California 410 sprint car teams set for "Northwest Swing" with Medford, Cottage Grove & Dirt Cup on deck over next week
By Gary Thomas
Medford, OR – June 9, 2009…A busy week of racing is set to begin for California 410 teams as the annual trek up North kicks off with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series invading the Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford this Saturday night and then the Cottage Grove Speedway on Monday evening. All of it will be a lead up to the $25,000 to win 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway on June 18-20.
The event at the Southern Oregon Speedway will be the first time that the Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series competes at the 1/3 mile clay oval on a Saturday, after holding past events on Tuesday's and one on a Monday. Former winners of GSC events at the track include Brent Kaeding during the past two appearances and Tim Kaeding & Tim Shaffer with one apiece. The front gate at the Southern Oregon Speedway will open at 4pm on Saturday night June 13 with adult tickets costing $15, kids 7-12 & seniors 60 & over $12. More info can be found at http://www.sospeedway.com/
On Monday night the Golden State Challenge Series will then make its first ever appearance at the always exciting Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The quarter-mile bullring has long been one of the top dirt tracks on the West Coast and is also one of the most picturesque with it being surrounded by a number of trees and beautiful terrain. The blazing fast speedway has a track record of 9.991 set by Joey Saldana last season. The pits will open at 3pm on Monday night June 15 with the front gate opening at 4:30pm. Adult tickets will be $15, juniors & seniors $12, kids 6-11 $7 and 5 & under will be free. More info can be found at http://cottagegrovespeedway.com/More news and info on the Golden State Challenge Series can be found at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
38th Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup-
One of the biggest 410 sprint car events on the West Coast is also fast approaching with the 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington set to go green on June 18, 19 and 20. The three-night show presented by Van's Equipment will once again hand out a solid $25,000 to the winner of Saturday's 40 lap main event and packs a whopping $150,000 purse for the overall event.
When it comes to non-World of Outlaw sanctioned winged sprint car racing, the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup is arguably the "Knoxville Nationals" of the west as it packs one of the biggest purses around and routinely attracts the best teams and drivers from up and down the left coast. The atmosphere and competition level during the event is also second to none, which just adds to the excitement.
The actual racing at the Dirt Cup doesn't kick off until Thursday night June 18, but the event will get a jump start with the annual Haggen Dirt Cup Party held on Wednesday June 17 at the Haggen Food and Pharmacy in Burlington. The party is held from 4pm to 7pm and features a live band, as well as sprint cars on display, vendor booths, driver interviews, autographs, local radio stations broadcasting live and more.
The Haggen Dirt Cup Party has become an annual treat to get the competitive juices flowing for the next three night's of no-holds-barred racing on the Skagit Speedway 3/10 mile clay oval, which is promoted by Steve Beitler. "There is a lot of excitement about Dirt Cup this season," Beitler commented. "Our pre-sale of tickets are up from last year and we have a lot of new cars that have said they are coming so it should be fun."
Two-time Dirt Cup champion Jonathan Allard sits on top of the Golden State Challenge Series standings heading into the big week of racing and will bring an 11 point lead into the Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday. The two-time & defending King of California has been a consistency machine this season having claimed eight straight podium finishes with GSC and has finished among the top three in nine of the 11 events held so far this year. Allard was victorious at the Dirt Cup in 2005 & '06 and also scored a runner-up in '07 at the helm of his Williams Motorsports, K&N Filters No. 0.
Close on Allard's heels is Los Angeles, CA's Tyler Walker, who will be looking for some redemption this year at the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup. Last season saw Walker lead a number of laps in the main event on Saturday and was locked in a heated battle for the top spot with local Jayme Barnes, until contact from a lap car took him out of contention. So far this year Walker has driven his SC Motorsports, NMI Industrial Contractors No. 24 to five wins with the Golden State Challenge Series and is just three victories away from tying the single season win mark with the club.
Three-time Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell will look to put his Al's Roofing Supply, Kaeding Performance No. 69 towards the front of the field this week. The 13-time King of California has picked up one victory with GSC this year and currently sits third in points, 22 digits out of the top spot. Kaeding's wins at the Dirt Cup came in 1991, '96 & '99 and is coming off a 10th place finish last season. "BK" has also picked up victories during the past two Golden State Challenge Series visits to the Southern Oregon Speedway.
