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Silver Dollar Speedway
Mini Gold Cup Night Two
Golden State Challenge King of California Series Round #2
Media contact: Troy Hennig – [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
Tim Kaeding Defends Mini Gold Cup Championship_
(Chico, Ca 3/10/07)...Driving a with an eleven year old motor Tim
Kaeding wins an action packed final night during the 21^th Annual Mini
Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday night. Kaeding dominated
the 40-lap race driving the Taco Bravo #72w. “It just shows you that
you
can still come out here and win without having the biggest budgets and
the newest equipment,” said Kaeding in victory lane.
With last night's win, Kaeding has now won back-to-back Mini Gold Cup
Saturday night championships. The win, Kaeding's 29^th of his career
during the Golden State Challenge, moved him into second place on the
all-time win list. The driver he trails is his father Brent, with 70
career wins, who finished second in the main event. "I may be behind
him
(in career wins), but I haven't even been racing half as long as him,"
Tim Kaeding joked.
The younger Kaeding also jabbed that his dad was trying to use some of
his old tricks to get inside the kids head. "He's learned all my
tricks," Brent Kaeding said. "That's why he's in the winners circle
tonight." The Kaeding Performance, Maxim chassis, Al's Roofing Supply
#69 was a contender all weekend long.
The night's highlight belonged to Brent and his long-time crew chief
and
friend Billy Albini. After the dash was complete, John Padjen and staff
was able to present Albini with the Dave Bradway Jr. Inspirational
Award. Albini has battled and is beating cancer that sidelined him for
a
while. While Billy spoke the crowd listened more intently than any
other
interview I have ever been around. While the crowd erupted with
applause
with Billy's incredible words, Padjen also brought out Brent Kaeding to
present him a framed article about the Kaeding family. It was truly a
special moment for two of the biggest ambassadors of sprint car racing.
It was nice to not only recognize Brent but also give our love to
Albini, a true inspiration to the sport of sprint car racing.
The 40-lap main event started with Tim Kaeding and Jason Meyers on the
front row. The main featured numerous yellow and red flags. The race
started with 22 cars but finished with only half of the main event
drivers on the track. In fact, the whole night seemed to slug along
with
either early season jitters or a tricky track that caught these drivers
off guard with it's rough and tumble surface.
Kaeding and Meyers led the charge. Jonathan Allard moved into the third
spot with Brent Kaeding fourth and Greg DeCaires in fifth. Sixth place
running Chuck Gurney Jr. was sixth but slowed out of turn two and was
done for the night.
Jason Statler was once again on the move. Last night he passed 14 cars
to finish fifth. Within 10 laps, Statler had moved from 19^th starting
spot to sixth. His charge led him into fifth for a while but he
ultimately finished seventh in the Tom Rolfe Special, DF Rios, Pheasant
Run Shopping Center #10.
Yet, the drive of the night belonged to a certain shark. Sean Becker
started in the 18^th position. By lap 30 he was still charging to the
front. While Becker should be commended for just avoiding all the
accidents the former series champion got up in the seat tonight and
brought the Tom Fisher/Kyle Main #35m sponsored by Cherry St. Mini
Storage. Becker drove the JEI chassis to a fourth place finish.
Remarkably, the night prior Becker passed 14 cars. Tonight, the same
amount of cars. It's a wonder what his weekend would have been like if
he started towards the front.
Jason Meyers weekend was a mix of strong runs that resulted in
unexplained bad luck. The night prior Meyers was running second until a
slower car spun in front of him and ultimately crashed his car out of
the win. Tonight he would encounter the same exact thing. While Tim
Kaeding battled with slower traffic, Meyers closed in and looked to
take
the lead. However, coming out of turn four in the same spot and
situation a car getting lapped spun and collected Meyers. To his credit
and the teams unwillingnesses to not give up, they were able to repair
the car and get him back on the track. Meyers continued on and marched
back to the front. After two nights of bad luck Meyers finished in the
sixth spot tonight.
Greg DeCaires drove a solid race for the 40-laps. Never did he seem out
of control or out of contention. The former Silver Dollar Speedway
Champion finished the night in the fifth spot. Possibly the fastest car
on the track belonged to Kyle Hirst. Last night he finished in the
second spot. Tonight he charged from the rear of the field and moved
into a top five spot. However, after two failed restarts on lap 28,
Hirst was involved in a scary accident that Jason Botsford and Brett
Miller. It was an unfortunate way to the end the weekend for the
McMillen #2.
Up front it became a family race. Tim led Brent to the final restart of
the night. Tim was able to drive away from Brent who began a spirited
battle with Jonathan Allard. The two raced nose to tail for the final
10
laps. After the race a tired Allard said, “If it taught me anything,
(the racetrack) it was that I need to get back into the gym and I'll be
in there Monday."
Up front Tim was the class of the field and won the $6,000 pay day.
Kaeding, usually an excited winner, was once again overcome with
emotion
in victory lane. “This one is dedicated to my grandma and Dennis
(401k
racing),” said Kaeding. “I will miss them both.”
The 12-lap B main event looked to be the Brad Sweet show until the GP
Development #6 pulled into the infield on the white flag. It was the
second night in a row that the car sat helpless in turn one's infield
area. The win went to Carl Droivold enjoying a good solid performance.
Sweet was able to win the C main event. Finishing right behind him was
Jeff Delte. Both of these drivers transferred to the B main. Delte's
night came to a scary end when he flipped coming out of turn two. He
was
held up in the infield for observation by the paramedics and released
about 20 minutes later.
Teammates Ronnie Day and Jason Meyers each won heat races to open the
night of racing. Brent Kaeding scored the win in heat three while
DeCaires pocketed the win in heat four.
Delte started the night off by turning the fastest lap. His time was an
11.885. It was his first fast time award for the Golden State
Challenge.
RESULTS
Qualifying: Jeff Delte – 11.885
Heat One: Ronnie Day, Andy Forsberg, Brandon Wimmer, Jason Statler,
Evan
Suggs
Heat two: Jason Meyers, Sean Becker, Stephen Allard, Willie Croft,
Johnny Gray
Heat Three: Brent Kaeding, Jason Botsford, Chuck Gurney Jr., Bud
Kaeding, Roger Crockett
Heat Four: Greg DeCaires, Jonathan Allard, Tim Kaeding Kyle Hirst,
Garrett Ishii
C Main: Brad Sweet, Jeff Delte, Kevin Sharrah, Robbie Whitchurch, Mike
Stallings, Craig Stidham, Ric McCormick
B Main: Carl Droivold, Mike Monahan, Jon Maiwald, Ishii, Crockett,
Brett
Millers, Suggs, Matt Shelton, Jim Skinner, Taylor Malsam, Sweet, Gray,
Pat Harvey, Robert Stice, Mason Moore
Dash: Meyers, T. Kaeding, Allard, B. Kaeding, Croft, Gurney Jr.,
Wimmer,
Forsberg
A Main: T. Kaeding, B. Kaeding, J. Allard, Becker, DeCaires, Meyers,
Statler, Wimmer, Croft, Day, Miller, Crockett, Hirst, Botsford, B.
Kaeding
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