say that is an accurate description which makes the drive home a lot quicker with adrenaline still pumping through the veins.

Let’s rewind to our June 1st race at Petaluma Speedway; a triple overtime slug-fest between Colby Copeland and Chase Johnson. What? Triple-overtime? Is that even possible in a non-Stanley Cup event? Yes, for Colby Copeland, it was like a racing version of the movie Ground Hog Day (Millennials: Google it!) Copeland had to endure a trifecta of green-white-checkered restarts to finally score this hard-fought win. It was like a race that would never end. And it wasn’t easy, because Chase Johnson was more aggressive than a pack of crazed pit bulls chasing down a three-legged cat. He tried the low-side, the high-side and just about everywhere in between but to no avail. And the fans loved it! It was a sweet win for car owner Larry Antaya and the boys on the Fire Protection Management number 16 Maxim.

Now fast forward a week to the rain-delayed Peter Murphy Classic at the Thunderbowl! The obvious question here is what could possibly beat the previous week’s edge of your seat triple overtime special? How about five lead changes and possibly one of the most unpredictable finishes in sprint car history. In fact, this show was loaded with great story lines. Let’s start out with Tim Kaeding taking a shot at the Pole Shuffle Challenge and instead of starting on the pole, deciding to give it a go from the 11th spot in hopes of pocketing an extra $10,000. Heck, the Pole Shuffle Challenge is typically worth the price of admission. Or how about a flashback to about 1998 with the return of Weldon Offill’s famed Country Builders number 88 car – this time with the one and only Jonathan Allard behind the wheel. Or King of the West-NARC championship point leader DJ Netto getting in a nasty accident in the Kings of Thunder feature that was close to sidelining him for the King of the West-NARC feature. … And then there was Bud Kaeding, who took control of the race on lap 18 and had all but cashed the $11,000 winners check until he got 100 yards from the checkered. So where do I start?

Let’s start backwards. Yes, Kaeding pretty much had this one in the bag, but the Thunderbowl Raceway fence had other plans on the white flag lap. First Kaeding banged it hard in turn two, then again in turn four as his car sputtered for fuel with the checkered flag in Ed Entz hand. Next thing you know, Kaeding rides the fourth turn fence like a video game highlight and turns over. Mr. Entz quickly changes hands to the red flag and the crowd is absolutely stunned and buzzing in disbelief! Kaeding’s night is over with major damage, and just like that, the leading digit in the $11,000 check was gone! On the all too familiar green-white-checkered restart, sixth starter Rico Abreu slaps his car in cruise control and scores the win. Once again, “unpredictable mayhem!” If you told us that you predicted this finish, we'd all start laughing because you're a terrible liar.

Not to take anything away from crowd favorite Rico, but the story of the night may have belonged to three-time King of the West champ Jonathan Allard. The last time he was in a sprint car was about a year ago in New Zealand. Yet, he piloted the 88 car like he was a weekly points chaser. Said Allard, after finishing an impressive second, “Maybe somebody will give me a ride now.”

Then there was DJ Netto, who tightened up his belts in the 410 version of the Netto Ag KPC and fought and clawed his way to a very impressive third! A lesser man would have taken some aspirin and headed home. And Tim Kaeding … well, he thrilled the crowd with what could have been, but it didn't work out. He got up to seventh in the feature until mechanical issues took him out of contention. He ended up 12th.

PETALUMA SPEEDWAY NOTES: DJ Netto took over where Chase Johnson left off in the final OT and finished second. … Willie Croft continued his dominance of the ARP Quick Time honors this season, with his third in a row. … Geoff Ensign scored his first podium finish of the season aboard the familiar white and gold Snow Racing XXX sprinter. Notice how I said first podium finish? There are more coming soon – I guarantee it. Their “Tiny Tim” racing engine West Coast Race Parts team is firing on all eight cylinders. … It was a short night for Jenna Frazier and Jim Paniagua. Fried a valve in hot laps and were loaded up and heading home by the end of qualifying. … North Dakota driver Tim Estenson was also battle engine issues in the DJ Netto Racing 88E.

PETER MURPHY CLASSIC NOTES: They say the racing teams copy each other, especially when winning or continued success is involved. Should we point out that winner Rico Abreu was sporting a new corn-row "do" in victory lane? The million-dollar question is - what driver is going to step up and duplicate that? On a different note, I don’t think there is anybody better than Rico at running on the wall at Tulare. Duplicate that! … So far this season, DJ Netto has scored a second, a third, a fourth, and fifth place finish. That earns him the King of the West-NARC championship point lead over Ryan Bernal by a 12-point margin. … Colby Copeland had the first 12-laps of the main under control until he pulled in the infield with a broken left rear shock. … Jason Statler earned $500 from Peter Murphy and another $150 from Swift Metal Finishing for charging from 15th to 6th. Nathan Rolfe also passed nine cars from his 23rd starting spot. …

… Cole Macedo somehow managed to get upside down after the cars were pushed off for the feature. Repairs in the Harley Van Dyke machine couldn’t be made in time and Macedo was done for the night. Fortunately, the team earned the $500 hard luck award. … A limited supply of “Peter Murphy for President” decals were sold to benefit the NARC Benevolent Fund. Every car in the King of the West-NARC sported one! Thanks to the Shawn Thomas-sponsored promotion, we raised $520. … Chelsea Blevins had a profitable night finishing 15th, driving the Blevin’s Family 360. That was worth a PMC $500 bonus for the highest finishing, you got it … 360. Plus another $500 for the Long Tow Award, which the team earned after driving nine hours from their home on the hill. … The track surface at Tulare was one of the best ever. No rubber down in this affair! … And as always, a special thank you goes out to Peter Murphy, who once again took his namesake show to another promotional level. Lining up the cars on the front straightaway, and individual driver introductions are the best. Not to sound cheesy or anything but being part of this event just makes you feel good inside!

NARC NOTES: My compliments to Jim Gardner of Bullet Impressions. His shirts this year really ROCK! The 60th Anniversary KWS-NARC shirt is awesome. The Peter Murphy Classic shirt also garnered rave reviews. His Pombo-Sargent Classic shirt for this weekend’s event at Ocean Speedway is a … pardon the pun … a classic also. For those of you who can’t make it to the races to buy your own, you can always go to onefasttee.com and get ‘em online. … Tickets for the Louis Vermeil Classic are now available. It's a great place to spend your Labor Day weekend. ...

What’s on the docket? It’s a double shot weekend with the aforementioned Pombo-Sargent Classic on Friday (June 21st) and the Salute to First Responders at the Stockton Dirt Track on Saturday (June 22nd.) Finish off your month with the Marcel Cassulo Classic at Placerville Speedway on June 29th. This is a collective show with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour 360’s that also promises to dish up its fair share of “unpredictable mayhem.” Don’t miss any of them!

KING OF THE WEST-NARC SPRINT CARS HEADED TO OCEAN SPEEDWAY & STOCKTON DIRT TRACK THIS WEEKEND

June 18, 2019, Sacramento, CA (Jim Allen) ... The high-powered 410 winged sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will kick-off a rare doubleheader weekend this Friday, June 21, at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville for the 32nd Annual Pombo-Sargent Classic. The following night, Saturday, June 22nd, the campaign travels to the Stockton Dirt Track for a special "Salute to First Responders" race.

The Pombo-Sargent Classic pays tribute to a pair of racing legends - Al Pombo and Marshall Sargent - who helped set the standard for exciting open wheel racing in California. The list of winners of this event over the past three decades reads like a California Hall of Fame list including from Brent Kaeding and Jimmy Sills, to Bud Kaeding and Shane Golobic.

The Stockton event honors the selfless service of all First Responders who risk their lives addressing emergencies and disasters. All current firefighters, police officers, EMT, and active Military personnel will be admitted to the Stockton Dirt Track grandstands for free with a valid ID.

To date, the King of the West-NARC 60th Anniversary season has produced four different winners in as many events. Current championship point leader DJ Netto of Hanford has been a model of consistency this year, finishing in the top five in all four events. However, he is still among a stellar group of open wheel stars looking to score their first victory lane appearance of 2019.

"We've been running really good all season long," said Netto, a three-time career winner with the King of the West-NARC series. "It's not easy to win in this series so you just have to keep putting yourself in a position to finish strong every night. The key is to not get impatient and away from that game plan."

Netto's lead over Hollister's Ryan Bernal is just 12 points (459-447). Bernal, who is best known for his winning exploits in a multitude of non-winged sprint cars, is quickly figuring things out in a winged car driving for his Fresno-based Tarlton Motorsports team. Fresno's Dominic Scelzi, who captured the season opener at Kern County Raceway Park, is currently third in points and is also deemed to be another of this weekend's favorites to score a win.

Others expected to compete include Rookie Geoff Ensign of Sebastopol; Roseville's Willie Croft and Colby Copeland; Chase Johnson of Penngrove; Shane Golobic of Elk Grove; Campbell's Bud Kaeding; Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts of Atwater; Chico's Kenny Allen; rookie Stephen Ingraham of Fair Oaks; Oakley rookie driver Matt DeMartini; Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford; Tracy's Kyle Offill and Jenna Frazier of Sacramento.

The King of the West-NARC racing program includes qualifying, three 10-lap heat races, the six-lap Sunnyvalley Bacon dash, and the 30-lap Fujitsu-sponsored headliner. The winner pockets a $3000 payday.

Ocean Speedway is located at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. Front gates open at 4:30 p.m. Qualifying gets underway at 6:00 p.m. Also on the racing program is IMCA Modifieds, Four Bangers, South Bay Dwarf Cars & Ocean Midgets. Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m.

The Stockton Dirt Track is located on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton, CA. The address is 1658 S. Airport Way, Stockton, CA 95206. The Joe Hunt Magneto Wingless Sprint Cars are also on the docket. For more information, call 209-466-9999, or go to NARC410.com.

All King of the West-NARC events are available on PPV on Speed Shift TV - https://www.speedshifttv.com/

UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 29 - Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA - Marcel Cassulo Classic - w/Sprint Car Challenge Tour
July 13 - Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA
July 20 - Ocean Speedway, Watsonville Speedway - Howard Kaeding Classic (night two)
July 27 - Santa Maria Raceway, Santa Maria, CA - Winged Madness including a Wheelie Contest

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series (6/18/19)
After four events in the 19-race series

DJ Netto, Hanford - 459
Ryan Bernal, Hollister - 447
Dominic Scelzi, Fresno (1) - 437
Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol (R) - 436
Willie Croft, Roseville - 433
Chase Johnson, Penngrove - 430
Bud Kaeding, Campbell - 428
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater - 415
Kenny Allen, Chico - 401
Sean Watts, Atwater - 396
Stephen Ingraham, Fair Oaks (R) - 392
Matt DeMartini, Oakley (R) - 359
Colby Copeland, Roseville (1) - 335
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford - 314
Kyle Offill, Tracy (R) - 310
Tim Estenson, Fargo ND (R) - 301
Richard Brace Jr., Auburn - 288
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento - 254
Shane Golobic, Elk Grove - 228
Tim Kaeding, San Jose - 221

1988 - Brent Kaeding
1989 - Jimmy Sills
1990 - Brent Kaeding
1991 - Brent Kaeding
1992 - Steve Kent
1993 - Chuck MIller
1994 - Steve Kent
1995 - Brent Kaeding
1996 - Tim Green
1997 - Bud Kaeding
1998 - Bud Kaeding
1999 - Brent Kaeding
2000 - Brent Kaeding
2001 - Blake Robertson
2002 - Tommy Tarlton
2003 - Tommy Tarlton
2004 - Tim Kaeding
2005 - Ronnie Day
2006 - Brent Kaeding
2007 - Brent Kaeding
2008 - Brent Kaeding
2009 - Brent Kaeding
2010 - Tim Kaeding
2011 - Tommy Tarlton
2012 - Bud Kaeding
2013 - Tommy Tarlton
2014 - Kyle Hirst
2015 - DJ Netto
2016 - Shane Golobic
2017 - Shane Golobic
2018 - Justin Sanders

(6/8/19) Tulare, CA, By Joe Shivak & Jim Allen, … A surprised Rico Abreu ended up in victory lane at the Peter Murphy Classic for the Fujitsu King of the West-NARC 410 Series sprint cars at the Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night.

Bud Kaeding had the lead coming to the checkered flag when he had an issue with the fourth-turn wall and ended up upside down causing a red flag and the race to go into overtime.

Abreu, piloting the Abreu Vineyards entry, had just taken over second place from Jonathan Allard, who had led the race he was passed by Kaeding. Allard and Colby Copeland made up the front row at the start with the recent series winner at Petaluma jumping to an early lead.

It was Copeland who would lead the first 12 laps until he slowed and who eventually cause a caution when he didn’t make it off the track. Allard, driving the iconic Weldon Offill Country Builders 88, would take over the lead on the restart and was closely followed by Kaeding who started in the third spot.

Kaeding passed Allard on the 17th circuit. The race would stay green with Kaeding comfortably up front until lap 24 when the caution would slow the race again when Matt DeMartini stopped on the front stretch. With a clear track, it was Kaeding who appeared to be headed for another Murphy Classic title, only to first bounce off the second turn wall and then climb the fourth turn wall and flip over, ending his chances at the $11,000 winner’s check. Kaeding was unhurt.

“My car was good, but not really as good as Bud’s (Kaeding),” admitted Abreu in victory lane. “You’re beating up against the wall because it’s the fast lane and there’s a lot of give and take up there. But you can knock an arm off or the top off and that looks like what happened to him. Bud set a torrid pace there at the end and I had to drive hard just to keep up. That’s just 410 sprint car racing.”

Abreu and Allard didn’t change positions in the overtime laps, but it was Dominic Scelzi who went from third to fifth. Both D.J. Netto and Ryan Bernal got around the Roth Motorsports No. 83 on the final lap. Netto’s third place effort in the Netto Ag/Rotella 76 KPC was notable in the fact that he crashed hard only an hour earlier in the 360 event. Bernal was driving the Tarlton Motorsports KPC.

The second five to cross the checkered were Jason Statler, Mitchell Faccinto, Copeland, Willie Croft and rookie Geoff Ensign. Statler earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award after starting 15th.

Tim Kaeding, won the Aussie Pole Shuffle Dash and decided to take the challenge to start 11th and double his money. Unfortunately, mechanical issues curtailed that effort when he brought out the caution midway through the event. Earlier in the program, Kaeding led the 25 cars entered with a 13:844 second qualifying lap.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Rico Abreu, Jonathan Allard, D.J. Netto, Ryan Bernal, Dominic Scelzi, Jason Statler, Mitchell Faccinto, Colby Copeland, Willie Croft, Geoff Ensign, Chase Johnson, Tim Kaeding, Nathan Rolfe, Chelsea Blevins, Sean Watts, Kenny Allen, Mark Barroso, Bud Kaeding, Matt Demartini, Stephen Ingraham, Richard Brace, Craig Stidham, Kyle Hirst.

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Jonathan Allard, Tim Kaeding, Willie Croft, Kyle Hirst, Geoff Ensign, Sean Watts, Craig Stidham, Matt DeMartini, Mark Barroso.

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Colby Copeland, Mitchell Faccinto, Dominic Scelzi, Rico Abreu, Chase Johnson, Kenny Allen, Chelsea Blevins, Nathan Rolfe.

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MVP THIRD HEAT (10 laps): DJ Netto, Bud Kaeding, Cole Macedo, Ryan Bernal, Jason Statler, Kurt Nelson, Stephen Ingraham, Richard Brace Jr.

SUNNYVALLEY BACON – AUSSIE POLE SHUFFLE: Willie Croft defeats DJ Netto; Bud Kaeding defeats Croft; Colby Copeland beats Bud Kaeding; Allard defeats Copeland; Tim Kaeding defeats Allard.

(6/1/19, Petaluma, CA) By Jim Allen ... Colby Copeland captured a thrilling three-overtime victory over Chase Johnson in Saturday's King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series show at Petaluma Speedway. Although the final stat line reads that Copeland officially led the entire 30-plus lap distance aboard Larry Antaya's Fire Protection Management-sponsored, S & S Automotive-powered Maxim, it was far from that simple.

Copeland and Johnson started the event on the front row and created a highlight reel with a thrilling game of cat and mouse for the first 27 non-stop laps. The pair battled wheel-to-wheel and sliced and diced masterfully through slower traffic as Copeland attempted to shag his aggressive tailgater. The frantic action finally took a breath when the caution appeared for Jason Statler who spun in the second corner. This set the stage for Johnson, in Shawn Thomas'es Fire Suppression Engineering sprinter, to regroup once again for another all out blitzkrieg on the leader. However, the final few laps were packed with even more drama.

First, the event came to a screeching halt on the 30th circuit when Eli Deshaies tangled with Stephen Ingraham and flipped head-over-tail on the frontchute. He was unhurt. This set the stage for the first "green-white-checkered" dash. Bud Kaeding, who had the best seat in the house running third for most of the night, banged the frontstretch concrete and spun on the next white flag lap to bring out the yellow once again. On the next restart, Johnson attempted to run the high side around Copeland, but smacked the wall on the final lap and stopped on the backchute. On the final OT restart, Copeland, held off the hard charging DJ Netto to score the three-car length victory.

"I felt like I won this race at least four times," explained a very happy Copeland. "I wasn't sure if this race was going to ever end."

"I had a great battle with Chase and he raced me hard and clean, just like I would do with him," Copeland continued. "After every caution, I would just take a deep breath and tighten up my belts to do it again."

Netto, started the Netto Ag KPC in fifth and passed Kaeding with three to go before going on to secure the runner-up spot at the finish. Netto enhanced his position as the King of the West-NARC championship point leader.

Rookie Geoff Ensign drove the Snow Motorsports West Coast Race Parts XXX to a season best third place finish. Thirteenth starter Ryan Bernal was on the move during the final 15-laps to score fourth and the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award. Dominic Scelzi secured fifth in the Roth Motorsports ride without a left rear shock.

The second five to take the checkered were Kaeding, Jason Statler, Johnson, ARP fast qualifier Willie Croft, and Nathan Rolfe.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Colby Copeland, DJ Netto, Geoff Ensign, Ryan Bernal, Dominic Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, Chase Johnson, Willie Croft, Nathan Rolfe, Kyle Offill, Kenny Allen, Tim Estenson, Stephen Ingraham, Eli Deshaies, Richard Brace Jr., Sean Watts, Matt DeMartini

5/14/19 – Jim Allen, Sacramento, CA … The winged 410 sprint car teams of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will be focused on claiming a stout $11,000 payday at Saturday’s (May 18th) Sixth Annual Peter Murphy Classic. This marks the second night of a popular two-day open wheel racing event that also features the Sprint Car Challenge Tour 360’s and USAC West Coast wingless 360’s sprint cars at the exciting Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare.

The Peter Murphy Classic awards the biggest one-day purse of this season’s King of the West 60th Anniversary campaign presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club. The event, the namesake of the former Northern Auto Racing Club sprint car driver who face life-threatening injuries in a frightening 2013 crash, is extremely popular with race fans and teams alike. Murphy has become the consummate ambassador for the sport and his efforts have helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for the NARC Benevolent Fund, a non-profit organization that assisted his family during his recovery.

“We have some great surprises lined up for sprint car fans this year,” said Murphy. “We know the racing is going to be great so we have added several new promotions and celebrations to compliment the show. I would love to tell you what some of them are in advance, but I want you to show up and experience it for yourself. And bring a friend with you.”

Heading a large contingent to the one-third mile bullring will be current championship point leader DJ Netto of nearby Hanford, CA. Although Netto has been a steady fixture in the King of the West-NARC top ten over the past five seasons, he has never led the championship chase. However, he has been a model of consistency at the first two-races of the season and owns a slim 229-228 margin over Shane Golobic of Elk Grove. Golobic captured last year’s Peter Murphy Classic in a wild shootout during the final laps.

But with 17 more events remaining on this years campaign, it’s still anybodies ball game. While consistency is necessary for a championship runs, open wheel teams have already stated that they are locked and loaded, and extremely focused on the largest winners share of the season. In addition, there is another $10,000 bonus up for grabs if an eligible driver takes and completes the Aussie Pole Shuffle challenge. Murphy will be laying out that challenge at Saturday’s drivers meeting.

“We definitely have everybody’s attention,” continued Murphy, “ensuring that it will be a great show. Nobody is going to want to finish second on Saturday.”

Others expected to compete in the star-stuffed line-up include Hollister’s Ryan Bernal; 2017 series champ Bud Kaeding of Campbell; Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi; Willie Croft and Colby Copeland from Roseville; Penngrove’s Chase Johnson; Rookie drivers Geoff Ensign (Sebastopol), Kyle Offill (Tracy), Stephen Ingraham (Fair Oaks) and Matt DeMartini (Oakley); Atwater drivers Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts; Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto; Chico’s Kenny Allen; Jason Statler of Grass Valley; and women drivers Jenna Frazier of Sacramento and Chelsea Blevins of Susanville.

Aromas driver Justin Sanders, who won the May 4th Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race in Chico, will also be in the field.

The King of the West-NARC racing format includes qualifying, four heat-races, the Aussie Pole Shuffle dash, and the high dollar 30-lap Fujitsu headliner co-sponsored by Daltons, Four C’s and Tarlton & Son.

The Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Fairgrounds in Tulare. Pit Gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. The drivers meeting begins at 4:00 p.m. Qualifying starts at 5:00 p.m. Racing gets underway at 6:00 p.m. For more information, go to www.thunderbowlraceway.com or www.petermurphyclassic.com.

Tickets prices are Adult Grandstand $30; Adult Bleacher $25; Senior Grandstands $28; Senior Bleacher $23; Kids 6-12 Grandstands $15; & Kids 6-12 Bleacher $13. Kids 5 and under are free.

ED NOTE: Race fans can contribute to the NARC Benevolent Fund. Make checks payable to: “NARC Benevolent Fund” and mail c/o Kaeding Performance Center 813 Cristich Lane, Campbell, CA 95008. For more information on the fund, call 408-371-3031. Fans can also make tax deductible donations to the NARC Benevolent Fund at King of the West-NARC events at the display near the Bullet Impressions Concession trailer.

All King of the West-NARC events are available on PPV on Speed Shift TV – https://www.speedshifttv.com/

UPCOMING EVENTS: June 1 – Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA June 21 – Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA – Pombo-Sargent Classic June 22 – Stockton Dirt Track, Stockton, CA (Venue Change) June 29 – Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA – W/Sprint Car Challenge Tour

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series (5/14/19)

DJ Netto, Hanford – 229 Shane Golobic, Elk Grove – 228 Ryan Bernal, Hollister – 221 Bud Kaeding, Campbell – 220 Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol (R) – 217 Chase Johnson, Penngrove – 217 Dominic Scelzi, Fresno (1) – 215 Willie Croft, Roseville 214 Nathan Rolfe, Atwater – 207 Kyle Offill, Tracy (R) – 205 Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 205 Kenny Allen, Chico – 198 Tim Estenson, Fargo ND (R) – 198 Sean Watts, Atwater – 197 Stephen Ingraham, Fair Oaks (R) – 195 Jenna Frazier, Sacramento – 179 Matt DeMartini, Oakley (R) – 165 Justin Sanders, Aromas (1) – 117 Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 1113 Gio Scelzi, Fresno – 110

Sometimes, having a weekly routine makes going to the races a little easier. And if you are chasing the King of the West-NARC 410 sprint cars this season, that routine will probably not kick in until about mid-June. With the March 2nd Stockton rain out, the Fujitsu racing series will only have three rounds under its belt by the end of May – assuming nothing else gets knocked out by bi-polar Mother Nature. The good news is that Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield dished up some outstanding 76-degree sunny weather for our 60th Anniversary season opener on April 6th, so one is officially in the books.

But what we are really looking forward to is BIG MONEY May! That would be the Bradway Memorial on May 4th and the $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic at Tulare on May 18th. Can you honestly believe that we’ve got 28 of the Bradway races in the history NARC books already? As for the Murphy event, it’s exactly that, an event you can’t legitimately look us in the eye and say you had to miss! You’ll flinch and we will know you were lying.

60TH SEASON OPENER NOTES: If you are going to start the season driving for an iconic car owner, you much as well go big! Dominic Scelzi did exactly that with his fourth career King of the West-NARC victory, this one aboard the famed Dennis and Teresa Roth 83JR. That broke a KWS victory tie with little brother Gio Scelzi. Dominic only needs 80 more wins to catch Brent Kaeding. … Shane Golobic was all over the “elder” Scelzi in the main but needed a slip up by the leader or a psycho in lap traffic to get by. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any banana peels on the one-third mile oval and my ex-wife was nowhere to be found. … Along the lines of Golobic and car owner Matt Wood, they plan to spend a lot of time racing in California this season, but also have a vision for substantial Midwest travel. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens if he is in the middle of both the NARC and SCCT championship hunt at mid-season. And that is pretty much a given. …

… Back to Scelzi, he also won the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash before leading all 30-laps. Winning the feature after claiming the dash only happen three times in 16-races last season (19%). … Yes, it’s the first race of the season and Chase Johnson has already duplicated his best finish of the 2018 season with a third at KCRP. All it took was a good qualifying effort (fifth fast) and a workmanlike performance to battle past DJ Netto, Sean Watts, and Ryan Bernal. His number 68 Shawn Thomas-owned sprinter was easily the fastest car from lap 15 to 25. … Willie Croft earned a Ben Franklin for his ARP Quick Time run. He was the only driver in the 24-car field who broke the 14 second barrier. … The Tarlton Motorsports team is running a Gaerte motor. Yup, 78-year old Joe Gaerte is still building some of the most potent power-plants in the business. Ryan Bernal used those 950-plus horses to score fourth. … Jenna Frazier had a night not to remember when she got upside-down coming out of turn two early in the 30-lapper. She was attempting to avoid a two-car skirmish in front of her, but that resulted in a head-over-heels solo crash in the Jim Paniagua 18. That made a five-hour drive home to Sacramento even longer. … Notable absentees at KCRP was Colby Copeland and car owner Larry Antaya. And Jarrett and Stephen Soares. … Larry Collins and the staff at the Dirt Track at KCRP put down bark in the pit area to keep the dust down. It works well, although some of the guys working the jacks were scrapping some it away to ensure everything was level. …

… King of the West-NARC drivers will be noticeably happier after their Sunnyvalley Bacon dash wins. In the past, the driver had to go up in the grandstands and give away nine-pounds of God’s best food to a lucky fan. In return, they got $100 cash for their six-laps of work. I don’t know how many times I had to cover the microphone last year when drivers argued with me because they didn’t want to give away the bacon. You would have thought we were giving away coolers full of cash and they wanted it. The good news is the driver and a fan BOTH get nine pounds of bacon this season. The bad news is I have to haul a larger ice chest down the road. … Chico’s Kenny Allen proudly claimed the 2011 KWS Rookie of the Year accolades and then disappeared like a cast member of Walking Dead shortly thereafter. He is more than happy to be back on the 410 trail in the white and blue Malcom Drilling 76 owned by Ed Butterfield. …

… Speaking of rookies, there is a plethora of potential Rookie of the Year candidates this season. While most of the names on this list are familiar for their local track exploits, they qualify on the 410 side of things as a rookie. … Kyle Offill was the highest finisher after starting 12th. He drove the familiar Country Builders ride to an eighth-place finish. This kid, who would play Center if NARC had a basketball team, has a lot of talent. … Geoff Ensign is the new shoe in the seat of the Sacramento-based Clayton Snow sprinter. The gas pedal must have fallen off in qualifying (21st fast), but it was firmly glued to the floorboard for the feature where they roared from 21st to ninth. That was worth $150 from Swift Metal Finishing and a $100 certificate from KSE Racing Products. … Stephen Ingraham will be chasing a 410 RoY award to go along with his 2014 Placerville Speedway RoY hardware. He was scored in 23rd. … Seventeen-year-old Tim Estenson made his highly anticipated 410 debut with the Netto Family 88E car. It was the Fargo, North Dakota drivers first ever run in a 410 and his smile showed it. He scored 17th. He was absolutely stoked at the opportunity. … Others throwing their name in the hat are Landon Hurst of Riverdale and Brentwood’s Matt DeMartini. Hurst started 15th and finished 14th. Mr. DeMartini night came to a fast, but not painless end when he dropped a piston in hot laps and destroyed the motor. If there is a slight upside, it was their 360. He expects to have his 410 back by the time the Bradway race rolls around. …

NARC NOTES: Did you know that an ordinary fish finder sunk in a water filled ice chest totally messes up traction control devices? I know …, that’s what I said. And you thought it was there to carry bacon! … Time to send out a special thank you to our honorable Queen of the Dave Bradway Jr race. That would be Dianne Durica by the way. She has reported that all 52-laps have been sponsored and the feature will pay $4000 to win. In addition, the Mike Avila Fast Time Award and Hardcharger will have $800 added to the normal pay off for those two honors. Heat winners get Hoosier right rears and tear offs, and kids will be leaving with trophies, coloring books, and lighted thundersticks! We will give you a complete breakdown on social media in the next few days! Thank you Dianne, and Dave also! …

… The King of the West-NARC series has cut a deal with Speed Shift TV to offer up our events on PPV this season. So, if you get bogged down at a family reunion, must work, get stuck doing honey-do’s, or you just don’t know how to program Tulare into Waze, you have an option. But if you stay at home to watch it, my only requirement is that you must drop a little dirt in your beer, so you get the full effect. … The 60th Anniversary T-shirt is a gem! It’s modern day on the backdrop of six decades of history. Stop by the Bullet Impressions trailer to get yours. … Who will be the Billy Albini Mechanic of the Year this season? The newly minted perpetual (and overdue) award, which will be best recognized by a signature gold-plated wrench, will acknowledge some of the great mechanics in the business. It comes with a $1000 cash award from Director of Competition Mike Andreetta and Chris Good. … It’s time to fire up the Double-Duty Award, or Double D’s as some single race fans like to call it. This is the bonus money that will be paid to the driver who wins a SCCT and King of the West feature on the same night. There are four of those races this season. Last year, fans and sponsors anted up $1100. Now we have to start over again. The first $100 is from photographer Joe Shivak, and the two-racing series have each kicked in $100. Who wants in? … If you are interested in sponsoring the Peter Murphy race, please dial up Mr. Murphy. …

So before I go, I’ve got a couple of questions for you. Who is your pick to win the Bradway race? Who is your pick to win the Peter Murphy Classic?

(4/6/19) Bakersfield, CA, By Joe Shivak & Jim Allen ... Dominic Scelzi won the 30-lap King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series 60th Anniversary season opener feature at the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway on Saturday night.

The Fresno ace led the feature from flag to flag in his Roth Motorsports No. 83 JR and pocketed $4,000 for his efforts. It was his fourth career King of the West-NARC victory.

Two-time KWS Kern County winner from last year Shane Golobic dogged Scelzi the entire distance,but had to settle for the runner up spot in the Matt Wood Elk Grove Ford-backed sprinter. Seventh starter Chase Johnson fought his was to an impressive third finish after an exciting battle with Ryan Bernal and DJ Netto.

The duo of Scelzi and Golobic brought the 23-car starting field to the green flag with Scelzi quickly jumping out front. The race would only go three laps before a multi car shunt coming out of the second turn resulted in a Jenna Frazier flip bringing out the red flag. The Sacramento driver escaped injury but her badly damaged racer had to be towed back to the pit area. The wreck also ended the night for J.J. Ringo.

Soon after the cars were re-fired, the night’s ARP Fast Qualifier and fourth-place starter Willie Croft pitted with a flat right rear tire and rejoined the tail of the field.

Scelzi and Golobic put on quite a show slicing and dicing in lapped traffic, but it was Johnson who was advancing forward in the Thomas Family Fire Suppression Engineering Maxim. He picked off Sean Watts, Netto and Bernal and was running in the third spot by the 20th circuit.

Golobic was able to get to the Scelzi’s rear bumper a few times but that was as strong a challenge as the willy veteran would muster.

"I saw Shane (Golobic) a couple of times and kept hearing him behind me so so I knew he was close," continued Scelzi. "It was good for me though, because I knew I had to sit up a little straighter in the seat and stay focused."

It looked like a caution would come out for a spinning Mitchell Faccinto, but his No. 37 ended up far enough off the track in turn one that the race stayed green. It wasn’t until lap 26 when the yellow lights would come on for a turn one spin by Jeremy Chisum.

Scelzi took advantage of a clear track to make the four-lap dash to the final checkered, taking the win over Golobic. Bernal drove the Tarton Motorsports KPC to fourth, chased by Netto in the Netto Family Ag sprinter.

"I always dreamed as a kid about getting a chance to drive this race car," said a happy Scelzi in victory lane, referring to the icon Roth Motorsports championship team. "I'm just glad I could step up my game and put it in victory lane to start the season. I have to thank everyone who made this possible."

The second five to cross the checkered were 11th starter Gio Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, 16th starter Kyle Offill, Geoff Ensign, and ninth row starter Scott Parker. Ensign earned the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award after kicking off the affair in the 21st position.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps): Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Chase Johnson, Ryan Bernal, D.J. Netto, Gio Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Offill, Geoff Ensign, Scott Parker, Sean Watts, Jace VanderWeed, Willie Croft, Landon Hurst, Nathan Rolfe, Mark Barroso, Jeremy Chisum, Tim Estenson, Kenny Allen, Mitchell Faccinto, J.J. Ringo, Jenna Frazier, Stephen Ingraham

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Chase Johnson, Kyle Offill, Scott Parker, JJ Ringo, Stephen Ingraham

FK ROD ENDS SECOND HEAT (10 laps): Sean Watts, DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, Jace Vanderweerd, Jeremy Chisum, Kenny Allen, Jenna Frazier, Mark Barroso

SPEEDSHIFT TV/MILLS VIDEO PROMOTIONS THIRD HEAT (10 laps): Gio Scelzi, Nathan Rolfe, Bud Kaeding, Ryan Bernal, Geoff Ensign, Landon Hurst, Tim Estenson

SUNNYVALLEY BACON TROPHY DASH (6 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Ryan Bernal, Sean Watts, Willie Croft, DJ Netto

Kern County Raceway Park set to host 60th Anniversary King of the West-NARC sprint car opener

The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park will play host to the exciting 950-horsepower open wheel sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series, this Saturday (April 6th) with the $4000 to win Fujitsu Spring Nationals.

The event marks the highly anticipated 60th Anniversary season opener for the historic racing series in a schedule that features 19-races at 10 different dirt oval tracks in California. All of the Golden State's best sprint car teams are expected to compete for top honors in the 30-lap headliner. Up for grabs will be more than $23,000 in prize money and contingency awards.

The upcoming season is expected to be as unpredictable as ever and it appears that the battle for the championship is a wide-open affair. It is expected to be fought fiercely between as many as ten teams.

Among them is Fresno driver Dominic Scelzi, who has some big shoes to fill for the potent Roth Motorsports team. Scelzi took over the coveted seat when defending four-time champion Kyle Hirst announced his semi-retirement last fall. Car owners Dennis and Teresa Roth are four-time King of the West-NARC champions with three different drivers and have a national recognized reputation for fielding winning race cars.

"I'm excited to get the year going in the Roth Motorsports number 83 car," admits Scelzi. "The bar for this team is raised very high and so are my performance expectations. I feel confident that we can compete for lots of wins and the King of the West-NARC championship."

Others in the mix include 2017 KWS-NARC champion Bud Kaeding, a third generation, 19-time winning driver out of Campbell. "There is definitely a buzz in the air and a lot of teams have their sights set on achieving championship glory," said Kaeding. "However, it's a long season and I feel experience pays bigger dividends in a pressure-packed title fight than just pure optimism. But there is only one way to find out and that is to leave it all on the race track on Saturday night."

Others entering the title fray include Hollister's Ryan Bernal; Willie Croft and Colby Copeland of Roseville; Penngrove's Chase Johnson; DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford. Collectively, this group has 15 career KWS victories under their belt.

"Kern County Raceway Park is a fantastic venue to open the season," continued Scelzi. "It has proven to be a very racy, multiple groove racetrack that allows drivers to charge to the front. I'm really looking forward to strapping into my race car."

Also expected to compete on Saturday include Atwater drivers Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts; Kenny Allen of Chico; Grass Valley's Jason Statler; Jenna Frazier of Sacramento; Jarrett Soares of Discovery Bay; Tim Estenson of Fargo, North Dakota, and many others. The event will pay a minimum of $600 to start the A-Main.

Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front Gate open at 5:30 pm, with qualifying set to get underway at 6:30 pm. Racing gets started at approximately 7:30 pm. General admission tickets are $20; Seniors (65+) and active-military $14. Kids five years old or younger are free.

The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park is located in Bakersfield, CA, just off of Highway 5 and Enos Lane. The address is 13500 Raceway Blvd, Bakersfield, CA 93311. For more info, go to www.kernraceway.com or NARC410.com.

Upcoming Events:
May 4 - Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico, CA - 29th Annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial
May 18 - Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA - Peter Murphy Classic w/SCCT
June 1 - Petaluma Speedway

2018 FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series

Kyle Hirst, Paradise (6) - 1455
Shane Golobic, Elk Grove (3) - 1422
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) - 1378
Chase Johnson, Penngrove - 1347
Colby Copeland, Roseville (1) - 1310
Dustin Golobic, Fremont - 1258
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater - 1153
DJ Netto, Hanford - 1152
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento - 1130
Willie Croft, Roseville (1) - 1126
Jason Statler, Grass Valley - 957
Sean Watts, Atwater - 909
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove - 849
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford (1) - 848
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay - 840
Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV - 739
Richard Brace Jr., Auburn - 725
Mathew Moles, Fresno - 543
Craig Stidham, Fresno - 531
Matt Dumesny - Australia - 520

NARC NEWSLINE – FEBRUARY 24, 2019, By Jim Allen
Well …, based on my calendar, it’s time to get this party started. It’s time to get the show on the road. And it’s time for the big boys – and girl – of 410 winged sprint car racing to go out and play at the Fujitsu Spring Nationals at Stockton. Yes, after much hype and off-season anticipation, it’s time celebrate the 60th Anniversary KWS-NARC season and continue the open wheel vision of the famed Louie Vermeil.

And this one is shaping up to be a gem. First off, there is a bit of a vacuum at the top of the power rankings with four-time champ Kyle Hirst not defending his title. That one statement alone represents 25% of the victories over the past two seasons on the King of the West-NARC campaign. So who is going to fill that void? Trust me, you don’t have to walk down pit row and ask twice! There is a long line of championship contenders.

Now while Kyle might be enjoying semi-retirement, the potent Dennis Roth Motorsports championship 83JR team is not and is dialed in to chase team title number five. This attempt will come with Dominic Scelzi behind the wheel. And then there is that Bud Kaeding guy who has his sights set on what would be his second title in three years. And the let’s not forget about Ryan Bernal, who has proven he can win in any open wheel car on any track. He is piloting the Tarlton Motorsports ride. Now we could stop there, but how much fun would that be? Let’s throw in Chase Johnson, Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Colby Copeland, and Mitchell Faccinto into the mix, plus an assortment of others, and you probably see that void filled quickly. That unpredictability pretty much guarantees that we will entertained for all 20-racing events. It's the real reason why you cut your grass during the week, miss most weekend family reunions and events, and have a collection of 40 or 50 racing shirts. We're going to the races!

NARC NOTES: Chico’s Kenny Allen has committed to racing the entire KWS campaign. He was the series rookie-of-the-year in 2011. Welcome back! … The “Double-Duty Challenge,” will be in play again this season. This is a cash award for any driver that wins a King of the West-NARC and SCCT feature on the same night. The Double-D Challenge is the brainchild of photographer Joe Shivak who kicked it off with the first Ben Franklin last season. Within hours it was up to over $1,000 in contributions from race fans and sponsors. We will start the process again in a few weeks. The first dual-sanctioned show is at the Peter Murphy Classic on May 18th. … Fargo, North Dakota driver Tim Estenson is expected to make several appearances this season in a Netto Racing sprint car. The 16-year old has been racing since he was seven and brings one heck of a racing resume. During the past two years, he’s notched 49 wins in INEX Legend cars, and multiple track championships. Yes, in just the last two years! This will be his first foray in a 410 sprint car and he is absolutely stoked about the opportunity. …

... Good luck to Cory Eliason, who is chasing the ASCoC title in the Rudeen Racing 26. … One of the best things about a new season is new color schemes on cars. Rico Abreu’s is the classiest one I’ve seen so far. … Tommy Tarlton is officially retired! (Until he gets the bug again. They should make that a prop bet in Vegas.) … Looking forward to the Jim Gardner-designed Bullet Impressions commemorative shirt for the 60th Anniversary season. … The fine people at Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats will once again be sponsoring the only trophy dash in the nation powered by Bacon. Yes, our two favorite smells, racing fuel and bacon cooking! As usual, one lucky fan will be leaving our events with about nine-pounds of man’s favorite food. … Bob Montoya and the gang over at Swift Metal Finishing is kicking in $150 per night to the feature event Hardcharger. The driver who passes the most cars this season in A-Main competition will pocket an additional grand at the November 3rd banquet. DJ Netto earned the money in 2018. …

... Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne are among some of the special entries that will be competing during the Four Fastest Days in Motorsports in August. A few other national entries are also expected. We have to thank Brad Sweet for helping us promote these events. … The $70,000 Champions Classic on August 23-24th at Stockton is shaping up to be more than just a high-paying pair of races, but into an event you can't miss. Preliminary plans include a Friday night party with a live band and a KWS-NARC Champions Luncheon before the races on Saturday. We are inviting every living car owner and driver champion from our previous 59 years of racing. Spread the word. …

... We wish Craig Stidham a speedy recover after his nasty KoT crash at the Hanford season opener. Initial reports say he has a broken arm and several cracked ribs. That’s not the way he planned to start the season. … Along those lines, we are working hard to take competitor safety up to another level this season. Kris Robertson will be assisting with that cause as our new technical and safety inspector. He will be making the rounds at every event. … Speaking of safety, King of the West-NARC points chasers are being issued an excess medical insurance policy of $100,000 for the 2019 season. This is being at no cost to the racers and we hope it never has to be utilized. … Have you ever wondered why more teams don't use a fire suppression system such as Safecraft? I do! ... Look for Sean Watts to take it up a notch this season. His Billet America, Maxima Racing Oils, Grizzly Cooler, Kaeding Performance ride is ready to roll. If that sounds like a blatant sponsor plug – it was! We must support companies that support sprint car racing! … I'm banking on a break out year by Nathan Rolfe in his Rolfe Construction 28. ... RIP Michael “Mole” Wertz. … Based on everything we’ve seen on social media, Jenna Frazier will be engaging fans with a lot of racing SWAG this season. … By the way, let’s hope all of those weather forecasters are wrong about their El Nino’ prediction this spring. Then again, they are usually wrong! They’ve got the only job on the planet where you can be wrong 50% of the time and never get fired. How is that even possible? … The Outlaws have eight California events in March. What’s your over/under on the amount of races California drivers will win? Three or four?

RULE BOOK NOTES: There are a few rule changes for the 2019 season. Here are a few of them: Wing T-post must be built from 1” X .083” minimum 4130 steel, or equivalent material. … 2” wickerbill allowed on flat wings. … Rock screens are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! By the way, they say you only need to do two things once during your lifetime. One is getting burned, the other is getting hit in the face with a rock. Both of them suck and both can typically be prevented. #justsaying. … Axle tethers and king pin tethers are now mandatory. … Left front radius rods must be constructed of 4130 steel with steel rod ends. … Traction control is not allowed, but you already knew that. You also need to leave those Apple watches in the hauler or risk an immediate DQ … The Hoosier tire rule is the same as 2018. … It is mandatory that wheel covers have a minimum of five mounting points. There are some variations of this, so competitors need to download the rule book from NARC410.com. … Of course seat belts and helmets must meet current safety specifications. … 24-car features. … Show up points increased to 75 per event. … And finally, Snow Chains are required on really muddy tracks. Okay, that part isn’t true! I was just seeing if you were still paying attention.

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA. We will see ya at the Stockton Dirt Track on Saturday (March 2nd). $5000 to win and $600 to start the A.

Silver Dollar Speedway race date added to 2019 King of the West-NARC schedule

(12/9/18 - Jim Allen) ... The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series had added a Thursday, August 22nd date to the 2019 schedule. This brings the number of 410 winged sprint car races up to 20.

The special Thursday night show is part of a four night sprint car blitz that begins in Placerville (August 21st), goes to Chico (August 22nd) and then moves to the Stockton Dirt Track on August 21-23rd.

March 2 - The Stockton Dirt Track
April 6 - The Dirt Track @ Kern County Raceway Park
May 4 - Silver Dollar Speedway - Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial
May 18 - Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway w/SCCT - Peter Murphy Classic
June 1 - Petaluma Speedway
June 21 - Ocean Speedway - Pombo-Sargent Classic
June 22 - Calistoga Speedway
June 29 - Placerville Speedway w/SCCT - Salute to the Fans
July 13 - Petaluma Speedway
July 20 - Ocean Speedway - Howard Kaeding Classic
July 27 - Santa Maria Speedway - Winged Madness w/Wheelie Contest
August 21 - Placerville Speedway - Gold Country Showdown
August 22 - Silver Dollar Speedway (Chico)
August 23 - The Stockton Dirt Track - Champions Classic
August 24 - The Stockton Dirt Track - $10,000 to win Champions Classic
August 31 - Calistoga Speedway w/USAC-CRA - Louie Vermeil Classic
September 1 - Calistoga Speedway w/USAC-CRA - Louie Vermeil Classic
October 5 - The Dirt Track @ Kern County Raceway Park
October 12 - Keller Auto Speedway (Hanford) w/SCCT - Cotton Classic
November 2 - The Stockton Dirt Track w/SCCT - Tribute to Gary Patterson

(12/7/18) Auburn, CA … The 60th Anniversary King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series schedule was announced today and features 19 racing events at ten different dirt tracks in 2019. The 410 winged campaign is slated to award more than $500,000 in prize money and will kick off at the Stockton Dirt Track on March 2nd. The season will conclude in Stockton eight-months later on November 2nd with the $5000 to win Tribute to Gary Patterson. A new 60th Anniversary series logo will debut soon.

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary milestone, the King of the West-NARC organization will feature many special events, including the return to the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway on August 31-September 1. Louie Vermeil was regarded as the founding father of the Northern Auto Racing Club. Both events on the big half-mile oval will pay $6000 to win and $600 to start, plus additional bonuses for any Northern Auto Racing Club driver who competes in the accompanying USAC-CRA non-wing show on the same card.

The King of the West-NARC series will also be showcased at Calistoga Speedway on June 22nd, when the historic track opens its 81st season of open wheel racing.

Overall, there are four events scheduled at the dirt track at Stockton. The bell cow of the season will be the “Champions Classic,” a Brad Sweet Promotions supported event on August 23-24th. The $75,000 show features a stout $10,000 to win purse and $700 to start purse on Saturday night. This two-day show will pay tribute to 60-years of King of the West & Northern Auto Racing Club championship teams.

The prelude to that event is a special Wednesday night Gold Country Showdown at Placerville Speedway on August 21st. Several nationally known drivers and teams are expected to compete during this three-day sprint car blitz. (ED NOTE: Negotiations are also underway to possibly add a Thursday night show at another track.)

The month of May will be highlighted by a pair of lucrative events including the Dave Bradway Jr Memorial race at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico (May 4th), and the $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on May 19th.

The King of the West-NARC series will also be returning to Santa Maria Speedway after a five-year absence. The action-packed quarter mile oval will feature a July 27th “Winged Madness Show” that will also showcase a $1000 to win HammerDown Wheelie Contest.

Ocean Speedway, in Watsonville Speedway, will host the Pombo-Sargent Classic (June 21st) and the popular $5000 to win Howard Kaeding Classic on July 20th.

The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park and Petaluma Speedway are also on the calendar for a pair of action-packed events. Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford will be the site of the 34th Annual Cotton Classic on October 12th.

Four of the racing events on the schedule will also feature the 360 Sprint Car Challenge Tour.

“We’ve got a great schedule laid out for fans and racing teams,” states Jim Allen, King of the West Business Manager. “Our 60th Anniversary season promises to be entertaining and features a strong foundation that will continue to build on 410 sprint car racing in California. And we plan to make some major announcements in the near future to sweeten the pot even more, spreading out the money to all teams supporting our series.”

In addition to prize money, there will be approximately $50,000 in other cash, product and contingency awards presented in 2019. The standard purse pays $3000 to win and $500 to start the 24-car A-Main.

The championship point fund – as of publication time – will pay a minimum of $56,000 to the top 10 teams, plus bonuses to teams making every show. Those funds will be presented to teams at the Championship Celebration Brunch at the Brookside Country Club in Stockton on November 3rd; the day after the season finale.

For more information, contact Jim Allen at (714) 397-7417, or go to NARC410.com.
2019 KING OF THE WEST-NARC FUJITSU SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE (as of 12/7/18)

March 2 – The Stockton Dirt Track
April 6 – The Dirt Track @ Kern County Raceway Park
May 4 – Silver Dollar Speedway – Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial
May 18 – Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway w/SCCT – Peter Murphy Classic
June 1 – Petaluma Speedway
June 21 – Ocean Speedway – Pombo-Sargent Classic
June 22 – Calistoga Speedway
June 29 – Placerville Speedway w/SCCT – Salute to the Fans
July 13 – Petaluma Speedway
July 20 – Ocean Speedway – Howard Kaeding Classic
July 27 – Santa Maria Speedway – Winged Madness w/Wheelie Contest
August 21 – Placerville Speedway – Gold Country Showdown
August 22 – PENDING
August 23 – The Stockton Dirt Track – Champions Classic
August 24 – The Stockton Dirt Track – $10,000 to win Champions Classic
August 31 – Calistoga Speedway w/USAC-CRA – Louie Vermeil Classic
September 1 – Calistoga Speedway w/USAC-CRA – Louie Vermeil Classic
October 5 – The Dirt Track @ Kern County Raceway Park
October 12 – Keller Auto Speedway (Hanford) w/SCCT – Cotton Classic
November 2 – The Stockton Dirt Track w/SCCT – Tribute to Gary Patterson

One of the best things about open wheel racing is that it’s almost always unpredictable. Every time you think you’ve got this gig figured out … BAM … the unexpected! Somebody jumps a wheel, somebody else scores a perfectly timed victory, and next thing you know, you’re in the middle of a championship hunt again.

Along those lines, my IM and texts messages have been blowing up since we pulled out of the Kern County Raceway Park parking lot. Tons of questions about what it would take for either Kyle Hirst or Shane Golobic to win the 2018 King of the West-NARC driving championship. You know …, the usual the stuff … Who’s got to finish where and what’s got to happen to claim the deal? So I only have to do this once, here is a breakdown of the possibilities:

Entering the season finale at the Stockton Dirt Track, Hirst owns a narrow 16-point lead over Golobic. Keep in mind that there are just two ways to earn points in the King of the West-NARC series … qualifying and the main event. The top qualifier earns four points, dropping by one for the four fastest cars. The series also pays a premium for winning. For example, parking it in victory lane is worth 42 points. Second place is worth 39, but it drops by one point per position from that point on.

Now … as a public service announcement, we are going to have some fun and share seven possible scenarios with you.

SCENARIO #1: On his way to Stockton, Kyle stops at a random 7-Eleven in Galt, CA and purchases a $20 California Lottery Scratch Off ticket. A few scratches with a screwdriver later, he realizes he’s just won a million bucks. Kyle jumps out of his truck and sets quick time running around the parking lot, hooping and hollering for a few minutes. Once the endorphins calm down some, he flips a U-turn and heads back to Paradise, CA where he proceeds to book a three-week all-inclusive Hawaiian family vacation. Fortunately for Shane Golobic, he only bought a Red Bull at a Chevron station in Lodi. He shows up at Stockton, qualifies, and lays claim to the 2018 title.

SCENARIO #2: Shane Golobic qualifies sixth, but still manages to win the Stockton feature. Hirst earns his ninth ARP quick time award of the season but has motor issues and finishes way back in 19th. Golobic and Hirst are now tied in points, but there are a few tiebreakers in the rule book, because ties are about as unsatisfying as my ex-wife. The first tiebreaker is feature event wins. At this point, they both have five. The second tiebreaker is fast times. Hirst promptly pulls off a classic Tiger Woods-type fist pump, knowing he won that one by a landslide, proving that qualifying plays a key role in determining our champion.

SCENARIO #3: Kyle Hirst decides at the last minute to attend a welding convention in Milwaukee for his new Tiner-Hirst Enterprises business venture. Coincidentally, Shane Golobic decides to leave a day early on his honeymoon and both end up missing the race in Stockton. Bud Kaeding takes the green flag in the Stockton feature and ends up winning back-to-back titles.

SCENARIO #4: It’s a Stockton sweeper night for Golobic. Fast time, heat win, a Bacon victory and his fifth win of the KWS-NARC season. That equals max points for his Tarlton Motorsports team! On the other hand, Hirst qualifies fifth fast and finishes 12th in the finale. Golobic wins the crown by one-point, tying last year’s mark for the closest points race in KWS-NARC history.

SCENARIO #5: Shane Golobic spray paints graffiti all over the Roth Motorsports top wing, keys the Roth hauler, glues a stack of tear offs to Kyle’s helmet, unfriends him on Facebook, and wins a dramatic photo-finish over Kaeding. Hirst drives like a man possessed, with a flipped up visor for 30-laps and finishes a remarkable 10th. Hirst claims his fourth King of the West-NARC driving championship.

SCENARIO #6: Chase Johnson decides to host Shane Golobic’s Bachelor Party and invites Hirst and Kaeding to Vegas for what amounts to be a racing version of the movie Hangover. Somehow … and we really don’t know how this happens …, but everyone not named Chase consumes Rohypnol (roofied) and ends up passed out on the rooftop of the MGM. Chase races back to Stockton, set’s quick time and win the feature, but comes up three points short of winning the title – making it the second closest points chase in the organization’s history.

AND FINALLY … SCENARIO #7: Both teams decide to get their relatives involved to enhance their chances. After all, according to the book Art of War, there’s power in numbers. So, Hirst recruits brother-in-law Willie Croft as a teammate to run interference on Golobic. In return, Golobic enlists the support of younger brother Dustin to slow the way for Hirst. Not wanting to be left out, Brent Kaeding suits up to drive his iconic 69, and Tim Kaeding literally hops one-legged into the 42 car to set a blockade for Bud. At this point, cars are driving wider than Rosie O’Donnell strolling down the cookie aisle at Albertsons.

Meanwhile, Paul McMahan takes advantage of a Southwest Airlines Wanna Get Away fare from Tennessee for a double big-Mac attack to get Bobby McMahan back in the top ten. And let’s not forget about the Scelzi’s – Dominic and Gio - who should be sponsored by Lenscrafters, because their matching 41 cars are giving everybody in the grandstands double-vision. But wait there is more … Chase Johnson also decides at the last moment that he wants a piece of this action, so he puts brother Colby in his other car and un-retires his racing father, grandfather, and great grandfather to compete with four generations of Johnson’s. At that point, announcer Bobby Gerould is so confused trying to tabulate points, he falls off his barstool and breaks his other leg. The NARC Benevolent Fund buys him an electric wheelchair with a built-in microphone and we all go to the championship awards brunch the next day not caring about points – just the fun time we had the night before.

So there you have it! Seven likely, but probably unlikely scenarios on who is going to claim the King of the West-NARC championship in 2018. The bottom line is anything can happen and usually does! My advice? Come experience the unpredictability first hand at the Stockton Dirt Track finale on November 3rd. You might find out there's an eighth scenario!

THE DIRT TRACK AT KERN COUNTY RACEWAY PARK: Willie Croft was the only driver in the 12-second bracket and earned his third ARP Quick Time award of the season. He also claimed the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash. He ended up giving the nine pounds of bacon to an overly-enthusiastic race fan who flipped up his shirt to show Willie how much he loved bacon. I’m not exactly sure what the correlation is there? … The HydrochemPSC NARC Coloring Books made their debut and they are a hit with the kids (and adults.) … Dominic Scelzi registered as “Bondo Johnson” during the pill draw. The roost was still in the bag when the announcer informed the crowd that "Bondo" was piloting the Scelzi Motorsports 41S during qualifying. What’s next for Dominic? Richard Cranium? … By the way, the battle between Scelzi and Bud Kaeding for the runner-up spot midway through the 30-lapper was a racing classic. Too bad they took each other out. … DJ Netto – Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger. Sixteenth to fourth. Just think what DJ could do with a better starting position. …

… Jace Vanderweerd finished 10th. … Rookie Dustin Golobic posted his only DNF of the season. Think about that for a second. That’s impressive. … Kyle Hirst’s violent crash into the first turn on the original start was of the scary variety that totally destroyed the Roth Motorsports KPC. A deep sigh of relief watching Kyle crawl out of the carnage. The car literally had to be dragged into the hauler. He was scored in 18th, which is 14 positions worse than his next worst finish of the 2018 season. Yup, that is a real stat! … On the other side of the coin, Shane Golobic couldn’t have picked a better night to pick off his fourth Tarlton Motorsports win of the KWS-NARC season. He sliced Hirst’s once daunting 34-point lead down to only 13 in one night. For those of you at home taking notes, Golobic won both KCRP events this season. … Once again, thank you to promoter Larry Collins and your staff for the great accommodations and racy track. This is a great facility! It was fun and we will do it again next year.

COTTON CLASSIC AT KELLER AUTO SPEEDWAY: Mitchell Faccinto won last year’s Cotton Classic for his first King of the West-NARC career victory. How do you back it up? You win this year’s Cotton Classic for your second career “W” with a thrilling last corner pass of Kyle Hirst. Faccinto was stellar as he took no prisoners bouncing along the cushion to score the very popular victory in front of his hometown crowd. Car owner Stan Greenberg was a happy camper. … And how about Nathan Rolfe? The kid drove like there was a fire under him and scored a season-best seventh place finish in the Dennis Rolfe sprint car. He was elbows up the entire distance. … Golobic was third and obviously gassed in victory lane. That's reasonable considering he just spent 35-laps battling Rico Abreu in the SCCT main and then swapped cars for another 30-lap slugfest. …

… Our compliments go out to promoter Bubby Morse who dished up an excellent racing surface for the 82 cars in the pits. It was a fantastic show, even though the Racesavers main was a little rough around the edges. … “Bondo” Scelzi – hardcharger – 13th to fifth. … Chase Johnson “quietly” posted his 10th consecutive top ten finish in the Shawn Thomas Maxim. … Faccinto became only the third dash winner this season to go on to win the A-Main. … One race fan – this one a woman – offers to flip up her shirt to get a NARC coloring book. Not sure about the correlation on that one either – but she got a couple of coloring books – and crayons! … The $1100 Double Duty Challenge rolls over to the season finale as no driver “double-downed” with both a King of the West and SCCT victory. Thanks to ace photographer Joe Shivak for getting that promotion started.

And finally, the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series championship banquet is on Sunday, November 4th. Yes, the day after the Tribute to Gary Patterson finale at Stockton. It’s a brunch that kicks off at the Brookside Country Club at 11:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 each and are going fast. Dean Mills has promised some great videos and there is a whole lot of money and prizes being distributed! If you want to join us, call me at 714-397-7417 … like yesterday!

10/13/18, Hanford, CA – By Jim Allen … Mitchell Faccinto pulled off a dramatic last corner pass of King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series championship point leader Kyle Hirst to score a thrilling Cotton Classic victory at Keller Auto Speedway.

Piloting Stan Greenberg’s TSG Waste Disposal-Western Metals KPC, Faccinto scored his second consecutive Cotton Classic win, which also happened to be his second KWS-NARC victory of his career.

Faccinto led the first 17-laps from the pole and maintained a healthy lead until the fourth starting Hirst reeled him in as the pair negotiated slower traffic. The two raced side-by-side for several laps until Hirst used the low line to skate under the cushion-riding Faccinto on the frontchute on lap 18.

Hirst made several stellar moves in traffic and earned a 12-car length advantage in the Dennis Roth-owned Roth Investments KPC. But that effort was all for naught when Bud Kaeding brought out the red by flipping over the second turn with only three-laps remaining. Kaeding had been battling in the top five. He walked away unhurt.

On the restart, Hirst favored the low side and Faccinto up top as the pair continued to battle wheel-to-wheel for the point. With the white-flag waving, Hirst front wheels went skyward as he accelerated out of turn two, as Faccinto stutter-stepped slightly on the cushion. Faccinto recovered faster and continued to ride the treacherous high-line, eventually motoring around Hirst as they powered out of the final corner to score the popular victory. The margin was .709 seconds.

“Nothing beats winning in front of a hometown crowd,” said Faccinto, “especially stealing one on the last lap like that from Kyle. He is the best, if not one of the best to ever come out of California. It’s fun racing with him and he always races hard, but is a very respectful driver.”

Faccinto also thanked his dad and crew chief Monte Faccinto and car owner Stan Greenberg for providing a perfect race car.

Shane Golobic, who started on the outside of the front row, got passed by Hirst on lap 12 and remained in the hunt shadowing the two frontrunners. He slipped as far back as fifth with 10 to go but rebounded to score third at the checkered aboard the potent Tarlton Motorsports KPC.

Hirst point lead over Golobic was extended from 13 points entering the event to 16 (1363-1347) with only one race remaining.

Eighth starter DJ Netto was fourth in the Netto Ag KPC. He was pursued across the line by 13th starter Dominic Scelzi, who was driving the Gary Scelzi Motorsports Schnee. Scelzi’s efforts earned him the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award.

The second five to cross the line were Willie Croft, 11th starter Nathan Rolfe, 14th starter Colby Copeland, Chase Johnson and Jason Statler. Rolfe’s efforts were a season best.

Eli Deshaies was injured when he took a nasty tumble down the front straightaway on the second lap.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft, Nathan Rolfe, Colby Copeland, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, Justyn Cox, Jace Vanderweerd, Dustin Golobic, Sean Watts, Jenna Frazier, Bud Kaeding, Cole Macedo, Richard Brace, Craig Stidham, Gary Paulson, Eli Deshaies.

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Chase Johnson, Mitchell Faccinto, Kyle Hirst, Dominic Scelzi, Jason Statler, Richard Brace, Jenna Frazier.

Hydrochem PSC Second Heat (10 laps): Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Colby Copeland, Cole Macedo, Nathan Rolfe, Gary Paulson, Jace Vanderweerd.

The Cushion/Mills Video Promotions Third Heat (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Dustin Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Justyn Cox, Craig Stidham, Sean Watts, Eli Deshaies

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson.

10/6/18, Bakersfield, CA – By Jim Allen … Shane Golobic outdueled Willie Croft at the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park and went on to earn his fourth King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series 30-lap feature event of the season.

In fact, it was a season sweep of the two races at Kern County for Golobic and the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi-Palace & Casino-backed, Paul Baines-wrenched KPC team. This combination also claimed the KWS-NARC season opener on April 7th.

The victory allowed Golobic to dramatically tighten up the championship point standings after series leader Kyle Hirst took a nasty tumble on the original start. Luckily, Hirst walked away from his destroyed race car unhurt, but his huge lead in the standings didn’t fare so well. With only two-races remaining, Hirst now leads Golobic by a very slim 1270-1257 margin (unofficial.)

Polesitter Croft, who also set quick time and won the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash, was the class of the field on the initial green until Golobic closed in when the leader got slowed in traffic on lap five. Golobic catapulted past Croft as they split a lapped car motoring down the back straightaway on lap seven. Bud Kaeding followed suit a lap later.

Kaeding started to pressure Golobic at the midway point and actually passed the leader, only to lose the advantage two turns later. Dominic Scelzi moved into contention and the top three raced only a few feet apart. However, Golobic made a couple of stellar moves while negotiating lap cars and moved out to a 10-car length advantage.

Scelzi and Kaeding put on a war for the runner-up spot that was worth the price of admission, swapping the position on a corner by corner basis. Unfortunately that would also be their undoing as the duo got together with only four laps remaining. Scelzi end up spinning out exiting the second turn and Kaeding sported a shredded a left rear tire shortly thereafter.

On the ensuing restart, Croft made a couple of runs at the leader but was unable to make it stick, having to settle for second in his Holey Smokes BBQ/Amerikote EMI.

“I made some pretty good moves that got me through lapped traffic tonight,” said Golobic. “I can’t say enough about this entire Tarlton Motorsports team who gave me a fantastic race car to get the job done.”

Eighth starter Mitchell Faccinto ran a very steady race and posted a very workmanlike season-best third place finish aboard Stan Greenberg’s TSG Recycling sprint car.

DJ Netto earned with Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award aboard the Netto Ag/Rotella Shell sprint car. He started 16th and blasted through the field to score fourth.

Twelfth starter Chase Johnson rounded out the top five aboard Shawn Thomas’s Safecraft Safety Equipment Maxim.

The second five included Craig Stidham, Scelzi, Mathew Moles, Kaeding, and Jace Vanderweerd.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson, Craig Stidham, Dominic Scelzi, Mathew Moles, Bud Kaeding, Jace Vanderweerd, Cole Macedo, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, Jenna Frazier, Dustin Golobic, Colby Copeland, Kyle Hirst

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Sean Watts, Bud Kaeding, Mathew Moles, Willie Croft, Dustin Golobic, Cole Macedo

Hydrochem PSC Second Heat (10 laps): Kyle Hirst, Dominic Scelzi, Craig Stidham, Colby Copeland, Jenna Frazier, Jason Statler

The Cushion/Mills Video Promotions Third Heat (10 laps): Chase Johnson Jace Vanderweerd, Shane Golobic, Mitchell Faccinto, DJ Netto, Nathan Rolfe

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Willie Croft, Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Dominic Scelzi, Sean Watts.

NARC NEWSLINE, August 5, 2018, By Jim Allen … Auburn, CA … Don’t you hate when you’ve got everything going really good, and all of your hard work is really starting to pay off and then BAM … nothing? Although that reminds me of my first wife, that’s not what I’m talking about here. After enjoying a very entertaining stretch of six-races in 36 days, the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series has essentially power-braked for a 70-day recess. While some might look at this as a scheduling snafu, it’s just the reality of today’s ever changing open wheel scene. First off, this allows at least a dozen California-based teams to load up both 360’s and 410’s for a pair of Knoxville Nationals. Then throw in the Louie Vermeil Classic and some Outlaw shows in September and BAM … our next race is on October 6th at Kern County Raceway Park. In fact, there are only three rounds remaining on our schedule. Besides the KCRP show, there is the October 13th KWS-NARC/SCCT Cotton Classic doubleheader at Hanford, and the November 3rd KWS-NARC/SCCT championship night finale in Stockton.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Before I get into the recaps, consider this a major announcement (a press release will follow.) The King of the West-NARC series is going to do something a little different this year as far as the championship awards banquet goes. As stated earlier, our Stockton Dirt Track season finale is on Saturday, November 3rd. Our 2018 championship banquet will take place the following afternoon on Sunday, November 4th at the regal Brookside Country Club (3603 St. Andrews Drive, Stockton). This is a plush first class facility and offers up a nice way to put a wrap on a successful King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series season while it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind.

It kicks off at 11:00 a.m. with brunch, followed by awards and checks and trophies and videos and NARC Benevolent Fund raisers at high noon. More details to follow shortly, but the point of this post is for you to mark your calendars. We will provide local hotel info and hauler parking info. Race fans are also invited once race teams finalize their reservations. We are limited to 150 people. NOTE: If the Stockton Dirt Track race rains out and gets postponed a week, the banquet will still take place on the November 4th. At that point, the finale will award a flat 75 points to all KWS-NARC teams that qualify and participate in that show. Let’s hope for clear skies.

PETALUMA SPEEDWAY (7/14/18) NOTES: After racking up four podium finishes in a row, Shane Golobic picked off his third KWS-NARC win of the season at P-luma. This broke the Kyle Hirst/Roth Motorsports stranglehold on victory lane. Hirst had won four of the previous five races. Bud Kaeding took a shot at Golobic late, but Golobic was on a mission and it wasn’t going to stick. … The initial start stumbled down the backstretch with Colby Copeland getting up in the wall and reeling in what seemed to be half the field. Before the metal carnage ended, Dustin Golobic, Marcus Dumesny, Jarrett Soares, Willie Croft, and Jenna Frazier were stopped with an assortment of issues. However, one by one, the cars began to reappear on the track – even the 16A of Copeland - as pit crews scrambled to make repairs. They earned their money on this night. Dustin Golobic determined that his car was toast after accessing the extensive damage to the number 57 on the track. A few minutes later, he was pushed off again. When asked about the turnaround, he responded, “I thought we were done, but when I got back to the pit area, they told me to get back in the car.” We could chalk that up to being a rookie mistake, but it was basically just a minor set-back for the crew of the Golobic Construction sprinter. Only Dumesny was unable to return. …

... Bud set quick time. Kyle Hirst was second quick, and Bobby McMahan third. … Sean Watts, who admittedly has been befuddled by his lack of success this season, claimed his heat race. Looks like the mojo is returning as he finished a season best ninth in the feature. … There was only one 360 in the 19-car field and that belonged to Bert Lathrop with Geoff Ensign behind the wheel. Most of the Petaluma regulars were up in north chasing the Oregon 360 Speedweek title. Along those lines, congrats to DJ Netto who laid claim to those honors and the $1000 bonus. Back to Ensign, who was putting together a Top 10 Cinderella type performance, until dropping out in 15th. Will someone give this guy a full time 410 ride? By the way, the team pocketed a $200 bonus. … Colby Johnson made his 410 debut driving his brother’s Chase Johnson 24. He finished an impressive sixth, right behind Chase in the main. (I wonder if he was holding back? It’s probably not good business to show up your car owner!) … Nathan Rolfe took the Dennis Rolfe 28 for an unscheduled flight test, vaulting down the heart of the front straightaway midway through the feature. This one ended with an abrupt crash landing. Said Nathan immediately upon exiting in the car, “It seemed like I was in the air for five-seconds. I just crossed my arms across my chest and held on.” I think it was more of an adrenaline rush than a flight test! …

OCEAN SPEEDWAY (7/21/18) NOTES: For the second year in a row, the Howard Kaeding Classic was captured by a first-time King of the West-NARC winner. Colby Copeland picked up where Buddy Kofoid left off in 2017 with an impressive run in Larry Antaya’s Maxim. And trust me on this one, there is no better way to score your first victory than with a $5000 paycheck. I’m not sure who was sporting a bigger smile in victory lane - Colby or Larry! This team is really starting to gel. … Speaking of first timers, Sean Watts claimed his first career dash win in the “Powered by Bacon” dash. … Kofoid outpaced the 31-car field in qualifying to earn his first ARP Fast Time Award of the season. He tangled with Tanner Thorson while running fourth with two laps remaining. … More than $6000 was raised for the NARC Benevolent Fund at the Howard Kaeding Luncheon. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We also can’t say enough to thank Myles McAtee for his contributions to the success of this event. He donates the food, the tent, and his hardworking “Catering by Five” staff to put it all together. … I hope I have as much energy and charisma as Howard Kaeding when I’m 85 years old. This man is enjoying life to the fullest! … How did the Kaeding’s do at the Kaeding race? Bud Kaeding finished in the runner-up spot for the third time in three-races. He started 11th. Brent, making his only appearance of the season, scored 17th after stealing the last semi-transfer spot on the last lap from Jarrett Soares in the semi. Tim had an off night claiming 21st. …

... Here is something that I didn’t think I would say at this point in the season: Chase Johnson scored his first podium finish of the season. In fact, Chase posted the fastest lap of the dash and main and has been a bullet all year long, scoring 12 top 10’s in 13-events. But this series is tough. Chase just needs a small break or two to get back on top of the podium. He has some KWS-NARC championships in his future. … Thank you to all of the sponsors who backed this great event. The feature paid $800 to start, plus there was a ton of other perks. … The two-day Howard Kaeding Classic, with all of the surrounding activities and active campground, is one of the premier events in California. You’ve got to love the hang out with the club atmosphere. … Kyle Hirst won the Civil War 360 show on Friday night. … Despite the mountain of food most drivers ate at the luncheon, there were no weight issues at the scales. On our last trip to Ocean Speedway, two cars were under-weight. … Aussie Marcus Dumesny scored a season best sixth after starting 12th. … DJ Netto was on the move after a less than stellar qualifying time put him back in the 17th starting spot. He sliced, diced, and threaded this way to a very impressive fifth place finish! …

PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY (7/28/18) NOTES: With Tanner Thorson at Pocono for a truck race, Justin Sanders bolted his seat into Clyde Lamar’s Tri-C Spike. He didn’t waste any time getting comfortable, setting quick time and leading all 30-laps of the Fujitsu Summer Nationals. It was his second King of the West-NARC win of 2018, and first for Mr. Lamar this season. For Sanders, it was his 12th victory of 2018, which has come in five different cars. No, that is not a misprint – FIVE! He has parked his own number 17, the 121 of Joe Von Schriltz, the 56 owned by Mike Phulps, and the 4SA belonging to Dale Miller, and now the 3C. That’s simply remarkable. Sanders is fun to watch on the quarter mile bullring. He runs it like he owns it. … Tri-C Crew chief Lee Lindgren is underrated. #justsaying. … Rookie of the year candidate Jenna Frazier was the first car out in qualifying and possibly cut her best lap of the season. She ended up 10th quick in the 27-car field. She is headed to Knoxville for the Nationals. …

... Kyle Hirst finished fourth for the third race in a row. … Sean Becker was aboard the Mark Moore Motorsports 1M. … Will Tim Kaeding’s 2004 track record of 9.984 seconds at Placerville ever be broken? Probably not! Sanders time was 10.638 seconds. … Matt Dumesny actually set quick time, but forfeited it when he drove past the scales when returning to his pit area. Said Dumesny later, “I just spaced out and didn’t stop. I don’t know why.” Dumesny ended up spearing a tractor tire high over turn three in the semi and was done for the night. It wasn’t the way he was planning to end his California campaign in Rod Tiner’s 83SA. Dumensy continued, "This trip could been a lot better, but I just made too many mistakes." Their best finish was a third at Calistoga. On the other hand, Marcus Dumesny posted his second consecutive top 10 finish, finishing eighth. … Tanner and Blake Carrick were also in the field. Both qualified for the main. Blake earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award. … DJ Netto got roughed up and upside down in both KWS-NARC Placerville races this season. … Michael Ing had a rough night also. ...

