By Ben Deatherage
(10/5/24 – ) Hanford, CA … On a night that paid tribute to the late legendary car owner Morrie Williams, it would be two familiar faces from the Golden State gracing victory lane at Kings Speedway. The Twin 20 feature events were won by NARC 410 Sprint Car Series standouts Justin Sanders and Tim Kaeding.
For Kaeding, it was an impressive 73rd all-time NARC King of the West triumph, while for Sanders, it was the 19th of his career and sixth this season. When the dust settled, Cole Macedo emerged as the overall champion of the Morrie Williams Memorial by a single point, posting a pair of third place finishes.
“All my guys did their jobs tonight,” commented the Morrie Williams champion Macedo. “I feel like we were victims of circumstances in that first main with the lane changing down to the bottom and racing with my hair on fire in the last one and getting as far forward as I could.”
After a big crash on the original start of the first of two features, Beacon Wealth Strategies dash winner Macedo struck first with the Tarlton & Son #21 Maxim getting ahead of the field and in firm control of the race lead. Unbeknownst to him, Sanders, ARP Quick Qualifier Kaeding, and Dominic Scelzi would slice and dice furiously for the runner-up spot, allowing Macedo to walk away in the Tarlton Motorsports entry.
Macedo’s advantage of over four seconds negated by a caution on the seventh circuit. On the restart, Sanders pounced his way into second, kept close with the leader, and motored underneath him in the turn three on lap ten.
From there, Sanders had to deal with one caution but mastered the final restart to score his second career NARC win at Kings Speedway after starting fourth.
“The first couple of laps, I felt okay, and I could see Cole running the top and pulling away,” said a focused Sanders, amped and ready to tackle the second 20-lapper.
“I knew I had to get by him on the restart,” Sanders continued. “I knew it was going to be tough getting around him and I just happen to catch Cole not knowing where he needed to be, and after that, it was just hitting my marks and not losing speed down the straightaways.”
Two-time NARC titlist Scelzi secured the second spot with a couple of trips remaining in his Whipple Superchargers #41 Maxim to finish second. Macedo settled for third.
2005 NARC champion Sean Becker was fourth in the Bjork Construction #7B Maxim for chased by Landon Brooks in the Lippert Construction #42X. Brooks was subbing in for the injured Justyn Cox in the Bates-Hamilton Racing operation.
The brothers Kaeding: Tim and Bud, were sixth and seventh, respectively. Ryan Rocha was an impressive eighth in his NARC feature debut after starting 16th to gain the Williams Roofing Hardcharger award. Seventeenth starter Billy Aton and NARC rookie point leader Caeden Steele rounded the top ten.
In the second feature, Dylan Bloomfield jetted ahead of the field in the Starr Property Management #83V Maxim. Bloomfield was chased down by 2019 NARC champion D.J. Netto, and the two battled wheel-to-wheel for several laps before Netto secured the position on the sixth lap.
The restart presented a new challenger in the form of Gauge Garcia as the Keller Motorsports-fielded Monarch Ford #2K XXX blitzed ahead of Bloomfield and Netto to snatch the lead in turn two after a brilliant double overtake. However, it would be a short-lived reign as Netto counter-attacked on the bottom in turn three to retain the lead.
A new threat emerged shortly after that in the form of 12th starter Tim Kaeding. Piloting the Williams Motorsports-provided EMADCO Disposal #0 Maxim, he obtained third on lap eight, and the runner-up position a lap later. Although it took patience, Kaeding successfully hunted down Netto and the two-time NARC champion became the new race leader on the 15th circuit.
A late yellow with four to go bunched the field up one last time, but it proved not to be an obstacle for Kaeding as he motored to his ninth career Kings NARC win since 2000.
“D.J. has been one of the fastest cars this summer out here, and I figured when he was out front, he was going to check out,” explained Kaeding. “We started hitting the bottom pretty good out of three, and I was making up time as he was running around the top. Somehow, we ended up sticking it, and we got there. We raced him clean and had no issues. This is a testament to my guys: Ashley, Shane, Jason, Josh, everyone that works on this car night in and night out.”
Hometown racer Netto finished a respectable second in his Netto Ag #88N KPC. Macedo made a valiant charge on the last restart to be on the podium to finish third after starting 15th.
