By Dick Jordan
The USAC West Coast Sprint cars return to Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. and the point standings are expected to tighten in the wake of Cory Kruseman’s recent Santa Maria victory, which ended the nine-race stranglehold of Ryan Bernal and Richard Vander Weerd.
Danny Faria Jr. holds down the number three spot, 62 behind Bernal, while Bud Kaeding and Markus Niemela rank fourth and fifth.
It’ll be the third appearance of the series this year at Kings and Faria already has a third and a fourth in the first two outings. Kaeding has a second and a 10th and Niemela has an eighth.
Other top finishers so far have been Dennis Howell with a third and a fifth, Austin Liggett with a fourth and Landon Hurst with a fifth.
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.