By Gary Thomas
With Christmas fast approaching be sure & pick up your Thunderbowl Raceway World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series tickets for those special loved ones! The world’s best Winged 410 Sprint Car drivers will be in action at the one-third mile clay oval on Friday & Saturday March 14 & 15, including five-time WOO champion Donny Schatz of Fargo, North Dakota.
The pilot of the Tony Stewart Racing/ STP No. 15 finished runner up in the standings this past season & will be looking to get back atop the ladder in 2014. Schatz last season led the series with an amazing 23 main event wins throughout the year, including his seventh career Knoxville Nationals title.
To purchase your tickets for the “Greatest Show on Dirt” at Steve Faria’s Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14 & 15 contact (559) 688-0909. All seating is reserved during the double-header weekend with Bleacher tickets costing $40 and Grandstands seats $45 each night. A seating chart is available online at www.thunderbowlraceway.com
This coming season is the 12th overall year of the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway hosting the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. The inaugural event occurred in September of 2003 when 20-time series champion Steve Kinser of Bloomington, Indiana scored the victory over Aliquippa, Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer and local favorite Jason Meyers from Clovis, CA.
Last year’s World of Outlaws main events in March at the Thunderbowl were captured by Elk River, Minnesota’s Craig Dollansky and San Jose, California’s Tim Kaeding respectively. For Dollansky it marked his first ever Thunderbowl win and for Kaeding it was his third career WOO triumph at the track. The double-header this coming March in Tulare will also fire-off a five-week stint for the series in California.
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.
Camping is also available at the fairgrounds located off turns three and four. The all-time track record at the track is a 12.651, which was set by two-time Golden State/ King of the West 410 champion Tim Kaeding on March 5, 2010. Be sure & like the track on Facebook by searching Thunderbowl Raceway.
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Past World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series main event winners at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA2013- Tim Kaeding on March 15, Craig Dollansky on March 16
2012 – Tim Kaeding on March 16
2011 – Joey Saldana on March 19
2010 – Jason Meyers on March 5, Joey Saldana on March 6
2009 – Randy Hannagan on March 20, Joey Saldana on March 21
2008 – Jac Haudenschild on Oct. 18
2007 – Joey Saldana on Feb. 23, Tim Kaeding on Feb. 24, Donny Schatz on Oct. 13
2005 – Tim Shaffer on Feb. 25, Donny Schatz on October 14, Sammy Swindell on Oct. 15
2004 – Erin Crocker on October 29, Terry McCarl on October 30
2003 – Steve Kinser on September 3