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Photos by Paul Trevino
The 29thannual Cotton Classic at Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway marks penultimate round of action for KWS on Saturday October 11
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – October 6, 2014…One of the more prestigious races in Central California each season is the annual Cotton Classic and this Saturday October 11 the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will tackle the 29th edition of the event, with a slight change in venue from previous years.
The history filled and always anticipated event takes place on Saturday at the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, following the closing of Kings Speedway for the remainder of 2014. It will mark the fourth appearance of the season for the King of the West 410’s at the one-third mile clay oval and is also the penultimate event of the year for the series.
Winners of the Cotton Classic since the year 2000 have been Visalia’s Blake Robertson; Aliquippa, PA’s Tim Shaffer; San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, who has won it three-times including last season; Clovis’ Jason Meyers; Chico’s Stephen Allard, Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson and Chico’s Jonathan Allard, who has captured it three-times.
Reserved grandstand seats for the Cotton Classic on Saturday will cost $25 with general admission bleacher tickets $20. To reserve your seat contact (559) 688-0909. The front gate will open at 4pm with racing expected to get underway around 7pm. Also in action during the night will be USAC West Coast Wingless 360 Sprint Cars to make for a great card of racing.
The Cotton Classic is a perfect lead in to next week’s 21st annual Southwest Contractors Trophy Cup, as drivers get one final stab at the Thunderbowl prior to the three-night event on October 16, 17 & 17. Tickets for the Trophy Cup are also on sale by calling the box office, with all seating being reserved at the event.
Going into this Saturday Kyle Hirst continues his search at a second straight King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series title and brings a commanding 105-point lead into the Thunderbowl. The driver of the locally based Roth Motorsports No. 83jr is coming off his series leading fourth victory of the season on September 13 in Ventura. Hirst scored one of wins this year at the Thunderbowl Raceway in May at the Faria Memorial and looks to add the Cotton Classic to that.
The father/son duo of Bud & Brent Kaeding continue to fight it out for the second spot, with the younger Kaeding maintaining the position by 15-markers. Bud so far this year has driven the Williams Motorsports ZERO mount to one KWS victory, which came at the HK Classic in Watsonville. Brent has been close, but still in search of season win number one with the series. BK ran third in the previous Tulare appearance at the helm of his Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69.
In that most recent King of the West event in July at the Thunderbowl it was Chico’s Jonathan Allard who charged to victory aboard the Tri-C Manufacturing No. 3c machine. The Gold Cup champ has three KWS wins in 2014 & ranks fourth in the standings, with Roseville’s Sean Becker rounding out the top five in the Main Motorsports No. 35m. Becker has one victory with the series this year and is coming off a $5,000 score at the Chico Fall Nationals on September 27.
Grass Valley’s Jason Statler earned his first KWS win of the season recently on September 12 at the Santa Maria Speedway and maintains the sixth spot in the points. Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan sits just 11-markers back in seventh, with Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi only seven-points behind McMahan in eighth. Rookie contender DJ Netto of Hanford ranks ninth and Fremont’s Shane Golobic, the Civil War & Taco Bravo point leader, completes the top-10.
Talented Australian driver James McFadden will also be in the field aboard the Kaeding Performance/ Factory Kahne house car. McFadden is a past World Series Sprint Car and Australian champion and has been impressive during his time in the USA. The Aussi should be fun to watch in his Thunderbowl Raceway debut.
More drivers expected in action at the Cotton Classic will include opening night Gold Cup winner Carson Macedo of Lemoore, Fresno’s Craig Stidham & Cory Eliason, Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto, Gilroy’s Jarrett Soares, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, Roseville’s Colby Copeland, Coarsegold’s Scott Parker, Tracy’s Austin Liggett, Grass Valley’s Pat Harvey, Winton’s Gordon Rodgers and others.
With much of the field also returning for the Trophy Cup it’s sure to be a great night of competition, as teams look to get their setups in top gear. All cars that start the Saturday A-main at Trophy Cup are guaranteed $2,000 in total winnings, with the overall champion guaranteed $20,000 in winnings.
King of the West Series A-main winners so far this year going into the Cotton Classic on Saturday
Tulare April 12: Tommy Tarlton
Placerville April 19: Rico Abreu
Chico May 3: Rico Abreu
Petaluma May 10: Willie Croft
Tulare May 17: Kyle Hirst
Chico June 6: Kyle Hirst
Marysville June 7: Tim Kaeding
Hanford June 14: Kyle Hirst
Ocean June 20: Jonathan Allard
Calistoga June 21: Rico Abreu
Ocean July 12: Bud Kaeding
Placerville July 19: Sean Becker
Tulare July 26: Jonathan Allard
Stockton August 2: Jonathan Allard
Santa Maria September 12: Jason Statler
Ventura September 13: Kyle Hirst
The Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, California. From the junction of SR 99 and SR 137, go west on SR 137. At South K go south one-half mile to the Fairgrounds.
Following the Cotton Classic the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will finish the season on Saturday November 1 at the Stockton Dirt Track. The event marks the 31st Tribute to Gary Patterson and also features the Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster season finale. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased by contacting 916-370-9417.
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at http://www.kwssprints.com
Be sure to like the KWS Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints and become a member of our Twitter community at https://twitter.com/KwsSprintRacing for all the latest breaking news regarding the series
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The most recent KWS event at the Thunderbowl saw Jonathan Allard race to victory over Carson Macedo and Brent Kaeding. Photos courtesy Paul Trevino Racing Photos
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
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www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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