By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – April 7, 2010…The Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway will roar back to action this Saturday night as the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series, USAC West Coast 360’s and Central California Modifieds get set for an entertainment-packed show honoring the memory of brother’s Chris & Brian Faria with the running of the annual Chris & Brian Faria Memorial.
This year will mark the fourth season in a row that the event, which began as the Chris Faria Memorial, pays tribute to both brothers who lost their lives far too early.
Chris Faria was an up and coming driver who was the youngest of five children to Danny Sr. & Arlet Faria. Chris grew up on their farm in Tipton and was known as the prankster of the family. He unfortunately lost his life at the age of 21 during a farming accident and his memory has been kept alive with a memorial race at the Thunderbowl Raceway ever since. Brian was the oldest of the five Faria children and was taken from us in January of 2006 when a fallen tree hit his truck while driving on a highway. Brian enjoyed helping out with the track preparation at Thunderbowl Raceway as he drove the water truck and the grader among other things.
The Golden State Challenge Series has competed in a pair of races so far in 2010 and this weekend’s event will be the first of two appearances in Tulare this season, with the other coming next month during the Pombo/Sargent Classic on May 15. Overall the schedule for the series features 25 action-packed events at 13 different tracks held around Northern & Central California, as well as three in Oregon and the non-point Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway in Washington. The Golden State Challenge Series sees some of the widest varieties of tracks and regions of any traveling sprint car club on the west coast and at the end of August the “King of California” will be crowned.
Former two-time King of California and ’09 runner-up Jonathan Allard of Chico has won the first two events this season with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series and comes into the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway with much momentum on his side. The driver of the Williams Motorsports, Sharp Insurance No. 0 has led every lap in the feature both weeks, which has been a strong rebound following a frightening crash suffered in early March at the Thunderbowl. Allard was the winner of the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial in 2003 and this weekend will be looking to make it three in a row to begin the GSC season.
Looking to shake-up the Allard win streak will be multiple-time Chris & Brian Faria Memorial winner Brent Kaeding of Campbell, who sits second in the Golden State Challenge standings aboard his Al’s Roofing Supply, High Five Pizza No. 69. “BK” has scored finishes of second and third during the first two series events of the season and will be searching to get into victory lane for the first time this year on Saturday. Kaeding last season tallied his fourth consecutive Pombo/Sargent Classic victory at the Thunderbowl with GSC, which also marked his 11th overall triumph in the long-running event.
Ranking third in the standings is 1997 Golden State Challenge Series runner-up Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove, who last season returned to full-time competition and captured the Silver Dollar Speedway 410 track championship. The former NARC Speedweek champ has put together a pair of consistent efforts during the first two weeks by driving his Racing for the Troops, C&H Veteran Enterprises No. 26b to finishes of third and fifth. McMahan last year scored a runner-up finish during opening night of the annual Trophy Cup in Tulare and this weekend will be looking for his seventh career GSC victory.
Currently tied for the fourth spot in the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series standings are Grass Valley’s Jason Statler and Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs. Statler last year ran strong in both of his GSC starts at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway by finishing runner-up to Tim Kaeding in April and also had a possible podium locked-up at the Pombo/Sargent Classic in June, only to suffer a flat tire with just three laps remaining to ruin his chances for another top finish at the track. The ’04 King of California and ’05 Faria Memorial winner tallied a fourth place result last Saturday in Antioch after running sixth during the opener in Placerville aboard his DF Rios Construction, Nevada City Auto No. 00.
Suggs is coming off a strong second place finish last weekend in Antioch and will be in search of his first career Golden State Challenge Series win this weekend at the helm of his Suggs Racing, Lucas Oil Products No. 33e sprinter. The runner-up effort tied his career best GSC finish and the 23-year-old will look to move up one more spot in the order this Saturday at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway. Suggs looked very fast and confident during the World of Outlaw weekend in March at the 1/3 mile clay oval as he tallied a pair of 13th place finishes while competing with the Greatest Show on Dirt.
