Tulare, CA … Tanner Holmes and Caeden Steele were the big NARC sprint car winners at the Morrie Williams Memorial, each earning one of the twin 20-lap features Saturday at the Thunderbowl Raceway.
For Holmes, it was his second career NARC victory, and Steele’s win in the second feature was his first career triumph. Their victories came in the event honoring one of California’s legendary and most popular car owners. And ironically it was Tim Kaeding who was the overall winner on points while driving the Williams Motorsports No. 0.
Holmes ran third early in the first 20-lapper as reigning NARC champion Justin Sanders took the lead over Ryan Bernal at the start. Sanders led the first 11 circuits before Bernal challenged him on Lap 12. Bernal threw a slider in Turns 3 and 4, sliding up the track ahead of Sanders. Sanders turned his car back down to get inside of Bernal, but the two made contact entering the front stretch and caused significant damage to both cars. Both stopping on the track to bring out what would be the only caution between the twin 20-lappers, it handed the lead over to Holmes.
Taking full advantage of that turn of events, Holmes motored away from the field and led the remaining nine laps to score the win aboard the American Rock & Rent-sponsored Tarlton Motorsports No. 21 Kistler-powered Maxim. Holmes won his first NARC feature race last June at Southern Oregon Speedway, driving his family’s car. Having strong runs with the Tarlton team early this season, Saturday’s win was one many felt was inevitable for Holmes.
D.J. Netto, was unable to chase down Holmes late as they raced through traffic but still finished second in the Penny Newman Grain-sponsored Netto Ag No. 88N Rider-powered KPC. Kaeding finished third aboard the Emadco Disposal-sponsored Williams Motorsports No. 0 Maxwill-powered Maxim. Shane Golobic was fourth and Sean Becker finished fifth after starting eighth.
Gauge Garcia came from 14th to finish sixth, earning the Williams Roofing Hard Charger nod. Landon Brooks, Joel Meyers Jr, Tyler Thompson and Chance Grasty rounded out the Top 10 in the first main event.
The second feature saw a complete invert of the cars that finished on the lead lap. That resulted in Holmes slated to start 17th, and it put Steele on the front row. Steele took advantage and led all 20 laps of the caution-free affair. Steele was challenged early by Joey Ancona and then made his way through traffic late, holding off the hard charging Braden Chiaramonte at the end to pick up his first career NARC 410 sprint car win.
Steele celebrated by doing some donuts in the Tarlton & Son-sponsored BCCR No. 121 Kistler-powered Maxim and coming to a stop in Turn 4. He then climbed out of his car and sprinted on foot most of the way down the front stretch to celebrate with the family and team.
Braden Chiaramonte took runner-up in the second feature aboard the System 1-sponsored Tiner Hirst Enterprises No. 94th Moss-powered Eagle after starting fourth. Dominic Gorden finished third aboard the Silva’s All Natural Beef-sponsored Fortitude Driver Development No. 10 Rider-powered Maxim. Joey Ancona, after running second early on, finished fourth. Bud Kaeding was fifth ahead of Dominic Scelzi and Kaleb Montgomery. Tim Kaeding, Grasty and Netto rounded out the Top 10.
Tim Kaeding earned the hard charger nod in the second feature, coming from 15th to finish eighth. His point score of 11 (the total of his two finishing positions, third and eighth, respectively), bested the 12 by Netto and the 13 by Holmes – who finished 12th in the second feature after winning the first. That fittingly gave Kaeding the overall win in the Morrie Williams Memorial, much to the delight of the team and his fans, and he also earned a $1,000 bonus for his work. Kaeding was pushed back out onto the track following the second feature and he celebrated by performing his usual set of donuts.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Sanders, Tim Kaeding, and Golobic.
Tanner Holmes paced the 24-car field in Automotive Racing Products Qualifying with a time of 13.593 seconds around the 1/3-mile, high-banked clay oval.
Hoosier Racing Tires Feature 1 (20 laps): 1. 21 Tanner Holmes (4), 2. 88n D.J. Netto (3), 3. 0 Tim Kaeding (6), 4. 17w Shane Golobic (5), 5. 7b Sean Becker (8), 6. 2k Gauge Garcia (14), 7. 21L Landon Brooks (7), 8. 46jr Joel Meyers Jr (10), 9. 35km Tyler Thompson (12), 10. X1 Chance Grasty (16), 11. 3 Kaleb Montgomery (15), 12. 29 Bud Kaeding (18), 13. 41 Dominic Scelzi (13), 14. 94th Braden Chiaramonte (20), 15. 10 Dominic Gorden (17), 16. 17 Joey Ancona (21), 17. 121 Caeden Steele (17), 18. 26 Billy Aton (19), 19. 83t Tanner Carrick (9), 20. 17v Danny Faria Jr (24), 21. 14 Mariah Ede (23), 22. 12 Jarrett Soares (22), 23. 2x Justin Sanders (2), 24. 73 Ryan Bernal (1).
METTEC Titanium Lap Leaders, Feature 1: Justin Sanders 1-11, Tanner Holmes 12-20
Williams Roofing Hard Charger, Feature 1: 2k Gauge Garcia, +8 (14th to 6th)
Hoosier Racing Tires Feature 2 (20 laps): 1. 121 Caeden Steele (1), 2. 94th Braden Chiaramonte (4), 3. 10 Dominic Gorden (3), 4. 17 Joey Ancona (2), 5. 29 Bud Kaeding (6), 6. 41 Dominic Scelzi (5), 7. 3 Kaleb Montgomery (7), 8. 0 Tim Kaeding (15), 9. X1 Chance Grasty (8), 10. 88n D.J. Netto (16), 11. 35km Tyler Thompson (9), 12. 21 Tanner Holmes (17), 13. 21L Landon Brooks (11), 14. 7b Sean Becker (13), 15. 17w Shane Golobic (14), 16. 2k Gauge Garcia (12), 17. 46jr Joel Meyers Jr (10), 18. 73 Ryan Bernal (22), 19. 14 Mariah Ede (20), 20. 17v Danny Faria Jr (19), 21. 12 Jarrett Soares (21), 22. 26 Billy Aton (18), DNS – 83t Tanner Carrick, 2x Justin Sanders
METTEC Titanium Lap Leaders, Feature 2: Caeden Steele 1-20
Williams Roofing Hard Charger, Feature 2: Tim Kaeding, +7 (15th to 8th)
Automotive Racing Products Fast Qualifier (24 laps): 21 Tanner Holmes, 13.593 seconds
Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 2x Justin Sanders, 2. 21L Landon Brooks, 3. 46jr Joel Meyers Jr, 4. 21 Tanner Holmes, 5. 2k Gauge Garcia, 6. 29 Bud Kaeding, 7. 26 Billy Aton, 8. 14 Mariah Ede.
Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 0 Tim Kaeding, 2. 7b Sean Becker, 3. 88n D.J. Netto, 4. 41 Dominic Scelzi, 5. 10 Dominic Gorden, 6. 121 Caeden Steele, 7. 94th Braden Chiaramonte, 8. 17v Danny Faria Jr.
WEDG High Performance Karts Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 17w Shane Golobic, 2. 83t Tanner Carrick, 3. 73 Ryan Bernal, 4. 35km Tyler Thompson, 5. 3 Kaleb Montgomery, 6. X1 Chance Grasty, 7. 17 Joey Ancona, 8. 12 Jarrett Soares.
Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash (6 laps): 1. 73 Ryan Bernal, 2. 2x Justin Sanders, 3. 88n D.J. Netto, 4. 21 Tanner Holmes, 5. 17w Shane Golobic, 6. 0 Tim Kaeding.