And finally ... even though the King of the West-NARC series is taking an extended recess, or leave of absence, or vacation, or hiatus, or siesta, or whatever you want to call it, there's still a lot of great racing taking place in the Golden State. Grab a friend, a neighbor, or co-worker and head to a dirt track near you.

(7/28/18 Placerville, CA – Jim Allen) … Justin Sanders jumped into a new ride and turned in a dominating sprint car performance to capture Saturday’s fast paced 30-lap King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Summer Nationals main event at Placerville Speedway.

It was a sweet victory for Sanders, who was subbing for regular driver Tanner Thorson who was competing at a NASCAR truck race at Pocono. Sanders made the most of his opportunity, bolting his seat in the Clyde Lamar-owned, Lee Lingren-wrenched, Tri-C/Amsoil-sponsored Spike sprint car. He set quick time and led the entire distance in the feature to score his second KWS-NARC victory of the season. It was the first for Lamar.

“The Tri-C team gave me a great race car that I could run just about anywhere I needed,” said a happy Sanders in victory lane. “I also knew that I had Shane (Golobic) and (Bud) Kaeding back there so I wasn’t letting up.”

Sanders won a no holds barred drag race into the first corner with dash winner Colby Copeland on the initial green and exited out of turn two with the point. Copeland stayed within striking distance for a few laps, but Sanders was in a class of his own. The first 20-laps ran non-stop and Sanders quickly established a three-lapped car interference over his closest competitor.

Fourth starter Shane Golobic got around Copeland powering out of the fourth turn on lap seven and attempted to reel in the leader. However, with the leader slicing and dicing flawlessly through traffic, Golobic had his hands full just trying to stay in the same time zone.

The caution flag came out on lap 20 for a spun car, again on the restart when DJ Netto got upside down in turn three, and once again when Nathan Rolfe tangled with another car and ended up on his lid. Nobody was hurt in the incidents.

That set the stage for Golobic to possibly mount a challenge on each restart, but Sanders took no prisoners and cruised to the victory. Golobic secured second place money in the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi Casino KPC. Copeland, piloting Larry Antaya's Fuel Curve Maxim, held off a flurry of late race challenges by Kaeding and King of the West-NARC point leader Kyle Hirst to finish in the show position.

Hirst, who started 10th in the Roth Motorsports KPC, got around Kaeding with two miles remaining and finished fourth. Kaeding rounded out the top five in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Veteran racer Bobby McMahan earned a season best sixth place finish.

Chase Johnson, 13th starter Sean Becker, Australian Marcus Dumesny, and semi-transfer Jason Statler rounded out the top 10. Blake Carrick earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award, finishing 15th after starting on the outside of the 11th row.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Colby Copeland, Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Bobby McMahan, Chase Johnson, Marcus Dumesny, Andy Gregg, Sean Becker, Dustin Golobic, Jason Statler, Tanner Carrick, DJ Netto, Nathan Rolfe, Sean Watts, Blake Carrick, Richard Brace Jr., Jarrett Soares, Jenna Frazier, CJ Humphries, Tony Gualda.

ARP Fast Qualifier (1/4 mile clay oval – 27 cars): Justin Sanders 10.638 seconds

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Bobby McMahan, Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Dustin Golobic, Sean Watts, Michael Ing, Blake Carrick, Richard Brace Jr, Jenna Frazier.

Hydrochem PSC Second Heat (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Andy Gregg, Jarrett Soares, Sean Becker, Jason Statler, Eli Deshaies, Pat Harvey, Tanner Carrick.

The Cushion/Mills Video Promotions Third Heat (10 laps): Colby Copeland, CJ Humphries, Chase Johnson, Marcus Dumesny, DJ Netto, Nathan Rolfe, Mark Barroso, Tony Gualda.

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Colby Copeland, Justin Sanders, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Bobby McMahan, Andy Gregg.

Kaeding Performance Last Chance Semi (12 laps): Tanner Carrick, Jason Statler, Richard Brace Jr., Nathan Rolfe, Jenna Frazier, Tony Gualda, Blake Carrick, Mark Barroso, Pat Harvey, Michael Ing, Matt Dumesny, Eli Deshaies.

King of the West-NARC 410 Sprint Cars headline Summer Nationals at Placerville Speedway this Saturday

Placerville, CA – July 24, 2018…For the final time in 2018 the El Dorado County Fairgrounds based Placerville Speedway is geared up to host the traveling King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series during this Saturday’s “Summer Nationals.”

The tight confines of Placerville Speedway always create non-stop action when the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars are on hand and Saturday will be another can’t miss opportunity to witness that. The event marks round 13 in the battle for the coveted KWS-NARC title that awards $10,000 to the victor at seasons end. The evening of high-octane racing also doubles as Enclave Night Presented by Thompson’s Buick/ GMC Dealership.

“We are definitely excited to have the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series at Placerville Speedway on Saturday,” said RMI President and track promoter Scott Russell. “Winged 410 Sprint Cars at this place is like watching jet fighters in a gymnasium and we’ve had some outstanding races here over the years. We hope all the fans are looking forward to this weekend’s show because I know that we are. It’ll be a great way to finish off the month of July.”

When the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series competed at Placerville Speedway in June it was three-time champion Kyle Hirst picking up the win aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83 machine. The Paradise resident brings the point lead into Saturday on the strength of five main event wins and seven fast time efforts in 12 races. If Hirst can bring home the title he would break the tie that is currently seen with Jonathan Allard and move himself into second all-time when it comes to championships with the series.

Fremont’s Shane Golobic has also had a solid season in the Tarlton & Son Inc. No. 21x and heads into Saturday ranking second in the standings. The two-time Trophy Cup champion has claimed three victories this season, including the $11,000-to-win Peter Murphy Classic in Tulare. Golobic picked up his first ever Placerville Speedway KWS-NARC 410 triumph in 2016, the same season current third place driver in the standings Bud Kaeding earned the first two of his career.

Kaeding brought home a runner up finish last month at the quarter-mile and hopes to improve one spot on Saturday at the helm of the Williams Motorsports ZERO mount. Penngrove’s Chase Johnson and last weekend’s Howard Kaeding Classic winner Colby Copeland round out the top-five in points going into the “Summer Nationals.” The big triumph this past Saturday for Copeland marked his first career King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series victory.

Completing the top-10 in the standings with 12 events complete are Fremont’s Dustin Golobic, Atwater’s Nathan Rolfe, Roseville’s Willie Croft, Sacramento’s Jenna Frazier and Hanford’s DJ Netto. More drivers expected for Saturday include Gilroy’s Jarrett Soares, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Penngrove’s Michael “Buddy” Kofoid, Atwater’s Sean Watts, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Auburn’s Richard Brace Jr. and others.

Along with KWS-NARC the Placerville bullring will also welcome the BCRA Midget Lites and Vintage Hard Tops during the night. So far this year there have been four different winners in the four previous BCRA Midget Lite appearances. Hunter Kinney, Bradly Dillard, Dakota Albright and Adien Lange have all tasted victory lane.

Adult tickets this Saturday for the “Summer Nationals” will cost $22, while seniors 62 plus, military and juniors 12-17 will be $18, children 6-11 are $6, kids five and under are free! All seating is general admission with the exception of the marked reserved seats for season ticket holders. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking https://www.universe.com/events/kws-narc-summer-nationals-tickets-placerville-L69CRZ or at the gate.

The pit gate will open at 2pm, with the front grandstand gate opening at 3pm. A happy hour will be offered from 4pm-6pm in the grandstands featuring discounted Coors Light and Coors Original at the beer stand. Live music will also be performed by the band North 40. Drivers meeting will be held at 4:30pm, with cars on track for wheel packing at 5. Hot laps, qualifying and racing will follow.

The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto http://www.placervillespeedway.com

The Placerville Speedway would like to thank all of its partners for their support this season including Red Hawk Casino, Hoosier Racing Tires, Coors Light, Thompson’s Auto Group, Absolute Auto Glass, ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust, Bear Republic Brewing, Beef’N’Brew, Capital Ace Hardware, Carol Russell Bookkeeping Service, Chris Kenner Racing Specialties/ Security Race Products, Campora Propane, Davies Family Inn, High Sierra Industries, Poor Reds BBQ, Les Schwab Tires, the Paint Spot, Riebies Auto Parts, Shadow Ridge Ranch, The Critter Getter, Foothill Tree Service, Mountain Democrat, Union Bank, Windfall Media, Arnolds for Awards, and ArborWorx Tree Service.

Join over 10,400 followers of Placerville Speedway on Facebook, where you can keep abreast of updates for the 2018 season. You can also find Placerville Speedway on Twitter by following us https://twitter.com/pvillespeedway - In addition, Placerville Speedway is also on Instagram. Please follow us @PvilleSpeedway.

The quarter-mile clay oval is operated by Russell Motorsports Incorporated, which can be reached at the track business office at 530-344-7592. Contact Kami Arnold or Scott Russell directly for 2018 sponsorship opportunities at the office.

Saturday July 28: King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series, BCRA Midget Lites, Vintage Hardtops | Summer Nationals
Enclave Night Presented by Thompson’s Buick/ GMC Dealership

Saturday August 4: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Wingless Spec Sprints, BCRA Midget lites | Military Night

Saturday August 11: Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks, Wingless Spec Sprints | Vintage T-shirt/ Legends Night
Envoy Night Presented by Thompson’s Buick/ GMC Dealership

(7/21/18, Watsonville, CA – Jim Allen) … Colby Copeland scored his first King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series victory of his career Saturday night, earning top honors at the Eighth Annual Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway.

Copeland started on the outside of the front-row and posted an impressive 30-lap green-to-checkered run aboard Larry Antaya’s potent GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association/Fuel Curve-backed Maxim. Their efforts were worth a $5,000 paycheck.

However, his victory didn’t come easy as he had patiently wait his way through six caution periods, escape a run in with the concrete wall, and a hold off a persistent Bud Kaeding in the second half of the event.

Copeland won a drag race down the frontchute against polesitter Sean Watts on the initial green and quickly jumped out to a 10-car length advantage as the field sorted itself out behind him.

Chase Johnson, ARP fast qualifier Buddy Kofoid and Shane Golobic mixed it up in a heated battle for the runner-up spot in the early going, until Golobic spun and brought out the caution on lap 10. Two laps later, Kurt Nelson found himself upside down on the backchute to bring out the red. And on the ensuing restart, Australian driver Matt Dumesny made contact with another car and flipped hard in turn four to stop the action again. Nobody was hurt, but for Copeland in meant his lead kept getting erased.

Bud Kaeding, in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim, started 11th and motored his way into contention by powering past Kofoid for the runner-up spot on lap 13. Kaeding began to reel in the leader as the pair approached heavy traffic on lap 20. However, the caution came out again for a crash involving Watts and Justin Sanders.

With only two remaining, Kofoid and Thorson tangled while dueling for the fourth spot bringing out the final caution of the night. This set the stage for a Copeland-Kaeding shootout, but Copeland wasn't about to take any prisoners and cruised to the win.

“I don’t normally look at the scoreboard, but I did this time and saw that Kaeding was behind me,” said Copeland. “I know he runs really good here so I just ran the best lines that I could.”

“I made a mistake jumping the cushion once in two and ended up smacking the wall,” he continued. “But I held it together and kept it going. I have to thank my team because they’ve worked really hard for me all season long.”

Kaeding earned $2500 for his second place finish. Johnson posted the best overall workman’s effort after starting third. He fell back to as far as seventh at one point, but battled back to third after passing Kyle Hirst on the final lap. Johnson was piloting the Safecraft Safety Equipment Maxim owned by Shawn Thomas.

Championship points leader Hirst claimed fourth in the Roth Motorsports KPC and 17th starter DJ Netto rounded out the top five. Netto earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award for his efforts in the Netto Ag KPC.

The second five featured Marcus Dumensy, Golobic, Brad Furr, Mitchell Faccinto, and rookie Dustin Golobic.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Colby Copeland, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto, Marcus Dumesny, Shane Golobic, Brad Furr, Mitchell Faccinto, Dustin Golobic, Nathan Rolfe, Bobby McMahan, Sean Watts, Jeremy Chisum, Kyle Offill, Tanner Thorson, Brent Kaeding, Buddy Kofoid, Justin Sanders, Matt Dumesny, Tim Kaeding, Kurt Nelson

ARP Fast Qualifier (1/4 mile clay oval – 31 cars): Buddy Kofoid – 11.681 seconds

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Kyle Hirst, Buddy Kofoid, Kurt Nelson, Marcus Dumesny, Jeremy Chisum, Bobby McMahan, Mark Barroso, Richard Fajardo.

Hydrochem PSC Second Heat (10 laps): Colby Copeland, Tim Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Matt Dumesny, Justin Sanders, Kyle Offill, Vaughn Schott, Jason Chisum.

The Cushion/Mills Video Promotions Third Heat (10 laps): Tanner Thorson, Sean Watts, Chase Johnson, DJ Netto, Gary Nelson, Nathan Rolfe, Richard Brace, Jenna Frazier

Hoosier Harness Fourth Heat (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Dustin Golobic, Mitchell Faccinto, Brad Furr, Jarrett Soares, Gary Paulson, Brent Kaeding

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Sean Watts, Colby Copeland, Chase Johnson, Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst, Buddy Kofoid

Kaeding Performance Last Chance Race (12 laps): Justin Sanders, Nathan Rolfe, Kyle Offill, Jeremy Chisum, Bobby McMahan, Brent Kaeding, Jarrett Soares, Jason Chisum, Gary Nelson, Richard Brace, Gary Paulson, Vaughn Schott, Mark Barroso, Richard Fajardo.

(7/17/18, Jim Allen) … The high-powered winged sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will be battling wheel-to-wheel for more than $30,000 in prize money and product awards on Saturday, July 21st at the highly-anticipated Eighth Annual Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway.

The event is the second night of a huge two-day show at Ocean Speedway and is presented by Al’s Roofing Supply and Hydrochem PSC. The 360 sprint cars of the Civil War Series will be racing on the opening night (Friday, July 20th).

The weekend of racing, which pays $5000 to the winner of Saturday's big 30-lap main event, honors 85-year old racing legend Howard Kaeding of Campbell. Kaeding is the patriarch of the famous Kaeding racing family and a winner of more than 350 races in a career that spanned more than four decades.

“It’s an honor to help organize this event every year to honor my grandfather,” said Bud Kaeding, who is the defending King of the West-NARC champion. “None of us in our family would be in this business if it wasn’t for him and without racing, I’m not sure what we would be doing right now.”

“Even if I wasn’t related, Howard deserves to be acknowledged as a true racing legend that he is," continued Kaeding, "because some of his accomplishments border on just downright crazy. It’s safe to say that most of them will never be repeated in open wheel racing ever again.”

Kaeding is referring to the fact that Howard once captured 23 main events in a row, all starting from the back row of the line-up, in a day when racing formats were completely different. In addition, he won 121 main events at the now-defunct San Jose Speedway, multiple championships and enough racing lore to last an eternity.

“The best thing about this show is that all of the 410 drivers really step up their game in an attempt to win it,” Kaeding said. “Everyone is looking to get their name inscribed on the perpetual trophy to lock down their place in racing history. They all know that the Howard Kaeding Classic is current history honoring past history.”

Other activities surrounding the event include a beer and pizza party after Friday night’s races. On Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., there will be the Howard Kaeding Classic Luncheon at the fairgrounds. Food and beverages will be provided by Catering by Five and a $20 donation to the NARC Benevolent Fund is requested. Open wheel racing fans will get a chance to hang out with Howard Kaeding and most of the drivers competing this weekend. Camping is also available.

Leading a stellar field into Watsonville will be Kyle Hirst of Paradise, the current King of the West-NARC championship point leader. Hirst captured the King of the West Howard Kaeding titles in 2015 and 2016 and is five-time winner this season.

Also making the trip is Shane Golobic of Elk Grove, last Saturday’s feature winner at Petaluma. Other competitors include Chase Johnson of Penngrove; Atwater drivers Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts; Willie Croft and Colby Copeland from Roseville; Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto and DJ Netto; Bobby McMahan from Elk Grove; Discovery Bay’s Jarrett Soares; Jason Statler of Grass Valley; Minden, NV driver Tanner Thorson; rookie of the year candidates Dustin Golobic of Fremont and Sacramento’s Jenna Frazier; and many more!

An international flair will be provided by Australian drivers Matt & Marcus Dumesny.

The sprint car racing program will include four 10-lap heat races, a six-lap trophy dash, a 12-lap Last Chance Race and the 30-lap Fujitsu headliner.

Ocean Speedway is located at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. Pit Gates open at 1:00 p.m. Front gates open at 3:30 p.m. Qualifying gets underway at 5:00 p.m. Also on the racing program is IMCA Modified’s, and IMCA SportMod’s.

Previous Winners of the Howard Kaeding Classic
2011
Night One: Tommy Tarlton – King of the West
Night Two: Evan Suggs – King of the West

2012
Night One: Brent Kaeding – USAC
Night Two: Jonathan Allard – King of the West

2013
Night One: Bud Kaeding – USAC
Night Two: Jonathan Allard – King of the West

2014
Night One: Brad Furr – Civil War
Night Two: Bud Kaeding – King of the West

2015
Night One: Justin Sanders – Civil War
Night Two: Kyle Hirst – King of the West

2016
Night One: Kyle Hirst – Civil War
Night Two: Kyle Hirst – King of the West

2017
Night One: Kyle Hirst – Civil War
Night Two: Buddy Kofoid – King of the West-NARC

2018 KWS-NARC FUJITSU SERIES POINT STANDINGS
(After 11 events in 16-race Series – 07/17/18)

Kyle Hirst, Paradise (5) 1023
Shane Golobic, Fremont (3) 986
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) 956
Chase Johnson, Penngrove 922
Colby Copeland, Roseville 888
Dustin Golobic, Fremont ® 869
Willie Croft, Roseville (1) 861
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater 789
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento ® 777
DJ Netto, Hanford 731
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay 651
Jason Statler, Grass Valley 635
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove 605
Sean Watts, Atwater 599
Tanner Thorson, Minden NV 592
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford 498
Mathew Moles, Fresno 460
Richard Brace Jr., Auburn 439
Matt Dumesny, Sydney, Australia 384
Mark Barraso, Merced 354

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires and Hydrochem PSC. Associate and contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, The Cushion, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, Winters Performance Products and Croft Racing.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 30th – Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA – Fujitsu Summer Nationals

(7/14/18 Petaluma, CA – Jim Allen) … Shane Golobic picked off his third King of the West-NARC sprint car victory of the season with an impressive green-to-checkered run in Saturday’s 30-lap Fujitsu feature event at Petaluma Speedway Saturday night.

Golobic, aboard the potent Tachi Palace-sponsored Tarlton Motorsports KPC, survived six caution flags and the late race advances of Bud Kaeding in heavy traffic to secure the $3000 win.

Golobic caught a break on the initial start after Kyle Hirst took the initial lead, but the red came out for a massive six-car melee on the backstretch, calling for a complete restart. The cars of Marcus Dumesny and Colby Copeland got upside down and reeled in Dustin Golobic, Jarrett Soares, and Willie Croft before it was over. Surprisingly, nobody was hurt and after frantic work by several pit crews, only the car of Dumesny was unable to continue.

On the restart, Golobic changed his strategy and took no chances as he powered out to a big lead, chased by Hirst, Kaeding and Chase Johnson. Kaeding motored under Hirst in the third corner on the ninth lap to secure second and a hardcharging Tanner Thorson powered from ninth to third on the 12th circuit.

In the waning laps, Kaeding began to gain on the leader as the pair maneuvered in and out of slower cars in a high speed game of cat and mouse. Kaeding made a last ditch effort to take the point and managed to get his nose under Golobic in the fourth corner with the white flag waving, but was unable to make it stick.

“I wasn’t expecting Kaeding to be that close,” admitted Golobic after scoring his 10 KWS-NARC victory of his career by just two-car lengths. “I made a couple of mistakes in traffic and knew I needed to get going to win this thing. It wouldn’t have been possible without a great car prepared by Paul Baines and the entire Tarlton team.”

Kaeding, who set the standard for the field in qualifying, ended up scoring second in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim, Thorson filled out the podium driving Clyde Lamar’s Tri-C/Amsoil Spike chassis.

Series point leader Hirst locked down fourth place in the Roth Motorsports KPC, chased by the Safecraft Safety Equipment Maxim driven by Chase Johnson.

The second five to cross the checkered were Copeland, Jason Statler, Willie Croft, Sean Watts and Richard Brace Jr. Croft earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award after starting 19th in the grid.

Nathan Rolfe was not injured after taking a wild tumble down the front straightaway on lap 14.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Tanner Thorson, Kyle Hirst, Chase Johnson, Colby Copeland, Jason Statler, Willie Croft, Sean Watts, Richard Brace Jr., Bobby McMahan, Dustin Golobic, Jarrett Soares, Jenna Frazier, Geoff Ensign, Colby Johnson, Nathan Rolfe, Matt Dumesny, Marcus Dumesny

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Geoff Ensign, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Marcus Dumesny, Willie Croft, Matt Dumesny.

Hydrochem PSC Second Heat (10 laps): Sean Watts, Kyle Hirst, Jason Statler, Jarrett Soares, Jenna Frazier, Dustin Golobic.

The Cushion/Mills Video Promotions Third Heat (10 laps): Colby Copeland, Colby Johnson, Tanner Thorson, Nathan Rolfe, Bobby McMahan, Richard Brace Jr.

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst, Sean Watts, Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, Colby Copeland

NARC NEWSLINE, July 7, 2018, By Jim Allen, Auburn, CA … Another three races are officially in the books in the quest to crown the 2018 King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series champion. And everywhere we turn, there is another twist or turn that makes this campaign unique, entertaining, or just plain scratching your head. This includes anything from the invasion of the Australians, to more drivers pulling double-duty on combo nights, or drivers suddenly interested in their resting heart rate while driving a sprint car.

So let’s start at the top, with our fine friends from down under. It was almost like experiencing a flashback to the 1990’s when Jamie Cobby won the Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash at Ocean Speedway on June 22nd. Yes, that Jamie Cobby! Most of us hadn’t seen Mr. Cobby for a couple of decades and he suddenly appears in Ted Finkenbinders 3F – looking just like the Jamie Cobby we knew 20-years ago. Let’s put this rarified air event in perspective. This is the same driver who last won a Northern Auto Racing Club feature event at Quincy Speedway in 1992. That was the same year gas cost $1.05 per gallon and some guy became President who later became famous for staining a blue dress. Cobby led the first 14-laps of the main before getting spun out in undiplomatic fashion.

Of course we also have Matt and Marcus Dumesny in California. Matt scored a KWS-NARC career best third at Calistoga driving Rod Tiner’s 83SA. Marcus has the hammerdown also, earning the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award at Placerville.

On the topic of double-duty, mastering the handling characteristics of one car is hard enough – much less two. But in the new era of co-sanctioned 410/360 events, a lot of teams have decided to double-down. Twice the work, twice the fun, and definitely twice the money. Among those racing in this category are Tanner Thorson, Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Colby Copeland, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Buddy Kofoid, Andy Forsberg, Jarrett Soares, and Sean Becker. They're easy to pick off at the end of a racing program. They're the ones who look like they need a good shower and an even better night’s sleep – especially on those hot race nights.

And finally, technology continues to force sanctioning bodies to rewrite the rule books. Who would have guessed that an Apple Watch could possibly become a competitive advantage? Allegedly, it’s used to tell time and monitor heart rates, but it’s also extremely convenient for receiving a text during a caution period advising you which line to run on the track. Either way, it’s still outlawed at KWS-NARC events, but is strictly enforced. Not to mention, who wants to be wearing a rubber-banded wrist-watch in the case of a fire? So, to reiterate, all of the usual communication devices are outlawed. No cell phones, watches, lap tops, desk tops, iPad's, signal flares, fax machines, Morse code machines, pagers, US Navy signal flags, radios, mirrors, mental telepathy, or anything along those lines is allowed in the cars. Officials will now randomly check drivers upon exiting their cars. This includes SCCT and Civil War events. Get caught wearing a watch, or having a cell phone in your pocket at a King of the West-NARC event? Immediate DQ with loss of all points and purse money not for just that night, but the whole season up to that point. This same penalty also applies to any team getting caught using a traction control device – which is a whole different topic. Spark boxes are now being pulled at random and sent in for testing. Just think about the reputation of a driver and/or team if they get picked off doing that? Can you say “TractionGate?” Where is Bill Belichick at?

OCEAN SPEEDWAY NOTES (6/22/18): Let’s start off by mentioning a nice ocean breeze and 76 degrees. It creates visions of a tropical Hawaii .., until you get smacked in the face with a piece of dirt. … Jim Paniagua and rookie driver Jenna Frazier have had their fair share of motor issues this season. They’ve changed more of them than I’ve changed the oil on my car this year. At Ocean, they sported a motor purchased from Mason Moore and finished 16th in the feature. … There was some controversy after qualifying, when fast timer Brad Furr’s ride did not make minimum weight. Furr’s time vanished and he had the option to take one lap at the end, but his team opted to load up instead. Kurt Nelson was also light, but worked his way to the feature the roundabout way, where he scored 14th. By the way, that officially handed the ARP quick time award to Kyle Hirst for the sixth time this season. … Mathew Moles was impressive in his “Raisin Hell” number 10, scoring a season best sixth. … Also need to acknowledge Jeremy Chisum who pocketed eighth place money. … 26 cars … Jason Statler was a no show after hurting his motor at Petaluma two weeks prior. … Justin Sanders scored his second career King of the West-NARC win aboard Joe Von Schriltz sprinter. He will now have his name perpetually printed on the annual Pombo-Sargent t-shirt. … Colby Copeland was all over Sanders in this one before he got tangled in traffic with less than four laps remaining. …

CALISTOGA SPEEDWAY NOTES (6/23/18): Yes, just 24 hours later, it’s 106 degrees in the shade, with no breeze. Stifling would be a good word to use here! It creates double-vision until you get hit in your sweaty face with a piece of dirt. … Jarrett Soares took a hard tumble exiting turn two in hot laps when the hub sheared out of the right front wheel. Soares got his bell rung and was struggling to breathe without pain. Medical crews thought he had a punctured lung and sent the Soares family off to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a concussion, severely bruised ribs and chest and a leg injury. As bad as that sounds, it was a relief because it looked even worse. … 2011 King of the West champion and NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson was the pace car driver for both features, driving a brand new Jimmy Vasser Corvette. He was joined by race fan John Zonneveld, who was the high bidder on the NARC Benevolent Fund auction for the opportunity to hang with Mr. Larson. John was a happy camper! … Also got a chance to interview the one and only Jeff Gordon. I interviewed him a few times about 20-years ago and he hasn’t changed much. He’s a stellar ambassador for motorsports. … Kyle Hirst win was worth $5,000. This included a $1,000 kicker from Hydrochem PSC and another grand from Williams Roofing. A fan pulled a six in the Williams Roofing pill draw and yes, Hirst started sixth. Cha-Ching! … The crowd was a little on the light side. Along those lines, it’s estimated that about 50% of the attendance at Calistoga comes from the Santa Rosa side of the hill. This is the same Santa Rosa and surrounding areas that wild fires terrorized last October, taking out more than 6,500 homes. I wonder if that played a factor? … Fast time goes to Willie Croft! … Bud Kaeding and the Williams Motorsports team burned up a motor in their heat race. They were back in business 20-minutes later. They finished fifth and earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award. … The Shane Golobic/Kyle Hirst battle for the lead is a reminder of why we need more events at Calistoga. It was a battle of pure unfiltered testosterone. … Congrats to Colby Copeland who outdueled Willie Croft to claim the Civil War winner’s check. That was a good race also! …Thanks once again to 11-year old Branden Valentine who donated $300 to the NARC Benevolent Fund. Class act. …

PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY NOTES (6/30/18): This race represented the first of three King of the West-NARC/Sprint Car Challenge Tour combo events scheduled this season! … 24-410’s, 37-360’s … DJ Netto found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting reeled into someone’s else’s mess in his heat. On the hook, and done for the night. … Damn, I don’t even need to type this out anymore, just a cut and paste: Kyle Hirst – FAST TIME! … Do you realize that Kyle Hirst has earned 36 points in qualifying this season? His current point lead is 39 points over Shane Golobic. … Hirst feature event victory was the 28th of his KWS-NARC career and moved him into a fourth place tie on the win list with Steve Kent. He only needs 56 more to tie all-time winner Brent Kaeding. … Great, enthusiastic crowd and full pit area! … Compliments to Scott Russell for working the track a few times during the program. It was racy as all heck! … Bobby McMahan was sporting a variety of numbers on his car. With Jarrett Soares still a little wobbly, McMahan helped car owner Steven Soares stay in the top ten in owner’s points. So while the tail tank sported a 25, it was the 12 on the wing that racked up the points. … Nice to see CJ Humphries still racing. … Buddy Kofoid was piloting the 1M Maxim for Mark Moore of Lincoln, CA. This is not a full-time gig, just a Placerville-gig as they plan to team up again for the King of the West-NARC July 28th show and the September WoO race. Together, they won the dash and led the first 16 laps until Mr. Hirst blew past and won his fifth. Kofoid finished fifth. Will somebody please give this kid a full-time ride? … Justin Sanders put on a clinic in the SCCT main, running 35 perfect laps, including about 30 up high on the cushion. There was no catching him. … Hirst had the best night overall, with his KWS-NARC win and his runner-up to Sanders.

July is a huge month for the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu sprint cars. We have three races on tap before we go on what amounts to be a two-month recess. Petaluma (July 14th), Ocean Speedway (July 21st) and Placerville (July 28th), representing Round 11-13 of the series.

The Ocean Speedway show is the second day of the two-day Howard Kaeding Classic. The first night is a Civil War show. The KWS-NARC Fujitsu headliner on Saturday pays $5000 to win and $700 to start (so far!). There is a ton of other perks for racing teams at this show. And … don’t miss the annual HKC luncheon at the fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon, catered up by the one and only Myles McAtte. Funds raised go to the NARC Benevolent Fund! After round 13 at Placerville's Fujitsu Summer Nationals, the series is dark in August, allowing teams to travel to Knoxville and around the country and September to support the WoO. And don’t blink on that one, because there are only five WoO dates to choose from in California. How have things changed!

And finally, I always like to finish on a high note, but with the passing of Jason Johnson, that's kind of hard to do. What it really does is serve up a serious reality check to what we do. Open wheel fans adore our sprint car warriors because we get to hang out, rub elbows, party and watch their families grow up on an up close and personal basis. It's why open wheel fans are so hooked on the sport – the basic lack of walls and barriers. But during that process it’s easy to lose track of the fact that what they do is dangerous and when we lose one of our sprint car heroes, it’s almost impossible to comprehend. It hurts to the core of our heart and soul. The loss of Jason Johnson hurts us to that core. We offer our sincere condolences, prayers and thoughts to all of the family, friends, and fans of Jason Johnson. RIP to the Rajun Cajon!

And while we’re at it, go tell a sprint car driver (and their team) that you appreciate what they do and the entertainment they provide! Coming to you live from Auburn, CA, see ya!

6/30/18 - By Jim Allen - Placerville, CA … Championship point leader Kyle Hirst continued his dominance of the King of the West-NARC victory lane with yet another impressive performance during Saturday’s fast-paced 30-lap Fujitsu-sponsored sprint car headliner at Placerville Speedway.

It was Hirst fifth win in 10 King of the West-NARC events this season aboard Dennis & Teresa Roth’s potent Roth Investments 25th Anniversary KPC sprint car. Hirst also earned the ARP Fast Qualifier award for the seventh time.

Sixteen year old Buddy Kofoid set the standard from the pole position, surviving five caution flags in the early going and a constant barrage of mid-race attacks by Hirst. The pair zigged and zagged frantically through lap traffic with Hirst shadowing his every move for the first half of the race.

With heavy traffic slowing the leaders progress, Hirst closed in nose-to-tail with the leader exiting turn four on lap 16, and then motored past Kofoid on the backstretch on 17th circuit to take a lead he would not relinquish the remaining distance.

“Buddy was running a pretty good race and lap traffic made it interesting,” admitted Hirst in victory lane. “However, the Roth Motorsports team gave me another excellent handling car to drive tonight. I just kept running high up on the curb and waited for the opportunity to get out front.”

Once Hirst took the point, the battles for the remaining podium positions were worth the price of admission. Kofoid, Shane Golobic and Bud Kaeding dueled wheel to wheel running multiple lines on the quarter miler. Golobic got past Kofoid to take the runner-up spot in the Tarlton Motorsports KPC on the 26th circuit. Kaeding also got around Kofoid with about a mile to go, and then managed to narrowly slip past Golobic on the white flag lap to secure second at the checkered. Kaeding was driving the Morrie Williams-owned Alviso Rock Maxim. Golobic came home third.

Justin Sanders drove past Kofoid on the final circuit to secure fourth in the Clayton Snow number 7. Kofoid rounded out the top five aboard the Mark Moore-owned Maxim.

The rest of the top 10 included Tanner Thorson, 11th starter Chase Johnson, Mitchell Faccinto, Sean Becker and Australian driver Marcus Dumesny. The Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger award went to Dumesny, who started 16th.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Michael Kofoid, Tanner Thorson, Chase Johnson, Mitchell Faccinto, Sean Becker, Marcus Dumesny, Willie Croft, Tim Kaeding, Colby Copeland, Sean Watts, Andy Forsberg, Dustin Golobic, Matt Dumesny, Nathan Rolfe, Richard Brace Jr., John Clark, Jenna Frazier, CJ Humphries, Bobby McMahan

ARP Fast Qualifier (1/4 mile clay oval – 24 cars): Kyle Hirst – 10.757 seconds

Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat One (10 laps): Justin Sanders, Chase Johnson, Kyle Hirst, Matt Dumesny, Colby Copeland, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, CJ Humphries

Hydrochem PSC Heat Two (10 laps): Michael Kofoid, Sean Becker, Andy Forsberg, Marcus Dumesny, Tanner Thorson, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, John Clark.

The Cushion Heat Three (10 laps): Bobby McMahan, Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Dustin Golobic, Richard Brace Jr., Jenna Frazier

Sunnyvalley “Powered by Bacon” Dash (6 laps): Michael Kofoid, Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Sean Becker, Willie Croft

6/23/18 - Calistoga, CA, By Jim Allen ... Kyle Hirst outdueled Shane Golobic at the historic half-mile Calistoga Speedway on Saturday night to capture the 25-lap King of the West-NARC Fujitsu sprint car series headliner.

Driving the potent 25th Anniversary Roth Motorsports sprint car owned by Dennis and Teresa Roth, Hirst earned his fourth victory in nine series events to continue to expand his championship point lead.

