From Gary Thomas
It was Kaeding’s first career start at the Fernley, Nevada based 3/8 mile oval and his second win this season in the Silver State, with his other coming back in March at the Las Vegas Dirt Track while competing with the World of Outlaws. It also marked his 61st career Golden State/ King of the West 410 triumph, which ranks second on the all-time list to his father Brent Kaeding.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect tonight in the feature, but it turned out to be a pretty good race there through traffic,” said the former two-time King of the West champion. “I really have to thank Dennis & Teresa Roth for giving me the opportunity to go out on the road this season and represent California on the Outlaw tour. We’re looking forward to running at home over the coming weeks now and are excited to get to Tulare next Saturday with the King of the West Series.”
The 30-lap King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series main event came to the line with dash winner Jonathan Allard of Chico and Kaeding on the front row. The two accomplished racers battled down the front stretch when the green flag waved and into turn one it was Kaeding getting the jump. Allard tried to keep the fast moving Kaeding within his sights as lapped traffic came into play. Behind the top-two, drivers tried to hit their marks the best they could around the blazing fast, yet tricky 3/8 mile.
Fresno’s Craig Stidham was able to make a couple of beautiful moves getting into turn three as the race wore on, making passes of Bobby McMahan and Allard in that same part of the speedway. The former “Trophy Cup” winner then closed on Kaeding rapidly in traffic, but “TK” ran smooth & strong over the final circuits and claimed the Matt Ramthum checkered flag for victory. Kaeding also became the fourth different winner in the four KWS events held at Reno Tahoe Fernley Speedway this season.
Stidham crossed the stripe in second to earn his best King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series finish of the season in the Brad Johnson Trucking No. 3 Sprint Car. The veteran driver certainly took a liking to the Fernley oval this year and was one of the strongest cars at the track during the four races run. Stidham also kicked off the night by earning the BR Motorsports Fast Time award for the third time this season.
“This is our best finish of the season with the King of the West Series and of course I would have liked to win, but to be up here on the podium with Tim Kaeding and Jonathan Allard is pretty cool,” commented Stidham. “Tim and Jonathan are two of the best in the business so it’s an accomplishment to be up here with them. We’ve been really successful at Fernley and have had lots of speed all year here. We’ll now go on to Tulare and try to get a win next week because we’re running out of races to do so.”
Allard brought home yet another consistent finish to round out the podium aboard his Williams Motorsports No. 0 mount. The three-time King of the West champion currently ranks second in the standings and was able to shave a few markers off of Kyle Hirst’s point lead with just a few events remaining in 2013. “I really have to thank Morrie & Katie Williams and my whole team. It was a bit of a tricky track to get a hold of, but it’s nice to be back up here on the podium. We’ve been rolling along really well these last few races and hope to continue that at Tulare.”
Scoring fourth at the finish was Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, who sat aboard the famed Clyde & Marion Lamar Tri-C Machine during the night. It was McMahan’s first start in the 3c since 1996 and brought back some great memories for everyone. Completing the top-five in the feature was Sacramento’s Willie Croft in the Holy Smokes BBQ No. 29 Sprint Car. It marked Croft’s fourth top-five finish at Fernley in the four races contested at the track this season. The remainder of the top-10 was filled out by Jason Statler, Brent Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Jared Petersen & Chad Compton.
Brent Kaeding earned the Pit Stop USA/ KSE Hard Charger award by coming from 17th to seventh in the feature after suffering a blown motor in qualifying. Allard captured the six-lap dash while Kaeding Performance Heat Race wins went to Jared Petersen, Tim Kaeding and Kyle Hirst. As noted Craig Stidham opened the evening by setting his third fast time of the season.
The King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will be back in action next Saturday night September 21 during the “Harry Talbot Memorial” at the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. Former two-time World of Outlaws champion & recent “Gold Cup Race of Champions” winner Jason Meyers is set to be in action looking for his third KWS victory of the season.
Advance tickets are on sale and can be acquired by contacting the track ticket office at (559) 688-0909. Reserved grandstand seats cost just $20 with general admission bleacher tickets $18. The Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, California. From the junction of SR 99 and SR 137, go west on SR 137. At South K go south one-half mile to the Fairgrounds. For more on the track log onto http://www.thunderbowlraceway.