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Photo by Brandon Skaggs
Two-time Outlaw champ Jason Meyers fends off Kyle Hirst to win a thriller on opening night of the King of the West Sprint Car Series "Chris & Brian Faria Memorial" in Tulare
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – May 25, 2013…Clovis, California's Jason Meyers showed the form that made him a two-time World of Outlaws champion on Saturday night at the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway, fending off the relentless challenges of Kyle Hirst and others to complete a clean sweep during the seventh round of action for the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series.
It was the 13th Golden State/ King of the West 410 Series victory of Meyers' career, giving him sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list and putting him within one win of tying Tyler Walker for sixth. The evening couldn't have gone better for Meyers, who set fast time, won his heat race, won the dash and then claimed an immensely entertaining 30-lap main event to cap the night. The triumph came aboard the Tarlton & Son Inc., Corporate America Investments No. 21m KPC machine and was the first clean sweep in series competition since 2010.
"Wow is all I can say right now," said an exuberant Meyers on the front stretch. "I hope all you fans enjoyed that because it sure was fun from my seat. Kyle Hirst gave me everything I could handle there and I really had to get up on my toes and work for it. I love racing out here in California when I get the chance and there is no better place than the Thunderbowl. This place is awesome. I really have to thank the whole Tarlton family for the chance to drive this car and all the sponsors that support our efforts."
The 30-lap feature went green with Meyers getting the advantage into turn one, but the pack of 22 cars strong immediately began to dice it up throughout the field. Sacramento's Willie Croft, who married long time fiancée Samantha last Sunday, had his elbows up early on and closed in on Meyers quickly. Rounding turn four to complete lap three "Double Down" charged to the high scary side and zoomed around the No. 21m sprint car to take the lead as the crowd came to their feet. Croft was able to maintain the lead as lapped traffic came into play and did a terrific job navigating the slower cars with Meyers breathing down his neck.
Croft was in search of his third victory of the KWS season aboard the Tri-C Machine sprinter and sat out front as the midway point was reached, but at that same time had Meyers, Kyle Hirst and current point leader Rico Abreu right there within striking distance. Racing through thick and heavy lapped traffic Croft would make one minor slip up and allowed Meyers the chance to retake the lead off turn two on lap 17, with Hirst following along in second. Three-time & defending KWS champ Jonathan Allard was also beginning to pick up steam and got by Abreu for fourth, but shortly after would bring out the red flag when he got upside down in turn three on lap 19.
When racing got back underway it soon became a fight for the lead between Meyers and Hirst up front. With just under 10-circuits remaining Hirst got a big run down the back stretch and pulled a crowd pleasing slide job to get by Meyers through turns three and four, but the two-time Outlaw champion crossed over and sliced back into the lead heading into turn one. The 25-year-old Hirst wasn't done just yet however, as a couple laps later pulled off the same maneuver through three and four, but once again Meyers was able to use his veteran prowess to cut back to the inside and reclaim the lead.
With the crowd buzzing with excitement Hirst remained glued to Meyers' back bumper as the laps ticked off and when Willie Williams waved the white flag, Hirst gave it one more shot. The driver of the Roth Enterprises No. 83jr mount railed the high side through turns one and two and got another big run down the back stretch. Going into the final set of corners Hirst charged to the low line to get side by side with Meyers and as the duo came off turn four it was Meyers just hanging on by 0.165 seconds for the thrilling victory.
Hirst gave it all he had over the final half of the race but came up just short of winning his second King of the West 410 main event of the year. "That was a great race there with Jason Meyers and I had a lot of fun tonight racing on this track," Hirst commented. "Those final few laps were some of the best racing you'll see and I really wanted to give Dennis & Teresa Roth a win at their home track. I want to congratulate Jason on the win because he did a great job. We'll come back here tomorrow and try to put this Roth Enterprises car into victory lane. Big thanks to this whole team for all their hard work."
Abreu was able to cross the stripe in third aboard the Abreu Vineyards No. 24 and did another great job to earn his sixth podium finish in the first seven races of the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series season. "I just love racing here in Tulare and it's nice to be back up here again on the podium," said Abreu. "We were a tick free in the feature, but Jason Meyers and Kyle Hirst were really good tonight and that was a great battle there over the last few laps. I want to thank Paul Silva and all my guys and hopefully we can come back tomorrow and put this thing in the winner's circle."
Medford, Oregon's Roger Crockett made the trip down for Memorial Day Weekend and had a strong run in the feature to come from 10th to fourth in the SKS Racing No. 11 machine. It's always a pleasure to have the multiple-time NW Sprint Car Champion on hand with the King of the West 410 Series. After leading a number of laps in the main event Croft came home in fifth to score his fourth consecutive top-five finish. Completing the top-10 in the 30-lapper were Dominic Scelzi, Peter Murphy, Craig Stidham, Carson Macedo and Brent Kaeding. Full results are available at www.kwssprints.com
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