Hirst started on the outside of the third row and blew past Australian Matt Dumesny and Mitchell Faccinto on the first lap, and Willie Croft on the fourth circuit to secure the runner-up position. By that time, Golobic had established a 15-car length advantage, but it was wiped out by a caution flag for a spinning car on lap six. On the restart, Golobic once again jumped out to a healthy 12-car lead until he encountered slower traffic.

Hirst took advantage of the situation and quickly reeled in the leader to set the stage for his winning move. On the 14th lap, Hirst and Golobic powered out of the second corner side-by-side in a no holds barred drag race down the backchute. Hirst didn't flinch and took the point sliding under Golobic as they drove hard into the third turn. Once out front, Hirst never looked back and went on to pocket a $4,000 payday, which included a $1,000 bonus from Hydrochem PSC.

"Shane (Golobic) was running good out front, but lapped traffic allowed me to catch him," said Hirst. "I knew we would race each other clean and we both let it all hang out down the backstretch. Neither one of us was going to lift."

Hirst went on to thank this car owner and crew for providing him with an excellent race car.

Golobic recorded the runner-up spot in the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi Palace KPC sprint car. Dumesny was steady throughout the contest and finished a King of the West-NARC career best third. He was piloting Rod Tiner's Simmons Contracting/ART-sponsored Maxim.

Croft was fourth in his Amerikote EMI sprint car, chased by defending series champion Bud Kaeding in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Kaeding's crew had to change a motor after their heat, but the hard work paid off as they earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger Award after starting 11th.

Chase Johnson, Tanner Thorson, DJ Netto, Faccinto, and Marcus Dumesny rounded out the top ten.

Jarrett Soares was taken to a local hospital after a violent crash during hot laps. He suffered a concussion, deep lung and rib bruises, and a lower leg injury. He is expected to recover."

King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Main Event (25-laps): Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Matt Dumesny, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Tanner Thorson, DJ Netto, Mitchell Faccinto, Marcus Dumesny, Dustin Golobic, Bobby McMahan, Nathan Rolfe, Colby Copeland, Jenna Frazier, Jamie Cobby.

Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat One (8 laps): Matt Dumesny, Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Tanner Thorsen, Dustin Golobic, Nathan Rolfe, Jamie Cobby, Bud Kaeding

Hydrochem PSC Heat Two (8 laps): Kyle Hirst, Bobby McMahan, Shane Golobic, Chase Johnson, Marcus Dumesny, Colby Copeland, DJ Netto, Jenna Frazier

Sunnyvalley "Powered by Bacon" Dash (6 laps): Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Bobby McMahan, Matt Dumesny, Mitchell Faccinto, Kyle Hirst.

6/23/18, Watsonville, CA, By Jim Allen … Hometown driver Justin Sanders became the fifth different winner of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series season, claiming Friday’s exciting 33rd Annual Pombo-Sargent Classic at Ocean Speedway.

Sanders, piloting the Joe Von Schriltz-owned North County Plastering/Dunkel Logistics XXX-chassis sprinter, took advantage of a five-car mid-race melee to take the point from race long leader Jamie Cobby of Australia.

Cobby who captured the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash, started on the pole of the 30-lapper and quickly set the standard on the initial green flag. Sanders stayed within striking distance of the leader, pacing a highspeed freight train that included Colby Copeland, Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding and DJ Netto.

Lap traffic on the quarter-mile oval ramped up the pressure several notches beginning on the 12th lap. The front of the pack began to bunch up as they sliced and diced. Everything came to a head on the 15th go round as the top five cars barreled into the first turn inches apart. Cobby and Sanders made contact with the leader spinning.. Before it was over, he reeled in Bud Kaeding who had no place to go, bringing out the caution.

Sanders inherited the lead on the restart and wasn’t about to squander the opportunity. He held off several advances by Copeland. However Copeland's challenges ended when he sustained damage after making contact with a lapped car with a mile to go. Sanders was in cruise control from that point on and raced to his second career King of the West-NARC victory. He earned $3,000 for his efforts.

“(Jamie) Cobby showed me that the bottom of the track was working early in the race which helped me out a lot,” said Sanders. “Once I got out in front I knew that I had to get after it, especially with Colby (Copeland) challenging me. Everything just worked out tonight.”

Series point leader Kyle Hirst was steady throughout the contest in the Roth Motorsports KPC running either second or third. He hung it out using the high-line for most of the race and settled for the runner-up spot at the checkered.

Shane Golobic started 12th in the grid and methodically marched to the front. He took advantage of the last restart to shoot past Chase Johnson to steal the third position aboard the Tarlton Motorsports KPC. Golobic also earned the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award for his efforts.

Johnson was fourth aboard the Safecraft Safety Equipment Maxim after starting 10th. DJ Netto rounded out the top five in the Netto Ag KPC.

The second five to cross the checkered were Mathew Moles, Willie Croft, semi-winner Jeremy Chisum, Colby Copeland and Billy Aton.

King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30-laps) Justin Sanders, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic Chase Johnson, DJ Netto, Mathew Moles, Willie Croft, Jeremy Chisum, Colby Copeland, Billy Aton, Dustin Golobic, Kyle Offill, Koen Shaw, Kurt Nelson, Mark Barroso, Jenna Frazier, Jarrett Soares, Tanner Carrick, Marcus Dumesny, Gary Paulson, Jammie Cobby, Bud Kaeding.

Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat One (10 laps): Kyle Hirst, Jamie Cobby, Marcus Dumesny, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson, Billy Aton, Koen Shaw, Jenna Frazier.

Hydrochem PSC Heat Two (10 laps): Colby Copeland, Bud Kaeding, Mathew Moles, Dustin Golobic, Jarrett Soares, Kyle Offill, Gary Paulson, Bryan Grier.

The Cushion Heat Three (10 laps): Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Tanner Carrick, Kurt Nelson, Mark Barroso, Jeremy Chisum, Richard Fajardo, Nathan Rolfe.

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Jamie Cobby, Justin Sanders, Kyle Hirst, Colby Copeland, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft.

Kaeding Performance Center Semi-Main (12 laps): Jeremy Chisum, Billy Aton, Koen Shaw, Mark Barroso, Gary Paulson, Kyle Offill, Jenna Frazier, Nathan Rolfe, Bryan Grier, Richard Fajardo

The exhilarating 950-horsepower winged sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will feature a rare double-header racing weekend on June 22-23rd. It all kicks off on Friday (June 22nd) with the 33rd Annual Pombo-Sargent Classic at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA.

The following night, Saturday, June 23rd, the traveling racing series will make their only appearance of the 2018 season at the historic half-mile Calistoga Speedway, located in the Napa Valley. The Civil War Sprint Car Series is also racing at Calistoga.

The doubleheader weekend officially marks the midway point of the ultra-competitive 16-race series. Up for grabs will be more than $40,000 in prize money and contingency awards. The winner of the Calistoga Wine Country Classic headliner will earn a $4,000 paycheck.

Leading an impressive line-up of high-profile drivers and racing teams will be three-time series champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise, CA. Hirst is by far the hottest driver in the Golden State, capturing three King of the West-NARC victories, and posting a total of six podium finishes in seven events. He drives for the Fresno-based Roth Motorsports team.

“We’ve been extremely fast all season long,” explained Hirst, who has managed to earn the Automotive Racing Products (ARP) quick qualifier award in five events this season. “By qualifying well, we have earned some solid starting positions and that has helped our cause.”

Hirst is attempting to unseat defending series champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell from the atop the King of the West-NARC pedestal. Also launching a serious run at the crown is two-time feature winner Shane Golobic of Elk Grove, who currently owns the runner-up spot in the championship points standings. Either way, no matter who the competition, Hirst is predicting an unpredictable two-nights of racing.

“We’re talking about two completely different race tracks this weekend,” said Hirst. “Ocean (Speedway) is a quarter-mile bullring where just one small mistake can mean the difference between winning and not finishing in the top five. There’s no time to think; just react."

“On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing that duplicates the high-speeds that we run at Calistoga Speedway. This place tests the outer limits of our motors, equipment and testosterone."

Also joining the fray this weekend will be frontrunners Willie Croft of Roseville and Hanford’s DJ Netto. Croft was the winner of a May King of the West-NARC event in Chico. Netto captured Saturday’s SCCT 360 show at Hanford.

Also expected to compete are Penngrove driver’s Chase Johnson and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid; Jason Statler of Grass Valley; Roseville’s Colby Copeland; Atwater drivers Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts; Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove; Santa Cruz driver Justin Sanders; rookie driver’s Dustin Golobic of Fremont and Sacramento’s Jenna Frazier; Tanner Thorson of Minden, NV; and Discovery Bay’s Jarrett Soares.

Ocean Speedway is located at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. Front gates open at 4:30 p.m. Qualifying gets underway at 6:00 p.m. Also on the racing program is IMCA Modifieds, IMCA SportMods and Dwarf Cars. Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m.

Calistoga Speedway is located at the Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga, approximately 25-miles north of Napa. The ticket booth opens at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. Qualifying begins at 5:30 p.m. Reserved tickets are available by calling 916-773-7223.

ED NOTE: NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson will be the official pace truck driver at Calistoga Speedway.

2018 KWS-NARC FUJITSU SERIES POINT STANDINGS
(After seven events in 16-race Series – 06/18/18)

Kyle Hirst, Paradise (3) 649
Shane Golobic, Fremont (2) 627
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) 614
Chase Johnson, Penngrove 579
Colby Copeland, Roseville 566
Dustin Golobic, Fremont ® 555
Jason Statler, Grass Valley 551
Willie Croft, Roseville (1) 521
DJ Netto, Hanford 511
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater 496
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento ® 479
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay 449
Sean Watts, Atwater 440
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove 376
Mathew Moles, Fresno 375

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Associate and contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Hooker Harness, Hydrochem PSC, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, Winters Performance Products and Croft Racing.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 30th – Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA – “Salute to the Fans” with SCCT Sprint Cars
July 14 – Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA
July 21 – Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA – Howard Kaeding Classic

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TheCushion.com – Video on Demand

(6/9/18, Petaluma, CA – Jim Allen) … Championship point leader Kyle Hirst captured his second victory in a row and third of the King of the West-NARC sprint car season by claiming Saturday’s 30-lap Fujitsu-sponsored feature event at Petaluma Speedway.

Hirst, driving the 25th Anniversary Roth Investments KPC owned by Dennis & Teresa Roth, started on the outside of the front row and spent the first third of the contest tailgating his brother-in-law Willie Croft and holding off the advances of Buddy Kofoid.

Hirst inherited the lead on the 11th circuit when he narrowly avoided Croft in traffic, who spun out powering out of the fourth corner to bring out the caution. Tenth starter Colby Copeland was was taking no prisoners on his drive to the front. Driving the Larry Antaya Motorsports Fuel Curve Maxim, Copeland passed Billy Aton to move into seventh place on lap six, won a spirited battle with Shane Golobic to take fifth on lap 10, and launched a slide job on Kofoid to take over the runner-up spot on the 13th circuit.

However, Hirst had the car to beat and used it to masterfully slice and dice his way through slower traffic to effectively avoid all challengers. He survived two more caution during the final 10-laps on his was to securing a healthy 10-car length victory. Copeland's runner-up finish was his best of the season.

“I was hoping I could mix it up a little more with Willie (Croft)," said Hirst in victory lane, "but I'll take the lead any way I can get it. Once again, I really need to thank my team for giving me another fantastic car to drive tonight.”

The open wheel battle of the night was for the third through sixth positions. Kofoid, Shane Golobic, Chase Johnson, and Bud Kaeding battled fiercely wheel-to-wheel during the second half of the contest. Golobic managed to motor past Kofoid for the third spot with six laps remaining and held that position until the finish. He was piloting the Tarlton Motorsports KPC.

Defending series champ Bud Kaeding slipped under Kofoid to secure fourth place with five to go aboard the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Chase Johnson rounded out the top five in Shawn Thomas’s Safecraft Safety Equipment-sponsored sprint car.

The second five to cross the checkered were Kofoid, semi-winner DJ Netto, Croft, Aton, and Geoff Ensign. Netto earned the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger bonus after starting 16th. Ensign picked up a $250 Fujitsu bonus as the highest finishing 360.

Hirst started the program by earning his fifth Automotive Racing Products Quick Time award of the season. Croft was the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash winner.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Kyle Hirst, Colby Copeland, Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Michael Kofoid, DJ Netto, Willie Croft, Billy Aton, Geoff Ensign, Dustin Golobic, Jarrett Soares, Richard Brace Jr., Sean Watts, Klint Simpson, Jake Haulot, Nicholas Ringo, Nathan Rolfe, John Clark, Gary Paulson, Jason Statler, Matt Dumesny.

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Colby Copeland, Chase Johnson, Dustin Golobic, Kyle Hirst, Nicholas Ringo, Bobby McMahan, Jarrett Soares, Jake Haulot

HydrochemPSC Second Heat (10 laps): Matt Dumesny, Billy Aton, Shane Golobic, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, John Clark, Richard Brace Jr, Jason Statler

The Cushion Third Heat (10 laps): Michael Kofoid, Willie Croft, Klint Simpson, Bud Kaeding, Geoff Ensign, DJ Netto, Will Fatu, Gary Paulson

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Willie Croft, Kyle Hirst, Michael Kofoid, Matt Dumesny, Chase Johnson, Shane Golobic

Kaeding Performance Center Last Chance Race (12 laps): DJ Netto, Richard Brace Jr., Jarrett Soares, Jake Haulot, Jason Statler, John Clark, Gary Paulson, Bobby McMahan, Will Fatu, Jenna Frazier

(06/02/18 Tulare, CA – Jim Allen) … Championship points leader Kyle Hirst turned in a dominate sprint car performance and led all 30-laps of Saturday’s King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series Chris & Brian Faria Memorial at the Thunderbowl Raceway.

It was a team effort for Hirst, car owner Dennis Roth, and the rest of their Roth Enterprises H&R Livestock Transport crew. Immediately after earning their fourth ARP Fast Qualifier Award of the season, the team was forced to make a motor change, along with other components to address vibration issues in their number 83 KPC.

Hirst started the headliner on the outside of the front row next to Bud Kaeding and won the war of matching slide jobs to lead the first lap. The frontrunner's favored the high line right up against the fence and ran at a frantic pace as they began to slice and dice through traffic on the eighth circuit. While the front two cat and moused on the fence line for the lead, Shane Golobic and DJ Netto battled wheel-to-wheel for the third spot a few car lengths back.

The first 23-laps ran non-stop until the caution came out for Jason Statler, who got tangled up with slower traffic. That set the stage for one last sprint to the finish. However, Hirst wasn't taking any prisoners and sprinted away to easily win by a straightaway margin.

“Man. I’m tired,” admitted Hirst in victory lane. “My team worked their tails off tonight to get us in victory lane. We had a series of problems but worked our way through all of them. I can’t say enough about this team and I have to thank Dennis and Teresa Roth for the opportunity to drive their cars. I would also like to thank Steve Faria (promoter) who gave us an excellent track to race on tonight.”

With his second victory of the season, Hirst extended his King of the West-NARC championship point lead over Shane Golobic to a 553-536 margin.

DJ Netto, piloting the Netto Ag/Rotella Shell-sponsored Speedway-powered KPC, took advantage of the bunched up field on the restart and got past Kaeding for second, a position he would hold until the checkered. Kaeding was third in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim.

Willie Croft drove his Amerkote EMI past Shane Golobic with just five circuits remaining to score fourth. Golobic rounded out the top five in the Tarlton Motorsports KPC.

The second five to cross the line were 10th starter Colby Copeland, Chase Johnson, 12th starter Dustin Golobic, Kurt Nelson and Jarrett Soares. Colby Copeland earned the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award for his efforts.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, Shane Golobic, Colby Copeland, Chase Johnson, Dustin Golobic, Kurt Nelson, Jarrett Soares, Mathew Moles, Nathan Rolfe, Cole Danell, Jason Statler, Craig Stidham, Jenna Frazier

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Kyle Hirst, Chase Johnson, Willie Croft, Kurt Nelson, Mathew Moles, Cole Danell, Craig Stidham, Colby Copeland.

HydrochemPSC Second Heat (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Jason Statler, Dustin Golobic, Nathan Rolfe, Jarrett Soares, Jenna Frazier

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Willie Croft, Chase Johnson.

(5/19/18, Tulare, CA – Jim Allen) … Shane Golobic pulled off a dramatic late race pass of Kyle Hirst and Bud Kaeding to steal Saturday’s 30-lap Peter Murphy Classic in King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series action at the Thunderbowl Raceway.

Golobic, who started 12th in the grid aboard the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi-Palace KPC, methodically maneuvered his way through the field into third place on a "rubber-down" dirt track with only four laps remaining. However, it was a caution flag on the final lap that provided the opportunity to score the victory. On the green-white-checkered restart, Golobic proceeded to motor past both race leader Hirst and Kaeding going down the backchute to take the point.

Fighting failing tires and an ill-handling car, Hirst went to the bottom of the track to block Kaeding who had a run on him coming out of the second turn. As the two frontrunners moved down, Golobic took the high line and powered to the lead, which he held the final lap.

“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, “stated a very happy Golobic on the victory podium, sporting a champagne shower and the cherished $11,000 Peter Murphy winner’s check. “I was going to be happy just running third up to that point.”

Hirst wedged his way past Kaeding on the 14th circuit to take the lead and seemed to have the race under control despite constant pressure from Tanner Thorson and defending series champion. On the final lap, the car of Mathew Moles banged the wall several times exiting turn four and began to swerve down into the path of the oncoming field, who were midway through the fourth corner. The yellow flag was waved forcing a restart, setting the stage for the wild two-lap dash for the cash.

Kaeding, driving the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim, got around Hirst on the final lap to score second.

Hirst was not a happy camper on the podium after crossing the line in third aboard the Roth Motorsports KPC. He banged on officials for not throwing the checkered instead of the caution flag.

Running up front wasn’t exactly advantageous for a few teams. Australian Matt Dumesny rode the wall and crashed hard while running second on lap six aboard Rod Tiner’s sprinter. He was unhurt. Thorson was all over the leader for most of the contest, until he pulled into the infield with a shredded right rear with only three laps to go.

Willie Croft drove his Amerkote EMI across the line in fourth, chased by sixth starter Tim Kaeding in the 83JR Roth Motorsports ride.

The second five to cross the checkered were Jason Solwold, Gio Scelzi, Jason Statler, DJ Netto, and Jason Meyers.

Sean Watts was also a red flag recipient in the feature hitting the frontstretch wall and turning over. He walked away under his own power. Richard Brace Jr. and Ryan Souza both flipped in separate accidents in the second heat. Both were unhurt.

Kurt Nelson took no prisoners winning the 12-lap semi. Heat races were claimed by Thorson, Gio and Dominic Scelzi, and Sean Becker.

Kaeding set the standard in qualifying as the only driver in the 34 car field in the 13-second bracket (13.992). He started on the pole after claiming the Sunnyvalley Bacon Pole Shuffle.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Willie Croft, Tim Kaeding, Jason Solwold, Gio Scelzi, Jason Statler, DJ Netto, Jason Meyers, Colby Copeland, Tanner Thorson, Sean Becker, Kurt Nelson, Dustin Golobic, Buddy Kofoid, Mathew Moles, Craig Stidham, Dominic Scelzi, Sean Watts, Bobby McMahan, Matt Dumesny, Chase Johnson

Brown & Miller Racing Solutions First Heat (10 laps): Tanner Thorson, Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, Jason Meyers, DJ Netto, Kurt Nelson, Mathew Moles, Mark Barroso, Vaughn Schott

HydrochemPSC Second Heat (10 laps): Sean Becker, Matt Dumesny, Jason Solwold, Chase Johnson, Craig Stidham, Jarrett Soares, Jenna Frazier, Ryan Souza, Richard Brace Jr.

The Cushion Third Heat (10 laps): Gio Scelzi, Willie Croft, Colby Copeland, Buddy Kofoid, Dustin Golobic, Sean Watts, Chelsea Blevins, Wayne Rowett

Hoosier Harness Fourth Heat (10 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Bobby McMahan, Nathan Rolfe, Colton Hardy, Dole Danell,

Sunnyvalley Bacon Pole Shuffle: R1: Kyle Hirst defeated Tim Kaeding; R2: Hirst defeated Tanner Thorson; R3: Willie Croft defeated Hirst; R4: Matt Dumesny defeated Croft; R5: Bud Kaeding defeated Dumesny.

Kaeding Performance Center Semi-Main (12 laps): Kurt Nelson, DJ Netto, Craig Stidham, Dustin Golobic, Mathew Moles, Bobby McMahan, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, Richard Brace, Jarrett Soares, Chelsea Blevins, Vaughn Schott, Jenna Frazier, Cole Danell, Mark Barroso, Ryan Souza, Wayne Rowett, Colton Hardy.

The King of the West-NARC sprint cars made their one and only appearance this season at Silver Dollar Speedway for the popular Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race on May 5th. For those of you not familiar with the Northern Auto Racing club history books, there was a time about 20-years when the NARC & Golden State sprint cars would invade the high-banks in Chico 14 times a year. How times have changed! Of course the schedule at that time featured an almost overwhelming 40-races a year.

But if you are going to go only once, my motto is to GO BIG! And that is exactly what happened. Thirty-five cars showed up for the 28th Annual tribute to Junior and put on an entertaining affair. By now you know that Willie Croft was the man of the hour, walking away with more than seven grand for leading 38 circuits of the 40-lapper and claiming the Mike Avilla fast time award. After coming close to winning this race several times – include a few heartbreakers -- he finally checked the Bradway off his racing bucket list. Said Croft afterwards, “It’s a huge weight off my shoulders and I feel relieved.” Now all that is remaining on his bucket list is a victory at Calistoga. By the way, we go there once also!

Tanner Thorson launched a couple of serious challenges at Croft, but had to settle for a season best second. Kyle Hirst, who had dominated the ARP quick time awards up to this point (three-in-a-row) qualified like he was dragging an invisible anchor and timed in 22nd. That delegated him the 17th starting spot in the 22-car line-up, which made his charge to the front very impressive. He was a factor for the win with about 10 to go before settling for third. That hard charger award was worth a cool $1100 in cash.

By the way, while most eyes were focused on the top five, there was a whole lot of talent charging from the back of the pack. A-Main alternate starter and rookie Dustin Golobic charged from 22nd to 11th; Justin Sanders fought from 18th to tenth and 19th starter and semi transfer Tim Kaeding roared from 19th to seventh.

Once again, the reason the Bradway race is one of the most popular on the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu schedule is because of Dianne and Dave Durica. It’s no accident that all 52-laps of the A & B-mains were sponsored. Plus there were several other awards. We sincerely thank the Durica’s for all of their efforts.

CHICO NOTES: Buddy Kofoid won his heat in the Dan Simpson 4S, but didn’t make the call for the dash due to vibration issues. The team scrambled to correct the issue but to no avail and ended up scratching from the feature. … Bud Kaeding had a rough night. He had Shane Golobic’s front right tire in his cockpit on the original start and brought out the yellow spinning out after contact with Thorson on lap 15. He restarted at the back of the back and roared back to sixth, only to get reeled into a four-car melee involving Jason Statler, Colby Copeland, and Mitchell Faccinto. It was a tough break for Faccinto, who was piloting the Menne Motorsports number 75 ride. He was minding his own business running in the top ten before finding himself with no place to go – except the trailer. Faccinto regular ride, the Stan Greenberg TSG Recycling 37, is going to be out of a commission for a few weeks due to “personal reasons.” … Speaking of Statler, he earned the Hard Luck award as the first car to bring out the red flag. He flipped over the second turn causing a lot more damage than the $200 award paid out. However with the help of Croft, Shane Golobic, Colby Copeland and many others, he made the call for the semi where he finished second. … What do Shane Golobic, Michael Ing, Buddy Kofoid, and Dominic Scelzi have in common? They each took home a Hoosier right rear tire and five packs of tear-offs for winning their heat race – compliments of Hoserville CA. … Chase Johnson won the semi and finished sixth in the headliner. That’s his four consecutive finish better than ninth and has earned him the fourth spot in the championship points standings. ... Chelsea Blevins finished sixth in the semi to qualify for the feature. The former Outlaw Kart racer from Janesville, CA (near Susanville) has an immediate goal to gain valuable experience by logging some serious lap time on her resume. ... Kyle Hirst won the Friday night Brownell Memorial at SDS. ... Yes, that was motor change taking place in the Sean Watts 98. ... Mason Moore finished fourth after starting on the pole. He led the first two laps and was in contention throughout in the Cannon Motorsports Mike's Hard Lemonade 47. ... Enthusiasm among race winners is contagious! Post-race donuts, a wing dance, some fist bumps and high-fives, and a good victory lane interview makes the ride home a lot shorter!

BY THE NUMBERS: The NARC410.com website, which is just over a year old, just experienced it’s 100,000 unique visitor two weeks ago. Now, we need to get all of you to the races! … The win was Croft’s eighth career King of the West-NARC victory and first since the 2016 season. … Rookie of the year candidate Dustin Golobic is leading the pack as far as the year end Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award goes. He has passed 23 cars in this season’s four A-mains to lead a stellar group that includes Kyle Hirst (17), Shane Golobic (16), Justin Sanders (15), and Tanner Thorson (14). The drivers with the most cars passed at seasons end pockets a $1500 bonus. Surprisingly, he hasn’t won the award on any single night. I think that is called consistency! … Only Bud Kaeding has won the Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash this season and gone on to win the feature. …

CONSIDER US YOUR TRAVEL AGENT AND YOUR OPEN WHEEL ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE: The highly anticipated Peter Murphy Classic is on tap for May 18-19th. This two-day show sports everything any reasonable open wheel racing fan would possibly ask for. And like the Bradway race and the Durica’s, Peter Murphy puts in a lot of work hustling up support for the event featuring his name. Night one features the winged SCCT & non-winged WRS 360’s. The second night has King of the West-NARC 410’s and non-winged 360’s on the card. Saturday’s headliner is expected to be hotly contested (more than usual) with a huge paycheck on the line. Last year’s PMC winner Bud Kaeding proudly strutted away with a stout $11,000 winner’s check. Yes, $11,000 will put a bounce in your step. … The PMC also helps raise money for the NARC Benevolent Fund, something that helped out Mr. Murphy after his horrible career-ending crash in 2013. One way will be through a special auction of a front wing. Now, this isn’t just any front wing, as much as it will be signed by every driver in competition. Yes, this is something that will be proudly displayed in the future in someone’s shop or man cave! …

... There are five King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series point races in June. The month kicks off with Tulare (June 2nd), followed by Petaluma (June 9th), an Ocean/Calistoga Speedway doubleheader weekend on June 22-23 and the BIG King of the West-NARC/Sprint Car Challenge Tour doubleheader at Placerville Speedway on June 30th. There will be around 70 cars packed into the El Dorado County fairgrounds for this one and it’s expected to sell out. No excuses ... get your tickets now!

(5/5/18, Chico, CA – Jim Allen) … Willie Croft survived an onslaught of advances by Tanner Thorsen, a flurry of caution flags in the early going, and heavy lap traffic late to claim the 40-lap King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Bradway Memorial at Silver Dollar Speedway Saturday.

Driving his own Amerikote/Holey Smokes BBQ-sponsored, Kistler-powered sprint car, Croft also set quick time and with lap money earned more than $6700 for his efforts.

“This is by far my biggest victory ever,” admitted a very happy Croft in victory lane. “I’ve really wanted to win this race for a long time and finally got it done.”

Croft started the headliner on the outside of the front row next to polesitter Mason Moore and hunted him down racing down the backchute on the third lap to take the point. However, he was unable to extend his lead over the field due to a series of seven caution flags that appeared for a variety of spins and collisions during the first 15-laps.

Thorsen, who was piloting Clyde Lamar’s Tri-C Machine/Amsoil ride, was locked in a torrid three-way battle for fourth for more than eight-laps with Moore, Shane Golobic and Bud Kaeding. Thorsen managed to slip under Moore in the second corner to officially earn the runner-up spot on the 12th circuit. At that point it was a full on attack of the leader with slide jobs being launched and the two swapping positions on a corner-by-corner basis.

“There was some great racing going on with Tanner,“ explained Croft, after becoming the fourth different winner in as many series races. “However, I didn’t want to get in a battle of sliders so I locked down my line to pull away.”

While Thorsen was attacking, he was still defending his rear nerf bar from the advances of Moore, Golobic, and series championship point leader Kyle Hirst. The racing was hot and heavy with this group with no clear separation taking place.

After a red flag stop for fuel on lap 26, the remainder of the race ran non-stop. Croft expertly navigated his way away from his nearest challenges and through heavy traffic to secure the victory.

Thorsen second place finish was his best outing of the King of the West-NARC season. Hirst, who started 19th in the Roth Motorsports KPC, was on a mission during the second half of the race, and claimed third at the checkered. He earned $1100 for his efforts.

Moore secured fourth in the Brian Cannon Mike’s Hard Lemonade Eagle. Golobic rounded out the top five in the Tarlton Motorports Tachi Palace KPC.

The second five to cross Ed Entz checkered was semi-winner Chase Johnson, Tim Kaeding, Bill Aton, Michael Ing, and Justin Sanders.

Croft’s time of 11.705 seconds in qualifying earned him the “Carwash Mike Avilla” fast qualifier award and an $1100 bonus.

Jason Statler brought out the red flag in his heat race when he got upside down. He was unhurt.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (40 laps): Willie Croft, Tanner Thorsen, Kyle Hirst, Mason Moore, Shane Golobic, Chase Johnson, Tim Kaeding, Billy Aton, Michael Ing, Justin Sanders, Dustin Golobic, Bobby McMahan, Daniel Becker, Jake Morgan, Shawn Conde, Jason Statler, Bud Kaeding, Colby Copeland, Mitchell Faccinto, Dominic Scelzi, Sean Watts, Chelsea Blevins

ARP/Carwash Mike Avilla Fast Qualifier (1/4 mile clay oval): Willie Croft – 11.705 seconds (35 cars)

Brown & Miller Racing Solutions First Heat (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Colby Copeland, Sean Watts, Chase Johnson, Carl Droivold, Jake Wheeler, Jenna Frazier, Richard Brace Jr.

HydrochemPSC Second Heat (10 laps): Michael Ing, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Mitchell Faccinto, Shawn Conde, Brent Bjork, Wyatt Brown, Jason Statler, Tim Kaeding

The Cushion Third Heat (10 laps): Michael Kofoid, Bobby McMahan, Mason Moore, Justin Sanders, Daniel Becker, Chelsea Blevins, Dustin Golobic, Billy Wallace, Eddy Lewis

Hoosier Harness Fourth Heat (10 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Tanner Thorsen, Jake Morgan, Billy Aton, Mike Monahan, Nathan Rolfe, Gary Paulson, Pat Harvey Jr.

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Mason Moore, Willie Croft, Tanner Thorsen, Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding

Kaeding Performance Center Semi-Main (12 laps): Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, Tim Kaeding, Daniel Becker, Shawn Conde, Chelsea Blevins, Dustin Golobic, Richard Brace Jr., Gary Paulson, Carl Droivold, Billy Wallace, Jenna Frazier, Wyatt Brown, Pat Harvey Jr., Eddy Lewis, Jake Wheeler, Nathan Rolfe, Mike Monahan.

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Mason Moore, Willie Croft, Tanner Thorsen, Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding.

(5/1/18) Auburn, CA … Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico will play host to the exciting King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series for the only time this season on Saturday, May 5th at the 28th Annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial.

This event marks the fourth round of the 16-race schedule that will ultimately crown the coveted King of the West-NARC winged sprint car champion. Up for grabs will be a purse in excess of $27,000, including lap money and other special awards.

The race, in honor of the former Northern Auto Racing Club driver who lost his life in a racing accident in 1987, is one of the longest continuously running events in California motorsports. The win list reads like a “whose-who” of Golden State sprint car legends and rates as a bucket list item for most drivers of the current generation.

Among those is Elk Grove’s Shane Golobic, who is currently locked in a heated championship points battle with three-time series champ Kyle Hirst of Paradise.

“Winning the Bradway race would be a huge accomplishment for me,” admitted Golobic. “Everybody in open wheel racing knows about this event and to be able to say I won it would be something I would proudly display on my racing resume.”

The feature event features 22-winged 410 c.i. 950-horsepower sprint cars for 40-laps, the most on the 2018 schedule by 10-laps. The winner will pocket a minimum of $4,000. Lap money pays the top three frontrunners on each lap so it is very lucrative to run up front.

Golobic continued, “I’ve been close to winning this race, but haven’t been able to pull it off. Being that it’s a 40-lapper, there is more time to move to the front, but also more variables that can come into play. My Tarlton Motorsports team is prepared for just about any scenario and will be putting me in the best position to succeed.”

Hirst will be looking to claim his second Bradway Memorial after banking a victory in 2016. Other previous winners expected to be in the field are defending series champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell (2015); and brother Tim Kaeding of San Jose (2002 & 2008).

Last year’s winner Rico Abreu has dominated three of the past five races, pocketed more than $8000 for his effort last season. He is currently committed to race back East, opening the door for a new winner.

Other’s entries looking to claim their first victory in this prestigious event include Hanford drivers DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto; Chase Johnson of Penngrove; Roseville’s Willie Croft and Colby Copeland; Fresno driver Dominic Scelzi; Sean Watts and Nathan Rolfe of Atwater; Grass Valley’s Jason Statler; Mathew Moles of Fresno; rookie of the year candidate’s Dustin Golobic (Fremont) and Jenna Frazier (Sacramento); Merced’s Mark Bark Barroso; Jarrett Soares of Discovery Bay and many others.

Lap money consist of $100 per lap, paying the top three positions ($50, $30, $20) on every lap in the main event and last chance qualifier. The Mike Avilla Fast Time award will award a cool $1000 to the fastest qualifier. The Hardcharger Award, presented to the driver who passes the most cars in the feature event, will also pay $650. There are many other awards that the racing community has contributed to make this race a huge success.

The King of the West-NARC racing format includes qualifying, heat-races, the Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash, a 12-lap Last Chance Qualifier, and the 40-lap Fujitsu/Hoosier sponsored headliner.

Pit gates open at 3:00 p.m. and front gates open at 5:00 p.m. Qualifying gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Also on the racing card is IMCA Sport Mods.

Silver Dollar Speedway is located at the fairgrounds in Chico, approximately ½ mile west of US 99. For more information, go to www.silverdollarspeedway.com or www.NARC410.com, or call 530-891-6535.
Silver Dollar Speedway – Chico, CA
www.silverdollarspeedway.com
Wet Weather Cancels Tonight’s Event. Silver Dollar Speedway Phone: (530) 350-7275 Rain Cancels Event at Silver Dollar Speedway Chico, CA (April 6, 2018) ….

