$1,000 Wheelie Contest & $500 to start A-main during Golden State Challenge Series Doug Fort Memorial at Santa Maria Speedway July 11
By Gary Thomas
Santa Maria, CA – June 29, 2009…When the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series invades the Santa Maria Speedway for the inaugural Doug Fort Memorial on July 11 there will be some special items on tap, including a $1,000 wheelie contest with $500 to the winner, $300 to 2nd and $200 for third, as well as added money to the main event making it $500 to start.
Angello's ATV Rental and Santa Maria Speedway promoter Chris Kearns have stepped up to the plate and have added the special events and extra money to try and gain some excitement for the night. "I really want this race to be an event and I know the fans are definitely looking forward to it because it's been a while since these guys have been down here," Kearns said.
A wheelie contest had been a mainstay during the mid-to-late 90's at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico and various others had also been held a handful of times, but it's been a number of years since one has occurred with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series. "The wheelie contest was always a lot of fun and it's pretty cool that we're going to be bringing it back in Santa Maria with a $1,000 total money on the line," said 13-time King of California Brent Kaeding.
In fact Kaeding was also the 1978 Santa Maria Speedway Rookie of the Year and is looking forward to heading back to the 1/3 mile clay oval on July 11. "Santa Maria has always been a real nice track and we invite everybody to come on down and have some fun on July 11," Kaeding commented. "It's the track I won my first sprint car race at and we all really want to put on a good show for the fans and the promoter to have us back in the years to come."
With the extra money to start the main event the hopes are that many of the regulars from the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville will make the tow to Santa Maria for the night of action. "We definitely want all the 360 guys from Ocean to head on down, all the drivers in the Central Valley to come on over and even some of the drivers from up north as well," said "BK", who captured a World of Outlaws main event in 1997 at Santa Maria Speedway. "500 bucks to start the main event is pretty good so hopefully that'll be a nice incentive to help boost the field up for the race."
The inaugural Doug Fort Memorial on July 11 will be the first Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series event at the Santa Maria Speedway since 2005 and the anticipation is building among the local community. "We're really excited to have GSC return to our track and just can't wait for the night," said Matt Mussell, racing enthusiast and owner of Matt Mussell Designs. "Chris Kearns has done a great job with this place and I think the teams and fans are going to enjoy themselves."
Mussell will be designing a special billet aluminum trophy for the first Doug Fort Memorial and he and his brother Randy will also be putting on a tri-tip bbq for teams during the day. "I think this will probably be the best trophy so far because I'm going all out for this one with how special the night is," Mussell commented. "We invite all the teams to stop by during the day to get a bite to eat and we just love our sprint cars so hopefully this will be a great event. They're doing a great job with the track prep this year so it should be fun."
Doug Fort built the Santa Maria Speedway in 1964 and helped mold it into one of the top dirt tracks in the country as the owner/promoter until his passing in 1999. The 1/3 mile clay oval has been named "Best Short Track Operation West of the Mississippi" on two separate occasions and is nestled in a semi amphitheater of natural terrain, sheltered by dense eucalyptus trees at the top and to the back of the bleacher area. While most other track’s will feature blazing hot weather the Santa Maria area is cool and pleasant making it a great getaway in the summer months.
More information on the Santa Maria Speedway can be found at http://www.chriskearnspresents.com/ and more info on the Golden State Challenge King of California 410 Sprint Car Series can be acquired at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
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