By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (April 25, 2011) – Tommy Tarlton etched his name into the record books as the winner of the inaugural ASCS Southern California feature event this past Saturday night at Hanford’s Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway.
The Fresno racer won’t have time to rest on his laurels though, as the ASCS Southern California winged forces take to Tulare’s high-banked, 1/3-mile Thunderbowl Raceway clay oval this Saturday night.
Saturday’s tilt marks the second ASCS So Cal event of the season after the originally scheduled season opener at Kings was rained out on April 9. It also marks the first of four stops for the Southern Cal Region atop the racy Thunderbowl clay.
Tarlton, who showed his mettle with a run from 22nd to third versus the Lucas Oil ASCS National forces in February, chased down early leader Steven Tiner before racing on to the first ASCS Southern Cal checkered flag Saturday night.
Tarlton was chased to the line by 15-year-old Trey Starks, who made the 15 hour journey from Puyallup, WA, worthwhile with a runner-up finish. Starks is expected for Saturday’s action at Tulare, where he raced from 17th to 8th in February’s Lucas Oil ASCS National season opener. Tarlton posted a fifth-place finish in that opener.
Cory Eliason joined Tarlton and Starks on the podium in this past weekend’s ASCS Southern California debut, with Ronnie Day and Mike Faria rounding out the top five. The balance of the top ten included Nick Green, Steven Kent, Tiner, Eric Humphries and Jarrod Little.
The inaugural slate of ASCS Southern California action includes a dozen nights of winged Sprint Car competition at four tracks including Kings Speedway, Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway, Santa Maria Speedway and Bakersfield Speedway.
Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway is located off SR 99 to Exit 86, then 0.5 miles west on Bardsley Avenue to gate 14. For more information, contact the track at 559-688-0909.
The 2011 season marks the 20th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.