PAST DAVE BRADWAY JR MEMORIAL RACE WINNERS
1991 - Jason McMillen – McMillen 21
1992 - Greg DeCaries – Bumgarner 88
1993 - Eric Rossi – Family Auto Service 98x
1994 - Randy Tiner – Clyde Lamar 3c
1995 - Brent Kaeding – BK Racing 69
1996 - Paul McMahan – Clyde Lamar 3c
1997 - Jimmy Sills – Dennis Johnson 14d
1998 - Randy Tiner – Rod Tiner 83 (2)
1999 - Brent Kaeding – Al Peterson 2m (2)
2000 - Brent Kaeding – Al Peterson 2m (3)
2001 - Jonathan Allard – Rick Wright 35
2002 - Tim Kaeding – Rick Wright 35
2003 - Jonathan Allard – Rick Wright 35 (2)
2004 - Jason Statler – DF Rios 00
2005 - Jonathan Allard – Morrie Williams 0 (3)
2006 - Sean Becker – Fisher/Main 35m
2007 - Brent Kaeding – BK Racing 69 (4)
2008 - Tim Kaeding – Tom Rolfe 10 (2)
2009 - Jonathan Allard – Morrie Williams 0 (4)
2010 - Shane Stewart – Paul Silva 57
2011 - Peter Murphy – Dalton’s 11
2012 - Jonathan Allard – Morrie Williams 0 (5)
2013 - Rico Abreu – Abreu Vineyards 24
2014 - Rico Abreu – Abreu Vineyards 24 (2)
2015 - Bud Kaeding – Morrie Williams 0
2016 - Kyle Hirst – Tarlton Motorsports 21x
2017 - Rico Abreu – Abreu Vineyards 24 (3)

2018 KWS-NARC FUJITSU SERIES POINT STANDINGS
(After three events in 16-race Series – 05/01/18)

Kyle Hirst, Paradise (1) 280
Shane Golobic, Fremont (1) 272
Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) 267
DJ Netto, Hanford 256
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford 256
Chase Johnson, Penngrove 254
Jason Statler, Grass Valley 247
Colby Copeland, Roseville 239
Dustin Golobic, Fremont ® 235
Sean Watts, Atwater 224
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay 222
Mathew Moles, Fresno 221
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater 219
Mark Barroso, Merced 218
Jenna Frazier, Sacramento 212

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Associate and contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Hooker Harness, HydrochemPSC, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, Winters Performance Products and Willie Croft Racing.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
May 19th – Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA – Second Night of Peter Murphy Classic
June 2nd – Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA -- Chris & Brian Faria Memorial
June 9th – Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA
June 22nd – Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA – Pombo-Sargent Classic
June 23rd – Calistoga Speedway, Calistoga, CA – Wine Country Classic w/Civil War Sprint Cars

SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION:
Website: www.NARC410.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints

Auburn, CA … Well … (deep breath) …, the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series has officially started off with a bang – just the way we like it - and has proven to be more unpredictable than the lottery. Three races have produced three winners, an old school rescheduled event, a whole lot of bacon, an unbelievable photo-finish and a quick run to the beer booth. Let me explain …

KERN COUNTY RACEWAY PARK (4/8/18): It seems like it’s the same old story, year after year with weather. And in typical fashion, Mother Nature attempted to play the spoiler role in messing up our season opener. However, Larry Collins and the gang down at the Dirt Track at Kern County became good friends with the Weather Channel and made the decision to postpone the Saturday opener to Sunday (April 8th). The start time was moved up to a 4:00 p.m. and we were good to go! That resulted in a successful old school Sunday afternoon show.

Shane Golobic played old school winner in his new school ride to win the first time out in the Tarlton Motorsports KPC. With a batting average of 1.000, he is the first point leader of the season. Willie Croft and Dominic Scelzi were the other two on the podium. Overall, with a hot sun bearing down on the one-third mile dirt oval, the track surface held up pretty well. Along the way, we stalled for about 45 minutes for the sun to set before pushing off the feature and Golobic’s victory lane interview took place at 8:19 p.m. This allowed most our Nor Cal teams to make it home by 2:00 a.m. and to work on about four hours of sleep. The sacrifices we make to play in the dirt! We’re looking forward to our return visit to the DT at KCRP in October!

Kyle Hirst picked his brother-in-law Croft’s pocket for $1000 by setting a new King of the West-NARC qualifying record – knocking almost a half-second off the 2017 qualifying standard. Not bad for 12.406 seconds worth of work. Ironically, Croft was the first to break the mark in hot laps. For those of you at home wondering how that happened, Willie Croft Racing is putting up a cool grand to any driver that can set a new KWS-NARC fast time record at any track. He did! … Dustin Golobic stated his intentions to run for rookie of the year in the Golobic Construction 57. He finished 12th. Jenna Frazier who is also a rookie scored 19th. … Sean Watts was running a strong seventh when he got bit in the first turn bringing out the only red of the night. … A good qualifying time was about the only thing preventing Tanner Thorson from winning this thing. He charged from 15th to fifth in the main to earn the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award.

OCEAN SPEEDWAY (4/20/18): You’ve got to love the bullrings. The places where the leaders contend with slower traffic in only three laps and there is no time to think, just milliseconds to react. Ocean Speedway fell into that category once again, dishing up another great racing surface and the wheel-to-wheel battles reflected exactly that fact.

Kyle Hirst was on a mission on his way to his 25th career King of the West-NARC victory – despite some visible battle scars on his smashed front wing. The racing in the top five was worth the price of admission and at one point the proverbial blanket could have been pulled out to prove a point. Willie Croft can’t buy a break, leading 23 laps in all before a flat left rear shot him into the pits. Sixth row was on the move in this one as Shane Golobic earned the runner-up spot from 12th and DJ Netto third from 11th. Tanner Thorsen, started 14th and was in the runner-up spot challenging for the point when he spun in lap traffic with only five remaining. I didn’t see that one coming!

Mathew Moles started on the pole of the feature after winning one of the most exciting trophy dashes in a while. Hirst spun out and Kaeding and Chase Johnson took each other out leaving Moles sporting a million-dollar smile after winning his first ever King of the West-NARC dash. The new six-car dash format is sponsored by Sunnyvalley Bacon. Besides cash for the winner, one of the perks is that one lucky fan gets “Powered by Bacon” and walks away with almost nine pounds of mans best food. That person was chosen by Moles, who whipped the Watsonville crowd into a serious frenzy before picking the lucky recipient. … Justin Sanders had some trouble on his first qualifying lap and got on his lid. Some quick repairs on the 121 mount, including a new number 17 wing, and he was good to go for a final qualifying lap at the end. He finished sixth in the feature. … Dominic and Gio Scelzi are deadly accurate with the new KWS-NARC t-shirt cannons. #justsaying … ARP Fast Qualifier? That would be Kyle Hirst. …

THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY (4/21/18): Go get me a broom and I’ll go get a beer! After stealing a thrilling photo finish victory at the Thunderbowl, Bud Kaeding made a beeline for the beer stand to snag an icy cold celebratory beverage. For the two of you who have never been to Tulare, all interviews are done on a podium on the spectator side of the fence. So after high-energy high-fives and violent man hugs on the front straightaway with crew members, everybody is directed through the gate to the podium. Hirst went to the podium, so did third place finisher Shane Golobic. Kaeding walked straight ahead, through the tunnel to the back of the grandstands and the – pardon the pun - Bud booth. Considering he wasn’t carrying a wallet, he had to do some serious negotiating before getting his beer put on promoters Steve Faria tab. The ladies working the beer booth didn’t know Bud from anybody else in the grandstands. When he returned, it was a fun victory lane celebration.

Kaeding said he found something good to run on up top in turns three and four and stuck with it the final five laps. He banged the wall a couple of times in the process. This ultimately resulted in a slingshot move on the white flag lap that scored a winning margin of about a wheel. Bud was squeezed up against the wall, Hirst was sliding up, the two banged wheels and the rest is history. If the finish line was say twenty feet farther away, chances are the two would have wadded up their cars because there was no place to go. Hirst was disappointed upon exiting the car, knowing he let one slip away in his quest to sweep the weekends races. However, he knew that he put on one heck of a show! That's the sign of a professional race car driver!

For Kaeding it was a sweep of Tulare (see broom) as he claimed his first ever Civil War feature, and backed it up with his 19th career King of the West-NARC victory. Once again, the finish in the KWS-NARC feature was Kaeding, Hirst, Golobic and DJ Netto. The finish in the Civil War main was Kaeding, Hirst, Golobic and DJ Netto. What are the odds? Really? What are the odds?

Jason Statler keeps moving forward. A 10th at KCRP, a ninth at OS, and a seventh at TR puts him seventh in points. … Jarrett Soares also did double-duty in a 360 and 410. ... Who set fast time? Try to act surprised when I tell you this. Kyle Hirst nailed it for the third consecutive race to start the season with Roth Motorsports. Considering the top four qualifiers at King of West-NARC events earn championship points, that is one of the key reasons Hirst is our current point leader. … Hardcharger award? Shane Golobic - for the second night in a row. It was a tough night for moving forward as he passed four cars. … Colby Copeland and car owner Larry Antaya are dialing in the details and showing quick improvement. They finished a season best eighth at Tulare and are eighth in points.

NARC NOTES: Special thanks to the generous donations to the NARC Benevolent Fund. One was in memory of Gary Patterson, the other for the late Bob Miller. Along those lines, make sure you check out our display at every event. Fans can make tax deductible donations to the Benevolent Fund at the track. Word has it there is a special T-shirt being manufactured that you can only get by making a $50 donation to the fund. It’s supposed to be “over the top” awesome! … Mark Barroso and his team have stated their intentions to tackle the entire King of the West-NARC schedule – barring some unforeseen circumstance. His J&R Barroso Dairy Farms car is based in Merced, CA. Barroso competed in 12 King of the West events in 2011 and three in 2014. … Mitchell Faccinto is always a frontrunner with Stan Greenberg. The team is fifth in points after racing up a pair of sixths and a seventh place finish. … If you want to hear an interesting story, go talk to car owner Shawn Thomas about why his tail tank on his number 68 sprint car is black and doesn’t quite match the color scheme of his new Safecraft sponsorship colors. … This serves as last call to get in to sponsor a lap or event at the May 5th Bradway Memorial. Contact Dianne Durica like right NOW if you're interested! Dial her up at 916-988-5958. … The 2018 King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series t-shirt design is awesome. Thanks to Jim Gardner and Bullet Impressions. ... Sprint Car Ambassador Brad Doty will be an honored guest at the Peter Murphy Classic in Tulare. …

So ..., if you’re planning your open wheel adventures correctly, you’re chasing the big money like our race teams. May is a great month for doing that. Start off with the lucrative Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race at Chico on May 5th. It’s our only visit to Silver Dollar this season and there is more than $5000 in lap money up for grabs in the A & B Mains. The "Car Wash Mike Avilla" Fast time award and the Hardcharger are worth $1000 a pop, plus there are a ton of other perks. Once again, it's our only visit to Silver Dollar Speedway. Then it’s a trip to the Thunderbowl Raceway for the very popular May 19th Peter Murphy Classic. Mr. Murphy is working hard to put together another great event, that also includes SCCT sprint cars on Friday, May 18th. Last season’s KWS-NARC feature, claimed by Bud Kaeding, paid $11,000 to win. Both events will attract a field of more than 35 cars. We will see you at the races and make sure you bring a friend (or five.)

(04/21/18 Tulare, CA – Jim Allen) … Defending King of the West-NARC champion Bud Kaeding nipped Kyle Hirst at the checkered in an exciting photo-finish to narrowly escape with Saturday’s 30-lap Fujitsu Sprint Car Series feature event at Thunderbowl Raceway.

It marked a clean sweep for Kaeding and the Morrie Williams Motorsports, Alviso Rock-Kaeding Performance Center-sponsored Maxim, as they also captured the 30-lap Civil War 360 main event.

Kaeding and Hirst battled wheel-to-wheel in the Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy dash and that fight rolled over to the feature with neither driver giving an inch. Kaeding held off Hirst to barely lead the first lap and proceeded to jump out to a 12-car length advantage. However, heavy lap traffic 10-laps into the event allowed Hirst to reel him in and begin applying pressure.

The pair engaged in a high-speed game of cat and mouse as they zigged and zagged through traffic, with Hirst running the high line in the Roth Motorsports H&R Livestock Transport KPC and Kaeding down low. Hirst finally managed to slip past on the 17th circuit.

The duo was easily the class of the 18-car field and began to pull away from all other challengers. They established a four lapped car interference over a freight train that included Chase Johnson, Shane Golobic, and Mitchell Faccinto.

The only caution flag of the event came out for a spinning car with six laps remaining, bunching up the field for one last crack at the leaders.

On the restart, Hirst powered out into the point again. However, Kaeding began setting up his winning move by running high up in the third and fourth corners and gaining on Hirst going down the front stretch. He banged the wall several times but the slingshot maneuver allowed him to keep his momentum and inch closer and closer to the leader.

With the checkered flag waving, and the fans on their feet, Kaeding powered out of the fourth corner and drag raced Hirst to the line, escaping with the narrow victory.

“I tried running the top early on,” explained Kaeding, after becoming the third winner in as many KWS-NARC races. “I moved back up there in the late going and found a little something to race on. I’m glad it worked otherwise both of us were going to be wadded up in the infield.”

Golobic got past Johnson with three to go and claimed the show position in the Tachi Palace sponsored KPC owned by Tarlton Motorsports. DJ Netto, piloting the Netto Ag sprinter, started fourth, fell back to seventh, but powered back to his original position at the finish. Chase Johnson scored fifth in his Shawn Thomas-owned Safecraft sponsored machine.

Hirst started off the program by earning the ARP Fast Qualifier award for the third consecutive time this season.

Rounding out the second five was Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Colby Copeland, Bobby McMahan and Craig Stidham.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson, Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Colby Copeland, Bobby McMahan, Craig Stidham, Sean Watts, Jarrett Soares, Dustin Golobic, Nathan Rolfe, Mark Barroso, Mathew Moles, Jenna Frazier, Richard Brace.

BMRS First Heat (10 laps): Sean Watts, DJ Netto, Kyle Hirst, Bobby McMahan, Craig Stidham, Richard Brace.

HydrochemPSC Second Heat (10 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Jarrett Soares, Chase Johnson, Shane Golobic, Mathew Moles, Mark Barroso

The Cushion Third Heat (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, Colby Copeland, Dustin Golobic, Nathan Rolfe, Jenna Frazier

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Chase Johnson, DJ Netto, Mitchell Faccinto, Sean Watts

(4/20/18 - Watsonville, CA - Jim Allen) … Kyle Hirst came out on the winning end of a frantic open wheel battle with brother-in-law Willie Croft and Tanner Thorson to capture Friday’s thrilling 30-lap King of the West-NARC Fujitsu sprint car headliner at Ocean Speedway.

It was three-time series champion’s 25th career series victory, this one piloting the Roth Motorsports H & R Livestock Transportation KPC sprinter.

Croft, who started on the outside of the front row, was the class of the 22-car field for most of the event. He took the lead away from dash winner Mathew Moles on the second lap and two laps later began the process of slicing and dicing his way through slower traffic.

The action behind the leader was intense as several drivers charged to the front. Hirst, who started fourth, got past Moles for the runner-up spot on the seventh lap. Thorsen drove the Tri-C Machine sprinter like a man possessed after starting in the 14th position. He was up to fifth after only three laps and shadowing Hirst every move by the fifth circuit around the quarter-mile oval.

The action came to a halt on the seventh circuit when Nathan Rolfe took a tumble in the third corner. He walked away unhurt.

At the midway point, Hirst and Thorson were back swapping positions on a corner by corner basis as the top four positions could have been covered by a blanket. Hirst stole the point away from Croft on the 16th lap, but a yellow flag negated the move. Another red flag a lap later, this time for an upside-down Gio Scelzi stopped the action again. Scelzi, who captured the semi, was not injured.

When action resumed, Thorsen powered past Hirst in the fourth corner and quickly began to reel in the Croft, who was being held up in traffic. The two frontrunners began to pull away from the field, but Thorsen spun out while negotiating a lapped car bringing out yet another caution.

It was Hirst time to shine now and he motored past Croft in an exciting drag race down the backchute with five to go. However, Croft wasn’t done and the duo pulled out all the stops in an action-packed wheel-to-wheel battle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Croft’s night as he pulled off the track three-laps remaining with a flat left rear.

Hirst took no prisoners the remaining distance to score the popular victory and take away the KWS-NARC point lead from Shane Golobic by a 187-184 margin (unofficial.) Golobic, who started 12th in the 22-car grid scored a solid second place at the checkered, driving the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi Palace-sponsored KPC. That was good enough to earn him the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award.

“This is great,” said a pumped up Hirst afterwards. “It’s always exciting to have a race like this and come out on top.”

Eleventh starter DJ Netto drove the Netto Ag sprint car through the field to finish in the show position. Defending series champion Bud Kaeding claimed fourth in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Dominic Scelzi rounded out the top five in the Scelzi Enterprises Schnee.

The second five across the line was Justin Sanders, Mitchell Faccinto, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler and Jeremy Chisum.

30-LAP FUJITSU MAIN EVENT: Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Bud Kaeding, Dominic Scelzi, Justin Sanders, Mitchell Faccinto, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, Jeremy Chisum, Tanner Thorson, Colby Copeland, Dustin Golobic, Kurt Nelson, Bobby McMahan, Willie Croft, Sean Matts, Mark Barroso, Mathew Moles, Billy Aton, Gio Scelzi, Nathan Rolfe.

BMRS First Heat (10-laps): Willie Croft, Billy Aton, Kyle Hirst, Mitchell Faccinto, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, Dustin Golobic, Nathan Rolfe, Richard Fajardo

The Cushion Second Heat (10-laps): DJ Netto, Mathew Moles, Chase Johnson, Colby Copeland, Justin Sanders, Gio Scelzi, Bobby McMahan, Jenna Frazier

HydrochemPSC Third Heat (10-laps): Shane Golobic, Dominic Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Kurt Nelson, Tanner Thorson, Jeremy Chisum, Jarrett Soares, Mark Barroo

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6-laps): Mathew Moles, Willie Croft, Billy Aton, Kyle Hirst, Chase Johnson, Bud Kaeding

Hoosier Tires SEMI-MAIN EVENT (12-laps): Gio Scelzi, Jeremy Chisum, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, Bobby McMahan, Dustin Golobic, Mark Barroso, Jarrett Soares, Richard Fajardo, Jenna Frazier.

(4/8/18 - Bakersfield, CA, Jim Allen) … Shane Golobic and his new Tarlton Motorsports team wasted no time proving they will be a force to be reckoned with on the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series tour, capturing the 30-lap season opener at the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park on Sunday.

Making his first appearance in the potent Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino KPC wrenched by Paul Baines, Golobic started third and blew past polesitter Willie Croft on the second lap to take the lead. At that point, the headliner became a high speed game of cat and mouse in lap traffic as Golobic held off the repeated challenges of Croft and Dominic Scelzi to pace the final 29-laps.

“I got a real good start and managed to get past Willie (Croft) early on,” said the happy winner in victory lane. “However, lap traffic was really tough. I had to make room a couple of times because I knew he was back there waiting for me to make a mistake.”

Golobic’s winning margin at the checkered was 10-car lengths and a one lapped car buffer.

Croft and Scelzi engaged in a thrilling wheel to wheel battle for the second spot, swapping the position on the tenth, thirteenth and fifteenth laps. Croft, who also claimed the Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash, would end up claiming the runner-up position in his Amerikote/Holey Smokes BBQ Eagle. Scelzi drove the Gary Scelzi-owned SE Inc./Panella Trucking sprinter to the show position.

Fast qualifier Kyle Hirst was within striking distance of the leaders with eight to go, but had to settle for fourth in the Roth Motorsports H&R Livestock Transport KPC.

Tanner Thorsen was the man on the move at Kern County Raceway Park. Starting 15th in the grid, Thorsen sliced and diced his way to a fifth place finish in Clyde Lamar’s Tri-C Machine Spike chassis. That earned him the Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger Award.

The second five to cross the checkered were Mitchell Faccinto, defending series champion Bud Kaeding, Gio Scelzi, Chase Johnson & Jason Statler.

Sean Watts brought out the only red flag of the night on the fifth lap of the feature, when his car performed a pirouette in the first corner and turned over. He was unhurt in the accident.

Hirst set a new King of the West-NARC qualifying record, burning a time of 12.406 seconds around the one-third mile oval. He earned a $1000 bonus from Willie Croft Racing for his feat.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Dominic Scelzi, Kyle Hirst, Tanner Thorsen, Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, Gio Scelzi, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, DJ Netto, Dustin Golobic, Tommy Tarlton, Colby Copeland, Jeremy Chisum, Jarrett Soares, Matthew Moles, Nathan Rolfe, Jenna Frazier, Craig Stidham, Sean Watts, Mark Barroso

Heat 1 (10 laps): Willie Croft, Kyle Hirst, Mitchell Faccinto, Jarrett Soares, Jason Statler, Dustin Golobic, Jeremy Chisum, Jenna Frazier

Heat 2 (10 laps): Gio Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Colby Copeland, Tommy Tarlton, Craig Stidham, Nathan Rolfe

Heat 3 (10 laps): Chase Johnson, Dominic Scelzi, Sean Watts, Tanner Thorson, Matthew Moles, DJ Netto, Mark Barroso

Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash (6 laps): Willie Croft, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Dominic Scelzi, Mitchell Faccinto, Gio Scelzi

(4/3/18) Bakersfield, CA … The high-powered 950-horsepower sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will open their highly anticipated 2018 season this Saturday, April 7th at the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park.

This marks the first event of what is expected to be an ultra-competitive 16-race contest to claim the coveted King of the West-NARC 410 sprint car championship. The series features the top open wheel teams in the Golden State.

Leading an all star cast of drivers into Bakersfield will be defending champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell, CA. The third generation driver claimed his first title in the closest battle in KWS-NARC history, driving an Oakhurst-based car owned by Morrie Williams. It was the fourth King of the West title for Williams Motorsports.

This season promises to deliver another exciting pressure-packed points race as even more teams have committed to run full-time for the championship. Among them is Shane Golobic of Elk Grove, who is driving for the potent Fresno-based Tarlton Motorsports team. The Tarlton team is a two-time series car owner champion with two different drivers (Carson Macedo in 2015 and Kyle Hirst in 2016.)

Also expected to be a top contender is Paradise driver Kyle Hirst, who is a three-time series champion. He is piloting a car for three-time car owner champion Roth Motorsports, another Fresno-based team.

Longtime West Sacramento car owner Clyde Lamar is looking to claim his first King of the West-NARC title and hired Tanner Thorsen from Columbus, IN to get the job done. Thorsen is a versatile multi-faceted driver who pilots a variety of race cars around the nation.

“The King of the West-NARC series gets tougher and tougher every year,” states Kaeding. “The talent level keeps improving and the teams are more prepared and competitive than ever. I can guarantee that nobody is going to cut me any slack in my run at a second NARC title.”

This is the second year in a row that the one-third mile Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park has hosted the King of the West-NARC season opener. The 2017 race was one of the most talked about and exciting events of the season. A near perfect track surface produced a multi-groove track that produced multiple slide jobs and close entertaining wheel-to-wheel battle throughout the main event.

“Kern County Raceway Park is a fun track to race,” continued Kaeding. “I think we were all a little surprised at how good it was last year. We could run down low, up high up against the fence and just about everywhere in between. We are looking forward to putting on a great show for the fans.”

Among the 30-plus teams expected to compete include Hanford’s DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto; Atwater’s Sean Watts and Nathan Rolfe; Chase Johnson and Michael Kofoid of Penngrove; Roseville driver’s Willie Croft and Colby Copeland; Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove; Discovery Bay’s Jarrett Soares, and the Scelzi brothers (Dominic and Gio) of Fresno. Gio Scelzi finished second in the final standings last season, a single-point behind Kaeding. The Scelzi's are looking to play the role of spoilers at KCRP as both plan to compete around the country this year. Faccinto captured the SCCT 360 season opener last weekend at Placerville Speedway.

Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. Also on the racing card are Bakersfield Hard Tops and Mod-Lites. Qualifying gets underway at 6:00 p.m. Advanced ticket sales are available online.

There will be a driver autograph session at the main grandstands from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. featuring 2017 Champion Bud Kaeding, Bobby McMahan, and Rookie of the Year contender Jenna Frazier.

The King of the West-NARC format includes qualifying, four heat races, a trophy dash, the Last Chance semi-main and the 30-lap headliner.

Kern County Raceway Park is located at 13500 Raceway Blvd in Bakersfield (Interstate 5 & Enos Lane.) For more information, call 661-835-1264.

ED NOTE: There is a $1000 bonus on the line if any driver can beat the one-lap KWS-NARC qualifying record at KCRP (courtesy of Croft Racing.) The current mark is 12.894 seconds set by Chase Johnson last season.

Bud Kaeding, Campbell (5) 910
Gio Scelzi, Fresno (3) 909
Cory Eliason, Selma (2) 882
DJ Netto, Hanford (1) 877
Kyle Hirst, Paradise (2) 793
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove 775
Sean Watts, Atwater 756
Michael Kofoid, Penngrove (1) 737
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay 735
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater 697
Shane Golobic, Fremont (2) 517
Chase Johnson, Penngrove (1) 515
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford (1) 454
Willie Croft, Roseville 450
Brent Bjork, Fremont 399

UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 20th – Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA
April 21st – Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, CA with Civil War Sprint Cars
May 5th – Silver Dollar Speedway – Chico, CA – Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial Race

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, Autometer, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, PSC Industrial Services, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, Winters Performance Products and Willie Croft Racing.

Find us on Social Media at:
www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints
www.facebook.com/narcsprintcars
www.twitter.com/NARC410
www.Instagram.com/NARC410

(3/30/18 Jim Allen) ... The King of the West-NARC Sprint Car Series released details today about their lucrative sponsorship package for the 2018 season. Fujitsu General, a manufacturer of industry-leading high-efficiency heating and air conditioning products, has returned as the title sponsor of the 16-race series.

Associate sponsors for the traveling series, which will visit nine different dirt tracks in Northern and Central California, include Hoosier Racing Tires, PSC Industrial Services, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, ARP and Williams Roofing.

The championship driver/car owner team will earn a $10,000 share of the $55,500 point fund earmarked for the Top 10 teams in the final standings. In addition, teams competing in every scheduled event that don’t finish in the top ten will pocket $1,000 in year end money.

The club also announced a contingency product award program worth more than $40,000. New company additions to this year’s series include SAFECRAFT Safety Equipment, Autometer, and Hooker Harness. They join ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, ButlerBuilt, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, MAXIM, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Brakes, and Winters Performance Products.

Johnstone Supply and Croft Racing are sponsoring a pair of specialty awards. Johnstone Supply will pay $2000 to any front row starter willing to take the Tailgater Challenge and win the feature event from the back row. Willie Croft Racing will ante up $1000 to any driver who breaks an existing King of the West-NARC qualifying record at any event this season.

The season gets underway on April 7th at the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park. For more information about the series, go to NARC410.com or email info@NARC410.com

Auburn, CA ... As far as the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series goes, all of the pieces are quickly falling into place to go sprint car racing. And that day isn’t too far off as Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield is anxiously awaiting to host the series opener on April 7th. Just so we are all on the same page for this highly anticipated season, here is a collection of notes from the official King of the West-NARC notepad.
General Meeting: Northern Auto Racing Club members converged on the Roth Motorsports facility in Fresno on February 24th for the annual competition meeting. The gathering provided an overview of improvements the series continues to make to enhance both the fan and racing team experience. At the meeting, our 2018 NARC Advisory Board was officially seated and it features car owners Shawn Thomas and Steve Soares; owner-drivers Bobby McMahan, Brent Kaeding and Willie Croft; and drivers Bud Kaeding and Kyle Hirst. That makes a quorum.

The group is collectively focused on putting on a good show, building sponsorship support, improving driver safety, growing the NARC Benevolent Fund and building 410 sprint car racing on the West Coast. The more I think about it, that sounds like a flashback to the Northern Auto Racing Club glory days of the 1990’s. For those of you at home taking notes, that’s called progress!

Once again, special thanks to Dennis Roth and Todd Ventura for hosting us and serving up enough mouth-watering Tri-Tip and fixings to effectively put most of us in a food coma for the drive home.
“Hey son, I noticed you were swerving back there?” suggested the CHP officer. “Have you been drinking?”
“Nope, but I ate about two pounds of awesome Dennis Roth Tri-Tip and I had to undo my pants. Sorry about that!”

Trophy Dash: About the only thing that changed as far as the racing format goes, was our dash format. It will now consist of the top six point earners from qualifying and heat races. Or better said, it encourages everyone to be hard on the hammer during the preliminary events.
Qualifying points start at 50 and drop to 48, 47, 46, 45, and so on. Yes, that is a two point drop between the fast qualifier and second quick, but it drops by one from that point on. The winner of each heat earns 50 points, and it drops by three points per finishing position. In other words, if you miss the set up in qualifying, you can make up a lot of ground in the heat race by passing some cars. Combine the points and the top six go to the dash. The tiebreaker is qualifying times. Then throw in an inversion draw of a 0, 4 or a 6. And finally, the point system is for lining up the dash only, not for the championship side of things. Wow, I need a nap after all of that!
>From a personal opinion standpoint, I’m still not convinced that winning the dash is a good thing. If you check out the 2017 KWS-NARC stat sheets, only ONE dash winner went on to win one of the 16 feature events. Just ONE!

Talent: The talent level on this year’s campaign is off the charts. You’ve got Mr. Consistency Bud Kaeding and the Morrie Williams Zero Heroes team attempting to go back-to-back. Kyle Hirst is looking to hunt down his fourth driving title behind the wheel of the potent Roth Motorsports KPG. Tarlton Motorsports has teamed up with the victory lane magnet otherwise known as Shane Golobic in their hunt for a third crown. Let’s not forget about the lightening rod Tanner Thorsen, who has saddled up with Clyde Lamar for a run at the King of the West-NARC championship. Chase Johnson is looking to post a breakout year with car owner Shawn Thomas. DJ Netto, who posted the most top 10 finishes last season in KWS action, is back in the family owned Netto sprinter looking to improve that to top five finishes. Now throw in Colby Copeland, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto, Bobby McMahan, Sean Watts, Craig Stidham, Nathan Rolfe, Tim Kaeding, and Jarrett Soares and you’ve got a California A-list. The early and late season races should be a blast as we will be joined by some other big names such as the Scelzi & Macedo brothers, Buddy Kofoid, Cory Eliason and Rico Abreu. They will be making cameo appearances before they travel off to destinations unknown.

NARC Benevolent Fund: Ashley Smith, who has been spearheading the non-profits charitable efforts of the NARC Benevolent Fund for several years, announced some changes to the board to help drive fund raising efforts. In addition to Smith, the board members now include Brent Kaeding, Jim Allen, Mike Andreetta, and Bud Kaeding. Stay tuned for several new promotions to help raise money to support the fund. This would include auctions on the NARC410.com website. Once again, we are raising funds that we hope we never have to use. We thank Ashley for his drive and commitment and we thank all of you for your support of these efforts. For more information on the NARC Benevolent Fund, go to our website.

New Sponsors: What’s that smell? Yes, that’s bacon – my second favorite smell behind methanol at the racetrack! Which reminds me? … We have a new Trophy Dash sponsor … Sunnyvalley Bacon. They are a giant meat processing company in Manteca, CA, that is famous for their bacon – literally tons of it! The Sunnyvalley brand, which is available in just about every supermarket in California, has joined forces with the King of the West-NARC series in a promotion that will not only pay our dash winners, but will also award more than six pounds of bacon to a lucky fan (in a cooler) at every race. That sampling includes Hickory, Maple, Sweet & Spicy, Jalapeno, and Applewood flavored bacon. Which also reminds me .., we need eggs. If that sounds like a blatant commercial, it’s supposed to, because our sprint car series is now “Powered by Bacon.”

Dave Bradway Jr. Race: Dianne & Dave Durica are stepping up to lead the fund raising efforts for the 28th annual edition of the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial Race at Silver Dollar Speedway. Laps for the May 5th A & B mains can be sponsored for $100 each. Other cash and product donations would also be gladly accepted. We are looking to start and build on other special categories besides fast time and hardcharger. We are looking for backing for the hard luck team, best looking car & crew, heat race winners and more. We are open to your ideas! If you would like to involved with a sponsorship, the Durica’s are awaiting your call at 916-988-5958 or by email at durica1414@sbcglobal.net. Don’t delay, call today!
For those in need of a quick refresher, Rico Abreu won his third Bradway race in 2017 and pocketed more than $8,000 for his overall efforts. The month of May promises to be very lucrative for our teams, featuring the Bradway race and the rich $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic. We will be racing for around $60,000 in prize money at those two combined events.

Random Stuff: “Fire in the Hole!” Look for the appearance of a couple of T-shirt cannons at our events this season. … Hooker Harness and Autometer.com have joined our ranks as a contingency sponsor. Welcome aboard. More announcements are coming! … Willie Croft Racing has put $1000 on the table to any team that can set a new KWS-NARC qualifying record at any track this season. … Johnstone Supply is offering up a $2000 bonus for any front row driver who decides to take the Tailgater Challenge and post a win from the back row. … We need to figure out what kind of dirt and chemicals the Supercross people are using. Dust is almost non-existent at their events. … Tickets are already on sale for many King of the West-NARC, SCCT, Civil War and Outlaw racing events this season. Lock in your seats now! … It sure is nice to see that California is recognized as an open wheel talent hotbed. At the March 9th Tulare Outlaw show, Golden State pedal-pounders locked up seven of the top 11 finishing positions. Cory Eliason almost nailed down the victory. … Swift Metal Finishing is paying a bonus to the hardcharger in every KWS-NARC feature this season. They are also posting a year end point fund to the top two drivers who passes the most cars this season … Jim Gardner and Bullet Impressions is back as our official concessionaire. He promises some awesome gear this season. … Nice to see all the posts on social media about promoters making improvements to their race track and adjoining facilities. Now race fans need to make them proud by showing up! … Had a chance to drop in on Paul Baines and the Tarlton Motorsports compound in Fresno. One word: NICE! It’s a first class machine shop and staging facility for their open wheel efforts. It features five different race cars in various stages of construction for the victory lane aspirations of Shane Golobic, Carson Macedo, Cole Macedo, & Tommy Tarlton.

So at this point, you should be gearing up for our three events in April. They include the aforementioned April 7th season opener at Kern County Raceway Park, and an April 20-21st doubleheader weekend at Ocean Speedway and Thunderbowl Raceway, respectively.

Auburn, CA … It’s amazing what happens when everybody gets on the same page and works for a common cause. As you are aware, your favorite race track promoters and sanctioning bodies descended on Reno at the end of November for the RPM Race Promoters Workshop. The annual adventure allows everyone to break out their calendars and start shuffling their schedule puzzle pieces together. For some it’s technical with a lap top, while others do it old school on a folded sheet of paper stuffed in their back pocket. And in the middle is a unique collection of spreadsheets, Post-it Notes, highlighters, erasers, and to get it perfect, a sufficient amount of adult beverages. For the 16-race King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series, this exercise is a lot easier to accomplish than your average race track booking 25-30 events, all the while attempting to avoid any key conflicts. And for that reason, you can find our schedule posted at NARC410.com

Other news coming out of the RPM Workshop was the State of California requiring all fairgrounds track promoters to raise their basic liability insurance from $3M to $5M per event. Of course that comes with an added cost, so make sure you bring more of your friends to the races this year! There was also a lot of legal-advice time spent on evacuation plans and what to do in case of a major emergency. Nobody every plans on either of those scenarios, but it’s mandated by the new world that we live in today. Let’s not forget that race promoting is a business, except with a whole lot more risk than a typical company located in your local industrial park.

SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS: There will be five co-sanctioned shows in 2018. The King of the West-NARC series will share the stage with the Civil War sprint cars at the Spring Nationals at Tulare and at Calistoga Speedway on June 23rd. The Sprint Car Challenge Tour will team up with KWS-NARC on three nights including Placerville (July 28), Hanford (October 13) and the season finale at Stockton (November 3). Most of those events will offer advance reserved ticket sales, so start warming up your VISA card to score some excellent seats. … There are no conflicts between the King of the West/NARC & SCCT schedule. There may only be one with the Civil War series, but I haven’t seen their official schedule yet. … There is only one race in Chico and that would be the May 5th Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial. I know! There should be more! … The Peter Murphy Classic was bumped back to May 19th, which should make it even bigger and better! In the meantime, go spend some money at Tachi Palace! … There is one rain-date on the schedule and that would be August 4th. … The 2018 year-end championship awards banquet will take place on Saturday, November 20th, just two short weeks after the season finale. Details to be announced. … There are three races at both Tulare and Ocean Speedway. … The season opener at Kern County Raceway Park is less than 90 days away - April 7th to be exact! …

CHAMPIONSHIP BANQUET HIGHLIGHTS: Bud Kaeding, car owner Morrie Williams, and the rest of the Zero Heroes team capped their 2017 season with a stack of accolades and prizes at our December 16th banquet in Santa Cruz. It was title number one for Bud and the fourth for Williams Motorsports. … Gio Scelzi, who was off racing a midget in Doquin, Illinois, was named 2017 Rookie of the Year. … Special thanks to Trophy City’s Dave Pusateri, who donated all of the trophies for the top 10 teams. Dave is allegedly retired, but still manages to squeeze in the time and effort to support our series. Thank you again. … The special $1000 Williams Roofing bonus was not paid out this season. This is the fan pill draw that awards a grand on race night if the driver in that starting position wins the feature. So instead, Steve Williams reached into his wallet and kicked in an additional $1500 and we had a pill draw of the three eligible drivers who were in attendance. The trio was Jarrett Soares, Bobby McMahan and Bud Kaeding. Soares had his name drawn and ended up sharing the winnings with the other two. Yet another reason to attend the banquet. … Roth Motorsports Team Manager Todd Ventura is an eloquent speaker and graciously acknowledged the efforts of Kaeding & Williams. Only one-point was the difference between second and owning the podium at the end of the night. … A total of $62,000 was awarded, plus more than $25,000 in product and contingency prizes to teams in attendance. …

... There were two custom cast steering wheel trophies presented to the championship team. To best describe them, they are of Hall of Fame quality. In addition, they received championship rings. The team also presented duplicate rings to all of the Zero Hero pit crew members. The Northern Auto Racing Club presented Katie Williams with a special championship pendant. We all know that Katie is the heart and soul of this team and she needed to be recognized. … Andy Forsberg (Civil War) and Geoff Ensign (Ocean Speedway) were also honored at the event. … Special thanks to Dean Mills for putting the video together. It made for a great show. … Bobby McMahan = Class Act! …

... The King of the West-NARC portion of the banquet started with an auction to benefit the NARC Benevolent Fund. And it was a good one. More than $9400 was raised for the cause. A huge chunk of that came from the auction of a pair of VIP Suite passes to the NASCAR race in Fontana. Heck, another $1500 was bid for a basket of Katie’s Cookies! Yes, cookies! It doesn’t get much better than that! … Along the lines of the NARC Benevolent Fund, Margaret Lingron, who was injured in July at Petaluma Speedway attended the banquet. With the assistance of a walker, it was her first social outing since being injured. She is working hard with physical therapy to be back to the race track in March. …

FAMILIAR FACES IN DIFFERENT PLACES: Some sprint car drivers race some of the time, some race all of the time. Kyle Hirst piloted the Dalton USA #1 in New Zealand with Peter Murphy working the crew chief role. A pair of runner-ups and a fourth place finish earned him a third place finish in points. … Cory Eliason will be piloting a car nationally with Dennis Roth Motorsports in 2018. This includes about 70-races with the Outlaws, All-Stars, King of the West and Knoxville. I’ll mark him down for at least 10 victories this season. In the meantime, Eliason has been racing in Australia racking up a bunch of hardcharger awards. … With Dan Simpson retiring from open wheel racing (for a while), Michael “Buddy” Kofoid is slated to drive for Harley Van Dyke in 2018. Buddy is also racing “down under” this winter. Heck, when I was 15 years old, I was happy just to make an annual trip to Disneyland or Universal Studios – much less Australia. …

... Fremont’s Shane Golobic and the potent Tarlton Motorsports team are going to make a serious run at the 2018 King of the West-NARC championship. The Tarlton’s claimed the 2015 & 2016 King of the West crown with Carson Macedo and Kyle Hirst behind the wheel, respectively. Golobic will be chasing his first. Paul Baines is running the show on race nights. … Colby Copeland will be the new lead foot in the Larry Antaya Motorsports Maxim this season. Trevor Canales will handle the wrenches. This should be a fun team to watch. … Let’s not forget about DJ Netto who has moved back into the Netto Family sprinter. DJ posted the most top 10 finishes during 2017 season. No reason why that would be any different in ’18. … By the way, if you’re still looking to put a talented driver in your seat, this corner highly recommends Geoff Ensign and Ryan Bernal. … Who is your early season favorite to claim this seasons King of the West-NARC title?

GENERAL MEETING: The King of the West Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club, will be holding our annual General Membership/Competition Meeting on Saturday, February 17th. It will be hosted by Roth Motorsports in their Motorsports Compound at 4630 S. Fig Avenue, Fresno, CA 93706. We get started at 11:00 a.m. and will be serving some killer barbecue by 1:00 p.m. So we have everyone covered on food, please RSVP by texting 714-397-7417.

Stay tuned for some new sponsor news in the next few weeks. This is shaping up to be an excellent season! Coming to you live from Auburn, CA, see ya!

12/2/17 - Jim Allen, Auburn, CA ... The King of the West-NARC Sprint Car Series has rolled out a 2018 sprint car schedule that will feature 16 race dates at nine different dirt oval tracks in California. Up for grabs for open wheel teams will be more than $430,000 in prize money, championship point funds and contingency awards. The series will continue to be backed by title sponsor Fujitsu General and Hoosier Racing Tires.

The season kicks off on April 7th at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakerfield, CA and concludes seven months later on November 3rd with Championship Night at the Stockton Dirt Track.

In a move that demonstrates outstanding cooperation between promoters, race tracks and sanctioning bodies, the schedule features four co-sanctioned shows with the state's two traveling 360 classes. Three of the shows will be co-sanctioned with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour (SCCT). Those events include the a June 30th "Salute the Fans" extravaganza at Placerville Speedway; the October 13th Cotton Classic at Keller Auto Speedway, and the Tribute to Gary Patterson season finale. The June 23rd event at the famed half-mile Calistoga Speedway will be shared with the Civil War sprint cars.

Two of the highest paying events of the season will take place during the month of May with the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico (May 5th). The $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway was bumped back a month from its regular position on the schedule to May 19th.

Tulare and Ocean Speedway in Watsonville play host to the most amount of races with three events each. The Thunderbowl Raceway will also provide the venue for the Spring Nationals on April 21st and the Faria Memorial on June 2nd. Ocean Speedway dates include the second race of the season on April 20th, the 34th annual Pombo-Sargent Classic on June 22nd and the lucrative Howard Kaeding Classic on July 21st. The series will also invade Petaluma Speedway, Placerville Speedway and Kern County Raceway Park.

Bud Kaeding and car owner Morrie Williams are the defending 2017 King of the West-NARC champions.

Stay tuned to our website, Facebook and Twitter for more information about these events.

2018 KING OF THE WEST-NARC FUJITSU SPRINT CAR SERIES
(As of 12/2/17 - Subject to Change - Please verify your event before traveling)

APRIL 20 - Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA
APRIL 21 - Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA - * Spring Nationals

MAY 5 - Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico, CA - * Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial
MAY 19 - Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA - * Second Night of Peter Murphy Classic

JUNE 2 - Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA - * Chris & Brian Faria Memorial
JUNE 9 - Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA
JUNE 22 - Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA - * Pombo-Sargent Classic
JUNE 23 - Calistoga Speedway, Calistoga, CA - * Wine Country Classic with Civil War Sprint Cars
JUNE 30 - Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA - * Salute to the Fans with SCCT Sprint Cars

JULY 14 - Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA
JULY 21 - Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA - * Second Night of the Howard Kaeding Classic
JULY 28 - Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA - Summer Nationals

OCTOBER 6 - Kern County Raceway Park, Bakersfield, CA
OCTOBER 13 - Keller Auto Speedway, Hanford, CA - * The Cotton Classic with SCCT Sprint Cars

NOVEMBER 3 - Stockton Dirt Track, Stockton, CA - * Championship Night with SCCT Sprint Cars

NARC NEWSLINE, By Jim Allen, November 24, 2017 … And yes, we finally have a champion! In the tightest championship points race in the 57 year history of King of the West, Golden State Challenge, King of California and Northern Auto Racing Club, Bud Kaeding nipped Gio Scelzi by a single point to capture the 2017 crown. That’s right, it’s not a misprint, ONE POINT! Consider that for a moment. After 16 high-flying events featuring qualifying, heat races, dashes and 475 laps of feature event racing, it all came down to who passed one more car than the other - literally.

This championship showdown couldn’t have played out any better starting with qualifying. Kaeding and Scelzi turned the same exact time in time trials around Tony Noceti’s 4/10 mile oval – right down to the a thousand of a second (13.168 seconds.) What are the odds of that? They followed that up by each running away with their respective heats. And for the season finale showdown, they started side-by-side in the third row still separated by three points. Fast forward 30-laps andScelzi crosses the checkered in fourth and Kaeding sixth with the title. Final score: Bud Kaeding/Williams Motorsports 910, Gio Scelzi/Roth Motorsports 909.

The “tie question” came up a bunch of times at Stockton. What happens if it ends up in a tie? Well that would be like kissing your sister. Might feel okay, but it’s just not right! The fact is there isn’t an official tiebreaker in the King of the West-NARC rulebook. There are some obvious ones, like most feature event wins of fast times, but there was nothing in print to make it official. So if it ended in a tie, it was going to be exactly that – dual champions. Looks likes it time to add another page to the KWS-NARC rulebook in 2018.

As much as we are congratulating the Kaeding-Williams team on their hard fought championship, we also want to sincerely commend the Scelzi-Roth pairing. The startling fact that a 15-year old driver could make such of a headline-grabbing run at a championship was amazing. Scelzi’s competitive edge and composure throughout the season was simply remarkable. Let’s be honest, you can’t pry most 15-year olds out of the mall, video games, or the shower. In Gio’s case, you’ll have to pry him out of a sprint car because there are several championships in his future – and that future is now. Along those lines, let’s take it another step down to Cory Eliason, who picked off the Stockton headliner. If it weren’t for a faulty U-joint a month ago at Ocean Speedway that shot a hole in his points chase, that win could have been for the championship, especially since a win pays a three-point premium over second place. Or a three-way tie? That’s too many sisters!

By the way, for you racing historian’s out there, the previous closest mark for a pressure-packed mathematically challenging nail biter happened way back in 1982 when Brent Kaeding nipped Hank Butcher by three points for the NARC title (3404-3401). At this point, we have three Kaeding’s listed as “Kings” with Brent and Tim now being joined by Bud. That is one heck of a family legacy.

STOCKTON DIRT TRACK NOTES: Dominic Scelzi won both the SCCT and KWS dashes. And it was a good night to do it since there was a $1000 bonus for each from Chase Chevrolet and Kleen Blast. … On display at the Tribute to Gary Patterson was the famous number 56 sprinter, thanks to Sheila Ross. When you look at that car and what we work with now, you can get a true perspective on how sprint car racing has evolved. Also in the house was 1976 NARC champion Johnny Anderson. … Cory Eliason is headed to Australia this winter to represent the red, white and blue. Speaking of Eliason, his win at Stockton allowed him to slide past DJ Netto from fourth to third in the final standings. … The King of the West-NARC title was the fourth for car owner Morrie Williams. He has won a trifecta of titles with Jonathan Allard in 2006, 2008 and 2012. … Bud finally shagged the perennial bridesmaid role that has chased him three-seasons running. Can you say happy camper? … Kyle Hirst – Quick Time. … Promoter Tony Noceti knows how to have fun and how to put on an entertaining show. To him the word “promoter” is a verb not a noun! He is involved in everything. Leading up to the event, his television ads blitzed the Sacramento-area airwaves. At the event, he threw in added features like a car show, a live-band, and an assortment of fireworks. That took it from a race to a show! … It was headers optional at Stockton. It was like the ear-numbing front row at a Guns N Roses concert – except faster! … Seven teams ran both a 410 and 360. …

MUSICAL CHAIRS: In the musical chairs department, Clyde Lamar and his Tri-C team shook hands and parted ways with DJ Netto at the end of the season. They had a good run, winning at Calistoga and finishing fourth in the final standings. Mr. Netto was tied for a KWS-NARC high with 14 top ten finishes this season. … The new hot shoe in the familiar Tri-C Machine number 3 will be Tanner Thorsen! … DJ will drive the Netto Family sprinter in 2018. … Gio Scelzi and Roth Motorsports parted ways at the end of the night in Stockton. … Cory Eliason is the new driver in the Roth Motorsports ride. … Buddy Kofoid will be out searching for a full-time ride now that Dan Simpson is hanging it up for a while. …

ODDS & ENDS: Silver Dollar Speedway announced at their banquet that they will no longer run 410 sprint cars at their weekly shows. They are going the 360 route making the King of the West-NARC series the only 410 game in town – when we are in town. … The Outlaw schedule is out and it pretty much mirrors the 2017 stops with the exception of an adder at Ocean Speedway. … Congratulations to Kyle Hirst who won the inaugural SCCT championship title. … The NARC Benevolent Fund made a contribution to injured driver Sean Becker after his scary ride in a non-wing machine at Stockton. He was airborne for a long time and the ugly crash landing resulted in a bruised lung and face. I think sometimes we forget this is a dangerous sport. We wish him well in his recovery.

Try not to cuss too loud when you hear this, but there will not be a KWS-NARC Speedweek next year. I know, like you, I needed to mix up a stiff cocktail after learning that reality. Short term it’s not in the cards. Consider it a work in progress. … Some other schedule teasers include the Peter Murphy Classic race being moved to May 18-19. The Bradway Memorial race is on May 5th, making it a great month for teams to stuff their wallets! … If everything falls into place, our 2018 schedule will be rolled out at our December 16th banquet. … Do you have your banquet tickets yet? We are awarding more than $20,000 in product awards to teams that night, but you must be present to win. …

And I’ll end this column with my wish list for the perfect race track. Let’s take the scenic views, the history and the catch fence from Calistoga, throw in the grass infield from Ocean Speedway, the lighting and sound system and “victory lane” from the Stockton Dirt Track, the frantic wheel-to-wheel close racing of a Placerville and Chico, the gumbo from Petaluma, and the banking of Keller Auto Speedway and put them all together. That would be my new home track. #justsaying. And for good measure, let’s throw in the street tacos from Hanford, the Chicken Kabobs at Stockton, and the Tri-Tip from Tulare. Now I’m good. Your opinion may vary.

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA. We will catch up with all of you at the King of the West-NARC Championship awards banquet on December 16th in Santa Cruz. (Got tickets?) See ya!

(11/18/17 Jim Allen) … The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series will celebrate the closest championship points battle in series history at its championship awards banquet in Santa Cruz, CA on Saturday, December 16th. The event will be held at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s Cocoanut Grove Ballroom. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m. and award presentations.

The series will crown driver Bud Kaeding and car owner Morrie Williams as the 2017 KWS-NARC champions after winning the coveted title by a single point over Gio Scelzi and Roth Motorsports. The top 15 teams in the Fujitsu-Hoosier Racing Tires sponsored series will collect shares of the $62,000 championship point fund at the event. In addition, more than $15,000 in product awards will be presented to teams by way of a raffle. Must be present to win.

The champions of the Civil War Sprint Car Series, Ocean Speedway Taco Bravo Sprint Cars and Modified All-Star Tour will also be honored on the same night.

Race fans, sprint car teams, sponsors and promoters are welcome! Tickets cost $65 per person, or $520 for a reserved eight-person table if purchased before November 30th. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking HERE or in the “Fan Section” at www.racepmg.com. After November 30th, the tickets increase to $75 per person. The deadline to purchase is December 8th.

The official hotel for the event is the Carousel Beach Inn, located at 110 Riverside Avenue in Santa Cruz. Rooms can be reserved by calling 831-425-7090.

11/11/17 - Jim Allen - Stockton, CA … Cory Eliason picked off the 34th Annual Tribute to Gary Patterson season finale and Bud Kaeding claimed his first King of the West-NARC championship in an exciting night of sprint car racing at Tony Noceti’s lightning fast Stockton Dirt Track.

Eliason, piloting the Antaya Motorsports Good Guys/Fuel Curve-sponsored Maxim, held off a flurry of late race challenges by Tim Kaeding to score his second KWS-NARC Fujitsu 30-lap feature of the season. This team also won the season opener on April 4th.

However, some of Eliason victory lane thunder may have been stolen by Bud Kaeding who claimed the King of the West-NARC championship by a single-point (910-909) over 15-year old driving sensation Gio Scelzi. It will be logged in the racing journals as the closest points chase in the sanctioning bodies history. Kaeding’s season long campaign came aboard Morrie Williams’ potent Alviso Rock Maxim.

Eliason started on the outside of the front row and won a drag race with Hoosier Tires dash winner Dominic Scelzi on the initial green to take the lead. He duplicated that effort five times for caution period restarts for minor incidents during the first 10-circuits. Once the field got sorted out, Tim Kaeding motored the Harley Van Dyke sprint car past Dominic Scelzi on lap 12 and began the process of reeling in the leader.

Slower traffic became a serious factor with a handful of laps to go and T. Kaeding got past Eliason for a single lap. Eliason returned the favor the next time around only to have the red flag come out with two to go. D. Scelzi was uninjured when his car vaulted up over turn three trying to avoid a slower car.

Once action resumed, Eliason set the winning standard for the two remaining two laps, chased by Kaeding, and 10th starter and fast qualifier Kyle Hirst in the Roth Motorsports KPC.

“We were in the running for the championship most of the season,” stated Eliason in victory lane. “It sure is nice to get the win and set the stage to come back strong next season.”

Gio Scelzi and Bud Kaeding, who posted identical times in qualifying and won their respective heat races, started the main event side-by-side in the third row. Scelzi battled to finish fourth in the sister Roth Motosports H & R Livestock Transport KPC, chased by Bill Balog in the Snow Racing Engines 7T. Kaeding kept his sights on Scelzi’s rear nerf bar throughout and scored sixth.

“It feels so good to finally win this title,” said a champagne-soaked Kaeding, a three-time runner-up in the series during the past three years. “I can’t say enough about my team and everyone who made this run possible. Gio was a great competitor and made us work hard all season long.”

The balance of the top ten included Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson and Sean Watts. Golobic efforts were notable in that he had to start at the back of the pack twice.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Cory Eliason, Tim Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Gio Scelzi, Bill Balog, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Chase Johnson, Sean Watts, Bobby McMahan, Dominic Scelzi, Jenna Frazier, Pat Harvey, Nathan Rolfe, Jarrett Soares, Andy Forsberg, Justyn Cox, Buddy Kofoid.

Heat 1 (10 laps): Cory Eliason, Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto, Andy Forsberg, Pat Harvey, Bobby McMahan, Buddy Kofoid.

Heat 2 (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Dominic Scelzi, Sean Watts, Jarrett Soares, Justyn Cox.

Heat 3 (10 laps): Gio Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Nathan Rolfe, Bill Balog, Jenna Frazier.

Hoosier Tires Dash (6 laps): Dominic Scelzi, Cory Eliason, Tim Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Bud Kaeding, Gio Scelzi, Chase Johnson, DJ Netto, Andy Forsberg.

(11/6/17) Stockton, CA … The secret to any good book is an even greater ending. So if you’re looking for an exciting nail-biting conclusion to a thrilling open wheel action adventure, then the Stockton Dirt Track is the place to be on Saturday, November 11th. That’s when the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series will write the final chapter on their ultra-competitive 2017 season with the 34th Annual Tribute to Gary Patterson.

ED NOTE: This event was originally scheduled for November 4th, but was rained out.

Race fans will be treated to an action-packed night of open wheel racing on a docket that also features the popular Sprint Car Challenge Tour (SCCT). Saturday afternoon activities at the San Joaquin Fairgrounds also feature a car show, live music and great food. The festivities kick off at high noon.

Not only has the King of the West-NARC series produced 10 different winners in 15 events, it showcases a torrid championship battle that probably will not be decided until the final lap of the season. What started as a season-long three-team battle for the King of the West-NARC title, has now boiled down to a two team slug-fest between Campbell’s Bud Kaeding and 15-year old driving sensation Gio Scelzi of Fresno in recent weeks.

This duo has swapped the lead in the standings five-times this season with Kaeding currently maintaining a slim 855-852 point lead. To put that margin in perspective, the two drivers could swap positions during qualifying.

Mathematically speaking, Kaeding, a two-time feature winner this season, can wrap up his first series title with a victory on Saturday. However, that is easier said than done in a series that has produced a constant supply of entertaining sprint car performances this season. Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto was the latest driver to win on the circuit at Hanford (October 14th), becoming the third “first time” winner this year. Penngrove drivers Chase Johnson and Buddy Kofoid are the other two.

Knowing that the rest of the field is there to play the role of spoilers, both Kaeding and Scelzi know what needs to be done.

“I only have one option on Saturday night,” explained Scelzi, a three-time winner this season, who is looking to become the youngest winner in series history. “To put this thing away, I need to win the race so I can win the championship.”

"If you stop and think about it, there are way too many variables in play and that can divert my teams focus." said Kaeding, who is chasing down his first KWS-NARC championship, after three-consecutive runner-up finishes. "I’m just going to go out and race my race.”

Also expected to compete at Stockton is Kingsburg’s Cory Eliason; DJ Netto of Hanford, and Kyle Hirst of Paradise. Hirst is also zeroing in on and can claim the Sprint Car Challenge Tour championship with a solid run with that division. He is one of many drivers who will be doing “double-duty” racing a 360 and 410 c.i. powered sprint car for both sanctioning bodies.

Others looking to improve their final positions in the standings include Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove; Atwater drivers Sean Watts and Nathan Rolfe; and Jarrett Soares of Discovery Bay.

The KWS-NARC program includes qualifying, four 10-lap heat races, the six-lap Hoosier Tires Dash; the 12-lap Flowmaster B-Main; followed by the 30-lap high stakes Fujitsu Sprint Car Series headliner.

The Stockton Dirt Track is located on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton, CA. The address is 1658 S. Airport Way, Stockton, CA 95206. For more information, call 209-466-9999, or go to NARC410.com

The Stockton Dirt Track Championship Weekend also includes these events:
Friday, November 10th – Hunt Magneto Wingless Tour, Dwarf Cars, Bombers, B4, and vintage.
Saturday November 11th – Car Show – Noon to 4 p.m. Driver Autograph Session and Live Music

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, PSC Industrial Services, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.
2017 KWS-NARC FUJITSU SERIES POINT STANDINGS
(After 15 races in the 16-race Series)

Bud Kaeding, Campbell (2) - 855
Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno (3) - 852
DJ Netto, Hanford (1) – 824
Cory Eliason, Kingsburg (1) - 819
Kyle Hirst, Paradise (2) - 731
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove - 725
Sean Watts, Atwater – 705
Michael Kofoid, Penngrove (1) - 695
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay - 690
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater - 651
Chase Johnson, Penngrove (1) - 463
Shane Golobic, Fremont (2) - 463
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford (1) - 454
Willie Croft, Sacramento - 450
Brent Bjork, Fremont - 399
Craig Stidham, Fresno – 353
Mathew Moles, Fresno - 315
Dominic Scelzi, Fresno - 299
Jason Statler, Grass Valley – 294
Jeremy Chisum, Fremont - 251

NARC NEWSLINE, By Jim Allen, October 28, 2017 … Even though it’s no longer politically correct in today’s charged environment, I’m going to say it anyway. “It’s not over until the fat lady sings!” Okay, I said it. At this point, all I know is that proverbial lady will be singing loudly about 10:30 p.m. on November 4th at the Stockton Dirt Track. That will be about the time the final checkered is waved after the 30-lap King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series season finale (weather permitting.) The only question will be -- who will she be singing about? Considering that at the October 14th Cotton Classic, the King of the West-NARC championship point lead swapped hands for the sixth time this season, it’s anyone’s guess! It was the fifth time Bud Kaeding and Gio Scelzi have traded places.

KELLER AUTO SPEEDWAY NOTES: If there was a wheelie contest, Buddy Kofoid would’ve won it hands down with a massive salute to the sky down the backchute in Hanford. Problem was, there wasn’t a contest going on. This happened during his heat race. #justsaying … Mitchell Faccinto became KWS-NARC winner number 10 in Stan Greenberg’s KPC sprint car. It was his first career King of the West win. With the success this team has enjoyed this season, he was “overdue” to pull this one off. … Quick qualifier Kyle Hirst didn’t help his own cause when he managed to pull a “12” pill for the Hoosier Dash Inversion. Yes, with three cars transferring from each heat race, there was a 12-car dash at Hanford. Thank goodness he drives better than his pill-pulling ability as he methodically worked his way to an impressive runner-up finish. … 30-cars. … Other activities surrounding the Cotton Classic include a fund raising golf tournament and raffle for Bailey Schweitzer, the daughter of Bakersfield Speedway promoters Scott and Crissy Schweitzer. For those who may not know, young Bailey was among the victims at the tragic Las Vegas shooting. … Specials thanks to BR Motorsports and Penny Newman Grain for their support of the overall event. …

… Gio Scelzi took an unexpected detour in his heat race, vaulting and flipping over the second turn. However, the Roth Motorsports team did what they do best and replaced about half the car in about 25-minutes. The best way to describe it would be to say it was “organized mayhem.” In a show of great sportsmanship, several teams and drivers contributed to the effort. After repairs, Scelzi proceeded to run away with the semi. He started 14th in the feature and scored eighth. … By comparison, Bud Kaeding started 10th and was a rocket during the second half of the main to finish third. There was so much slicing and dicing in lap traffic, Bud wasn’t sure where he finished. Neither did anyone else as there were six cars at the scales for the top three spots. End result: Kaeding 855, Scelzi 852. …

… Dominic Scelzi had the Scelzi Motorsports Schnee purring in the feature. After leader Buddy Kofoid ran amuck with a broken right front shock tower on lap four, Scelzi was the class of the field. However, on a lap 14 restart, the torque tube exploded out of the bottom of the car and his night was over. It blew out of the back of his car like a cruise missile and pretty much destroyed the top wing of the Harley Van Dkye ride piloted by Tim Kaeding. Despite the direct hit, Kaeding finished fourth. Watch the video in slow motion on NARC410.com … Cole Macedo knocked out a top five in the Tarlton Motorsports ride. …

… There are some great improvements that are going to take place this winter at Keller Auto Speedway. With local support, promoter Bubby Morse promises a complete facelift of the track surface. They plan to rebuild and add a ton of new clay to elevate their track to premier status! Look for a press release from the track in the near future. … Announcer Gary Thomas perfectly described the Cotton Classic track surface as “having character.” Yes, it was rough, but it was rough for everyone, which builds character – and made for some great racing. … Mathew Moles scored a heat race victory and a season-best 10th place finish in the feature. … The RaceSaver sprinters had a tough night negotiating their way away from the front straightaway fence. Two incidents had cars tangled in the wires and slowed the program so repairs could be made. … You’ve got to love the “Cotton Bail” trophy at the Cotton Classic. …

HANFORD QUOTE OF THE WEEK: This one comes by way of car owner Clyde Lamar. When asked how many parts they were able to save from their crashed Tri-C/Netto Ag ride from Ocean Speedway, Lamar answered without pause, “It could’ve fit in the trunk of your car.”

CHAMPIONSHIP BANQUET: With the King of the West-NARC in the process of becoming a club and separate entity this year, proactive plans for the championship banquet slid to the backburner. However, thanks to Prentice Motorsports, we are going to join the All-Star Modified Tour, Ocean Sprints, and Civil War sprints and bootleg onto their banquet on Saturday, December 16th. It’s being held at the Coconut Grove Ballroom on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Dinner at 7:00 p.m. and checks are being distributed shortly thereafter. Tickets will go on sale this week and can be had by clicking here ! … KWS-NARC will be awarding a stout $62,000 point fund to the top 15 teams in the final standings, plus there is a ton of other great stuff we are raffling off. … We also hope to roll out our 2018 schedule at the banquet. … Don’t miss it.

NARC NOTES: Fremont’s Brent Bjork announced that he has made the commitment to race the entire King of the West-NARC schedule in 2018. Due to a busy work schedule, he has only managed to compete in 10-races so far this season. … Along those lines, Jenna Frazier will be running for rookie of the year next season. … Did we mention that Fujitsu is back as title sponsor next season? … Trivia questions of the week? Who has more heat race victories this season? DJ Netto, or the combined group of Cory Eliason, Bud Kaeding, and Kyle Hirst? … Question number two: How many Hoosier Tires Dash Winners have gone on to win the Fujitsu main event on the same night? … And finally, who has more top five finishes this season? Gio Scelzi or Kyle Hirst?

ANSWERS: DJ Netto has 10. The other three have a total of nine. … Just ONE dash winner has gone on to win the main. Think about that for a moment! … Both Roth Motorsports drivers have scored eight top five finishes.

By the way, Dave Pusateri for President! His efforts at the Trophy Cup and his contributions to the Make-A-Wish Foundation have no peer. … We will see all of you at the Stockton Dirt Track on November 4th. It’s time for the big-boned woman to sing her heart out!

(PETERSEN MEDIA)- Year after year, the NARC Benevolent fund puts on various fundraisers raising money for racers, crew members, officials, etc. should they be involved in an on track incident and need financial help. Though it is the hope that these issues never arise, unfortunately accidents do happen and help is often needed.

July 29th, Petaluma Speedway official, Margaret Lingron was involved in an on-track accident, resulting in the last three weeks being spent in the ICU. Recently being moved to a non ICU room, doctors have advised up to three months of being immobile for up to three months enabling the healing process of pelvic fractures.

The NARC Benevolent Fund is happy to announce that a check has been cut and delivered to the Lingron family in their time of need as the long road to recovery continues.

“I have loved Sprint Car racing my entire life, and now it helps my family in time of suffering,” Said Lingron’s husband Ron, who serves as the announcer at Petaluma Speedway and Ocean Speedway. “My family cannot thank the facilitators who made this happen enough, and in fact Thank You just seems to hollow.”

The NARC Benevolent Fund will continue to raise money in years to come, and hopes for continued to support from the racing family to continue to be there in times of need.

07/15/17 - Jim Allen - Watsonville, CA … Buddy Kofoid secured his first ever King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series feature victory Saturday night, capturing the exciting 30-lap Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway.

The 15-year old driver pocketed $5,000 for his efforts, a commemorative racing helmet and a permanent spot on the HK Classic perpetual trophy for his nights work. His winning efforts came aboard the potent Dan Simpson/Gary Silva Ranches sprinter and made him the ninth different winner in 12 events this season.

Kofoid spent the first few laps of the event chasing down Hoosier Tires dash winner Cory Eliason, while holding off a tailgating Shane Golobic at the same time. The contest got real interesting when the group roared into slower traffic on the sixth circuit, battling inches apart as they fought for position.

Kofoid finally got around Eliason on the 13th circuit, but the red flag came out a lap later for multiple-time series Brent Kaeding, who got tangled up with another car and flipped in turn four. He was shaken in the accident and went to the hospital after the race as a precautionary measure.

On the restart, Kofoid continued to set a frantic pace, as Eliason and Golobic mixed it up in his shadow using multiple lines on the track.

Fifth starter Justin Sanders entered the fray in the Vontrex Keizer Wheel Maxim and powered past Golobic for third on lap 18. Eliason and Kofoid were inches apart fighting for the lead on lap 20 when they made contact and Eliason crashed into the front straightaway fence exiting turn four. He was done for the night.

On the ensuing restart, Kofoid had his hands full dealing with the multiple challenges of Sanders. At one point, Kofoid made contact and rode down the backstretch wall on two wheels attempting to shake his pursuer.

A final caution came out with six circuits remaining when KWS-NARC point leader Bud Kaeding stopped with a flat left rear tire. This set the stage for one final showdown for the lead. Sanders and Kofoid continued to battle and were side-by-side entering turn three on the white-flag lap, but Kofoid held his line to secure the hard fought victory.

"I knew Justin (Sanders) was fast and was going to make a run at me on the end," said Kofoid. "However, my team gave me a great car to win tonight."

One of the best open wheel battles of the night took place between Golobic, Kyle Hirst and Gio Scelzi who swapped positions on a corner-by-corner basis during the final five laps. Golobic secured the final podium spot in the Keith Day Trucking/Elk Grove Ford sprint car. Eighth starter Kyle Hirst finished fourth in the Roth Motorsports KPC, chased by DJ Netto in the Tri-C Machine/AG Netto sponsored ride. Scelzi was sixth in the H & R Livestock Transport KPC.

Semi-transfer and 20th starter Andy Forsberg earned hardcharger honors, fighting his way to an impressive seventh place finish. Jonathan Allard, 16th starter Craig Stidham, and 19th starter Chase Johnson rounded out the top ten.

Sean Watts claimed the 12-lap semi. Heat races were picked off by Sanders, Croft, Scelzi, and Netto. Kofoid set quick time.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Buddy Kofoid, Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto, Gio Scelzi, Andy Forsberg, Jonathan Allard, Craig Stidham, Chase Johnson, Bobby McMahan, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, Dustin Golobic, Sean Watts, Kurt Nelson, Jarrett Soares, Brent Bjork, Eric Rossi, Cory Eliason, Burt Foland Jr., Brent Kaeding

Heat 1 (10 laps): Justin Sanders, Buddy Kofoid, Kurt Nelson, Craig Stidham, Jeremy Chisum, Sean Watts, Jason Chisum

Heat 2 (10 laps): Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, Cory Eliason, Bobby McMahan, Chase Johnson, Marcus Dumesny, Josh Chisum

Heat 3 (10 laps): Gio Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Brent Kaeding, Jarrett Soares, Andy Forsberg, Nathan Rolfe, Eric Rossi

Heat 4 (10 laps): DJ Netto, Kyle Hirst, Jonathan Allard, Brent Bjork, Dustin Golobic, Burt Foland Jr.

Hoosier Tires Dash (6 laps): Cory Eliason, Buddy Kofoid, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Justin Sanders, Gio Scelzi, Kurt Nelson, Bud Kaeding, Brent Kaeding, Willie Croft, Jonathan Allard

NARC NEWSLINE, (06/29/17) By Jim Allen … Now that we’ve got 10-races in the official King of the West-NARC record books, it’s time to award some mythical “midseason awards.” They represent a compilation of highlights, lowlights, and a few other things you probably already forgot about. Enjoy.

The “HEAT RACE GOD” AWARD: If there was an official awards panel, this would have been a unanimous decision, because Hanford’s DJ Netto has absolutely smothered the category. So much so that there isn’t even another opponent who has a shot. The bottom line is …, in 2017, DJ has been a HEAT RACE GOD, capturing nine heat victories in 10 events aboard Clyde Lamar potent Tri-C Machine sprint car.

So if you ever need to come up with a good racing trivia question … how about this one … what event did DJ “NOT” win a heat race? By the way, the next closest drivers are Cory Eliason and Bud Kaeding with only three wins.

AND THE WINNER IS (your name here) AWARD: It’s been an extremely unpredictable season so far. Before this racing campaign got underway, this corner predicted that it was possible to see ten different KWS-NARC winners. And we’re off to a great start already with eight in the books and the likes of Buddy Kofoid, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto and many others still looking for their first. By comparison, there were only six winners last season with Kyle Hirst and Kaeding combining for 11 victories.

HAT TRICK AWARD: When we started the season, few people outside of Visalia’s Plaza Park Raceway, knew about a kid named Giovanni Scelzi. Yes, his last name is famous in racing circles, but this was just some skinny 15-year old kid who would be lucky to run in the top 10 … right? WRONG! Gio just didn’t earn his first career KWS-NARC win at Placerville Speedway, he backed it up with victories at Tulare and Antioch. That makes him the only multiple winner and the only driver to score a hat trick this season.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL AWARD: After a thorough analysis, we came up with a three-way tie for this award because … well … they’re all heartbreaking crushers. It’s even worse than breaking up with your girlfriend and listening to Country Western music afterwards. Let’s start this off with Sacramento’s Willie Croft, who absolutely dominated the field for the first 28-laps of the Kern County Raceway Park season opener. All was going well until he ran out of fuel during a caution period with two to go. Another gallon of fuel and this one was in would’ve been all his. … Second on the list is Sean Becker, who led 29.9999 laps at Placerville Speedway, only to get nipped by 24 inches at the checkered by Gio Scelzi. … And finally, another 15-year old by the name of Buddy Kofoid just about had the Calistoga Dirt Classic winners’ check in his wallet. He set the standard for 20 strong laps and held off a super aggressive Rico Abreu, who was pulling out all the stops in an attempt to catch him. With a handful to go, Abreu ends up spinning in turn two with a flat left front tire. You could almost hear Kofoid breathe a huge sigh of relief. That was until his left rear tire shredded under caution and he lost the lead. You could almost hear Kofoid learning how to cuss at that very moment.

PUT THAT HORSE DOWN AWARD: It’s been a brutal year on motors. Among those hit hard are Craig & Scott Parker, Jason Statler, Tarlton Motorsports, Shawn Thomas, Antaya Motorsports, Andy Forsberg, Billy Butler and more.

AND DON’T FORGET YOUR VISA CARD AWARD: This award should be individually presented to all eight teams that crossed the checkered at the May 6th Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race in Chico. Yes, a stout 22-car field started the 40-lapper and a heat race finished. It was a very expensive night where it seemed every crash and mishap was of the expensive variety. Jarrett Soares battered #12 car finished eighth to earn the hardcharger award. On this night, it should have been renamed the survivor award. By the way, the violent Michael Ing, Jason Statler, Carson Macedo crash on the backchute will send a chill up your spine (again) if you watch it in slow motion.

