From Bill Wright
Thunderbowl Raceway
Tulare, CA
Trophy Cup Finale
75 cars
The top point night from the two prelims was used to line up each driver. The highlight of the night was the announcement of a $250,000 donation to the Make a Wish foundation from proceeds over the weekend.
D main #1 (started): 1. Carson Short 7Y (2) 2. Kurt Nelson 72w (3) 3. Colton Heath 33c (1) 4. Colby Johnson 38 (4) / 5. Danny Faria Jr. 17V (5) 6. Travis Coelho 6c (8) 7. Chris Bullock 17c (7) 8. Connor Danell 5D (6) 9. Cole Danell 5 (9)
10-lap D mains took the top four to the C. Short was the class of this field, in an event that didn’t see much movement after lap one on a fast track.
D main #2 (started): 1. Jared Faria 10F (4) 2. Keith Day Jr. 22 (1) 3. Tucker Worth 33 (2) 4. Dustin Freitas 9 (3) / 5. Tim Estenson 14T (5) 6. Bailey Sucich 14B (7) 7. Nick Larsen 01 (8) 8. Korey Lovell 71L (6) 9. Pat Harvey Jr. 15 (9)
K. Day and Worth were sent back a row for jumping. Faria used the opportunity to lead every lap.
D main #3 (started): 1. Ryan Robinson 56 (1) 2. Max Mittry 2xm (3) 3. Jodie Robinson 4 (6) 4. Brooklyn Holland 2 (8) / 5. Chase Goetz 91 (2) 6. Jeremy Chisum 8x (5) 7. Tyler Driever 33T (4) 8. Michael Pombo 98 (7) DNS – Ryan Lippincott 77
This one had the most action of the D’s. Goetz led R. Robinson, Mittry and J. Robinson early. Things stayed that way until Pombo smacked the turn one wall with two to go. That set up an eventful restart that saw R. Robinson take the lead, Mittry move into second and J. Robinson take third. Goetz’s slide culminated with Holland sliding by him for the final transfer coming to the finish line.
Heat one (started): 1. Craig Stidham 36 (1) 2. Buddy Kofoid 57 (8) 3. Kaleb Montgomery 3 (4) 4. Justin Sanders 4SA (6) 5. Jake Andreotti 7P (3) 6. Dominic Scelzi 41 (7) 7. Devon Borden 8 (5) 8. Nick Parker 115 (2)
10-lap heats had a total invert (eight) of points accumulated and comprised the top 48 drivers in points. Those points were added to heat points (36 for the win, 33 for 2nd and so on). The top twenty after the heats made the feature. Stidham led Parker, Andreotti and Montgomery before Parker got upside down a lap in. Kofoid moved up to fifth and Scelzi sixth on the restart. On lap three, Scelzi moved by Kofoid and those two and Borden were in a dogfight. Borden tried to split Kofoid and Scelzi and tagged the latter. Both cars headed for the wall and out of the race. Scelzi took exception to the move, and was later disqualified for the night, surrendering an A main start. Both were done for the night. Back to green, Montgomery passed Andreotti for second on lap five. Sanders followed him into third. On lap seven, Kofoid shot from fifth to third, and then took second in the last corner, setting himself up as the lead point driver heading into the finale.
Heat two (started): 1. Kalib Henry 5J (2) 2. Ryan Bernal 21 (3) 3. Rico Abreu 24 (8) 4. Mitchel Moles 83JR (1) 5. Tanner Carrick 83T (6) 6. Mitchell Faccinto 88F (7) 7. Bradley Terrell 43 (5) 8. Bud Kaeding 69 (4)
Henry was in command the whole way. Carrick was an early mover, getting by B. Kaeding for third on lap two. Bernal was on the move as well after a slow start, jumping from fifth to third on lap three. Abreu entered the top five on lap four, while Bernal moved up to second. Abreu took fourth with three to go. Carrick was penalized two spots for jumping the initial start.
Heat three (started): 1. Justin Peck x1 (2) 2. Shane Golobic 17w (6) 3. Justyn Cox 7c (4) 4. Colby Copeland 5V (7) 5. Anthony Macri 94 (8) 6. Blake Carrick 38B (3) 7. Michael Faccinto 5H (5) 8. Steven Kent 7 (1)
Peck led the distance. Golobic passed Kent for third on lap two before Kent got into the wall a lap later. Copeland used the restart to go from fifth to fourth. On lap four, Golobic took second from Cox. Macri climbed to fifth by lap seven.
Heat four (started): 1. Ryan Timms 5T (4) 2. Robbie Price 21P (3) 3. Sean Becker 83V (6) 4. Kyle Hirst 0 (7) 5. Joey Ancona 88A (2) 6. Tim Kaeding 42x (5) 7. Colby Thornhill 19 (1) DNS – Brock Lemley 10L
Thornhill led Timms, Price and Ancona early. Timms drove by the leader to take the point on lap two. Hirst was fifth by the fourth lap. T. Kaeding spun four laps in. Becker jumped from fourth to third on the restart. Thornhill rode the wall and exited. Ancona and Becker had a nice battle for third, before Becker took it with three to go. Timms was the class of the field, and Hirst came just short of getting to Becker for third at the checkers.
Heat five (started): 1. Shane Hopkins 21s (2) 2. Cole Macedo 20 (6) 3. Corey Day 14 (7) 4. Willie Croft 29 (3) 5. Cory Eliason 26 (8) 6. Grant Duinkerken 67G (1) 7. Tony Gomes 73 (4) 8. Chase Majdic 2x (5)
Hopkins led Croft and Duinkerken early. Macedo moved into third on lap two before Majdic came to a stop. Eliason used the restart to move into fourth, and C. Day took fifth. Day would shoot by Eliason for fourth with four to go. Macedo got by Croft for second coming for the white flag, and C. Day would follow him into third on the last lap in some good action.