Golden State Challenge Series rookie driver Kyle Larson will make his first career Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup start at the helm of the Vertullo Racing, Starr Property Management No. 83v. The 16 year-old from Elk Grove won his first career 410 sprint car main event on May 8 at Silver Dollar Speedway and backed it up two Friday's ago at the Ocean Speedway with his first ever GSC victory. Larson ranks fourth in the GSC point standings going into the Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday.
Completing the top five in points is Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, who will be in competition at both Medford and Cottage Grove, but won't be planning to make the trip to Skagit for the first time in a couple years. The 22 year-old finished 10th in his only career appearance at the Southern Oregon Speedway during the '07 season and will be looking to break into GSC victory lane for the first time on Saturday aboard his Suggs Racing, Lucas Oil Products No. 33e.
San Jose's Tim Kaeding will be searching for his first career Dirt Cup title after charging from deep in the field to score a third place finish last season at the event. The former King of California will be a heavy favorite behind the wheel of the always potent Roth Motorsports, DTR Transport No. 83 and looks to have possibly his best chance yet at scoring the $25,000 grand prize. "TK" picked up a career best second place finish at the Dirt Cup in 2006 and has also scored a victory with the World of Outlaws this season, with that coming in late April at West Memphis, Arkansas.
Three-time World of Outlaw champion Sammy Swindell will certainly be a favorite during the week. The Germantown, TN driver spent much of the early season with the World of Outlaws and has been very strong right from the beginning of the year when he claimed victory at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Swindell will be aboard the always fast Tom Rolfe Trucking No. 10 sprinter, which finished third at the Dirt Cup last season with T.Kaeding at the helm. The living legend is also scheduled to take part in Monday night's action at Cottage Grove with the Golden State Challenge Series.
Knoxville, Iowa's Wayne Johnson is routinely a strong driver at "major events" and will bring the Main Motorsports, H.A.M. Construction No. 35a into the week looking to rebound from a tough outing in the car at the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in May. Since that event however, the team has reportedly switched to a Maxim Chassis and will also be competing in the Oregon events with the Golden State Challenge Series looking to tune-up for the Dirt Cup. Johnson has long been one of the top drivers in the Mid-west and has made the A-main at the Knoxville Nationals on six straight occasions.
Another top driver during the week will be Loomis, CA's Kyle Hirst, who has had a strong season thus far in the Gary Perkins Motorsports, A.R.T. Enterprise No. 6 machine. The 21 year-old driver has won four times this season with various organizations as he's run a true Outlaw schedule, not chasing points with any particular series. Last year saw Hirst win the b-main on Saturday night of Dirt Cup and carve his way through the field in the A-main for a seventh place finish. Medford, Oregon’s Roger Crockett has been on the podium the past two seasons at the Dirt Cup and will look to break into victory lane for the first time at the event this year aboard the SKS Motorsports, Omlid & Swinney No. 11. The veteran driver brought home a third place finish in 2007 and backed it up with a second place effort last season, with both of those coming aboard the Roger Henderson Jr. owned 7n. Crockett is also very fast at Southern Oregon & Cottage Grove Speedway’s and will be a strong contender at both.
Other drivers expected to do battle at the Dirt Cup will include defending champion Jayme Barnes of Everett, Wash; Bixby, OK's Shane Stewart; Mount Vernon, Wash's Jason Solwold; Campbell, CA's Bud Kaeding; Langley, BC's Travis Rutz; Clovis, CA's Peter Murphy; Easton’s Tommy Tarlton, as well as top Washington competitors Jessie Whitney, Barry Martinez, Chad Hillier, Brock Lemley, Mitch Olson, Rick Fauver, Colton Heath, Steve Kilcup, Eric Fisher and many more.
Three-night advance reserved tickets are on sale for only $70 and can be acquired by calling (360) 724-3567 or at the ticket window during race days. The front gate will open at 5:30 each night with racing getting underway at approximately 7. More info on the 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment can be found at http://www.skagitspeedway.com and http://www.nwracetalk.com
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