This message was edited on
June 02, 2008 at
12:40:54 AM by Gary Thomas
Photo by Johns Racing Photos
Tim Kaeding leads final 27 laps for Placerville win on NMI Industrial Night
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – May 31, 2008…A night after Tyler Walker became the first driver to win three Golden State Challenge Series main events on the season San Jose’s Tim Kaeding came back and joined him atop the board with a convincing 30 lap victory on Saturday night during NMI Industrial Contractors Night at the Placerville Speedway.
“I hope you fans enjoyed that one because it was fun to race at this place tonight,” the excited Kaeding said in post race interviews. “I want to thank my car owner Tom Rolfe and this whole team for working their tails off and giving me a great car tonight.” The victory for Kaeding was his second in two weeks and paid $3,900 to win courtesy extra money from Scott Chastain of NMI Industrial Contractors.
The 30 lap GSC main event started out with Sacramento’s Mike Henry shooting out into the lead from his outside front row starting spot. Henry had won the series’ previous Placerville Speedway visit and was looking to make it a sweep of his home this season. T. Kaeding had other ideas however, as he hounded Henry over the first couple laps and was able to get the drive on the third lap and blast into the lead aboard his Tom Rolfe Trucking No. 10.
The main event on this night mirrored the one from 24 hours earlier in Watsonville as a number of cautions and reds were scattered throughout the contest and never let drivers get into a very good rhythm. Kaeding sat out front and never faltered though, even when he had to deal with lapped traffic around the midway point of the feature. Henry was motoring on in second, but felt intense pressure for much of the running from current point leader Jonathan Allard. The Chico driver used a strong run on the 22nd lap to overtake Henry and try his best to run down the fast moving Kaeding.
A couple reds and a caution during the final seven laps kept Kaeding out of traffic and he was able to drive away aboard his Rod Tiner Jr. tuned machine and pick up the victory, which marked the 37th of his Golden State Challenge Series career and third of the season. Allard crossed the stripe in second at the Willie Williams’ checkered flag to maintain his GSC point lead as he pursues his second career series title. “My guys did a great job tonight, but we really needed some traffic with Tim out front,” Allard said. “It’s neat to come back to Placerville and see all the fans come out and support us.”
After leading the first few laps Henry was able to hang on and record a third place finish, which is a great rebound after a few tough weeks for the former Placerville Speedway track champion. It was also a great rebound from his heat race in which he climbed out the car on fire after the finish and rolled around on the ground for a number of seconds before the fire crew got to his aid. “We had a nozzle get knocked off in the heat race and I’m just glad to be able to be standing up here on the podium,” Henry said. “I want to thank my team, sponsors and all the fans for coming out tonight."
The remainder of the top 10 was made up of Los Angeles’ Tyler Walker, Loomis’ Kyle Hirst, Los Gatos’ Jason Statler, Elk Grove’s Greg Decaires, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Sacramento’s Willie Croft and Placerville’s Andy Gregg.
The evening’s dash was won in exciting fashion by Tim Kaeding as he executed a super slider on Mike Henry to get the win on the very last corner. Three 10 lap heat races were held and were picked off by Rio Vista’s Dan Simpson, Andy Gregg and Elk Grove's Kyle Larson. Auburn’s Andy Forsberg paced the 20 car field in qualifying with a lap of 10.285 second lap around the ¼ mile bullring.
The accompanying BCRA Midget main event was won in exciting fashion by youngster Quintin Crye from Gridley. The driver of the Lucas Oil Products No. 15 started the 30 lap feature in the 11th position and steadily charged through the field and took the lead late in the race to pick up his first career BCRA Midget victory. Also finishing in the top five were Jimmy Christian, Justin Grant, Bud Kaeding and Glen Carson.
Full results from the night are available at http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
EDIT: The release previously stated that Tim Kaeding had won the final heat, whereas Elk Grove's Kyle Larson was the actual winner of the race.
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
|
