Chico, CA — (June 3, 2015) — After a couple weeks off the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series is eager to kick-off the summer with one of the biggest races of the year this Saturday night June 6 at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.
The event on Saturday marks the 3rd annual “David Tarter Memorial,” which pays tribute to former Sprint Car driver David Tarter, who we lost in a pit area accident during a King of the West Series race at Silver Dollar Speedway in June of 2012. David was an up & coming driver that never had a large budget in racing and worked hard for everything he had in the sport. The night we lost him was certainly a very emotional one for all. In honor of David Tarter’s No. 35 Saturday will be capped with a 35-lap main event.
Former King of the West Series champion Kyle Larson has also donated $500 to the nights fast time qualifier on Saturday.
The Tarter family will be selling commemorative T-Shirts, Sweatshirts & Decals during the weekend. They’ll also be raffling off a helmet & two embroidered blankets, with proceeds going to the Enloe Foundation, which provides comfort items to children served by Enloe Medical Center, as well as the Northern Auto Racing Club Benevolent Fund, which uses 100% of the funds raised to support the families of injured drivers, crew members and officials running Sprint Car Series’ in California.
Both KWS & Silver Dollar Speedway are committed to keeping David’s memory alive & making this one of the cornerstone events on the schedule each season. The racing has been excellent at the high-banked quarter-mile this season, so we invite everyone to come up and make a weekend out of it. Friday June 5 also features a regular track 410 Sprint Car point race. Camping is available on the fairgrounds for an ironic fee of $35 a night. It’s going to be two big nights of Winged Sprint Car racing with the best California has to offer on hand.
Chico’s Kyle Hirst will be back to defend his thrilling David Tarter Memorial win from last season. The two-time King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series champion started 16th in the field last year and carved his way through the pack to win an exhilarating main event. Hirst picked up the win on opening night with KWS at Placerville in April and will climb back aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr for the Tarter. Last year’s win was a big rebound for Hirst, who looked to be on way to winning the inaugural David Tarter Memorial the season before, only to lose a muffler late in the going.
Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial winner Bud Kaeding goes into Saturday leading the King of the West standings by 6-points over Dominic Scelzi and 10-markers over Carson Macedo. Kaeding had a big night in May at the Bradway, setting fast time, winning the dash and then claiming the 40-lap feature. The Campbell, CA veteran also came close to scoring victory at last year’s David Tarter Memorial, until Hirst was able to grab the lead with just four-laps left in the contest. Kaeding already has two wins on the season and will look for number three on Saturday aboard the Williams Motorsports 0.
Both Scelzi & Macedo will also be looking for good things on Saturday to try and take the point lead away from Kaeding. Scelzi, the 18-year-old from Fresno, ran third at the Bradway Memorial and has had the best start of his Sprint Car career this season. Fellow Central Valley youngster Macedo turned 19-years-old last week and is in the midst of his first full season with the King of the West Series. The Lemoore based driver has earned three podium finishes in the four KWS races and picked up a huge win last season at Silver Dollar Speedway, beating the World of Outlaws on opening night of the Gold Cup.
Fremont’s Shane Golobic has been one of the most consistent drivers in all of California and goes into Saturday sitting fourth in the standings, just 23 out of the lead. The reigning Civil War & Ocean Sprints champ is the only driver to finish among the top-five in all four full-points paying KWS events this year. Former Silver Dollar Speedway track champion Bobby McMahan has shown speed the last couple events and rounds out the top-five, 32-digits out of the lead. The Elk Grove competitor ran an impressive third last year on opening night of the Gold Cup with the World of Outlaws.
Drivers ranking sixth through 10th and looking to fight their way forward on Saturday will include 13-time series champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell, reigning Trophy Cup winner Willie Croft from Sacramento, recent King of the West winner & last season’s Rookie of the Year DJ Netto of Hanford, three-time KWS titlist Jonathan Allard of Chico and second year Sprint Car driver Jarrett Soares from Gilroy. The top-nine are separated by just 58-points, making the David Tarter Memorial a crucial event in the standings.
More drivers set to tackle the Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday for KWS Round five will include former series champions Sean Becker of Roseville & Jason Statler from Grass Valley, along with Princeton’s Mason Moore, Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto, Penngrove’s Chase Johnson, Roseville’s Colby Copeland, Fair Oak’s Chad Compton, Fresno’s Craig Stidham, Redding’s Keith Bloom Jr., Chico’s Brad Bumgarner & Michael Tarter, Laton’s Geoffrey Strole and others.
The front gate will open at 5pm on Saturday June 6, with adult tickets $20, juniors 12-15 will be $15 and kids 6-11 will be $6. All seating is general admission during the night. The Silver Dollar Speedway is located on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, a half-mile west of SR 99 on Park Ave in Chico, California. For more information on the track please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at http://www.racepmg.com
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