By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – April 20, 2011…Fresh off his victory last weekend San Jose, California’s Tim Kaeding will lead the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series into his home track at Ocean Speedway this Saturday night April 23.
Please note an earlier start time will be in place on Saturday with the pit gate open at noon, front gate opening at 3pm, drivers meeting around 3:30, wheel packing at 4, qualifying around 4:45 and racing to follow. A full program of qualifying Time-Trials, Heat Races, Dash, Last Chance Qualifier and the 30-lap $3,000-to-win/ $500-to-start main event will be on tap in Watsonville.
On Friday night the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will also be holding its first Fan Fest event at Chevrolet of Watsonville, which is located at 490 Auto Center Drive Watsonville, CA 95607. The event will run from 4pm to 7:30 and will feature show cars and displays, including Andy Gregg’s 7-Industries sponsored No. 53, driver autographs, sprint Car simulators, KPIG remote with music and giveaways, free hot dogs for fans, special fan test drives and more.
Fast time on Saturday will also have a special bonus with $250 up for grabs to the quick qualifier courtesy of sprint car super-fan Carwash Mike. Along with that a custom wood plaque will also be given out courtesy of Tim Grant of Grant’s Fine Art.
The always exciting Tim Kaeding currently holds a six-point lead in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series standings heading into Ocean Speedway on Saturday.
“TK” picked up his 49th career Golden State 410 Series victory last Saturday in Tulare and will be gunning for back to back wins this weekend. The third generation driver also won a Taco Bravo Series main event last Friday night at Ocean Speedway and captured the $5,000-to-win Johnny Key Classic last season at the track.
There is currently a dead-heat for second in the standings between Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs and Grass Valley’s Jason Statler.
So far this year Suggs has finished second and seventh in the first two events, placing him close to the point lead in what is his fifth season of winged sprint car racing. The 24-year-old is also the 360 track record holder at the Ocean Speedway and will be searching for his first ever Golden State Series win on Saturday.
Statler last weekend earned the PitStopUSA.com hard charger award by carving his way from 11th to fourth in the main event at the Thunderbowl Raceway. “The Big Guy” has had a strong start to the KWS season and also tallied a podium finish in Antioch two weeks ago. Statler last won with the Golden State 410 Series in ’08 and will be searching to change that on Saturday.
Round one winner Jonathan Allard will be hoping to rebound after a flip while battling for the lead on the last lap at Tulare dropped him to fourth in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series standings. The Ocean Speedway is one of the few tracks in Northern California that Allard hasn’t won a 410 main event at, but a victory this week would be a huge boost in making up ground in the points.
The top-five in points going into this weekend is rounded out by Stockton’s Brad Furr, who has a number of laps around the Ocean Speedway over the last few seasons. The Stockton driver has made a return to the 410 ranks in 2011 and also experienced one of his career highlights at the Watsonville based track in 2002, winning a main event with the World of Outlaws.
Other drivers expected for this weekend include 13-time Golden State 410 Series champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell, Sacramento’s “Double Down” Willie Croft, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Fremont’s Brent Bjork, Chico’s Kenny Allen, Elk Grove’s Billy Strange Jr., St. Helena’s Rico Abreu, Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg, Merced’s Mark Barroso, Rio Vista’s Dan & Danielle Simpson, Oakhurst’s Doug Gandy and more.
Adult tickets will cost $20 on Saturday night, children 6 to 12 will be $15, seniors 65 and older are $18 and kids five and under will be free. A family pack featuring two adults and two children will be available for $55.
The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, two miles east of Watsonville, California on SR 152. The physical address is 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076. More info can be found at http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Upcoming events-
Next Saturday night April 30 the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series will head to the Marysville Raceway Park in Marysville, California for the fourth round of action in 2011. After that the tour will get set for the 21st annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday May 7.
Bradway Memorial lap money is still for sale and is up for grabs in the Last Chance Qualifier and the 40-lap A-main. Laps cost $100 each and the money is split up among the top-three drivers each lap with the leader getting $50, second place $30 and third place earning $20.
Those looking to purchase a lap for the Bradway Memorial please contact Dave & Dianne Durica at Durica1414@sbcglobal.net or call 916-988-5958.
For more information on these fast approaching shows and to view the entire schedule of events for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series go to http://www.kwssprints.com
You can also follow KWS on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KWS410s#!/pages/Golden-State-King-of-the-West-Series/150145691703907 and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/KWS410s