By Lance Jennings
SANTA MARIA, CA – MAY 3, 2010… The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series will return to action this Saturday, May 8th, at Chris Kearns’ Santa Maria Speedway. This will mark the seventh round of competition for the powerful 360 sprints and the second event at “The West’s Best Short Track.” On April 17th, it was “Showtime” Danny Sheridan that scored the triumph in front of his hometown fans at the Santa Maria oval.
Series point leader Craig Stidham from Fresno had a sixth place finish at Santa Maria. The pilot of the Brad Johnson Trucking / KRC Safety #3S Maxim is the only driver on the circuit with more than one win. Both of his victories came at Tulare’s Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway on April 3rd and April 10th. Stidham currently holds a 59 point advantage over Kerman’s Davey Pombo.
Pombo earned his first Sander Engineering fast time award of the season at Santa Maria. Driving Junior Bowman’s Buster & Ziggy #3 Bullet, Davey started sixteenth in the feature and was involved in a tangle on lap nine. After his crew made repairs, the former Bandit series champion restarted at the back and battled to a seventh place finish. Pombo took the Bakersfield win on March 27th and will be looking for the Santa Maria win.
Sitting third in the point standings is Peter Murphy of Clovis. Murphy had a strong early run in the Santa Maria feature by leading the first fifteen laps in Tom Tarlton’s Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino #21 KPC. The veteran driver lost the lead to Sheridan on lap sixteen and fell to third after a late charge by T.J. Smith. Last season’s Santa Maria track champion is back to last year’s form and will be among the favorites to score his first victory of 2010.
Fresno’s T.J. Smith scored his second top-5 finish of the season in Steve LeGras’ UHL Rubber #14 Maxim. Starting fifth in the feature, Smith found a higher line on the racetrack that served him well to make his way to the front. The former Plaza Park track champion made a late race pass on Murphy to secure the runner-up spot and tie his best finish since March 13th at Hanford. Smith is fourth in the point standings and will work for his first series win at Santa Maria.
Defending series champion Justyne Hamblin of Hanford earned her best finish of the season at Santa Maria. Driving the JH Motorsports / Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino #8 Speed Tech, Justyne started sixth and battled hard with Andy Ferris, Richard VanderWeerd, and Rusty Carlile to cross the finish line in fourth. Hamblin is now fifth in the championship point chase and is another driver looking for that first win of the season.
Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are “Showtime” Danny Sheridan, 2006 SCRA 360 Champion Jonathan Logan of Hanford, Bakersfield’s Rusty Carlile, “Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton, Mariposa’s Andy Ferris, Chris Ennis of Bakersfield, Visalia’s Richard and Jace VanderWeerd, and 4-time Santa Maria track champion “Junkyard” Jimmy Thompson from Arroyo Grande.
The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, Competition Suspension, Cory Kruseman’s Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, Kirkey Racing Fabrication, Port City Racing, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.
Santa Maria Speedway is located 1/4-mile north of the 101/166 interchange on Hutton Road. Joining the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars on “Mega 97.1 FM Night” will be the MMI Hobby Stocks, Powder Puff Mini Stocks, and Okie Bowl Hardtops. The Front Gates will open at 4:00pm, Time Trials will start at 5:00pm, with Racing at 6:00pm. Adult tickets are $16, Senior, Military, and Student tickets (13-17) are $14, Kids tickets (6-12) are $5, and Children’s tickets (5 and under) are FREE. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.racesantamariaspeedway.com.
For more information on the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car series, please visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com, www.racesantamariaspeedway.com, www.usacracing.com, or follow the series on facebook.com.
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USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: (4/17)
1. Craig Stidham, 3S- 370
2. Davey Pombo, 3- 311
3. Peter Murphy, 21- 306
4. T.J. Smith, 14- 272
5. Justyne Hamblin, 8- 269
6. Jonathan Logan, 32- 259
7. Rusty Carlile, 51- 255
8. Danny Faria Jr., 17V- 250
9. Andy Ferris, 4J- 232
10. Chris Ennis, 86- 221
11. Jace VanderWeerd, 88- 208
12. Richard VanderWeerd, 10- 170
13. Jimmy Thompson, 71R- 157
14. Jesse Mack, 8M- 155
15. Danny Sheridan, 18- 152
16. Garrett Ishii, 71G- 146
17. Dave Knott, 28- 117
18. Kevin Barnes, 36B- 114
— Geoffrey Strole, 09S- 114
20. Wes Gutierrez, 007- 109
21. Dean Alexander, 11- 103
22. Matt Day, 97- 74
23. Jared Little, 25- 71
24. Albert Pombo, 35/83- 53
25. Koen Shaw, 88K- 49
26. Steve Osborne, 9J- 47
27. Ronnie Case, 8X- 44
28. Ray Knight, 99K- 40
29. Matt Streeter, 14JR- 37
30. Scott Kinney, 25K- 36
31. Bill Jones, 16J- 28
32. Adam Frith-Smith, 62- 26
33. Marty Hawkins, 3M- 23
34. Ricky Kirkbride, 87- 21
35. Joey Layman, 11X- 20
36. Tyler Schmidt, 49- 13
37. Aaron Altaffer, 21A- 1