Heat six (started): 1. Tyler Thompson 98H (1) 2. Tyler Courtney 83 (7) 3. Chase Randall 9R (4) 4. Colton Hardy 41c (2) 5. DJ Netto 88N (8) 6. Joel Myers Jr. 46JR (3) 7. Zane Blanchard 7z (6) 8. JJ Ringo 2K (5)
Thompson led flag to flag. Ringo shot by Hardy for fourth on lap two, while Courtney followed him into fifth from row four. Courtney would work by Ringo for fourth on lap four, Hardy for third o lap six , and Randall for second on the white flag lap.
C main (started): 1. Hardy (2) 2. Ancona (1) 3. Moles (4) 4. Heath (7) / 5. Short (12) 6. Thompson (3) 7. Duinkerken (6) 8. R. Robinson (9) 9. Nelson (14) 10. Kent (8) 11. J. Robinson (17) 12. K. Day (10) 13. Mittry (16) 14. Freitas (13) 15. Worth (11) 16. Thornhill (5) 17. Holland (19) 18. J. Faria (18) 19. Colby Johnson (15) DNS – Parker
The 15-lapper took the top four to the B. J. Faria flipped before a lap could be completed. He was unhurt. On the next try at green, Colby Johnson and Holland tangled. Once green, Hardy led the distance over Ancona and Moles. Thompson had the final transfer before Heath got by on lap three. Thornhill slowed, bringing caution on lap six. Short restarted seventh, but had moved up to fifth by lap eight. K. Day got into the wall with four to go, setting up one final restart. The lead four remained the same, despite Heath and Moles trading third in a good battle. Short was coming hard, but fell just short of a transfer.
B main (started): 1. Bernal (2) 2. Cox (4) 3. Randall (3) 4. Andreotti (6) / 5. Peck (14) 6. Henry (12) 7. Michael Faccinto (7) 8. Hardy (20) 9. Heath (21) 10. Ancona (19) 11. Croft (11) 12. Hopkins (17) 13. Stidham (18) 14. Ringo (8) 15. Myers (16) 16. Gomes (10) 17. Blanchard (5) 18. Majdic (9) 19. B. Carrick (15) 20. Moles (22) 21. B. Kaeding (13) 22. Terrell (1) DNS – Borden, Lemley
The 25-lapper took the top four to the finale. Henry spun before a lap got in and was contacted by Ancona. Terrell led Bernal, Randall and Cox early. Bernal shot into the lead on lap two, and Randall followed him into second on lap five. Terrell’s third place run came to an end when he got into the wall. Cox passed Randall for second on that restart, starting a great duel between the two for the runner-up spot. With ten to go, Randall, Andreotti and Majdic were all vying for the last two transfer spots. Gomes stopped with 10 to go, setting up a restart that saw Andreotti grab third from Randall. Majdic slowed to bring a final yellow on lap 17. Cox jumped to the lead on that restart, but Bernal battled back and took an exciting win with a last lap pass. Peck came up just short of the fourth and final transfer.
A main (started): 1. Timms (2) 2. Copeland (12) 3. T. Carrick (4) 4. Kofoid (19) 5. Netto (14) 6. Sanders (5) 7. C. Day (13) 8. Golobic (9) 9. Mitchell Faccinto (10) 10. Macedo (7) 11. Macri (16) 12. Becker (6) 13. Cox (21) 14. Randall (22) 15. Andreotti (23) 16. Courtney (11) 17. Eliason (15) 18. T. Kaeding (8) 19. Bernal (20) 20. Price (3) 21. Montgomery (1) 22. Abreu (18) 23. Hirst (17) DNS – Scelzi
The 50-lapper was all about points for the big money. Montgomery grabbed the early lead over Timms, Price, T. Carrick and Sanderson. Timms stumbled on lap seven, allowing Price to get by. Shortly after, Montgomery checked up behind a lapper, spun and collected Price. Timms assumed the lead over T. Carrick, Sanders, Becker and T. Kaeding. Contact between Abreu and Hirst sidelined both cars after the restart, and opened the door for Kofoid, who came in as the high point driver. Golobic moved into the top five on lap nine, while Timms was cruising out front, entering traffic on lap 13. Golobic put Becker behind him for fourth on lap 20. Cox spun on lap 21 after contact with Price. That set up an open red for fuel. It erased a 2.3 second lead for Timms, who was simply dominating. T. Carrick and Sanders traded second after the restart, while Timms kept pulling away. On lap 24, Golobic shot by Sanders for third, and Mitchell Faccinto entered the top five at the halfway point. Macri and Kofoid traded spots as they entered the top ten. Timms hit lapped traffic again on lap 31. Lap 36 saw Courtney enter to top five. Macri suffered a flat left rear tire with 14 to go, erasing a 2.6 second lead for Timms. Kofoid exploded from eight to sixth on lap 38 before a T. Kaeding spin with ten to go. Macri had climbed back to ninth before suffering another flat and restarting at the tail. T. Carrick used the restart to slide by Timms for the lead, before Courtney spun and collected Eliason with eight to go. Timms reclaimed his lead when the green fell again. Copeland turned it up and got by T. Carrick for second with six to go. Netto followed him into third with five to go, but then faded late. Timms would go onto win in impressive fashion. The 15 year old was the second youngest entry in the field. Kofoid was the high point man and Trophy Cup champion. He was also the hard-charger.