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Bandits Begin August Rush at Kings Speedway by Peter the Pretty Good
The Bandit Sprint Car Series begins its August rush at Kings Speedway where they will compete 3 of the 5 Saturday nights they compete starting with the Pombo Classic August 2nd and ending with the first annual Jim Turner Memorial on the 31st . This month will also feature one event at Santa Maria Speedway and also the Grand Slam Challenge Series finale at Ventura Raceway where the champion will be crowned.
Clovis star Peter Murphy leads the way at the top of the Bandit Series points as well as the king of the Kings points in 2008. As we head into the home stretch Murphy's view from the top is pretty nice as he surveys his domain. He commands a significant lead upon all four possible series, including Santa Maria's track championship and most prestigiously atop the Grand Slam Challenge points. Through 15 races Peter perfect has won 7 events and all but 2 races have been podium finishes while never finishing out of the top 10 in the strongest weekly line-up in Bandit history. It is a dream season and a testament to amazing talent and unheard of consistency.
Murphy is far from unchallenged; he is seemingly embroiled in a battle with some quick draw each race. Kings most recent victor Rusty Carlile is coming back to kings on a definite high dominating the field and having the bugs worked out of his new ride ably wrenched on by John Goldman and Randy Carlile. Tipton neighbor Hollywood Danny Faria has been swinging a heavy right foot as he has two wins and two second place finishes in the last four events entered. Both drivers are quite hot.
The Pombo family will be well represented at the Al Pombo tribute event with two racing grandsons and a huge following of family and friends. Fast Albert Pombo is running second to Murphy in both the Kings points and Bandit Series points as he has had a remarkable season alternating between his beautiful hand built 35A machine and the immaculate McCowen 11 sprinter. Two-time champion Big Daddy Davey Pombo is always ready to dominate the field as John Iturriria's clean white 27 has the recent daemons exercised and fully loaded for a victory lane communion. Cousin Steven and crew had been working their tails off the past few week-ends until a tough Grand Slam fifth place finish was evidence to the fitness of the ride to the team. Don't be surprised if a Pombo or two are hoisting the big trophy next to the pretty Kings girls this weekend.
The competition doesn't end there though. Jayson May is another veteran who has broken free of the gremlins grasp as strong runs have been in last several outings. Homeboy Jonathon Logan has been fast and remains undaunted at his track and is a real threat to the field. Justyne Hamblin has made her presence known and several times this season has been among the strongest and fastest at the end of an event and opened some eyes after bouncing off of the wall at the beginning of the Grand Slam, dropping to the rear of the field and with composure and veteran style this young driver carved her way through a strong field to finish right behind Davey Pombo in 6th place. All of these drivers and more are fully capable and due a series win at any venue and quite possible this week-end at Kings.
The brightest rookie crop ever has shown to be hot bed of competition in itself. Richard VanderWeerd with a Santa Maria feature win under his belt has pulled out to a somewhat commanding lead over his nearest challenger, brother Jace by 30 points. Wes Gutierrez, Rick Eberhardt, Ricky Kirkbride, Jared Little, Tyler Schmidt and Geoffrey Strole are future Bandit Stars and evident of the series positive direction. Yes they are rookies and very young, but each is a veteran racer and very talented in their own right.
This week-end promises to be one of the most hotly contested races in a most hotly contested month. The August Rush is ON!
Greg Porte is one tough hombre! Greg crashed hard while fighting intensely with Faria and Murphy through lapped traffic and am happy to say he is OK and although felt sore but he is otherwise OK. He had a concussion from the accident in which he made hard cage to cage contact with another car, flipped violently and ended up stopped abruptly against the infield crash wall. Greg told me he was happy to get all of the well wishes from people who called to check on our racing brother. He has to replace a chassis and lot's of stuff but vowed to be back as soon as possible. I know speaking for the whole bandit community we wish Greg a speedy recovery and speedy return.
I am not sure about Adam Frith-Smith who was the victim of a flip at Santa Maria also. Adam has had some bad fortune recently and is due for a turn around. We hope to see this good guy back in action soon. Geoffrey Strole and Michael Faccinto also had sudden ends to their night at the Grand Slam. Both are capable competitors and we hope they can make a speedy return to this series.
See you at Kings Speedway this weekend at "the Place to Race"
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