King Of The West Sprint Cars Set To Invade Antioch Speedway On Saturday

Antioch, CA...There's no question about the fact that in it's heyday, the Winged 410 Sprint Car shows that visited Antioch Speedway brought in the fans.  Even the special San Jose Speedway Super Modified races were a big attraction.  With NARC and the Golden State Challenge Series, you had stars like Brent Kaeding, Kevin Pylant, Randy Tiner, Steve Kent, Tim Green and Rick Hirst burning up the circuit.  These drivers were on a list of over a dozen or so who could win on an given night.  However, at times it seemed like the needle was stuck in the groove, "Kaeding wins, Kaeding wins, Kaeding wins."  You get the picture.

BK was very much the Steve Kinser of Northern California as his 13 King Of The West (Formerly Golden State Challenge) and 13 NARC titles would attest.  The Kaeding family is Sprint Car royalty in California.  Brent's father, Howard Kaeding, was a decorated Super Modified champion.  Howard's brother, Herb Kaeding, was a Sprint Car guru.  Brent's boys, Tim and Bud, are both champions.  Tim is a past King Of The West champion, and Bud currently leads the title chase.

We saw the rebirth of NARC this year, which caused many long time fans to rejoice.  The name NARC hearkens back to the glory days of Winged 410 Sprint Car racing in the 1980's, when car counts of 40 or more cars were common, and there was no need for support divisions.  The 3-5 times NARC came to town sometimes sold out the stands at Antioch Speedway.  You had to be there to see who was going to win next.  The roar of the engine, the smell of the racing fuel, the lightning speeds, the occasional wheelie down the straightaway, the thrilling finishes and the spectacular flips.  You had to be there to see what would happen next.

When the King Of The West Winged 410 Sprint Car Series, presented by NARC, comes to Antioch for the sixth race of the season, they will be looking for their first repeat winner.  The record shows that reigning champion Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Hanford champion Gio Scelzi, Rico Abreu and Cory Eliason have each been in the winner's circle once.  As for seconds, Carson Macedo has done it twice, while D.J. Netto, Sean Becker and Shane Golobic have done it once.  Five drivers have third pace finishes, Hirst, Scelzi, Kaeding, Eliason and Macedo.  Can you say competitive?  There is no clear cut favorite at this point, and that makes things all the more exciting.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a $10,000 championship prize, and it drops to $3,000 for second.  Right now, 71 points separate first from tenth in the standings, and that means anybody can get hot and climb quickly to the top.  Bud Kaeding has the Williams Motorsports #0 car 13 points ahead of Eliason in the Antaya Motorsports #20 Sprinter.  Roth Motorsports always has a strong presence, and Hirst has their #83 machine just 17 points out of the lead and three ahead of the familiar Tri-C #3 machine of Netto.  Who will be the winner on Saturday night?  It's going to be an exiting race on the fast three-eighth mile clay oval.

Antioch Speedway's All Star Series Hobby Stocks support the show, and this division is in a bit of a resurgence this year.  Car count is up, and the championship battle is very close.  The winner's list now shows rookie Brent Curran with two victories, while 2010 champion Chris Sorensen, Chris Long and Michael Cooper have one win a piece.  Any one of a half-dozen competitors are on the cusp of their first victory, especially Cameron Swank.  The points tell the story.  Long, who has been competing in this class on and off since the 1990's, is finally going for it.  He leads Curran by just six points and the consistent Swank by 20.

Sorensen, Cooper, rookie Chris Bennett, Lindsey Buirch and Joey Rideway aren't too far out of the lead, but they all know that they will need to step up now or those hopes will fade.  Every race counts, and this is the first of two important June races for the division.  Who will be the winner on Saturday night?  There are some good new drivers in the field this year along with a few veterans, and you can't count out hard chargers like Billy Garner, Russell Shearer, Steve Perry, Ricky Foster, Anthony Vigna and Lori Brown.

The King Of The West Series Sprint Car/All Star Series Hobby Stock show will be a hot ticket this week at Antioch Speedway.  For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.


King Of The West NARC Sprint Car Points
Bud Kaeding    294 (1)
Cory Eliason    281 (1)
Giovanni Scelzi    277 (1)
DJ Netto     274
Michael Kofoid    265
Kyle Hirst    263
Willie Croft     236 (1)
Carson Macedo     230
Jarrett Soares     226
Bobby McMahan     223

All Star Series Hobby Stocks
Chris Long    210 (1)
Brent Curran    204 (2)
Cameron Swank    190
Chris Sorensen    170 (1)
Michael Cooper    154 (1)
Chris Bennett    148
Lindsey Buirch    142
Joe Ridgeway    136
Ricky Foster    132
Billy Garner    129