From Gary Thomas
Placerville Speedway – Saturday June 30
What:
The 13th round of action in the fight for the 2012 King of the West crown will be held this Saturday night June 30 at the always action packed Placerville Speedway. The quarter-mile bullring is well known for its distinctive red clay, high-banks and loyal fans that pack into the grandstands.
The Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear competed at the Placerville Speedway in April, with that event marking the first unlimited 410 event at the track since 2010. The El Dorado County Fairgrounds bullring has been in operation since 1965 and also plays host to some of the top weekly racing in California.
Chico’s Jonathan Allard goes into Placerville holding a large lead at the top of the driver standings and will be searching for his fourth victory of the season on Saturday. The two-time Golden State 410 champ has always been a consistency machine at the quarter-mile and will look to continue that this weekend aboard Morrie & Katie Williams’ No. 0 mount.
Last year’s runner up Evan Suggs has moved into the second spot after Antioch last week and will be gunning for his first win of the season on Saturday at the helm of his family’s No. 33e sprinter. The Scotts Valley driver has run well at the track and nearly won the main event in August of 2010 with the Golden State Series.
Moving up to third in the standings coming into the weekend, National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Brent Kaeding is another one looking to break into victory lane. “BK” finished a season best second at Placerville in April and last weekend led the first nine laps, until a lapped traffic incident took away his chance at victory.
Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan ranks fourth in the standings and began his career at the Placerville Speedway in 1982 earning Rookie of the Year honors. The veteran driver had a solid outing last weekend at Antioch, finishing fourth in the main event and is just 15-markers back of Kaeding for third in the points.
The “Professor” Jimmy Sills will also be back in action this Saturday at the Placerville Speedway aboard the Dan Simpson Racing No. 4s sprint car. The National Sprint Car Hall of Famer has always been a fan favorite at the quarter-mile and is coming off an eight place finish last week, in which he earned the hard charger award in the main event.
Last week’s winner Kyle Hirst of Sacramento always runs well at the Placerville Speedway and is certain to be a top contender on Saturday. The 24-year-old set fast time and led the final 21-laps in the feature for victory this past Saturday while driving the Roth Motorsports No. 83 machine.
Other drivers set to tackle the high-banks will include Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Sacramento’s Willie Croft, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Fresno’s Craig Stidham, Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Fair Oak’s Chad Compton and many more.
When:
On Saturday June 30 the front grandstand gate will be open at 5pm. Hot laps are scheduled for 6pm, with qualifying at 6:30pm and racing anticipated to start around 7pm.
Where:
The Placerville Speedway is located on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667.
About the track:
The Placerville Speedway is a high-banked quarter-mile oval with distinctive red clay and features an all-time track record that stands at a blistering fast 9.913. The mark was set in the spring of 2004 by San Jose’s Tim Kaeding and then was amazingly matched by Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs in March of 2009.
Tickets:
Adult tickets on Saturday will cost $20, seniors will be $16, juniors $12 and children $6. All seating is general admission and fans are encouraged to get there early.
This past April at the Placerville Speedway:
San Jose’s Tim Kaeding led all 30-laps at the Placerville Speedway in April to win the main event over Brent Kaeding and Willie Croft. “BK” started ninth on the grid and charged forward to nearly get by Tim on a late race restart. Rounding out the top-five in the feature were Bobby McMahan and Evan Suggs. Shane Golobic opened the evening by setting fast time.
Top-15 in Cancen Oil KWS presented by Goodyear points going into Saturday:
1. Jonathan Allard 1804; 2. Evan Suggs 1694; 3. Brent Kaeding 1684; 4. Bobby McMahan 1669; 5. Tim Kaeding 1653; 6. Peter Murphy 1643; 7. Jason Statler 1626; 8. Willie Croft 1619; 9. Andy Gregg 1607; 10. Craig Stidham 1500; 11. Chad Compton 1291; 12. Doug Gandy 1198; 13. Pat Harvey 1111; 14. Danielle Simpson 1034; 15. Kyle Hirst 1012
Winners so far this season with KWS:
April 7 – Antioch Speedway Tim Kaeding;
April 21 – Marysville Raceway Park Jonathan Allard;
April 28 – Placerville Speedway Tim Kaeding;
May 5 – Silver Dollar Speedway Jonathan Allard;
May 11 – Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway Kyle Larson;
May 12 – Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway Rico Abreu;
May 26 – Calistoga Speedway Tim Kaeding;
May 27 – Calistoga Speedway Rico Abreu;
June 2 – Kings Speedway Bud Kaeding;
June 8 – Silver Dollar Speedway Jonathan Allard;
June 9 – Southern Oregon Speedway Tim Kaeding;
June 23 – Antioch Speedway Kyle Hirst;
Upcoming events for KWS:
Saturday June 30- Placerville Speedway
Saturday July 7- Ocean Speedway “HK Classic”
Saturday July 14- Thunderbowl Raceway “Sharp Memorial”
Saturday July 21- Antioch Speedway
On the internet:
Cancen Oil King of the West Sprint Car Series presented by Goodyear-
Official Website- http://www.kwssprints.com
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/
Twitter- https://twitter.com/#!/
Placerville Speedway-
Official Website- http://www.
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Twitter- https://twitter.com/#!/