By Dick Jordan
The 2011 USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Championship resumes Saturday night at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. and point leaders Richard and Jace VanderWeerd of Visalia, Calif. will continue their season-long struggle for the point lead.
Richard holds a 71-point advantage heading into Saturday’s race, but both drivers will have to keep an eye on three close contenders. Ryan Bernal and Danny Faria Jr. trail Jace by just 10 points, while Wes Gutierrez is only another 12 behind.
The VanderWeerds each have a feature win this season, Jace at Santa Maria, Calif. and Richard at Hanford. Richard also has four third-places and Jace one.
Faria also has a Hanford victory this year as well as Bud Kaeding. A total of 74 points are available Saturday, so the standings could change somewhat as a result of Saturday’s race.
USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS
1-Richard VanderWeerd-517; 2-Jace VanderWeerd-446; 3-Ryan Bernal-436; 4-Danny Faria Jr.-436; 5-Wes Gutierrez-424; 6-Bud Kaeding-376; 7-Greg Alexander-352; 8-Dennis Howell-349; 9-T.J. Smith-330; 10-Justyne Hamblin-323.