From Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – (July 16, 2016) — Two-time King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series champion & current point leader Kyle Hirst of Paradise put on a masterful drive Saturday night to bring home the $4,000-to-win Howard Kaeding Classic for the second consecutive season at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway.
For Hirst it was his third King of the West victory of the 2016 campaign and the 19th of his career with the series, which ranks fifth all-time. Hirst battled 13-time KWS champ Brent Kaeding early on for the lead and then held off all challengers to claim the win aboard his Roth Motorsports/ Tarlton & Son Inc. No. 21x machine.
“I couldn’t be happier to win this race for the second straight year and to sweep the weekend is pretty special,” said Hirst, who captured Friday’s Civil War vs Ocean Sprints event to open the HK Classic. “We had such a great car in the main event so I have to give a big thanks to Paul Baines & this entire team. I also want to give a huge thanks to Roth Motorsports & the Tarlton family for giving me the opportunity to drive this car. Hats off to the track prep crew for giving us a great surface both nights. That made it a lot of fun. We’ll now get ready for the Peter Murphy Classic next week in Tulare.”
The feature started off with dash winner Brent Kaeding of Campbell jumping out into the lead with a pack of hungry racers following suit. Hirst quickly fought his way forward from the third row and charged into second on lap-seven. He would then scoop up the lead with 10 laps complete, only to have Kaeding take it back on a lap 11 restart. Hirst would not be denied however, and carved his way back underneath to steal the lead one lap later. After that he had his way out front for much of the remaining distance, but the action behind remained extremely intense.
Three-wide racing was seen multiple times on the quarter-mile, as a number of drivers raced closely together for the runner up spot. Fremont’s Shane Golobic moved into second just past the halfway point and looked to make it close on a late race restart, only to have a caution slow things to a halt. When going back green Hirst clicked off four perfect laps and took the checkered flag for victory over Golobic by 1.417 seconds.
It marked Golobic’s second career runner up finish at the HK Classic and came at the helm of the Keith Day Trucking/ Gabilan Ag Service No. 22 mount. It continued what has been a very solid season overall for the two-time Ocean Speedway champion. He has now finished no worse than fourth in his last five King of the West starts, which includes four podium efforts. Campbell’s Bud Kaeding had a nice run in the feature to round out the podium in the Williams Motorsports/ Alviso Rock 0 Sprinter. Kaeding early on battled for the lead, before capping the weekend with a podium finish for the second straight night.
Hanford’s DJ Netto had a strong outing to come from 12th to fourth in the feature, as did Penngrove’s Chase Johnson, who completed the top-five at the checkered flag. Johnson spent time running in the second spot during the main event and looked very solid all night. The remainder of the top-10 was filled out by Brent Kaeding, Roseville’s Colby Copeland, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Citrus Height’s Kalib Henry and Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto. Statler was the hard charger after starting 19th and went home with a right rear tire courtesy of Hoosier Racing Tires.
Brent Kaeding as noted captured the dash, with the three 10-lap heat races picked off by Kyle Hirst, Colby Copeland and Bud Kaeding. All three also went home with a right rear tire from Hoosier. Mitchell Faccinto opened the night by setting his first fast time of the season by clocking an 11.639 around the Ocean Speedway. Jeremy Chisum went home with the hard luck award and received a right rear tire from Hoosier and a set of nerf bars, bumpers and fuel from Pippin Motorsports. Norm Martin Motorsports has also donated a front wing, 4 sleeves of tear offs & 10 gallons of fuel to the night.
A-main finish: #21X Kyle Hirst, #22 Shane Golobic, #0 Bud Kaeding, #88N DJ Netto, #68 Chase Johnson, #69 Brent Kaeding, #19 Colby Copeland, #00 Jason Statler, #M21 Kalib Henry, #37 Mitchell Faccinto, #3C Tyler Walker, #31C Justyn Cox, #25Z Jason Chisum, #21I Michael Ing, #33 Lucas Ashe, #12 Jarrett Soares, #21 Cole Macedo, #99 Wayne Katen, #98 Sean Watts, #91C Shawn Conde, #72W Kurt Nelson, #17 Justin Sanders, #94 Steven Tiner
Special thanks to Buster & Ziggy Enterprise, Alviso Rock, Kyle Larson Racing, Rico Abreu Racing, Riley Collins Body Shop, Emadco Recycling, Swift Metal, Williams Roofing, Roth Motorsports, Maxima Oil, High Five Pizza and FK Rod Ends for all their support of the HK Classic.
The King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series is now geared up for the third annual Peter Murphy Classic this coming Friday & Saturday July 22 & 23 at the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. Friday night following the races on the fairgrounds there will be a post race party with a live band, plus food & drinks available. Everyone is encouraged to stop by and enjoy the evening with us. Camping is available on the fairgrounds with info found by calling 559-686-4707 or at www.tcfair.org
Reserved grandstand seats for the Peter Murphy Classic on July 22 & 23 cost $20 each night; with general admission bleacher tickets $18. To reserve your seats contact (559) 688-0909. The front gate will open at 4pm with racing expected to get underway around 7pm.
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. More info can be found at