IT’S ANYBODIES BALL GAME CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY: The Cory Eliason/Antaya Motorsports Team leads the KWS-NARC championship point standings after the season opener. Then the Bud Kaeding/Williams Motorsports team takes over, before the Gio Scelzi/Roth Motorsports goes on a tear to the top. Now it’s back to Kaeding. And this dogfight is far from being settled with seven races remaining. Make sure you don’t rule out DJ Netto either, who is still in the hunt.

DON’T WIN THE DASH AWARD: One would think that starting on the pole would pretty much guarantee a victory, or at least dramatically increase the percentages in ones favor. WRONG! How about this statistic? Only one … yes … one … driver has won the Hoosier Tires Dash has gone on to claim the feature. Yup, that’s just 10% of the time. Those honors go to Gio Scelzi at Placerville, and he fell back to third for the most of the event before eventually winning by a front wing.

SEAT OF THE PANTS AWARD: This award goes to the best “overall” race of the year. It doesn’t include any of the activities surrounding an event, just the green-to-checkered entertainment value. The winner? The season opener at Kern County Raceway Park was a gem throughout with most of the field battling inches apart - slicing, dicing, slide-jobbing, and cushion-riding for 30-laps. There is a reason that this Mills Video Production highlight reel got 41,000-plus views – it’s awesome! For those of you who need a review, that video can be found on the home page of NARC410.com … check it out again and see if you agree.

WILL YOU SHOW ME YOUR ID AWARD: Half of the races this season have been won by drivers 21-years old or younger. Gio Scelzi, DJ Netto, and Chase Johnson are setting the stage for our next generation of champions! Heck, there are three 15-year olds in the top 10 in points – Scelzi, Buddy Kofoid, and Nathan Rolfe. Let’s put that in perspective, these three can’t even drive themselves to High School yet. And if they did, that 25 mph speed limit in school zones would be more of a guideline than a rule.

OCEAN SPEEDWAY NOTES: Shane Golobic returned to the Golden State after winning the Indiana Midget Week title. Golobic was on the hammer from the beginning and scored the KWS-NARC victory in Keith Day’s ride. He may be one of the most underrated drivers in the country, proving that he is capable of winning in any open wheel machine. As much as we would hate to lose him as a California regular, I think it’s time for someone to offer him the opportunity of a full-time World of Outlaw ride. … Justin Sanders is very impressive in the 121 car – Rocket Fast! He set fast time and was on a mission, finishing second in the main. Two-time NARC champ Tim Green mentoring and coaching is paying off. … Ocean Speedway offered some much needed relief for many Californian’s suffering through a grueling heat wave. For example, when I left Sacramento, it was 106 degrees in the shade. It was 62 in Watsonville, with a marine layer. That’s almost as good as an icy cold beer in a frosted mug. Almost! …

... Nathan Rolfe posted his first top 10 finish of the season. … You know that thing about what to do when you fall off a bike. Get back on and keep riding. Brent Bjork, who finished in the top ten in KWS points five years ago, is re-learning the open wheel craft after his absence. He admits it has been tough but he is making progress. … Chase Johnson looked like he was going to secure win number two before suffering motor issues. Chase said he glanced down at the gauges for a split-second and smacked the wall on the backchute. Things kind of went squirrely from there. … Good crowd … No red flags. … Cory Eliason bicycled so hard in turn four in the feature that my filling came loose. … Koen Shaw finished 12th. … The Real Deal Jamie Veal stuck around for another weekend. Finished sixth at Ocean. … 16 cars broke the 12-second mark in qualifying. Only five ran 12-second laps in the feature. Everything else was in the 13’s.

CALISTOGA SPEEDWAY NOTES: You know you have a successful racing event in the making when the activities surrounding the event are almost bigger than the race itself. The Boys & Girls Club of St. Helena & Calistoga Dirt Classic fell into that category. An astounding $250,000 was raised by local vintners for the cause in an effort spearheaded by David and Rico Abreu. Throw in some bands, a carnival-type atmosphere in the infield, a standing room only crowd, and a fair share of race-celebrity watching and this was a premium event. … DJ Netto tagged the wall on the first lap and broke his right front shock. 24-laps later, he was standing in victory lane. More proof that one should never give up. … It was Clyde Lamar’s 16th career victory as a car owner at the half-mile, one short of the record. Lamar was hugging his custom-made winners trophy like a grandfather does a grandchild. He was one happy camper. … Among the NASCAR and open wheel royalty in the infield were Tony Stewart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Patrick, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larsen, and many more. Stewart had to have police tape around his pit area for crowd control. … 22 KWS-NARC cars, 46 SCCT cars, no drama! …

... Cori Andrews was among those making her Calistoga debut. … Kyle Hirst bumped Rico Abreu from quick time honors in the late going. His time was 17.033. The track record of 15.731 seconds was set by Joey Saldana in 2014. That may be untouchable. … It was a horrible, horrible break for Buddy Kofoid. He led, or should we say dominated the first 20-laps before he cut a left rear. He did win the Hoosier Tires Dash. … Race fans don’t know how close this event came to not being run. David Abreu, in his continuing (and very commendable) efforts to improve the facility, planned to install a “walk-through” gate at his expense near the flagstand to make it easier for fans to get to the pits. They started the project, but were asked to stop midway through construction during the week by the Fair management. The gate was never installed and it took a last second stamp by a State Inspector to green light the event. Not to go on a rant or anything, but the Calistoga Fair Board should be thanking David Abreu for everything he has done for the facility and the local community – not hampering his efforts. I like to keep everything positive, but the Fair Board needs to get their act together. Otherwise, this track will go the way of several others, which means condos and shopping mall. … About 30 people from Fujitsu and their local dealers attended the event. Some flew in from New Jersey and Oregon. Twenty-five of them had never attended a sprint car race. However, there was nothing but smiling faces when they boarded the limo-bus at the end of the night. That says a lot about the show. … Bud Kaeding, Gio Scelzi and Chase Johnson (360) flew massive Fujitsu logos on their top wings to support the cause. Thank you. … From initial push off to final checkered, the KWS-NARC Fujitsu headliner lasted 19-minutes. … No red flags for either division. Awesome! …

And finally, on a different topic, there’s another BIG KWS-NARC race on the horizon. The Howard Kaeding Classic is scheduled for Saturday, July 15th at Ocean Speedway. As of right now, it will pay $5000 to win, $2500 for second, and $1900 for third. Tenth place pays $1000 and it’s $700 to start the 30-lapper. The heat winners will also take home a Hoosier Right Rear Tire. If you would like to contribute to the cause, contact Bud Kaeding at Kaeding Performance Center.

The HK Classic is part of a two-day racing weekend at Ocean that includes a Friday night Civil War race. After Friday’s show, there will be a barbecue and donations are being accepted with all proceeds going to the NARC Benevolent Fund. On Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. there will be the HK Classic steak lunch where a $20 donation is requested. Once again, all monies go to the NARC Benevolent Fund – something we hope we never have to use – but don’t want to do without! Mark your calendars now!

By Jim Allen … Okay race fans, let’s start this episode of the NARC NEWSLINE with a question … How do you make a small fortune in sprint car racing? The answer … quite simply … Start with a big one!

The debate continues not just in 410 sprint car racing, but in all forms of high dollar open wheel motorsports. And it doesn’t change when you go run with the World of Outlaws. True, you are racing for more money, but you’re also spending a lot more in the process. The bottom line is … chasing points and a championship is not only grueling and tedious, but it’s also extremely expensive in just about any class of race car. I got my first taste of this a couple of decades ago talking to longtime car owner and NARC Board Member Duke McMillen. My question was … “How much does it cost for you to go racing?” He got quiet for a second, put his hand to his chin, and said he didn’t know, and didn’t want to ever know. He knew .., and I knew .., and we all know deep down that a team could win every race on the schedule and still not come close to covering half of their actual cost. And it’s probably even worse today in terms of cubic dollars! So it all comes down to the usual stuff … sponsorship dollars, passion for the sport, and admitting that this is one super-expensive hobby.

Yes, I said it. Somewhere along the way, grassroots racing evolved into an expensive hobby that can literally rip the heart out of a Visa card. Let’s dig in a little bit. In rough dollars, a single rolling chassis is going to set one back $30,000. A Shaver or Kistler top of the line motor will make you feel like you’re having a stroke at $65,000. And don’t think that the once super-affordable 360 motors are going to alleviate the sucking sound out of one’s wallet. Now consider that every 10-14 races, a car owner is going to rack up a plethora of frequent flyer points as he charges another $10,000+ to “freshen it up.” And that’s assuming nothing blows out of the bottom during those 10-14 races … aka Andy Forsberg fireball style. Now, let’s throw in $45 pit passes, $250 tires, fuel and the one expense that most people never talk about, the cost of getting the huge tow rig up and down the road. To help fund this passion, most owner-drivers basically drive for free. For those with “drivers for hire,” there is also the expense of paying them a portion of the winnings. Holy crap, I think I need CPR!

Thirteen-time NARC & Golden State champion Brent Kaeding says it costs approximately $125,000 to compete in a California-based championship point’s battle and that is barring any type of catastrophic failures. To put that in perspective, the median household income in Tulare and Chico is less than $43,000 per year. Let's pause here for a second, while I go look again for my winning lottery ticket.

So let’s answer the usual questions … Have purses increased in perspective with the cost of racing? You would have a better chance of sitting naked in a hot tub with Heidi Klum (that’s not happening either!) Have the crowds increased proportionately? Do I need to mention that hot tub thing again? Both of those questions and answers are directly tied together.

That’s why with all of the good things taking place with sprint car racing in California these days, it’s super important that we all stay positive. If you can’t truly appreciate what these racing teams and series are doing on a week in-week out basis, then I’m sure there’s a Disney on Ice show out there somewhere calling your name.

And finally, we truly are grateful for each and every fan that supports open wheel racing and travels all over the Golden State to show their love and affection by purchasing $25 tickets. We just need more of you! Maybe instead of a “Bring your Daughter to Work Day,” we should consider a “Bring your Neighbor to the Races Day!” And to all of the car owners and sponsors out there … WE TRULY THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS AND SUPPORT OF OPEN WHEEL RACING!

TULARE NOTES: A month ago, Gio Scelzi didn’t have one KWS-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series victory to his credit. After his Thunderbowl excursion, he now has three winner’s checks driving the Dennis Roth Motorsports KPC. Bud Kaeding was second. Mitchell Faccinto finally earned a podium finish in Stan Greenberg’s ride, which says a lot for the overall talent level of King of the West. Faccinto has been a frontrunner for just about every hardcharger award this season. They say it’s easier to win races when you start closer to the front. He's getting closer! … The track took rubber early, making it extremely hard to pass. … There are some haulers in the “Race Savers” division that would be the envy of some NASCAR teams. … Kyle Hirst took the Roth Motorsports Tailgater Challenge in the headliner in an attempt to chase down $1500 from Dennis Roth and $1000 from Williams Roofing. He started in the back and got up to seventh. Did I mention that the track had taken rubber? The night before in Hanford, Hirst rocketed from 21st to third. DJ Netto won at that aforementioned Friday night show at Keller Auto Speedway. … Craig Stidham had a rough night after getting reeled into a three car melee in his heat race. From a distance, there didn’t appear to be much damage. Up close, it was a different story. Do I need to mention that Visa card thing again? … The Antaya Motorsports crew worked their butt off changing out a variety of components before settling on a complete motor change before the feature. Helping out was Willie Croft and Kyle Hirst. All that work paid off with a sixth place finish for Cory Eliason. … Scelzi takes the point lead over Kaeding 407-406.

PETALUMA NOTES: With a first name of Chase, we knew it was just a matter of time before Mr. Johnson scored his first career KWS-NARC victory. A killer slide job as leader Bud Kaeding got momentarily hung up in traffic on lap 17 proved to be the winning move. Congratulations to car owners Shawn and Cyndi Thomas. They became the sixth different winner this season. … Sean Watts scored his third top 10 feature finish in a row. His heat race victory was the first of his KWS-NARC career. … The “Real Deal” Jamie Veal from Australia was in the field. He was piloting the familiar BK Racing Maxim #69 of Brent Kaeding. This team got off to a rough start when their tow rig blew a tire on the trip to Petaluma. Everything settled down for Veal, who scored a third place feature finish after a torrid battle with Andy Forsberg and Gio Scelzi. … Speaking of quick qualifier Scelzi, and second quick Cory Eliason, neither transferred to the dash out of their heat. … Does anyone have an extra 410 ride sitting around? Geoff Ensign would be an excellent candidate to give it a whirl! Racing a 360 in a 2007 chassis, he made it to the dash and was running third in the feature before mechanical problems knocked him out. … The final checkered was waved at 9:22 p.m. How sweet is that with four divisions racing? …

... Gio, Bud, Cory and Jamie all scored 60 points at the event. Gio still leads by a point! … Chase Johnson’s donuts in turn four after winning was almost worth the price of admission. … 22 cars … Great crowd. … Seventy-five percent of the KWS-NARC quick qualifiers have ended their night with a top three finish. Three have won. … 15-year old Nathan Rolfe has quietly worked his way up to 11th in points, getting in some quality lap time in the process. … Hats off to “owner-crew chief-pit crew & driver” Bobby McMahan. Mr. McMahan finished in the top 10 in NARC points for the first time in 1987 (third) and claimed that honor 10 times over the next 13 years. Today he is still competitive and is sitting fifth in points. There are not too many drivers who can celebrate a successful 30-year racing career. … Only one dash winner has gone on to claim the 30-lap headliner. And that was Gio Scelzi at Placerville. … Andy Forsberg and his A & A team jumped through some serious hoops leading up to Petaluma. They replaced their blown 410 motor, ran it at Chico on Friday night, pulled it on Saturday, pulled out a 360 from their other car, put the 410 motor in that car and finished sixth at Petaluma on Saturday night. Heck, I got tired just writing that.

By the way, if you haven’t noticed, all of the race reports on NARC410.com feature Mills Video highlights of the race. No more bouncing around looking for them. … That’s all for now! It’s time to load up for the only doubleheader weekend of the year … the 32nd annual Pombo-Sargent Classic at Ocean Speedway, and the First Annual Boys & Girls Club Dirt Classic at Calistoga.

6/17/17 - Petaluma, CA … Chase Johnson outdueled Bud Kaeding in a thrilling open wheel battle at Petaluma Speedway to capture his first career King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series feature event victory Saturday night.

Johnson, piloting the potent Shawn & Cyndi Thomas-owned, Wesmar-Champion Machine-powered Maxim, played cat and mouse with polesitter Kaeding throughout the 30-lapper before capitalizing on slower traffic to make his winning move. As the pair sliced and diced through lapped cars, Johnson launched a no holds barred slide job in the third corner on lap 16 to get under race long leader. He exited the fourth turn with the point.

Kaeding wasn’t done yet and continued his frantic pursuit of the leader in a race that ran nonstop the final 21-laps after a couple of early caution flags. Johnson almost took himself out of contention when he collided with the car of Nathan Rolfe going down the frontchute three laps later. However, he regrouped and held on to the win by four car lengths.

“I knew I had a chance to get around Bud (Kaeding) if we got into traffic,” explained Johnson, after become the sixth different KWS-NARC winner this season before a hometown crowd. “Once I got there and made it happen, I was surprised that it worked out so well.”

Kaeding finished in the runner up spot in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Australian sprint car star Jason Veal survived several wheel-to-wheel skirmishes with KWS-NARC point leader and quick qualifier Gio Scelzi and Cory Eliason to score third. Veal was driving the BK Racing Al’s Roofing Maxim.

Eliason was on the move from the initial green after starting 11th. He was seventh after nine circuits, fifth after 19 and ended up fourth in the Antaya Motorsports Fuel Curve-sponsored Maxim. Tenth starter Scelzi, who failed to transfer out of his heat race in the Roth Motorsports KPC, secured fifth.

Scelzi still maintains a slim 467-466 advantage over Kaeding in the championship standings, after both drivers finished the event earning the same amount of points.

Andy Forsberg, DJ Netto, Billy Alton, Sean Watts and Bobby McMahan rounded out the top 10. Watt’s performance was a season-best. The checkered flag in the four division program waved at 9:22 p.m.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps): Chase Johnson, Bud Kaeding, Jamie Veal, Cory Eliason, Gio Scelzi, Andy Forsberg, DJ Netto, Billy Alton, Sean Watts, Bobby McMahan, Riley Matson, Chase Madjic, Jarrett Soares, Brent Bjork, Nathan Rolfe, John Clark, Brian Boswell, Jenna Frazier, Geoff Ensign, Eli Deshaies, Jason Paniagua, Bill Cornwell

Hoosier Tires Dash (6 laps): Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Jamie Veal, Geoff Ensign, Billy Alton, Andy Forsberg, DJ Netto, Bobby McMahan, Sean Watts

Heat 1 (10 laps): Geoff Ensign, Bobby McMahan, Bud Kaeding, Gio Scelzi, Nathan Rolfe, Jarrett Soares, Jenna Frazier

Heat 2 (10 laps): Sean Watts, Andy Forsberg, Bill Alton, Cory Eliason, John Clark, Eli Deschaies

Heat 3 (10 laps): DJ Netto, Jamie Veal, Chase Johnson, Chase Madjic, Riley Matson, Brent Bjork, Jason Paniagua, Brian Boswell

https://narc410.com/2017/06/18/johnson-claims-first-kws-narc-victory-in-exciting-petaluma-duel/

(5/28/17) Antioch, CA … Antioch Speedway is set to host the high-powered broadsliding open wheel sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series this Saturday, June 3rd.

This marks the first of only two visits to the action-packed quarter-mile oval this season. It is also the sixth event in the ultra-competitive 17-stop King of the West-NARC series.

To date, the tour has produced five different winners in as many races including current championship point leader Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Cory Eliason of Selma, Rico Abreu of St. Helena, Fresno’s Gio Scelzi, and defending series champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise.

Hirst, a three-time series titlist who captured six events in 2016, finally earned his spot in victory lane on May 20th at Tulare. He admits he was getting frustrated by how long it took to score his first victory of the season.

“It’s getting harder and harder to win a King of the West NARC race,” explained Hirst. “It appears that everyone has stepped up their game and it’s getting tougher to gain any kind of competitive advantage. All of the teams and drivers are extremely prepared.”

The Antioch racing program includes qualifying, three heat races, the Hoosier Tires Dash, and is capped off by the 30-lap Fujitsu Racing Series feature event headliner.

“There are at least ten different drivers who can win on any given night,” continued Hirst, “and that doesn’t include any potential upsets. It all comes down to being more consistent than everyone else and that is a lot easier said than done. That means securing a great qualifying time, being aggressive in the heat race, finishing well in the dash, and staying out of trouble in the main. A little luck doesn’t hurt either.”

Also expected to compete Saturday is DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford; Penngrove drivers Michael Kofoid and Chase Johnson; Willie Croft of Sacramento; Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan; Jarrett Soares of Discovery Bay and Fremont’s Shane Golobic.

Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 5:00 p.m. Also on the racing card is the Hobby Stock division. Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds in Antioch, CA. For more information, call 925-779-9220.

2017 KWS-NARC FUJITSU SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After five events in 17-race Series) 1. Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) – 294 2. Cory Eliason, Selma (1) – 281 3. Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno (1) – 277 4. DJ Netto, Hanford – 274 5. Michael Kofoid, Penngrove – 265 6. Kyle Hirst, Paradise (1) – 263 7. Willie Croft, Sacramento – 236 8. Carson Macedo, Lemoore – 230 9. Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay – 226 10. Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove – 223 11. Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 219 12. Shane Golobic, Fremont – 215 13. Sean Watts, Atwater – 210 14. Nathan Rolfe, Atwater – 197 15. Sean Becker, Roseville 196 16. Dominic Scelzi, Fresno – 195 17. Craig Stidham, Fresno – 146 18. Chase Johnson, Penngrove – 143 19. Brent Kaeding, Campbell – 139 20. Jason Statler, Grass Valley – 138

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

UPCOMING EVENTS: June 10 – Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA June 17 – Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA June 23 – Ocean Speedway, Watsonville, CA June 24 – Calistoga Speedway, Calistoga, CA

(5/20/17) Tulare, CA … Defending King of the West champion Kyle Hirst became the fifth different NARC-Fujitsu Sprint Car Racing Series winner of the season, capturing top honors in the exciting 30-lap Faria Memorial at the Thunderbowl Raceway.

“I’m finally here,” said a happy Hirst in victory lane. “It’s been tough to win this year in this series, but my team has kept battling and we got it done tonight.”

Outside front row starter Cory Eliason appeared to have the entire field in hip pocket from the initial green, rocketing out to a quick lead. He quickly established a 12-car lead by lap eight, as the field began negotiating its way through slower traffic.

Hirst, who started fifth in the potent the Roth Motorsports H&R Livestock Transportation KPC sprint car battled Bud Kaeding for the runner-up spot for several laps before securing the spot for good on lap 16. As Eliason began to struggle in heavy traffic, Hirst and the freight train of Shane Golobic and Carson Macedo reeled him in.

On the 19th circuit, Hirst launched a massive turn three slide job on the leader to take the point, chased closely behind by Golobic. The top three cars battled inches apart in dramatic fashion before Gio Scelzi stopped bringing out the only caution of the race with seven to go. Scelzi was injured, dislocating his shoulder. He would later seek medical attention after the event.

Once the race resumed, Hirst took no prisoners and powered his way to a 1.55 second victory over Golobic in the Keith Day Trucking/Gabilan AG Services sponsored entry. Carson Macedo got around Eliason with four laps remaining to earn the show position in the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi Palace sprint car.

Eliason finished his night in fourth in the Antaya Motorsports-Fuel Curve ride, chased by current point leader Bud Kaeding. With Scelzi’s misfortune, Kaeding and his William Motorsports team extended their championship point lead to 275-261 over Eliason. Scelzi dropped to third with 257.

Mitchell Faccinto, 12th starter Craig Stidham, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, and Bobby McMahan rounded out the top 10 at the checkered.

Willie Croft captured the Hoosier Tires Dash. Heat races were picked off by Eliason, Netto, and Golobic.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Feature Event (30 laps); Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Carson Macedo, Cory Eliason, Bud Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, Craig Stidham, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, Bobby McMahan, Michael Kofoid, Jeremy Chisum, Sean Watts, Mathew Moles, Jarrett Soares, Nathan Rolfe, Willie Croft, Gio Scelzi, Brent Bjork, Wayne Rowett.

Hoosier Tires Dash (6 laps): Willie Croft, Cory Eliason, Gio Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Carson Macedo, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Mitchell Faccinto

Fast Qualifier (1/3 mile clay oval – 20 cars): Carson Macedo – 13.438 seconds

Heat 1 (10 laps): Corey Eliason, Mitchell Faccinto, Carson Macedo, Michael Kofoid, Sean Watts, Jarrett Soares

Heat 2 (10 laps): DJ Netto, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, Dominic Scelzi, Mathew Moles, Jeremy Chisum, Nathan Rolfe

Heat 3 (10 laps): Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst, Gio Scelzi, Craig Stidham, Bobby McMahan, Brent Bjork

(5/14/17) Tulare, CA … The high-powered open wheel sprint cars of the King of the West/NARC Fujitsu Racing Series are returning to the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday, May 20th for the Faria Memorial race.

This marks the second of only three visits to the lightening fast one-third mile dirt oval track located at the Tulare Fairgrounds.

The King of the West/NARC series has proved to be one of the most competitive in recent memory, producing four different feature event winners in as many events. Current championship point leader of Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Giovanni Scelzi of Fresno, Cory Eliason of Selma, and Rico Abreu of St. Helena have earned those honors.

However, it's 15-year old driving sensation Scelzi who is turning heads, not only at California race tracks, but also drawing the attention of motorsports enthusiast across the nation. The Fresno driver, the son of famous NHRA championship drag racer Gary Scelzi, laid claim to his first KWS/NARC victory on Saturday (5/13) at Placerville Speedway in a thrilling photo finish. He only led the final two feet of the 30-lap race in his Fresno-based Roth Motorsports sprint car.

In the process, Scelzi became the youngest winner in series history and now current trails Kaeding in the standings by only three points (235-232) entering the Tulare event.

But don't be fooled by his young age where most of his high school peers would rather be "hanging out" or playing video games. Scelzi comes to the track with nine-years of racing experience and it shows and is already paying off rewards.

His career kicked off in Jr. Micro Sprints at Lemoore Raceway and Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia. He dominated his class in 2010, winning 24 main events.

Since then, he has graduated through the open wheel ranks into Micro-Sprints and now 410 c.i. 900-horsepower winged sprint cars. Scelzi's 19-year old brother Dominic also races a sprint car locally and on the national World of Outlaw tour.

“I have learned so much from all of the people at the race track, especially my brother, Dominic, and the Faccinto brothers,” states Scelzi. “Racing is in my blood. I hope to one day race in NASCAR.”

Scelzi is referring to Hanford open wheel racers. Mitchell & Michael Faccinto. Mitchell will also be competing at Tulare.

Thirty-seven year old Kaeding put forth his perspective on Scelzi. "Enjoy this kid while we have him," explained Kaeding. "He has a ton of talent and he will be off to do bigger things on a national level like NASCAR's Kyle Larson. Drivers like him don't come around very often and he is going to be very successful."

Also expected to compete Saturday will be Carson Macedo of Lemoore; Hanford's DJ Netto; Penngrove drivers Michael Kofoid and Chase Johnson; Discovery Bay's Jarrett Soares; Willie Croft of Sacramento; and defending series champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise.

Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. Also on the racing card is USAC Non-Wing 360’s, Race Saver sprint cars & the vintage cars of the Legends of Kearney Bowl.

The Thunderbowl Raceway is located at E Bardsley Avenue & South K Street in Tulare.

ED NOTE: Hanford driver DJ Netto will be signing autographs for race fans from 4:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. near the front gate.

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) - 235 Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno (1) - 232 Cory Eliason, Selma (1) - 224 DJ Netto, Hanford - 222 Michael Kofoid, Penngrove - 214 Kyle Hirst, Paradise - 201 Sean Becker, Roseville - 196 Willie Croft, Sacramento - 192 Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay - 180 Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove - 172 Carson Macedo, Lemoore - 168 Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford - 164 Sean Watts, Atwater - 162 Shane Golobic, Fremont - 156 Nathan Rolfe, Atwater - 152 Chase Johnson, Penngrove - 143 Dominic Scelzi, Fresno - 142 Brent Kaeding, Campbell - 139 Jason Statler, Grass Valley - 138 Kalib Henry, Chico - 117

(5/13/17) Placerville, CA, By Jim Allen … Young driving sensation Gio Scelzi continues to amaze the open wheel ranks on the King of the West/NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series. On Saturday night, the 15-year old pulled off an exciting final corner pass of race leader Sean Becker at Placerville Speedway and held on to win by two feet for his first career victory in the series.

Scelzi became the youngest winner in KWS-NARC history (15 years, 5-months), piloting the potent Roth Motorsports H&R LIvestock Transportation KPC sprint car.

Sean Becker, who scored his 100th career victory the night before in Chico, shot into the lead from his third starting position and set a frantic pace in the Dan Menne Motorsports Mike's Hard Lemonade-sponsored KPC. Becker held off the continued advances of cushion-riding Willie Croft for the first 15 laps as the pair zigged and zagged through lapped traffic.

Scelzi, who set fast time and started on the pole after winning the Hoosier Tires dash, fell back to third before he regrouped and charged back on the tight quarter mile oval. He utilized lap traffic to his advantage and picked off Croft at the halfway point , before setting his sights on the leader.

Scelzi made a pass for the lead with six to go when Becker got hung up in slower cars, but a yellow for two spun cars reverted the field back a lap. Another caution with two laps remaining set the stage for Scelzi's winning move. With Becker protecting the bottom of the track, Scelzi, rode up high on the cushion and slingshot into the lead as the pair powered out of the final turn. The two drag raced down the front straight with Scelzi scoring a narrow .069 second victory margin.

"This is great!" said a fired up Scelzi in victory lane. "I thought I messed up and didn't have enough to catch him (Becker). But Roth Motorsports gave me an excellent car and we got it done at the end."

Point leader Bud Kaeding also found the high line to his liking in the late going, passing Kyle Hirst and Croft to earn the show position in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Defending series champion Hirst claimed fourth in the other Roth Motorsports KPC. Croft rounded out the top five in his Amerikote Powder Coating sprint car.

Mitchell Faccinto earned the Hardcharger award, picking up seven spots after starting 13th. Cory Eliason, DJ Netto, Michael Kofoid, and Shane Golobic claimed the remaining positions in the top ten.

Sean Watts brought out the only red flag of the night when he go upside down on lap seven. He was unhurt.

30-lap KWS-NARC Fujitsu Main Event: Gio Scelzi, Sean Becker, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto, Cory Eliason, DJ Netto, Michael Kofoid, Shane Golobic, Justyn Cox, Andy Forsberg, Andy Gregg, Chase Johnson, Brent Kaeding, Jarrett Soares, Nathan Rolfe, Scott Males, Dominic Scelzi, Kalib Henry, Sean Watts, Bobby McMahan

Heat 1 (10 laps): Bud Kaeding, Michael Kofoid, Gio Scelzi, Kalib Henry, Brent Kaeding, Justyn Cox, Mitchell Faccinto, Scott Males

Heat 2 (10 laps): Andy Forsberg, Sean Becker, Willie Croft, Shane Golobic, Jarrett Soares, Chase Johnson, Dominic Scelzi, Jim Richardson

Heat 3 (10 laps): DJ Netto, Kyle Hirst, Cory Eliason, Bobby McMahan, Sean Watts, Nathan Rolfe, Andy Gregg

Hoosier Tires Dash (6 laps): Gio Scelzi, Willie Croft, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Cory Eliason, Michael Kofoid, Andy Forsberg, DJ Netto

NOTE: Past NARC NEWSLINE columns can be found at NARC410.com ... You can also find current points standings, rule books, history, and sponsor information.

NARC NEWSLINE, News, Notes & Quotes from the KWS-Northern Auto Racing Club Sprint Cars, By Jim Allen, (May 12, 2017)

It feels great to have a little normalcy and routine now that we have a couple more events under our belt on the King of the West/NARC tour, without having to look at the Weather Channel. The Peter Murphy Classic in Tulare and the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in Chico earned those honors.

Our good friend Peter Murphy did what he does best … now that he is no longer is racing … and put on a well supported and promoted event that pulled in 39 competitors. That's typically what happens when you serve up an $11,000 to win race, that also happens to pay $1000 to start the feature - plus a bunch of other great perks (cash) worked in between.

Bud Kaeding was able to check off one of his racing career bucket list items with his victory in Morrie Williams Maxim. That check was worth $11,000 and a whole lot of champagne spray in victory lane. Carson Macedo was reeling in Bud in the late going, pulling within three car lengths in lap traffic in the late going, but ran out of laps. The next two drivers had a combined age of 30-years old … Gio Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid. DJ Netto rounded out the top five.

At the May 6th Bradway Memorial, it was more of the same in the cash machine department. Rico Abreu had the pin number of the Silver Dollar Speedway ATM machine and cashed out $8000 for his nights work. That breaks down to $1000 for the Carwash Mike Avilla Fast Time Award, $5,000 for the A-Main victory, which included $1000 kickers from Roth Motorsports and Abreu Racing. Top that off with $2000 in lap money for his 1-40 leader effort and you have what can best be described as a profitable evening. It was Abreu's third Bradway Jr. Memorial win in five years.

In fact, it was a very strange night at Chico when it was deemed profitable to still be rolling at the end of the 40-lapper. Kind of like a sprint car version of the television show Survivor. Only eight of the 22-car starting grid actually rolled into their trailers. No, that is not a misprint - eight, like a heat race. Ten caution flags decimated the field, including three reds. You know your thoughts and prayers are answered when you watch the scary Michael Ing, Carson Macedo and Jason Statler crash down the back chute in slow motion video. Sheet metal and parts were ripped off, down tubes were sheared and if was bolted on, it wasn't anymore. Statler was shaken but not stirred, and the other two drivers remarkably (and thankfully) walked away from their totally destroyed their cars. Carson was quick to credit his safety equipment on Twitter afterwards. We agree!

The semi wasn't much better, especially after viewing the spectacular multi-car crash entering the first turn. Kyle Hirst, Ryan Bernal, Brent Bjork, Justyn Cox, and Brian Boswell, their equipment, and the SDS catch fence took a beating. Once again, thank you to the continued advances of safety equipment.

On the lighter side, we can never say enough about Dave & Dianne Durica who have taken this event under their wings to make it so successful. They hustled up lap money for the A & B Main events, plus a variety of other cash and prizes. That's a lot easier said, than done. Also, kudo's to Cindy Thomas who fired up Hoserville and others for additional prizes including Hoosier right rears and tear offs for the heat race winners.

Peter Murphy Classic … Make sure you support the companies that support sprint car racing. In this case that would be Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore for their tremendous financial support of the PMC … You've got to love Rudeen Racing. They donated $100 to each of the four heat race winners, plus $500 to the KWS-Northern Auto Racing Club General Fund to help with the conversion process to a non-profit sports league. …Gio Scelzi set quick time at Tulare in the Roth Motorsports 83JR car and earned $500 from Tachi Palace in Lemoore. They later donated the money to the NARC Benevolent Fund. … Quote of the week comes from car owner Shawn Thomas, who said, "I would rather dial myself out of a race, than sit on a stool and do nothing." Good philosophy! … Kyle Hirst did double duty in the USAC non-wing 360's. He ended up scoring his first victory in that series, which means he is ready for any future NARC-KWS events that happen to go non-wing. #Just saying. … By comparison, Ryan Bernal has 30 non-wing USAC 360 wins … Bobby McMahan ended up making every highlight reel in America. Unfortunately, it wasn't for something good. On the start, McMahan found himself in one of those "no place to go" accidents and took a wild ride down the front straightaway. The car was trashed, but Mr. McMahan was fine and on the phone to wife Linda a couple of minutes later to update his status. He earned a $200 tough luck award, which will cover just a fraction of the actual repair costs. By the way, if you ever wanted to join a pit crew, the McMahan's is one of the leanest on tour. Go help them out. …

… So what do you do when you suffer 410 motor issues in the heat race and get delegated to the B-main? If you are Shane Golobic and Golobic Racing, you pull it in favor of your 360 powerplant. Then you go out and capture the semi from the 10th starting spot. And to put a cherry on top of this hot fudge sundae, you finish 14th in the feature - which paid $1000 to start. Might be time to start awarding extra championship points for EXTRA EFFORT! … According to a trackside interview with Jason Statler, he weighs in at 285 on a "good day." By comparison, 15-year old Gio Scelzi comes in at 150 soaking wet. How much of an advantage that gives him on the race track? … In victory lane, Bud Kaeding was asked about his last second race strategy. Just before the event was getting ready to push off, it appeared that Kaeding got out of car to initiate a last minute left rear time change. Answered Kaeding, "I had nothing to do with that. I got out of the car because I had to pee." I guess that would be an honest answer. Not the answer I was expecting, but an honest one. … Rico Abreu was slated to start sixth in the PMC feature, but pulled out before the race started with food poisoning. … Sean Becker also presented his car and pulled out before the feature started with mechanical issues. …

… If you are not impressed by the performances of 15-year old Buddy Kofoid, take a look again. Not only is he running in the top 10, he is looking steady in the process. He races methodically and doesn't take any unnecessary risks, but is aggressive and is always moving forward. That's a winning combination… The Pole Shuffle was entertaining. Here is how it went: Bobby McMahan outran Monte Faccinto and Kyle Hirst, only to lose to DJ Netto who beat Tanner Thorsen and Mason Moore, only to lose to Carson Macedo, who lost to Buddy Kofoid who went on to finish ahead of Rick Abreu, only to take second to Willie Croft who lost his battle to Bud Kaeding who finished runner-up to Gio Scelzi. Try saying that all in one breath! … By the way, Gio won an additional $500 for his 26-seconds of work in the pole shuffle. … Long tow honors went to Cori Andrews, who made the long 11-hour drive up I-5 from Murrieta, CA (think Perris Speedway) … Jeremy Chisum has one of the most interesting sponsors on the KWS-NARC tour - Pediatric Cancer Awareness. When you get a chance, take a closer look at the Number "8" on their top wing. They have helped raise more than $250,000 for the keyforacurefoundation.com …

Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial … A very commendable workmanlike effort was put together by Jarrett Soares in his Brian Sperry wrenched sprint car. He avoided the semi-crash and ran strong to finish fourth. In the feature, he battled through the field without a front wing and scored eighth. In the process, he earned $650 for the Hardcharger Award. …A very unusual site at Chico took place in the infield. That would be Kyle Hirst and Willie Croft both viewing the feature in street clothes. Both failed to qualify for the money race which happens about as often as we have a Reality Television Star as President. … Considering Hirst won the Friday night show, his weekend was all up, or all down! On Saturday, the Roth 83 sprint car blew a motor in their heat before trashing the ride entirely in the semi. … Gio Scelzi was sort of on the same path, but not quite as bad. He won the Friday night show in Hanford, before a run in with Chico concrete ended his night in 13th. … While Rico got the lion's share of the feature lap money, Cory Eliason ($970), Michael Ing ($650), and DJ Netto ($380) walked away with thicker wallets also. …

… Five-time Bradway winner Jonathan Allard was in the pits after returning from New Zealand. During an interview, he said he is looking for a ride. … Jason Statler, who got his bell rung in his accident informed this corner that his team is done for a while. They have experienced more than their fair share of bad luck this season and need to circle the wagons for a while. … The same applies to Scott Parker and Craig Parker and their 12P ride. They hurt their motor and need to regroup. (Motor Sponsored Wanted ad goes here!) … It was nice to see Justin Bradway, the nephew of the late Dave Bradway Jr., competing at Chico. He was 14th in the semi. … Let's be honest. If the Car Wash Mike Avilla Coors Light hats were on sale right now for $250 each, we would all buy one. … Rico's fast time at SDS was 11.665. The entire field was fast which may have led to some of the trouble. … Chasing Rico across the checkered was DJ Netto, Cory Eliason, Shane Golobic, Roger Crockett, Bud Kaeding, Michael Kofoid, and Jarrett Soares. That's it. … There are some great announcers working around California. Silver Dollar Speedway's Troy Hennig rates as one of them. … Clyde & Marion Lamar kicked in $100 in Tri-C cash to each Bradway heat race winner … There were three generations of the racing Bumgarner Family in the pits at Chico. Sprint car racing tends to get into your DNA. … Have you purchased at least two racing T-shirts yet this season? What are you waiting for? … For everything KWS-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series related, including race results, point standings, and rule books, go to NARC410.com

Coming to you live from Auburn, California. We will catch up with you at a track near you. See ya!

