From Dick Jordan
Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. hosts the USAC West Coast Sprints July 20 and Ryan Bernal’s series point lead is 44 over Richard Vander Weerd. Bernal didn’t help his cause much last Thursday night, flipping during the feature and finishing last at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway.
Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. won Saturday night’s 30-lap “Doug Fort Memorial” at Santa Maria. He caught Bud Kaeding on lap six and led the rest of the way in his Lucas Oil/Kruseman’s Sprint Car & Midget Driving School Eagle/RC Performance Mopar. Danny Faria Jr. was second ahead of Kaeding, fast qualifier Troy Rutherford and Markus Niemela.
Bernal had to jump into a back-up car prior to his feature misfortune. Faria’s second-place finish enabled him to stay in the title hunt, 62 behind Bernal in third in the standings.
Kaeding led the opening five laps and stands fourth in the new standings.
2013 USAC West Coast Sprint Car Standings: 1-Ryan Bernal-608, 2-Richard Vander Weerd-564, 3-Danny Faria Jr.-546, 4-Bud Kaeding-513, 5-Markus Niemela-464, 6-Jace Vander Weerd-412, 7-Rusty Carlile-404, 8-Ricky Kirkbride-310, 9-Kevin Barnes-284, 10-Landon Hurst-281.