Becker was fourth for the second race in a row, with Dylan Bloomfield rounding out the top five.
Steele was sixth, followed by Scelzi. Oregon traveler Tanner Holmes nailed down an impressive 21st to eighth run to earn the Williams Roofing Hardcharger honors. Dominic Gorden and Sanders rounded out the top ten.
HOOSIER RACING TIRES A-FEATURE 1 (20 LAPS): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders [4]; 2. 41-Dominic Scelzi [5]; 3. 21-Cole Macedo [1]; 4. 7B-Sean Becker [9]: 5. 42X-Landon Brooks [6]; 6. 0-Tim Kaeding [3]; 7. 29-Bud Kaeding [7]; 8. 5R-Ryan Rocha [16]; 9. 26-Billy Aton [17]; 10. 121-Caeden Steele [13]; 11. 2K-Gauge Garcia [15]; 12. 88N-D.J. Netto [19]; 13. 10-Dominic Gorden [2]; 14. 12B-Dawson Faria [14]; 15. 67G-Grant Duinkerken [20]; 16. 54X-Michael Faccinto [23]; 17. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [18]; 18 5D-Conner Danell [24]; 19. 15-Nick Parker [10]; 20. 88-Austin McCarl [8]; 21. 18T-Tanner Holmes [11]; 22. 17W-Shane Golobic [12]; 23. 10M-Mauro Simone [22]; 24. 551-Angelique Bell [24]
METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: Cole Macedo 1-9; Justin Sanders 10-20
WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Ryan Rocha +8 (16th to 8th)
HOOSIER RACING TIRES A-FEATURE 2 (30 LAPS): 1. 0-Tim Kaeding [12]; 2. 88N-D.J. Netto [6]; 3. 21-Cole Macedo [15]; 4. 7B-Sean Becker [14]; 5. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [1]; 6. 121-Caeden Steele [8]; 7. 41-Dominic Scelzi [16]; 8. 18T-Tanner Holmes [21]; 9. 10-Dominic Gorden [5]; 10. 2X-Justin Sanders [17]; 11. 2K-Gauge Garcia [7]; 12. 54X-Michael Faccinto [2]; 13. 15-Nick Parker [19]; 14. 42X-Landon Brooks [13]; 15. 29-Bud Kaeding [11]; 16. 26-Billy Aton [9]; 17. 12B-Dawson Faria [4]; 18. 5R-Ryan Rocha [10]; 19. 67G-Grant Duinkirken [3]; 20. 5D-Connor Danell [18]; 21. 10M-Mauro Simone [23]; DNS 88-Austin McCarl [20]; DNS 17W-Shane Golobic [22]; DNS 551-Angelique Bell [24]
METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: Dylan Bloomfield 1-5; D.J. Netto 6-14; Tim Kaeding 15-20
WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Tanner Holmes +13 (21st to 8th)
BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 LAPS): 1. 42X-Landon Brooks [2]; 2. 0-Tim Kaeding [1]; 3. 29-Bud Kaeding [3]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic [6]; 5. 12B-Dawson Faria [4]; 6. 5R-Ryan Rocha [5]; 7. 67G-Grant Duinkerken [7]; 8. 551-Angelique Bell [8]
KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 LAPS): 1. 10-Dominic Gorden [1]; 2. 21-Cole Macedo [2]; 3. 88-Austin McCarl [4]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes [5]; 5. 2K-Gauge Garcia [6]; 6. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [7]; 7. 88N-D.J. Netto [3]; DNS 54X-Michael Faccinto
WINTERS PERFORMANCE HEAT THREE (8 LAPS): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders [1]; 2. 41-Dominic Scelzi [3]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker [5]; 4. 15-Nick Parker [4]; 5. 121-Caeden Steele [2]; 6. 26-Billy Aton[6]; 7. 10M-Mauro Simone [7]; DNS 5D-Connor Danell
BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES TROPHY DASH (4 LAPS): 1. 21-Cole Macedo [2]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden [1]; 3. 0-Tim Kaeding [4]; 4. 2X-Justin Sanders [3]; 5. 41-Dominic Scelzi [6]; 6. 42X-Landon Brooks [5]
ARP QUALIFYING QUICK TIME: Tim Kaeding, 13.833 (24 Cars)