(05/07/17) Placerville, CA … The 900-horsepower open wheel sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will be making their only appearance of the year at Placerville Speedway this Saturday, May 13th.

The ultra-competitive 17-race series has already produced three different winners in three events, including Selma’s Cory Eliason, Bud Kaeding of Campbell, and Rico Abreu of St. Helena. Abreu captured the May 6th KWS-NARC event in Chico.

Kaeding is the current championship point leader; maintaining a slim 176-170 lead over Eliason. Hanford’s DJ Netto and Lemoore’s Carson Macedo are also within easy striking distance with 169 and 168 points, respectively. Despite a stellar career, Kaeding has never laid claim to the King of the West crown, but has been runner-up several times.

Two 15-year old drivers are also making a name for themselves on the KWS-NARC tour this year. Gio Scelzi of Fresno and Penngrove’s Michael Kofoid are currently in the top 10 in points and have been producing consistent top 10 finishes.

In the age of children being brought up as single-sport athletes, this pair represents a new breed of young guns who have been competing in open wheel cars since the age of five or six years old. Most typically start out in go-karts and quarter-midgets and move through the open wheel ranks to micro-sprints, Outlaw Karts, and eventually sprint cars. By the time they get the opportunity to pilot a 900-horsepower, 410 cubic inch powered sprint car, most drive like their older and more experienced peers – and these two do exactly that!

Placerville’s quarter-mile clay oval bull ring promises to deliver a competitive night of racing as teams set their sights on the $3000 winner’s paycheck. The track is known for extremely competitive racing and many local teams feel they have an advantage because horsepower is not as big a factor on a smaller track. It all comes down to driving skill and car set-up.

The racing format includes qualifying, four heat races, a Hoosier Tires Dash, a 12-lap semi-main and the 30-lap feature event.

Pit Gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 3:00 p.m., followed by qualifying at 6:00 p.m. Pure Stocks and Mini-Trucks are also on the racing card.

For more information on the King of the West Series, presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club, go to www.NARC410.com

Placerville Speedway is located at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville. Take US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit and go north on Placerville Drive to the fairgrounds. Additional information can be found at www.placervillespeedway.com or by calling 530-626-3680.

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Placerville Speedway - Since 1965, High-Banked 1/4 Mile Clay Oval

Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) - 176
Cory Eliason, Selma (1) - 170
DJ Netto, Hanford - 169
Carson Macedo, Lemoore - 168
Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno - 166
Michael Kofoid, Penngrove - 162
Kyle Hirst, Paradise - 142
Jason Statler, Grass Valley - 138
Sean Becker, Roseville - 137
Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay - 135
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove – 133
Willie Croft, Sacramento – 133
Sean Watts, Atwater – 122
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 109
Scott Parker, Coaresgold - 109
Rico Abreu, St. Helena – 108
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater – 108
Shane Golobic, Fremont – 104
Dominic Scelzi, Fresno – 100
Mason Moore, Chico - 97

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

HIGHPOWERED KING OF THE WEST-NARC SPRINT CAR FIELD EXPECTED AT BRADWAY JR. MEMORIAL

(4/30/17) Chico, CA … Silver Dollar Speedway will be hosting the traveling King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series, this Saturday, May 6th for the lucrative 27th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial Race.

This marks the only stop by the state’s premier sprint car division to the action-packed quarter-mile oval this year. (The season opener on March 4th was rained out.)

The Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial Race, named in honor of the Northern Auto Racing Club driver who lost his life in a racing accident in 1987, is one of the longest running races in the country. The winner’s list reads like a “who’s-who” of some of the best open wheel drivers in California. That is driven by the fact it features one of the richest purses of the KWS-NARC season, including $4000 in extra lap money for the race leaders, plus special cash awards for fast time and the feature event hard charger,

Among those expected to compete in Chico is current KWS-NARC championship point leader Bud Kaeding of Campbell. Kaeding leads 15-year old driving sensation Giovanni Scelzi of Fresno by a narrow121-119 margin in the standings. Kaeding is coming off a huge $11,000 victory at Tulare on April 22nd.

“Due to the extra prize money, there is a lot of emphasis to let it all hang out during qualifying, because we want a good starting position in the main event,.” explained Kaeding, the 2015 Bradway race winner. “All of the teams share the same basic game plan, which ultimately makes for a great night of racing.”

“With the lap money paying the top three drivers, the incentive is there to get out front as quickly as humanly possible,” Kaeding continued. “While none of us will admit we race for the money, it’s there in the back of our head so we don’t hold anything back.”

Also expected to compete on Saturday is defending series champion and 2016 Bradway race winner Kyle Hirst of Paradise; Lemoore’s Carson Macedo; feature event winner Cory Eliason of Selma; Willie Croft of Sacramento; Penngrove’s Michael Kofoid; Mitchell Faccinto and DJ Netto of Hanford, and Roseville’s Sean Becker.

The racing format includes qualifying, four heat races, a Hoosier Tires Dash, a 12-lap semi-main and the 40-lap feature event.

Pit Gates open at 3:00 p.m. Front gates open at 5:00 p.m., followed by qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7:00 p.m. Also on the race card are Wingless Sprint Cars and Economy Sprints.

Silver Dollar Speedway is located at the fairgrounds in Chico, approximately ¼ mile west of U.S. 99. For more information, call 530-891-6535.

Bud Kaeding, Campbell (1) 121
Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno 119
Carson Macedo, Lemoore 118
Kyle Hirst, Paradise 113
Cory Eliason, Selma (1) 112
DJ Netto, Hanford 110
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford 109
Michael Kofoid, Penngrove 108
Willie Croft, Sacramento 98
Chase Johnson, Penngrove 96
Brent Kaeding, Campbell 93
Craig Stidham, Fresno 92
Sean Becker, Roseville 92
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove 90
Jason Statler, Grass Valley 87
Sean Watts, Atwater 86
Scott Parker, Coarsegold 84
Jarrett Soares, Elk Grove 82
Taylor Malsum, Seattle, WA 79
Mathew Moles, Fresno 79

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

4/22/17 - Tulare, CA … Bud Kaeding scored a lucrative $11,000 victory Saturday night at the Thunderbowl Raceway with a convincing green-to-checkered 30-lap run in the King of the West/NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series Peter Murphy Classic.

Driving Morrie William’s Alviso Rock/Kaeding Performance Center sponsored Maxim, Kaeding won a drag race down the front straightaway against quick qualifier Giovanni Scelzi and never looked over his shoulder the rest of the way. Kaeding dedicated his victory to longtime family friend and race supporter Bob Miller who passed away just two days earlier.

“We lost a member of our family,” said Kaeding on the victory podium. “Bob was a great friend of mine and was like a grandfather to me. He was great for the sport and they don’t make them like that anymore. We are going to miss him dearly.”

Tenth starter Bobby McMahan was involved in a wild crash down the front stretch on the first attempt to get the event underway. He was unhurt, but the same couldn’t be said for destroyed race car. The only other yellow flag was on lap five for Jason Statler who sustained major front end damage. The 25-laps chase to the checkered ran non-stop.

Sixth starter Carson Macedo pulled to within three-car lengths of the leader in traffic with two to go, but ran out of laps. Piloting the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi Palace backed machine, Macedo locked horns and passed Scelzi for third at the halfway point, and powered past Buddy Kofoid for second on lap 19. By that time Kaeding had built a four second lead advantage, plus a two lapped car interference.

Polesitter and Peter Murphy Pole Shuffler winner Scelzi passed Kofoid in the waning laps to earn a podium finish in the Roth Motorsports HR Livestock Transportation sprinter. Kofoid held on to cross the checkered in an impressive fourth. DJ Netto rounded out the top five in the Tri-C Machine sprint car.

The rest of the top ten included 11th starter and defending champ Kyle Hirst, Mitchell Faccinto, Mason Moore, 20th starter Dominic Scelzi, and Willie Croft. Earlier Hirst scored his first-ever USAC non-wing feature victory in their 25-lap headliner.

Shane Golobic took top honors in the 21-car Hoosier Tire B-Main event. He started 12th in the field driving a 360 powered sprint car. His team had blown their 410 engine in their heat race and changed motors.

Giovanni Scelzi’s fast time of 13.801 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval was the quickest in the 39 car field. Heat races were picked off by Moore, Croft, Hirst, and Rico Abreu.

KWS-NARC Tachi Palace/Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps); Bud Kaeding, Carson Macedo, Giovanni Scelzi, Buddy Kofoid, DJ Netto, Kyle Hirst, Mitchell Faccinto, Mason Moore, Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft, Cory Elliason, Chase Johnson, Tanner Thorsen, Shane Golobic, Craig Stidham, Brent Kaeding, Jarrett Soares, Lucas Ashe, Jason Statler, Bobby McMahan

Heat 1 (10 laps): Mason Moore, Giovanni Scelzi, Buddy Kofoid, Cory Eliason, Craig Stidham, Shawn Conde, Cori Andrews, Nathan Rolfe, Jared Peterson

Heat 2 (10 laps): Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Bobby McMahan, Chase Johnson, Jason Statler, Dominic Scelzi, Dustin Golobic, Kalib Henry, Jeremy Chisum, Mathew Moles.

Heat 3 (10 laps): Kyle Hirst, Carson Macedo, Bud Kaeding, Sean Becker, Brent Kaeding, Taylor Malsam, Kaleb Montgomery, Scott Parker, Shane Golobic

Heat 4 (10 laps): Rico Abreu, Tanner Thorsen, Mitchell Faccinto, Jarrett Soares, Lucas Ashe, Sean Watts, Andy Gregg, Bill Butler, Brent Bjork

Peter Murphy Pole Shuffle (6 laps): Bobby McMahan defeated Mitchell Faccinto; Bobby McMahan defeated Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto defeated Bobby McMahan, DJ Netto defeated Tanner Thorsen, DJ Netto defeated Mason Moore; Carson Macedo defeated DJ Netto; Buddy Kofoid defeated Carson Macedo; Buddy Kofoid defeated Rico Abreu, Willie Croft defeated Buddy Kofoid; Bud Kaeding defeated Willie Croft, Giovanni Scelzi defeated Bud Kaeding.

Hoosier Tires B-Main (12 laps): Shane Golobic, Craig Stidham, Jason Statler, Dominic Scelzi, Brent Kaeding, Lucas Ashe, Taylor Malsum, Kalib Henry, Scott Parker, Jeremy Chisum, Dustin Golobic, Shawn Conde, Nathan Rolfe, Sean Watts, Cori Andrews, Brent Bjork, Andy Gregg, Jared Peterson, Mathew Moles, Billy Butler, Ryan Bernal

(4/16/17) Tulare, CA … The exciting 900-horsepower sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series will headline the two-day Peter Murphy Classic on Saturday night, April 22nd at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway.

The lucrative event is expected to pay the largest overall purse of the season and will field a stellar field of 410 sprint cars aiming to earn the winners share. The 2016 race paid $11,000 to winner and eventual series champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise, CA. Last place paid $1000 to start the 30-lap feature event (final numbers for the 2017 were not available as of press time.)

This is the fourth annual event hosted by Australian driver Peter Murphy, who became a steady fixture and fan favorite on the Northern Auto Racing Club sprint car tour in California during the 1990’s. However, his successful driving career ended prematurely in 2013 after being seriously injured in a violent crash at Antioch Speedway. During his long recovery from multiple injuries, including head trauma, the sprint car community circled its proverbial wagons around the popular driver to provide support.

“The racing community really helped me when I needed them the most during my long healing process,” explained Murphy, who solicits additional sponsorship for his race. “This race is my way of giving back to the fans and to the NARC Benevolent Fund.”

The Peter Murphy Classic also generates revenue for the aforementioned (non-profit) NARC Benevolent Fund. This fund provides support to open wheel racers and their families in times of need. It provides financial support to help offset medical bills and expenses.

“As much as I wanted to get back in the saddle (race car) again, my doctors said absolutely ‘no way.’ It was a serious health risk,” said Murphy, who now lives and owns a sign and graphic business in Fresno, CA. “Giving up racing was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. This event has made it easier and allows me to stay involved with my fantastic open wheel family.”

Among those expected to compete at the one-third mile action-packed clay oval on Saturday is current KWS-NARC championship point leader Cory Eliason of Selma, CA. Eliason captured the KWS-NARC season opener at Kern County Raceway Park (Bakersfield, CA) on April 8th. He already has two A-Main victories to his credit this season, driving both a 360 and 410 c.i. powered sprint car.

Among the other drivers expected to compete on Saturday is defending KWS-NARC series champion Hirst, Lemoore’s Carson Macedo, Willie Croft of Sacramento, Bud & Brent Kaeding of Campbell, Atwater’s Sean Watts and Nathan Rolfe, and Hanford drivers Mitchell Faccinto and DJ Netto.

Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. Also on the racing card on Saturday night is USAC Non-Wing 360’s & Legends of Kearney Bowl Vintage Cars.

The Thunderbowl Raceway is located at E Bardsley Avenue & South K Street in Tulare.

ED NOTE: There will be a driver autograph session behind the grandstands from 4:00 – 4:45 p.m.

ED NOTE: Friday’s opening night of the Peter Murphy Classic will feature the Sprint Car Challenge Tour, Winged 360 sprint cars and the Legends of Kearney Bowl

Make checks payable to: “NARC Benevolent Fund” and mail c//o Kaeding Performance Center 813 Cristich Lane, Campbell, CA 95008. For more information on the fund, call 408-371-3031.

May 6 – Silver Dollar Speedway – Chico, CA – Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial Race

Cory Eliason, Selma (1) 62
Carson Macedo, Lemoore 59
Kyle Hirst, Paradise 58
Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno 57’
Bud Kaeding, Campbell 56
Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford 55
Sean Watts, Atwater 55
DJ Netto, Hanford 54
Sean Becker, Roseville 53
Michael Kofoid, Penngrove 51
Matthew Moles, Fresno 50
Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove 49
Brent Kaeding, Campbell 48
Scott Parker, Coarsegold 48
Chase Johnson, Penngrove 47
Craig Stidham, Fresno 46
Willie Croft, Sacramento 46
Jason Statler, Grass Valley 45
Nathan Rolfe, Atwater 42
Taylor Malsum, Seattle, WA 41

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

4/9/17 - Bakersfield, CA … Cory Eliason held off a furious late race charge by Carson Macedo to capture Saturday's exciting King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series season opener at Kern County Raceway Park.

Eliason, who started seventh in the 22-car grid aboard the Antaya Motorsports Good Guys Rod & Custom Association-sponsored Maxim, battled his way through the field to take the runner-up spot on lap 25. Up to that point, a variety of challengers attempted to reel in pole sitter Willie Croft who dominated and consistently pulled away from the field after a couple of yellow flags.

However, Croft's machine began to sputter a couple of laps later and Eliason began to reel him in. The field came to a complete stop with only two to go when fast qualifier Chase Johnson flipped in turn three. He was unhurt.

Croft car was out of fuel and unable to push off for the restart, allowing Eliason to inherit the point, followed by challengers Macedo, defending champ Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding and Giovanni Scelzi.

The green-white-checkered finish was organized open wheel mayhem as Macedo in the Tarlton Motorsports played wheel-to-wheel cat and mouse. Macedo actually took the lead in turn two with a massive slide job, but Eliason powered back by to take the lead and the victory.

"It got pretty wild at the end," said Eliason. "Carson (Macedo) and I put on a show for the fans. I hope you enjoyed it."

"Willie (Croft) ran out of fuel," continued Eliason. "If it weren't for that, I'm pretty sure he would have won the race." Croft ended his night in 17th.

Defending series champion Kyle Hirst survived a back-and-forth battle with Bud Kaeding and Roth Motorsports teammate Giovanni Scelzi. Scelzi claimed fourth. Kaeding held on to fifth in the Morrie Williams owned sprinter.

Thirteenth starter and semi-winner Mitchell Faccinto, DJ Netto, Sean Becker, Sean Watts and 15-year old Michael Kofoid rounded out the top 10.

Chase Johnson set the standard in qualifying around the one-third mile oval with a 12.909 second run. Twenty-four cars timed in.

KWS-NARC Fujitsu Feature Event (30 laps); Cory Eliason, Carson Macedo, Kyle Hirst, Giovanni Scelzi, Bud Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, DJ Netto, Sean Becker, Sean Watts, Michael Kolfoid, Matthew Moles, Bobby McMahan, Brent Kaeding, Scott Parker, Craig Stidham, Jason Statler, Willie Croft, Chase Johnson, Nathan Rolfe, Taylor Malsum, Jeremy Chisum, Zane Blanchard

Heat 1 (10 laps): DJ Netto, Giovanni Scelzi, Chase Johnson, Scott Parker, Jason Statler, Brent Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, Craig Stidham

Heat 2 (10 laps): Carson Macedo, Bud Kaeding, Bobby McMahan, Sean Watts, Sean Becker, Zane Blanchard, Jarrett Soares, Brent Bjork

Heat 3 (10 laps): Cory Eliason, Willie Croft, Kyle Hirst, Taylor Malsum, Michael Kofoid, Nathan Rolfe, Jeremy Chisum, Matthew Moles

Hoosier Dash (6 laps): Willie Croft, Chase Johnson, Kyle Hirst, Carson Macedo, Bud Kaeding, Giovanni Scelzi, Cory Eliason, DJ Netto, Bobby McMahan

B-Main (12 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Zane Blanchard, Craig Stidham, Brent Kaeding, Jeremy Chisum, Nathan Rolfe, Matthew Moles, Jarrett Soares, Brent Bjork

KING OF THE WEST-NARC FUJITSU SPRINT CARS SET TO INVADE KERN COUNTY RACEWAY PARK

(4/2/17) Bakersfield, CA … The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park will host the season opener for the exciting 900-horsepower King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series this Saturday, April 8th. This marks the only visit by the traveling series to the one-third mile oval this season.

Leading the field of entries will be defending three-time King of the West champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise, CA. Hirst will have a lot in common with the other 25 teams expected to compete in that he has never raced at the newly configured one-year old track.

“It’s always a challenge to compete at a new racing facility,” said Hirst, “because we don’t know what to expect and everyone is on a level playing field. It’s going to come down to what team can dial in the proper chassis set up after just a few practice laps. A little luck comes in handy also.”

The short 17-race KWS-NARC schedule leaves little margin for error for those with championship aspirations. Also, the organizations new points schedule pays a premium for winning races as teams chase the winner’s share of the $20,000 purse and a year-end $62,000 championship point fund.

Hirst and Campbell’s Bud Kaeding dominated victory lane in 2016, with six and five feature event victories, respectively. Six other drivers captured the other nine wins. Both Hirst and Kaeding plan to pick up where they left off in 2016.

“The best way to pursue a championship is to start strong and win the first race of the season,” continued Hirst, who drives for Fresno-based Roth Motorsports. “Winning for the first time at a new track would make it extra special.”

Among the other drivers expected to compete on Saturday include Mitchell Faccinto and DJ Netto of Hanford; Justyn Cox of Clarksburg; Sean Watts of Atwater; Penngrove’s Chase Johnson; Cory Eliason of Selma; Grass Valley’s Jason Statler and many more.

Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front gates open at 5:00 p.m. Also on the racing card are American Stocks and HPB Midgets.

Kern County Raceway Park is located at 13500 Raceway Blvd in Bakersfield (Interstate 5 & Enos Lane.)

Driver Bud Kaeding will be signing autographs near the front gate between 5:00-5:30 p.m.

Kyle Hirst, Paradise (6) 3183 Bud Kaeding, Campbell (5) 3164 Justyn Cox, Clarksburg 2962 DJ Netto, Hanford 2922 Sean Watts, Atwater 2729 Jason Statler, Grass Valley 2720 Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay 2681 Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford 2326 Chase Johnson, Penngrove 1942 Shane Golobic, Fremont (3) 1900 Cory Eliason, Selma (2) 1725 Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove 1674 Colby Copeland, Roseville 1643 Justin Sanders, Aromas (1) 1513 Jonathan Allard, Chico 1228

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. Contingency award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

3/30/17 - Sacramento, CA …The King of the West Sprint Car Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club proudly announced today that Fujitsu General America has joined the traveling 410 sprint car series as title sponsor. Fujitsu is a worldwide leader in high-efficiency mini-split heating and air conditioning products for both residential and commercial applications.

"Fujitsu is very excited about this partnership and the marketing opportunities presented with the King of the West NARC series." said Thomas Carney, National Director of Sales. "We look forward to a fantastic year of championship-caliber sprint car racing.”

The series has been re-branded the King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by NARC (Northern Auto Racing Club.)

Fujitsu General has produced and shipped millions of air conditioning systems throughout the world for more than four decades. Their line of Halcyon™ products have been designed to provide zoned comfort and are engineered to install quickly and easily.

“This is an absolute game changer for our racing series,” stated KWS-NARC Business Manager Jim Allen. “Our organization is honored to receive the support of a first class company like Fujitsu. We are looking forward to a long mutually-rewarding relationship.”

Fujitsu plans to provide interactive displays at most events to showcase their products.

As a result of Fujitsu's generous support, the King of the West/NARC championship point fund has now been boosted to over $62,000. It will be paid out to the top 15 teams in the final standings. The championship team earns $10,000.

With global headquarters in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan, and U.S. headquarters in Fairfield, New Jersey, Fujitsu General Limited manufacturers and sells products and components for both the air conditioning and telecommunications fields. Founded in January 1936, today the company is led by Chairman Junichi Murashima, and President Etsuro Saito. www.fujitsugeneral.com FUJITSU GENERAL United States & Canada www.fujitsugeneral.com FUJITSU GENERAL United States & Canada website. Cooling and Heating Solutions for Residential or Commercial. Air Conditioning Systems, Products, Services, Support and ...

In addition to Fujitsu, the KWS-NARC series also enjoys tremendous financial and product support from Hoosier Racing Tires, ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

Let’s address the elephant in the room and ask the big question … will the 2017 King of the West Northern Auto Racing Club sprint car schedule finally get underway? The much hyped March 4th series opener featured more anticipation than a five-year old has on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, when all was said and done, Mother Nature had the final word at the our Chico Mini-Gold Cup opener. To make things worse, the weather in Chico was sunny until about 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, which meant that all of our teams endured the travel expenses of rolling North before making a U-turn around 3:30 p.m.

Now off the record, the rainout was probably a good thing for the KWS-Northern Auto Racing Club rebrand from a marketing standpoint. Pretty much everything has been a mad scramble since our February 12th Competition Meeting in Fresno - but in a good way. To put that in perspective, the new NARC410.com website went live shortly before Kyle Hirst took the checkered on Friday’s Mini-Gold Cup regular season opener. We thank AestheticMedia.com for burning the midnight oil and getting this first-class site up and running in less than two weeks. By the way, if you haven’t checked out NARC410.com … what are you waiting for? We built it for you - and we are literally updating it daily.

Our official concessionaire, Jim Gardner of Bullet Impressions, also breathed a huge sigh of relief with the rain out. It allowed him to press forward with several new KWS-NARC apparel designs. For all of those of you who have already inquired about getting your hands on a new T-shirt design, Jim promises that it will be worth the wait. You’ll have to make the trip to Kern County Raceway Park on April 8th to get yours.

DAVE BRADWAY JR. MEMORIAL RACE: Dianne Durica is again spearheading the sponsorship efforts for the May 6th Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race. Through her efforts, this is the richest one-day event on the King of the West/NARC schedule. The 40-lap A-Main features $4,000 in total lap money that pays the top three on any given lap. Plus there are huge payoffs for B-Main, Hard charger, Fast Time, and Trophy Dash winner. The race is less than 50 days away so give Dianne a call at 916-988-5958 or email at durica1414@sbcglobal.net

NARC BENEVOLENT FUND: We are getting several emails from fans that want to contribute to the NARC Benevolent Fund. If you would like to donate to the fund we hope we never have to use, make your donation to the NARC Benevolent Fund and mail it to: C/O Kaeding Performance Center. 813 Cristich Lane, Campbell, CA. You will receive your tax deductable letter in the mail shortly thereafter.

SERIES SPONSOR: Expect some news regarding a new series sponsor for the King of the West/NARC series. That’s all I can tell you right now – or I’d have to kill you.

HOW MANY WINNERS: Last year’s KWS feature events winners were Kyle Hirst (6), Bud Kaeding (5), Shane Golobic (3), Cory Eliason (2), and Justin Sanders, Rico Abreu, Willie Croft, and Tim Kaeding with one each. That makes eight. I can easily see that number reaching 10 or 12 even in a shortened 17 race season. Plan on throwing in Chase Johnson, Justyn Cox, DJ Netto, Colby Copeland and a few others into the victory lane mix. This group is scary fast.

NARC NOTES: Special thanks to Adam Ulrey, who has become the resident historian of sprint car racing on the West Coast. His website www.nwsprinthistory.com has been extremely helpful while rebuilding the NARC history books. … Dennis Gage and ace PR man Troy Hennig did an excellent job with their Silver Dollar Speedway season kick-off luncheon on the Thursday before the Mini-Gold Cup. Mike Andreetta represented the new KWS-NARC series. … Special kudos go out to Andy Forsberg who had his car on display for the local press at the luncheon. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 360 or a 410, it’s good for sprint car racing as a whole. … Grass Valley’s Jason Statler listed on his driver profile that the car he always wanted to drive was a midget. The only way that is going to happen is if we remove the motor so he has someplace to put his legs. If you can believe this, Jason started his career in Micro-Midgets in 1986. …

Car owner Shawn Thomas has also put his name in the hat for a position on the NARC Advisory Board. He joins Kyle Hirst, Hanford promoter Bubby Morse, and Bud Kaeding, on the short list. Several others have said they are considering the position. … The 2017 KWS-NARC contingency award package is worth in excess of $30,000 to competitors this season – plus a ton of free product that will be given away at the year-end championship banquet. … Keep up with us on Instagram at NARC410 and Twitter at NARC410 … We've got two Facebook pages. The first one is our NARC history page at NARC SPRINT CARS. The other is more for current events at King of the West by NARC. … Here's a question for you. Would you rather race for a larger weekly purse, or a larger year-end point fund? I know the answer is BOTH, but if you had to choose one, which one would it be?

(3/4/17 - Jim Allen) … The King of the West Sprint Car Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club proudly unveiled a brand new website for the traveling organization. The site NARC410.com features schedules, results, driver profiles, sponsors and an overview of 66 years of 410 c.i. racing history.

The site was built by Southern California-based Aesthetic Media (aestheticmedia.com) and debuted just hours before the March 4th Mini-Gold Cup season opener was rained out. The site will continue to be expanded with NARC history as the season progresses.

The club sports two “official” Facebook pages. The NARC Sprint Cars page features posts reliving decades of racing history and the King of the West Sprints site is focused on current events.

KWS-NARC news, information, and highlights can also be found on Twitter at @NARC410 and Instagram at NARC410.

KING OF THE WEST/NARC SPRINT CARS KICK OFF 2017 SEASON AT MARCH 4th MINI GOLD CUP

(2/26/17) … The King of the West Sprint Car Series – Presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club, will invade Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico on Saturday, March 4th for the season opening high-stakes $5,000 to win Mini-Gold Cup.

This is the first of only two visits by the KWS-NARC series to the high-banked quarter-mile oval in 2017. This event also marks the return of the Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) sanctioning body to the Mini-Gold Cup for the first time since 2000. The organization was resurrected this past offseason to help grow and promote the popular 410 cubic inch motor class of sprint car racing in California. The Mini-Gold had been sanctioned by the World of Outlaws for the past eight years.

Among the drivers expected to compete include defending King of the West champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise, CA; Campbell’s Bud Kaeding; Justyn Cox of Clarksburg; Hanford’s DJ Netto; Sean Watts of Atwater; Penngrove’s Chase Johnson; Grass Valley’s Jason Statler and at least 20 others.

“We hope that Mother Nature cooperates with the racing community this weekend,” said Jim Allen, KWS-NARC Business Manager. “This area has been pounded for weeks by wet weather and I’m sure open wheel fans would rather watch and hear the sounds of sprint cars than another broadcast on the Weather Channel.”

The extra moisture should equate to an excellent racing surface, which allows teams to “hook up” their chassis to maximize the performance of their 850 horsepower-1400 pound sprint cars.

“One thing I can guarantee on Saturday is that everyone will be extremely fast,” said perennial NARC & King of the West champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell, who will also be competing. “Everyone is looking to start the season strong and if you miss the set up even a slightly, you’ll become lap traffic in just a handful of laps."

The Mini-Gold Cup marks the beginning of the ultra-competitive KWS-NARC schedule that features 18-events at 10 different dirt oval tracks around California.

Silver Dollar Speedway is located at the fairgrounds in Chico, approximately ¼ mile west of U.S. 99. For more information, call 530-891-6535.

The King of West/NARC Sprint Car Series is sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, Racing Optics Tear-Offs, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Winters Performance Products.

(2/20/17 - Fresno, CA) … Fresno-based Roth Motorsports announced that Paradise, CA driver Kyle Hirst will be driving their potent 410 sprint car during the 2017 King of the West-NARC season. Hirst is one of the hottest drivers in California, having captured three of the past four series championships, including last season’s hotly contested battle which was determined at the final event of the season.

“We are extremely excited to partner up with Kyle Hirst to chase the KWS-NARC championship title this season,” said Dennis Roth. “He’s a very talented young driver with a lot of open wheel experience and we plan to field a first-class car for him to drive every week.”

The Dennis and Teresa Roth owned team is title sponsored by HR Livestock Transportation. Open wheel veteran Troy Welty is the crew chief.

Roth Motorsports has a long legacy of winning sprint car races around the country featuring some of the best drivers in the business. This Hall of Fame list includes the likes of Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser, Brent Kaeding, Danny Lasoski, Randy Hannagan, Tim Kaeding, and Kasey Kahne. They have literally won’s hundreds of races including the famed Knoxville Nationals and national titles such as the 2006 National Sprint Car Tour.

“The Roth team always has a positive attitude and a take no prisoners’ mentality no matter what the circumstances,” said Hirst of Sacramento. “Their expectations have always been very high, but they back it up with top notch equipment and a hardworking crew that seldom misses the mark as far as chassis set-ups are concerned. It’s hard to drive for a better car owner and the rest is up to me to deliver a King of the West championship to Fresno.”

The 18-race King of the West Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club gets underway on March 4th at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. The event pays $5,000 to win.

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Since the Northern Auto Racing Club is making a comeback with the King of the West Sprint Car Series in California, I figured it was time to bring back another regular feature from the 1990’s - my NARC NEWSLINE column. Yes, in the old days, there were these things called racing newspaper’s like Racing Wheels, National Speed Sport News, Western Racing News, and SPRINTCAR to name a few. Now they are just remnants of the days before smart phones, when diehard open wheel fans were perfectly content waiting four or five days to get last weekend’s news.

But say no more because the NARC NEWSLINE is not a column anymore, it’s a blog and it’s loaded with almost everything you need to know about the 410 sprint car racing in California. So with that intro, here we go:

As expected, there has been the typical naysayers’ complaining about bringing back the NARC name. I think these same people are still at home wondering why their last issue of Racing Wheels never showed up. Most of the negativity comes from an overall lack of communication, because they just don’t realize that this move was thoroughly researched, investigated and planned out before it was even considered. It’s a plan that should improve the headline sprint car class in the Golden State over the next several years, with its members taking a leading role in club management. The model is … the Northern Auto Racing Club; a sanctioning body that can promote from within, can provide premium racing entertainment to many generations of fans, and grow the sport. It’s not a cover up, or putting lipstick on a pig, it’s a new start for open wheel racing. We all knew it was time for a change – and most people hate change of any kind. So with that in mind, let’s communicate in a positive fashion!

COMPETITION MEETING: The Roth Motorsports compound in Fresno was packed with almost 90 car owners, drivers, promoters and 410 sprint car enthusiasts on February 12th. Was it the killer Tri-tip or the promise of a new direction for 410 sprint car racing in California that lured them in? The answer is pretty simple … it was BOTH! They sat through a Jim Allen KWS-Northern Auto Racing Club business plan presentation that not only addressed the strengths of the organization, but spent more time on the areas that must be addressed to ensure success in the future. The feedback was outstanding and now its full speed ahead into what can best be described as an infrastructure building year. This includes installing an Advisory Board in the weeks to come that will help shape the direction of the organization. Among those who have already stated their interest in a board position is three time King of the West champ Kyle Hirst, and Keller Auto Speedway (Hanford) promoter Bubby Morse.

FORMAT: A new fan-friendlier format was rolled out to the masses and it will be in play at the season opening Mini-Gold Cup. With 27 cars or less, the top three finishers’ in each heat race will qualify for the dash and the top five will earn a spot in the feature. The third heat race winner will pull a pill to determine the inversion in the dash. With four heats, the top three make the dash and the front four qualify for the feature. Yup, a 12-car dash … should be interesting. The finishing position in the dash determines the starting grid for the feature event.

RESTARTS: Remember the days of clean nose-to-tail single file restarts between turns three and four? The one’s where the leader set the pace and the cars powered out of turn four? The restarts that were high on excitement, low on controversy, and didn’t wad up a bunch of equipment in turn one? Well, they’re coming back this season. This was a hot topic at the meeting and it generated a lot of conversation among car owners. After much discussion on different starting scenarios, it ended with a unanimous decision.

POINT STANDINGS: The winner of a KWS-NARC feature event now earns 42 points, three more than second place, which places a premium on winning. However, from that point on it drops only one point per position. The only other way to earn points is to show up (20 points) and to be one of the four quickest qualifiers. The quick qualifier pockets four points, second fast – three points, etc.

Speaking of the point standings, that leads us to the 2017 KWS-NARC point fund, which currently sits at stout $40,000. The championship team pockets ten grand. Additional sponsors are being solicited and the fund and sidebar promotions are expected to grow.

TIRE RULE: The KWS-NARC series has once again teamed up with Hoosier Racing Tires again for the 2017 season. Special thanks to Hoosier Tires for donating a right rear for a raffle at the competition meeting. Owner/Driver Bobby McMahan was last seen walking out of the building with it slung over his shoulder. The season hasn’t even started yet and he has already won.

Well, that’s all for now. We hope that the Oroville Dam stays sturdy, and that Mother Nature goes on Spring Break, so we can see all of you at Silver Dollar Speedway on March 4th – without a life preserver. By the way, that would be the $5,000 to win Mini Gold Cup.