Defending Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson will look to rebound this weekend after an unfortunate incident took him out of the running as he battled with Allard for the lead early in the main event last Saturday in Antioch. The pilot of the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Casino No. 99 last year scored a career best Thunderbowl GSC finish of third in April at the track and also tallied a fifth place finish in the final Trophy Cup standings at the end of the year. In November Larson also turned the fastest lap ever recorded in a non-wing 410 sprint car at the 1/3 mile clay oval during a dominating heat race victory with the USAC National Sprint Cars.
Other drivers expected on Saturday with the Golden State Challenge Series will be defending Ocean Speedway Sprint Car champion Tommy Tarlton of Easton, two-time defending Petaluma Speedway titlist Alissa Geving of Penngrove, 15-year-old Zach Zimmerly of West Linn, Oregon, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Ripon’s Brandon Carey, Visalia’s Cory Eliason, Rio Vista’s Danielle Simpson and more.
This weekend’s event will also be the opening round in the Southwest Contractors 360 Clash for the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series. The 4-race Mini-Series will see events taking place at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway this Saturday April 10, Bakersfield Speedway on May 29, Santa Maria Speedway on August 28 and Giant Chevrolet Speedway in Hanford on September 11. The Southwest Contractors 360 Clash also features a $5,000 point fund with $2,500 going to the series winner, $1,500 for second and $1000 for third.
Fresh off his victory last Saturday night at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway current USAC West Coast 360 Series point leader Craig Stidham appears to be the favorite heading into this weekend’s opening stanza of the Southwest Contractors 360 Clash. In addition to his win last week the Fresno driver also brought home a runner-up finish during the series opener in Tulare aboard his KRC Safety Equipment, Brad Johnson Trucking No. 3 machine on March 6.
Some of Stidham’s career highlights include capturing the prestigious Trophy Cup at Kings Speedway in Hanford and also claiming the California Rebel Cup Series title, with both of those honors coming in 2001. The veteran driver was also the 2002 Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year and comes into the weekend with a 48-point advantage at the top of the USAC West Coast 360 Series standings.
Last year’s leading main event winner with the USAC West Coast 360’s was Clovis racer Peter Murphy, who will also be a heavy favorite on Saturday behind the wheel of the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Tarlton & Son Inc. No. 21 sprint car. The Australian native picked-up one non-wing 360 victory at the Thunderbowl last season and this past weekend ran third in the main event to score his first podium finish of the year. Murphy has been a dominant force in the Central California wingless sprint car scene over the past few season’s and will look to get back into the winners circle this weekend.
Other possibilities to be on hand with the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars this Saturday will include Kerman’s Davey Pombo, Fresno’s TJ Smith, Visalia’s Danny Faria Jr. and brothers’ Richard and Jace VanderWeerd, San Martin’s Wes Gutierrez, Bakersfield’s Rusty Carlile, Hanford’s Justyn Hamblin and Jonathan Logan, Caruther’s Garrett Ishii and more.
Making their second appearance of the season this weekend at the 1/3 mile clay oval will be the Central California Modifieds. Last Saturday’s main event was picked-off by Paul Stone, who was the 2007 Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway dirt modified runner-up in points. Defending Thunderbowl champion Bobby Hogge IV scored second last week with Danny Lauer third, Steve Smotherman fourth and Ryan Burns rounding out the top-five in the feature.
The front gate will open at 5pm this Saturday night with qualifying scheduled for 6 and racing at 7. Reserved grandstand tickets will cost $18 with general admission bleacher seats costing just $15. For more info please log onto http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com or call (559) 688-0909. The Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare
Coming up- After this weekend’s Chris & Brian Faria Memorial the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway will take a couple Saturday’s off before returning to action with an event featuring the West Coast Shootout Late Models and Central California Modifieds on May 1
——————
Leading the Golden State Challenge Series standings by way of winning the first two races of the season is Chico’s Jonathan Allard, who captured the Faria Memorial in 2003. This Saturday Allard will make his first Thunderbowl start since being involved in a scary crash with Pennsylvania driver Tim Shaffer during the World of Outlaw weekend in March. The two-time King of California has led every lap in the main event during both of his wins to start the GSC season aboard the Williams Motorsports, Sharp Insurance, K&N Filters No. 0. Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com