From Gary Thomas
Rio Vista, CA — January 21, 2012 — When it comes to West Coast Sprint Car racing, no driver draws more of a reaction from the crowd than our third place finisher in the King of the West Series standings, who just happens to be a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
In 2011 Campbell, California’s Brent Kaeding continued to be a mainstay in the Golden State 410 Sprint Car scene and was able to edge out Jonathan Allard by only four-digits to lock down the third position in KWS points.
“It wasn’t too bad of a finish in the points, but we definitely would have liked to get a win,” Kaeding had said. “A few times I thought that we had a chance to end up in victory lane, but it just didn’t happen. There was lots of great competition this year and these races are never easy to win.”
Throughout his career Kaeding has put together the best numbers California has ever seen in sprint car racing and leads many statistical categories, including the most career wins with the Golden State Series (83), the Northern Auto Racing Club (roughly 160) and Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway (88) among other various tracks he is also tops at.
He has also claimed the most Golden State Series titles with 13 under his belt and the most Northern Auto Racing Club championships, having captured 13 of those as well.
His storied career includes a number of wins with the World of Outlaws, along with multiple victories at the Mini Gold Cup, the Dirt Cup, the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial, the Trophy Cup, the Pombo/Sargent Classic and many other major events. Kaeding even has a victory at the prestigious Turkey Night Grand Prix, with that coming in 1985 at the Ascot Raceway.
You can go on and on about the accomplishments he has put together in his career, but quite simply, “BK” has been the man synonymous with California Sprint Car racing across the globe.
“Since I’ve been going to the sprint car races Brent has been the guy that most everyone looks to for advice,” said KWS Operations Manager George Hague. “What he has done to help mentor young, up and coming drivers is pretty amazing. Even the things you don’t see that are behind the scenes is why Brent is so special to the sport out here.”
Despite not picking up a feature win this past season Kaeding led the King of the West Sprint Car Series with 15 top-10 finishes and also had seven top-fives, three dash victories and five heat race wins aboard the famed Al’s Roofing Supply, High Five Pizza, Kaeding Performance No. 69 Maxim.
The veteran’s best night of the season came on July 16 at Antioch, where he led a number of laps in the main event and brought home a runner up finish to Tim Kaeding at the checkered. Kaeding also had another second place result during the Pombo/Sargent Classic in May, and one impressive stat for the year was the fact that he had zero dnf’s, showing just how strong his 69 team and the “hog’s” are.
Brent Kaeding and the Kaeding Performance gang have been a huge supporter of KWS and for more information on them log onto http://www.kaedings.com/
The Golden State King of the West 410 Sprints would like to thank the following companies for their support this season: Goodyear Racing Tires, Pit Stop USA.com, Kaeding Performance, Hoseheads.com, Grant’s Fine Art, Auto Meter Products Inc., Contingency Connection, Maxim Chassis, Amerikote, Abel Chevrolet, Bully Dog, Red Horse Performance, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, Hunt Magnetos, Weld Racing, Racing Optics, Butler Built Performance, HoservilleCA, Angellos ATV Rental, Rogue Regency Inn, Williams Motorsports, DES Inc. and Simpson Percherons.
Don’t forget to “like” the Golden State King of the West Series on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kwssprintracing for the most timely and up to date information on the series.
Also check out our official website at http://www.kwssprints.com for the latest news, results, history and more on the Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Cars.
Be sure to catch archived shows of “KWS Tonight,” along with special highlight clips from the 2011 season at http://vimeo.com/user5784994/videos and http://www.ustream.tv/channel/king-of-the-west-today/videos