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Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway ready for the “big show” this Friday & Saturday with 18th annual Southwest Contractors Trophy Cup
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – October 18, 2011…For many fans in California the one
race they look forward to more than any other each season is the annual Trophy
Cup and this weekend the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway will play host
to the 18th edition of the famed Winged Sprint Car event.
A talented
80-car field is set to do battle at the Tulare County Fairgrounds facility,
racing for an overall payout that will be nearly $90,000 for the two-nights of
competition. The high-point driver for the event will take home a guaranteed
$20,000.
With its unique format the Trophy Cup regularly produces some
of the best racing seen all season. Each time a driver hits the raceway for
competitive racing action there are points awarded, with it all being a lead-up
to the 50-lap feature on Saturday night that is completely inverted based on
points accumulated up to that part of the event.
Fresh off his big
victory last Saturday at the Cotton Classic, defending Trophy Cup champion
Jonathan Allard will come into the Tulare Thunderbowl with momentum on his side.
In June the Chico veteran captured $40,000 at the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup
and also claimed four King of the West wins this season, en route to fourth in
the series standings.
“I had tried to win the Trophy Cup for a lot of
years and to finally get it last season was pretty special,” said Allard. “Dave
Pusateri and his staff do an amazing job with the Trophy Cup, so I have to give
them a huge thanks and also everyone that supports it because this is a race we
look forward to every year.”
A number of hungry drivers will be looking
to dethrone Allard from his Trophy Cup crown this Friday and Saturday, including
the two-car effort of locally based Roth Motorsports, who will have three-time
event champion Tim Kaeding and ’04 Trophy Cup titlist Jac Haudenschild at the
helm of their always potent machines.
Kaeding last Saturday locked up
the King of the West 410 championship and this weekend will be gunning to join
father Brent Kaeding as the only other four-time winner of the Trophy Cup. Last
year “TK” charged from 19th to win the Saturday finale, but missed out on the
overall title by 14-points to Allard, who carved his way from 24th to fourth in
the 50-lapper.
“The Trophy Cup is always one of our favorite races we
run each season and I’m really looking forward to this weekend,” said Kaeding,
who made Trophy Cup history in 2009 by winning the Saturday A-main from dead
last. “Dennis and Teresa Roth always give me a great shot to win and it should
be a fun show as always in Tulare. We’ve had a strong season and it would be
great if we could bring home another Trophy Cup.”
Always a tough
contender at the Trophy Cup Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson goes into this weekend
looking to win the event for the first time in his career, having already
claimed a number of major victories this season throughout the country. The
19-year-old has been in position before at the Trophy Cup, but various things
have seemed to keep him from the overall title.
“I’ve been really fast
at the Trophy Cup the last few years, but it seems like there’s always some bad
luck that finds me at various points of the weekend,” commented Larson, who had
a torrid battle with T. Kaeding during last year’s 50-lapper on Saturday, before
coming home in second. “The Tulare Thunderbowl is my favorite track without a
doubt though so I can’t wait to get there for the Trophy Cup.”
After
spending time on the World of Outlaw tour this year 2008 Trophy Cup champion
Brad Sweet will be a driver to beat this weekend, as he gets back behind the
wheel of the Rod Tiner Racing No. 83 mount. The Grass Valley native maneuvered
his way through the field from 24th to third at the Saturday finale in ’08,
which gave him the title by just a handful of points over Sammy Swindell.
Other former Trophy Cup victors expected in the field this weekend will
include four-time event winner Brent Kaeding of Campbell, 2011 Ocean Sprints
presented by Taco Bravo champion Ronnie Day of Salinas, ASCS So Cal titlist
Tommy Tarlton of Easton and former Rebel Cup Series champ Craig Stidham of
Fresno.
The stout field will also include top drivers such as New
Oxford, PA’s Stevie Smith, San Jose’s Randy Hannagan, Fremont’s Shane Golobic,
Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Medford, Oregon’s Roger Crockett, Scotts Valley’s Evan
Suggs, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Sacramento’s Willie Croft, Loomis’ Kyle
Hirst, Everett, Washington’s Jayme Barnes, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, St.
Helena’s Rico Abreu, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Chico’s Stephen Allard, Prunedale’s
Justin Sanders, Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan and many more.
Tickets will be
$30 for general admission bleachers and $35 for reserved grandstands both
nights, with qualifying scheduled to get underway around 5pm on Friday night.
Don’t forget about the Taco Bravo Feed that will follow Friday’s action at the
track and the Spaghetti Feed, which will be held Saturday afternoon in the same
building on the fairgrounds.
To order tickets contact 559-688-0909 and
for more information on the 18th annual Southwest Contractors Trophy Cup log
onto http://www.trophycup.org/
The Groppetti Automotive
Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of
Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, California.
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Jonathan Allard scored his first career Trophy Cup victory last year by charging from 24th to fourth in Saturday's 50-lap main event. For his efforts Allard took home $20,000 and comes into this weekend after claiming the Cotton Classic at Kings Speedway last Saturday. Photo by Steven Cox.
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
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