by Lance Jennings
HANFORD, CA – SEPTEMBER 22, 2013… USAC West Coast Sprint point leader “Hollywood” Danny Faria of Tipton scored his 3rd straight win last Friday at Kings Speedway. The $1,500 “Jim Turner Memorial” victory was Faria’s sixth career West Coast win, tying Craig Stidham for fifth overall. Bud Kaeding, Richard Vander Weerd, Troy Rutherford, and Austin Liggett rounded out the top-five drivers.
As starter Willie Williams waved the green flag, Finland’s Markus Niemela grabbed the lead. Looking for his first series win, Niemela set a torrid pace until slipping off the speedway. Faria assumed command until a miscue after a lap 7 restart. Richard Vander Weerd, up from fifth, took advantage and drove by Faria to take the lead. After another restart two laps later, Faria turned the tables on Vander Weerd and powered to the top spot. “Hollywood” hit his marks, but Richard applied heavy pressure for many laps. Bud Kaeding overtook Vander Weerd for second and once Faria reached slower traffic, he sailed to victory at the Kings County Fairgrounds.
Piloting his #17V Johnston Calf Pens / DeBoer & Sons Trucking Spike, Danny Faria Jr. continued his championship bid. “Hollywood” qualified seventh out of twenty-one cars, won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1, and scored the night’s Woodland Auto Display Dash victory. Heading to Tulare’s Talbot Memorial, Danny has one Weld Racing Fast Time Award, eight heat race victories, four Woodland Auto Display Dash wins, one BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award, fourteen top-10 finishes, and 110 feature laps led to his credit.
Bud Kaeding of Campbell battled hard to claim second at the “Jim Turner Memorial.” Racing Junior Bowman’s #29 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Bullet, Bud qualified fourth, placed fourth in his heat race, and was fourth in the dash. Running second in points, the defending champion has three heat race victories, two Woodland Auto Display Dash wins, fifteen top-10 finishes, and 7 feature laps led on the season.
Visalia’s Richard Vander Weerd led briefly before taking third at the checkered flags. Driving the family owned #10 Vander Weerd Construction / Stone Gate Development Maxim, Richard was second fast in time trials, second in his heat race, and fifth in the dash. Currently third in points, Vander Weerd is in the thick of the championship battle with four main event wins, four Weld Racing Fast Time Awards, four heat race victories, two Woodland Auto Display Dash wins, one semi-main win, two BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Awards, fifteen top-10 finishes, and 103 feature laps led.
After having fuel filter problems, Troy Rutherford of Ojai raced to fourth at Hanford after starting sixteenth. Piloting his #11 Amsoil / Trench Shoring TCR, Rutherford qualified twelfth and scored seventh in his heat race. In limited starts, the former VRA champion has one feature win, one Weld Racing Fast Time Award, one heat race victory, three top-10 finishes, and 28 feature laps led on the year.
Tracy’s Austin Liggett earned his first BR Motorsports / Racing Optics “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a fifth place run from twentieth. Driving the family owned #83 Lucas Oil / Excel Environmental Services Maxim, Liggett had fuel pickup troubles early in the night, running twenty-first in time trials and sixth in his heat race. Last season’s Rookie of the Year has two heat race victories, one Woodland Auto Display Dash win, and five top-10 finishes in the campaign.
D.J. Netto of Hanford earned his first Weld Racing Fast Time Award of 2013. Racing the family owned #88N Netto Ag. Inc. / Van De Pol Enterprises KB, last year’s Rebel Cup champion placed third in his heat race, ran sixth in the dash, and scored eighth in the “Turner Memorial.” In limited starts, D.J. has one Woodland Auto Display Dash win and four top-10 finishes on the season.
Markus Niemela of Rauma, Finland claimed victory in the 10-lap DJ Safety Heat Race #2. Piloting Steve Watt’s #81 Christian Stover Foundation / Steve Watt Enterprises Maxim, Niemela was fifth quick in time trials, second in the dash, and scored twentieth in the feature after leading the first two laps. The hard charger has two Weld Racing Fast Time Awards, four heat race victories, one Woodland Auto Display Dash win, two BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Awards, eight top-10 finishes, and 27 feature laps led in 2013.
In his first USAC West Coast start of the campaign, Yorba Linda’s Matt Mitchell won the Saldana Racing Products / Keizer Wheels Heat Race #3. Driving Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, the USAC/CRA standout qualified third, placed third in the dash, and claimed sixteenth in the feature.
The USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, Chris Kearns Presents, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, SBI Fuel Systems, Saldana Racing Products, Weld Racing, and Woodland Auto Display for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, email PR Director Lance Jennings at lwjennings@earthlink.net.
For more information on the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series, visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/#!/pages/
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USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE RESULTS:
September 20, 2013 – Hanford, California – Kings Speedway – “Jim Turner Memorial”
WELD RACING TIME TRIALS:
1. D.J. Netto, 88N, Netto-15.761; 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.800; 3. Matt Mitchell, 73, Ford-15.807; 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.825; 5. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-15.881; 6. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-15.921; 7. Danny Faria Jr., 17V, Faria-16.233; 8. Andy Ferris, 4J, Ferris-16.329; 9. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.339; 10. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.498; 11. Max Adams, 5X, Adams-16.592; 12. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-16.601; 13. Kolby Araki, 30K, Araki-16.638; 14. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-16.698; 15. Jeff Sibley, 18, Watt-16.710; 16. Luke Keegan, 1NZ, Kaeding-16.821; 17. Austin Stone, 29X, Coffman-17.272; 18. Garrett Long, 38, Long-17.281; 19. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-17.320; 20. Robert Nuckles, 27, Nuckles-18.358; 21. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-22.212.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Danny Faria Jr., 2. Kolby Araki, 3. D.J. Netto, 4. Bud Kaeding, 5. Rusty Carlile, 6. Jim Richardson, 7. Luke Keegan. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Markus Niemela, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Austin Stone, 4. Andy Ferris, 5. Max Adams, 6. Austin Liggett, 7. Kevin Barnes. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / KEIZER WHEELS HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Matt Mitchell, 2. Jeff Sibley, 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 4. Landon Hurst, 5. Garrett Long, 6. Robert Nuckles, 7. Troy Rutherford. NT
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY DASH: (6 laps)
1. Danny Faria Jr., 2. Markus Niemela, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. Bud Kaeding, 5. Richard Vander Weerd, 6. D.J. Netto, 7. Andy Ferris, 8. Landon Hurst. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Danny Faria Jr. (1st), 2. Bud Kaeding (4th), 3. Richard Vander Weerd (5th), 4. Troy Rutherford (16th), 5. Austin Liggett (20th), 6. Landon Hurst (8th), 7. Rusty Carlile (10th), 8. D.J. Netto (6th), 9. Austin Stone (14th), 10. Max Adams (11th), 11. Jeff Sibley (13th), 12. Kevin Barnes (17th), 13. Luke Keegan (18th), 14. Kolby Araki (12th), 15. Robert Nuckles (21st), 16. Matt Mitchell (3rd), 17. Andy Ferris (7th), 18. Jace Vander Weerd (9th), 19. Garrett Long (15th), 20. Markus Niemela (2nd), 21. Jim Richardson (19th). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Markus Niemela, Laps 3-6 Danny Faria Jr., Laps 7-8 Richard Vander Weerd, Laps 9-30 Danny Faria Jr.
BR MOTORSPORTS / RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Austin Liggett (20th to 5th)