By Gary Thomas,Tarvin Images
Placerville, CA – April 28, 2012…It was a picture perfect night for defending “King of the West” Tim Kaeding on Saturday at the Placerville Speedway. After winning his heat race and the dash, the “TK Express” proceeded to lead all 30-laps in the main event and score his second victory in three races this season with the Cancen Oil KWS Series. It was also good enough to make him the new point leader heading into Chico next week.
It didn’t come easy for the San Jose driver however, as he felt pressure at various times throughout the race, including a late challenge from 13-time state champion Brent Kaeding, who looked like the “BK” of old during the night, charging from 12th to second in the feature.
“We’ve had a great start to the season and I can’t thank Dennis & Teresa Roth enough for giving me the opportunity and this whole team that gives me such a fast car every week,” said Kaeding. “I saw my old man poking his nose in there late in the race and I know he has lots of tricks up his sleeves, so thankfully we held on for another win. I also want to thank all you fans for coming out tonight because it’s great to see this place so full.”
A packed house of race fans filled the stands at Placerville Speedway on Saturday, for what was the first Winged 410 Sprint Car event at the track since August of 2010. It was also the initial event sanctioned by the King of the West Series at Placerville and the fan support was tremendous during the first ever visit by the tour.
Following his win in the KSE Racing Products Dash, Tim Kaeding jumped into the lead at the waving of Ryan Riley’s green flag. A multiple car pileup after one-lap was complete however, slowed things to a crawl. Early on Kaeding had his way out front as Chico’s Jonathan Allard tried to keep pace in second. An exciting duel for third also waged on between Shane Golobic, Willie Croft and Rico Abreu.
With seven-circuits completed Abreu solidified the third position and it soon became a multiple car fight for the lead with traffic coming into play. Kaeding had to pick his spots wisely as Allard was all over his rear bumper in the fight for the top-spot. The intense racing on the quarter-mile bullring had fans on the edge of their seats and on lap 14 Abreu was able to carve his way underneath Allard on the front straightaway for the runner up spot.
The youngster from St. Helena drove it hard into turn two trying to catch the leader, but unfortunately put it in just a little too hot and clipped the hill on the back stretch, which resulted in him getting upside down to put an end to his night. Abreu emerged from the car to a roar from the packed grandstands, showing their appreciation of the great job he had done up to that point.
Allard found himself back in second, but on the restart things went sour for him as he caught the cushion hard in turn three and looped the Williams Motorsports No. 0 to bring out a caution. Moving into the runner up spot now was Golobic, who looked very impressive all night after setting fast time to begin the evening. On the restart though “TK” charged out front once again and led the field until another caution appeared with 19-laps down.
The ensuing double file restart saw Campbell’s Brent Kaeding make his presence known, getting around Croft to claim third. After starting 12th on the grid “BK” made some great moves to charge forward and on lap 21 proceeded to carve his way underneath Golobic to grab second. The Hall of Famer then tried to close in on the lead, but a number of stoppages occurred once the 25th lap clicked off. Included in it was an open red flag period after a hard flip by KWS rookie Cody Lamar.
The final restart of the night saw B. Kaeding get a good run into turn one and inch his way to the front momentarily, but “TK” got good bite off the bottom of the second corner to rocket back into the lead. After this “BK” tried to keep Tim in his sights, but at the same time had his hands full with a very fast Croft in third. With the white flag waving Brent gave it one more last ditch effort and closed in quickly, but ran out of time and “TK” took the checkered flag by just 0.537 seconds ahead to grab the win.
The triumph marked Tim Kaeding’s third 410 win in a row at Placerville Speedway aboard the Roth Motorsports, HR Cattle No. 83 mount. For Brent Kaeding the runner up finish was his best effort of the young season and was one of the strongest nights he’s had in recent KWS events at the helm of his Al’s Roofing Supply, Kaeding Performance No. 69 sprinter. It was a good momentum builder for “BK” as he looks for his fifth win at the “Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial” next Saturday.
Rounding out the podium and finishing just behind the top-two was Croft in the Holey Smokes BBQ, Amerikote Racing No. 29 machine. “Double Down” crossed the line just 0.901 seconds behind T. Kaeding at the checkered. It was also his best night of the early season with KWS and was nice to see him back on the podium with the series. Completing the top-five was the Joe Vonschriltz Racing, Country Builders Construction No. 121 of Shane Golobic and the DF Rios Motorsports, YAK Graphics No. 00 of Jason Statler. Both Golobic and Statler had strong runs in the feature and looked very solid in the 30-lapper.
The remainder of the top-10 was comprised of Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Fair Oaks Chad Compton and Jonathan Allard. Murphy earned the “Pit Stop USA Hard Charger Award” by coming from 21st to eighth in the main event. Murphy actually had charged to sixth at one point, but spun to a stop and had to go to the rear of the field for a second time.
Redding’s Tyler Wolf captured the 12-lap Last Chance Qualifier, with Tim Kaeding winning the KSE Racing Products Dash. Kaeding Performance heat race wins went to Paradise, CA’s John Michael Bunch, Tim Kaeding and Fresno’s Craig Stidham. Shane Golobic kicked off the night by setting the BR Motorsports fast time with a lap of 10.226. The youngster also earned some extra cash for his efforts, in addition to a custom aluminum license plate from Grant’s Fine Art.
The Cancen Oil King of the West Sprint Car Series presented by Goodyear will now get ready for the 22nd annual “Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial” next Saturday May 5 at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway. The prestigious event is always the biggest one-night stand for local 410 Sprint Car racing in Northern California and once again will feature lots extra money and awards up for grabs. We encourage fans to camp out for the weekend at the fairgrounds and enjoy what is expected to be a great weekend of racing at Silver Dollar Speedway.
Don’t forget to “like” the Cancen Oil King of the West Series on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints and follow us on Twitter @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 Cancen Oil King of the West 410 Sprint Cars presented by Goodyear.