By Gary Thomas
Rio Vista, CA – February 14, 2011…The King of the West Sprint Car Series would like to congratulate 2002 Golden State 410 Sprint Car titlist Tim Kaeding and reigning series champion Kyle Larson on their ASCS National Series victories this past week in California.
A year after winning 15 main events on the West Coast T. Kaeding opened up the 2011 season in victorious fashion last Wednesday night at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare.
Wheeling the Roth Motorsports, HR Cattle No. 83 mount at the season-opener for the Lucas Oil ASCS National tour, “TK” opened the evening by tallying a heat race win, before charging under veteran Gary Wright on lap 13 of the feature en route to victory.
The win marked Kaeding’s second straight winged sprint car triumph in Tulare, after winning the final night of the Trophy Cup last October. “I just love racing at this place and if anyone is going to beat me here they better get up on the fence, because to go fast around the Thunderbowl that’s the place to be,” he said after the main event.
With Kaeding staking claim as the first driver to win an ASCS National event in California, the home state flavor continued on Saturday when Larson drove to a dominating victory at the Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford.
Competing for Finley Farms/ Jason Johnson Racing the 18-year-old took full advantage of his pole position in the main event on Saturday to outdistance himself from the rest of the field and record his first ever ASCS National win.
Like Kaeding in Tulare, it was Larson’s second consecutive triumph at the Hanford facility, as he also claimed the annual Cotton Classic this past October. “I definitely like it when the surface gets hooked up and rough so this was a perfect track for me tonight,” said Larson. “It’s great to come out here and win with these guys.”
The podium on Saturday was filled with Californians, as Wednesday winner Tim Kaeding came home second and Easton’s Tommy Tarlton claimed third after starting 22nd on the grid, making it the same top-three as the Cotton Classic in 2010.
“We’re all proud of the way our California drivers performed during the first two ASCS National Series of the season,” said King of the West Operations Manager George Hague. “It was pretty cool to have Kyle Larson signing autographs at our KWS Autorama booth on Friday and then go down and win with the ASCS National guys the following night. We definitely want to give congrats to both Tim Kaeding and Kyle for their great runs last week.”
For more information on the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series log onto http://www.kwssprints.com