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Photo by Steven Cox of Sprintcarphotos.com
Tim Kaeding charges from 16th & pulls off final lap pass for victory at the 21st “Salute to Walt Ross” in Calistoga Saturday night
By Gary Thomas
Calistoga, CA – May 26, 2012…Whenever you have Tim Kaeding starting from the back of the field you are guaranteed to see a show. That was no more exemplified than on Saturday night at the Calistoga Speedway, where the defending KWS champ carved his way from 16th to pass Jonathan Allard on the final lap for a thrilling victory.
Kaeding’s win at the “Salute to Walter T Ross” was also the fourth of his career and makes him the winningest driver in the history of the event, breaking a tie with Steve Kent and Ronnie Day. "TK" was also the Pit Stop USA Hard Charger in the main event for the first time this season.
“That was an exciting race right there and I hope all you fans enjoyed it,” said an extremely pumped Kaeding. “My guys just told me to drive it like I know how to and they gave me a great set up. It felt a little like the old days at Calistoga coming from the back like that and we’ll return tomorrow to try and do it again.”
A couple of rain delays at the start of the night forced teams and fans to wait things out for a couple of hours, before finally getting things going once the rain stopped. After working the track surface back in everyone was presented with a lightning fast track all night long.
The 25-lap “Salute to Walt Ross” came to the line with KSE Dash winner Willie Croft and Chico’s Jonathan Allard on the front row. At the waving of the green flag Allard shot into the lead and paced the field with ease early on aboard the Williams Motorsports No. 0 sprinter.
All eyes were on the rear of the field however, as Tim Kaeding started 16th on the grid after losing an engine in his heat race. “TK” earlier in the evening paced the field in BR Motorsports qualifying with a blistering lap of 16.982. The Roth Motorsports No. 83 machine was on a rail in the feature and Kaeding impressively charged forward, getting up to the top-five by lap-five.
Just prior to the halfway point Allard continued to be large and in charge out front, but on a double-file restart with 12-laps down Kaeding moved up to third getting by Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs. The crowd was buzzing with every move that “TK” pulled off and the San Jose throttle-masher then proceeded to close in on second running Willie Croft. With the laps ticking down Kaeding pushed it into overdrive and made a thrilling pass to claim second on lap 19, before setting his sights on the leader.
Allard had a big lead out front, but lapped traffic gave Kaeding the chance to close in and the final few laps proved to be some of the most entertaining we’ve seen all season. “JA” was making the right moves to hang on, up until the final lap however, when Kaeding got to his inside and rocketed into the lead off turn two. Allard tried to come back, but at the checkered it was Kaeding by 0.474 seconds to record his third Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear win of the year.
For Allard it was his third consecutive runner up finish as he continues to lead the points going into the Calistoga two-night finale this evening. Croft brought home a strong third place finish in the Holey Smokes BBQ No. 29 mount, marking his second career 410 podium at the Calistoga Speedway.
The top-10 was rounded out by Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, 15th starter Bud Kaeding, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, Fresno’s Craig Stidham and St. Helena’s Jeff Griffin.
Racing will continue tonight at the Calistoga Speedway with the 29th annual “Tribute to Gary Patterson,” which will be the eighth round of action for the Cancen Oil King of the West Sprint Car Series presented by Goodyear.
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Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear Results –“Salute to Walt Ross” at Calistoga Speedway May 26, 2012
19-cars
Fast time: Tim Kaeding 16.982
Heat one: Jonathan Allard, Peter Murphy, Craig Stidham, Danielle Simpson, Matthew Davis, Tim Kaeding
Heat two: Brent Kaeding, Andy Gregg, Evan Suggs, Jeff Griffin, Pat Harvey
Heat three: Willie Croft, Jason Statler, Chad Compton, Bobby McMahan, Bud Kaeding, Sean McMahan, Doug Gandy
Dash: Willie Croft, Jonathan Allard, Evan Suggs, Bobby McMahan, Jason Statler, Andy Gregg, Brent Kaeding, Craig Stidham
A-main: Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard, Willie Croft, Jason Statler, Bud Kaeding, Brent Kaeding, Andy Gregg, Bobby McMahan, Craig Stidham, Jeff Griffin, Evan Suggs, Peter Murphy, Danielle Simpson, Sean McMahan, Pat Harvey, Matthew Davis, Chad Compton, Doug Gandy
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