From Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA — (March 9, 2015) — A milestone season packed full of special shows & historic events will kick-off for the King of the West Sprint Car Series at Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway this Friday & Saturday, in what will be the first ever co-sanctioned weekend with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
Since originally starting out as the Golden State 410 Series in 1986, this season marks the 30th anniversary for what is now known as the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series. The tour will once again will be held under the leadership of John Prentice & Brent Kaeding, who begin their second full season managing the series.
Last year saw Chico’s Kyle Hirst become the first back-to-back series champion since Brent Kaeding accomplished the feat in the mid 1990’s. Hirst & Kaeding are part of an illustrious list of titlists in the first 29-years of the series that also includes Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard, Kyle Larson, Tyler Walker, Sean Becker, Jason Statler, Ronnie Day, Randy Hannagan, Tim Green and the “Original King” Steve Kent.
A number of major showcases are on tap for the King of the West Sprint Car Series this season, including this weekend’s initial co-sanctioned event with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in Tulare. In addition to the Thunderbowl this Friday & Saturday, KWS is also partnering with the “Greatest Show on Dirt” at Calistoga Speedway’s Wine Country Outlaw Showdown on Saturday & Sunday April 11 & 12.
Each of the co-sanctioned weekends will award King of the West Sprint Car Series show up points. The first of 18 full-point events takes place on Saturday April 4 at Placerville Speedway’s Gold Country Shootout, which also features the BCRA Midgets. The event takes place just days before the World of Outlaws return to the red clay on the following Wednesday, giving Nor Cal drivers & teams a chance to have some track time on the action packed quarter-mile prior to the WOO show.
Hirst led the way last season with four victories en route to his second straight King of the West title. He also had tremendous consistency, finishing on the podium in half of the races and in the top-five 13-times out of 18 starts aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr. This year he will go after a third straight series title, as he moves over to the Main Motorsports No. 35m Sprinter in 2015. Hirst will make his debut in the car this weekend in Tulare.
After finishing runner up last year in the points Campbell’s Bud Kaeding will be gunning for his first KWS title in 2015. The driver of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 machine had speed last year when competing with the World of Outlaws and will look for his first series victory this weekend in Tulare. Three-time King of the West champ Jonathan Allard of Chico & Lemoore’s Carson Macedo are a couple of California drivers that tasted victory with the Outlaws last year. Allard captured the prestigious Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway, while Macedo claimed the prelim night at the event. Both will be contenders in Tulare.
The March double header last season at Thunderbowl Raceway saw Rutherford’s Rico Abreu tally his first career World of Outlaws victory during the finale. The always hard charging driver also claimed a trio of wins with the King of the West Series during the year, including the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial, the Wine Country Classic and the Gold Country Shootout. Earlier this year Abreu raced to the biggest victory of his career when he took the checkered flag at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Oklahoma. The now 23-year-old will be in action both nights this weekend in Tulare.
Two-time King of the West Series champion Tim Kaeding has captured three World of Outlaws victories at the Thunderbowl and looks to keep up that success this weekend. The San Jose wheel-man will be aboard a Roth Motorsports Sprinter at the one-third mile clay oval, where he is routinely the driver to beat. TK scored his WOO wins at the track in 2007, 2012 & 2013, while also picking up a victory in the 2006 National Sprint Tour finale at the Tulare County Fairgrounds based facility.
Other King of the West Series & California competitors competing against the Greatest Show on Dirt weekend will include reigning Trophy Cup champion at Thunderbowl Raceway, Willie Croft of Sacramento, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Central Valley chargers Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, Craig Stidham, Mitchell Faccinto & Cory Eliason, last year’s Civil War & Ocean Sprints champ Shane Golobic from Fremont, 2nd year KWS driver Jarrett Soares of Gilroy, Trophy Cup prelim winner Colby Copeland of Roseville, Hollister’s Ryan Bernal, Penngrove’s Chase Johnson, Fair Oak’s Chad Compton and more.
To purchase your tickets for Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway this Friday & Saturday March 13 & 14 contact (559) 688-0909. The front gate will open at 4pm both nights with racing scheduled to fire off around 7pm. 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
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 for $40 a night at the fairgrounds located off turns three and four.
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at www.racepmg.com
Be sure to like the KWS Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints and become a member of our Twitter community at https://twitter.com/KwsSprintRacing for all the latest breaking news regarding the series