A look back at the 2011 King of the West 410 Sprints Royal Court, Bobby McMahan

Bobby McMahan
Bobby McMahan

By Gary Thomas

Rio Vista, CA – January 8, 2012…Drivers and teams are always searching to get better as the year goes on and that’s exactly what Bobby McMahan did this past season with the Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series.

McMahan experienced a hot streak as the summer kicked into full gear and ultimately finished the season eighth in the final KWS standings. Over the final seven events of the year he brought home four top-five finishes & ran among the top-seven all but once.

“I would probably sum up our season as okay, but we’re definitely not disappointed in our year,” commented the Elk Grove veteran. “Our goal was to end up in the top-five and we got close to that at one point, but just couldn’t quite squeeze our way in there. We had some good runs though and we’re happy with that.”

McMahan began racing sprint cars in 1982, garnering Rookie of the Year honors at the Placerville Speedway that season.

It started a successful career that lasted around 20-years, prior to taking a hiatus from racing for roughly five-seasons beginning in 2003. Following the time off, he then returned to the racing scene full time in ‘09 and claimed the Silver Dollar Speedway 410 track championship.

In his career McMahan also finished runner up in points with the Golden State Series in 1997 and the Northern Auto Racing Club in ’96. Among his finest accomplishments came in ’96 when he captured the NARC Speedweek title with car owner Clyde Lamar.

“The competitiveness of this past season with the King of the West Series really stood out to me,” McMahan noted. “Every night there were about 10 or so cars capable of winning and you had to bring your A-game at every race. We thoroughly enjoyed all the things that KWS did and it was the most fun I’ve had racing for points in a long time.”

The KWS season opener in 2011 looked as though McMahan would come out with a strong finish, as he paced the field early in the feature, but an incident in lapped traffic took away any chance of that. It then seemed to prolong a string of tough luck for the team. After acquiring a fresher engine in July however, “Bobby Mac” and the No. 25 mount found success right off the bat.

“Getting that newer engine was really a huge boost for this team and I can’t thank everyone enough for chipping in to make it happen,” McMahan said. “We ended the year on a great run and I’m definitely excited to get the coming season started. For the past year though I have to thank Keith Espindola, Steven Soares, Glen Gaveron, my wife Linda & family for allowing us to have fun on the weekends and everyone that helped us out. I also want to thank companies like A.R.T. Enterprise, Bailey Bros Engines, Performance Powder Coating, Red Line Oil and Simpson. We appreciate everything they did for us as well.”

McMahan made a pair of appearances on “KWS Tonight” and they can be viewed at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13825099 and http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14823310. He was also featured on a “Behind the Wheel” segment early in the year and it can be seen at http://vimeo.com/22704565

The 2012 Golden State King of the West Series season will find McMahan Motorsports coming back with two cars on tour, as son Sean returns to the seat looking to bring home Rookie of the Year.

The Golden State King of the West 410 Sprints would like to thank the following companies for their support this season: Goodyear Racing Tires, Pit Stop USA.com, Kaeding Performance, Hoseheads.com, Grant’s Fine Art, Auto Meter Products Inc., Contingency Connection, Maxim Chassis, Amerikote, Abel Chevrolet, Bully Dog, Red Horse Performance, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, Hunt Magnetos, Weld Racing, Racing Optics, Butler Built Performance, HoservilleCA, Angellos ATV Rental, Rogue Regency Inn, Williams Motorsports, DES Inc. and Simpson Percherons.

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