FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series

RICHARD VANDER WEERD GETS 5TH WIN AT TULARE’S “TALBOT MEMORIAL”

by Lance Jennings
TULARE, CA (September 21) - After contact with a lapped car knocked Bud Kaeding out of the race, Visalia’s Richard Vander Weerd led the final laps to win Saturday’s “Harry Talbot Memorial.” For Vander Weerd, the $1,500 USAC West Coast Sprint Car victory at Tulare’s Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway was his fifth win of the season. “Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr., Austin Liggett, Jace Vander Weerd, and D.J. Netto followed Richard to the checkered flags.

Racing the family owned #10 Vander Weerd Construction / Stone Gate Development Maxim, Richard Vander Weerd led the first thirteen laps before Bud took over. Kaeding, who just won the companion King of the West feature, looked to have his first USAC West Coast victory well in hand. Then, disaster stuck on the white flag lap as contact with a slower car ended in heartbreak for the defending champion. From there, Vander Weerd led the green-white-checkered dash to claim his thirteenth career West Coast series victory.

With the win, Richard Vander Weerd has climbed to second in the points and has a shot to win the crown at Hanford’s “Cotton Classic.” At Tulare, the 2011 Champion qualified fifth out of twenty-one cars, scored second in his heat race, and claimed third in the dash. Richard has tied Ryan Bernal for the series lead with five main event wins and leads the series with sixteen top-10 finishes and 118 feature laps led. In addition, the “Talbot Memorial” winner has four heat race victories, two Woodland Auto Display Dash wins, one Competition Suspension Inc. / Rod End Supply Semi-Main win, and two BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Awards.

After winning the previous night at Hanford, “Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton claimed second at Thunderbowl Raceway. Racing his #17V Johnston Calf Pens / DeBoer & Sons Trucking Spike, the point leader avoided disaster by escaping from a two-car tangle early in the feature. “Hollywood” was third quick in time trials, won the Saldana Racing Products / Keizer Wheels Heat Race #3, and ran seventh in the dash. Danny left Tulare with a 57 point lead along with three feature wins, one Weld Racing Fast Time Award, nine heat race victories, four Woodland Auto Display Dash wins, one BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award, fifteen top-10 finishes, and 110 feature laps led.

Tracy’s Austin Liggett had a solid run at the “Harry Talbot Memorial” with a third place finish after starting eighth. Piloting the family owned #83 Lucas Oil / Excel Environmental Services Maxim, Liggett qualified second, placed third in his heat race, and ran eighth in the dash. Last season’s Rookie of the Year sits eighth in the standings with two heat race victories, one Woodland Auto Display Dash win, one BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award, and six top-10 finishes in 2013.

Jace Vander Weerd of Visalia raced to fourth in the Tulare main event after starting eleventh. Driving the family owned #88 Vander Weerd Construction / Stone Gate Development Maxim, Jace was eleventh fast in time trials and fifth in his heat race. The former USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year is seventh in the standings with three heat race victories, one Woodland Auto Display Dash win, and eight top-10 finishes to his credit.

Hanford’s D.J. Netto scored fifth in Tulare’s “Harry Talbot Memorial.” Racing the family owned #88N Netto Ag. Inc. / Van De Pol Enterprises KB, last year’s Rebel Cup champion qualified eighth, won the DJ Safety Heat Race #2, and was second in the dash. In limited appearances, Netto has one heat race win, one Woodland Auto Display Dash win, and five top-10 finishes on the year.

Jim Richardson of Graeagle earned the night’s BR Motorsports / Racing Optics “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a ninth place run from seventeenth. Piloting his #8 Black Star Lager Tiner, the veteran driver was nineteenth quick in time trials and claimed sixth in his heat race.

In his second night behind the wheel of Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, Yorba Linda’s Matt Mitchell earned the Weld Racing Fast Time Award. The USAC/CRA standout ran third in his heat race, claimed fifth in the dash, and scored seventh in the 30-lap feature. Mitchell also has one heat race victory in the campaign.

Markus Niemela of Rauma, Finland won both the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1 and the Woodland Auto Display Dash. Racing Steve Watt’s #81 Christian Stover Foundation / Steve Watt Enterprises Maxim, Niemela scored eighteenth in the “Harry Talbot Memorial.” Currently, Markus is sixth in points with two Weld Racing Fast Time Awards, five heat race victories, two Woodland Auto Display Dash wins, two BR Motorsports / Racing Optics Hard Charger Awards, eight top-10 finishes, and 27 feature laps led.

This Saturday, September 28th, the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series will return to action at Kevin Montgomery's Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona. The $2,500-to-win "Brawl For It All" is the second round of the "Grudge Series" with the USAC SouthWest Sprints and will also feature the LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Modlites, and Mini Sprints. Located at 9777 West Carefree Highway, more event information can be found at www.canyonspeedwaypark.com or calling 602.258.RACE (7223).

The USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, BR Motorsports, Chris Kearns Presents, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, SBI Fuel Systems, Saldana Racing Products, Weld Racing, and Woodland Auto Display for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, email PR Director Lance Jennings at lwjennings@earthlink.net.

For more information on the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series, visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com.

USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE RESULTS:
September 21, 2013 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway – “Harry Talbot Memorial”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Matt Mitchell, 73, Ford-15.639; 2. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-15.873; 3. Danny Faria Jr., 17V, Faria-15.876; 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.920; 5. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.925; 6. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-15.931; 7. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-16.000; 8. D.J. Netto, 88N, Netto-16.004; 9. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-16.019; 10. Max Adams, 5X, Adams-16.080; 11. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.280; 12. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.359; 13. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-16.673; 14. Austin Stone, 29X, Coffman-16.716; 15. James Sweeney, 11X, Lewis-16.844; 16. Luke Keegan, 1NZ, Kaeding-17.174; 17. Garrett Long, 38, Long-17.324; 18. Jeff Sibley, 18, Watt-17.355; 19. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-17.756; 20. Matt Day, 97, Day-17.783; 21. Andy Ferris, 4J, Ferris-NT

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Niemela, 2. Kaeding, 3. Mitchell, 4. Adams, 5. Barnes, 6. Richardson, 7. Keegan. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Netto, 2. R.Vander Weerd, 3. Liggett, 4. Stone, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. Day, 7. Long. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Rutherford, 3. Hurst, 4. Sweeney, 5. Carlile, 6. Sibley. NT

DASH: (6 laps) 1. Niemela, 2. Netto, 3. R.Vander Weerd, 4. Kaeding, 5. Mitchell, 6. Rutherford, 7. Faria, 8. Liggett. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard  Vander Weerd, 2. Danny Faria Jr., 3. Austin Liggett, 4. Jace Vander Weerd, 5. D.J. Netto, 6. Rusty Carlile, 7. Matt Mitchell, 8. Troy Rutherford, 9. Jim Richardson, 10. Kevin Barnes, 11. James Sweeney, 12. Matt Day, 13. Jeff Sibley, 14. Luke Keegan, 15. Bud Kaeding, 16. Austin Stone, 17. Landon Hurst, 18. Markus Niemela, 19. Max Adams. NT

**Ferris flipped during qualifications. Long flipped during the second heat.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 R.Vander Weerd, Laps 14-28 Kaeding, Laps 29-30 R.Vander Weerd.