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2008 Bandit Season Fires Off Saturday Night at Kings Speedway 03/12/08
by Peter Curto, Bandit Sprint Car Series Director
The 2008 Bandit Sprint Car Series' season begins Saturday night at Kings Speedway in Hanford California. Entering its 14th year, the Bandit Series is back to its vision and roots. Created by promoter and former racer, Dave Swindell, to has produced legendary full blown sprint car racing entertainment. The Bandit Series has provided a foothold for some of today's top open wheeled stars and an affordable haven for the week-end warrior.
This year will see one of the most challenging seasons as return to tour with a great traveling legacy. Santa Maria Speedway will host 12 events, Kings Speedway to be home to 9 events and Bakersfield Speedway to feature 3 races including its annual Bandit-VRA Grand-Slam show June 28th. Ventura Raceway will cap of the Grand Slam Series on August 23rd and crown a champion as the fourth track the Bandit Series and Grand Slam Series tour respectively. Kings Speedway (April 12th) and Santa Maria Speedway (July 26th) will each host Grand Slam Events for the 4th year of the Championship tour. The overall Bandit champion will have well earned their crown on 4 different venues by demonstrating grit and fortitude in 25 different battles on the way to claiming victory in the ensuing war.
Unique is this year is its 4 series in 1 format throughout the 25 race 4 track tour. There will be 4 champions crowned this season. The premier over-all Bandit Series champion, a champion for the Bandit-VRA Grand Slam as well as individual track championships for Santa Maria Speedway and the Kings Speedway. This creates fantastic opportunities for race teams to balance their programs with their schedule.
Veteran Jessie Mack, entering only his 3rd season, will be working for a repeat of his 2007 Bandit Championship. His chief rival looks to be the powerhouse juggernaut of Peter Murphy who earned what was essentially the Kings Speedway Championship for the defunct SCRA group. A gaggle of former champions and future champions, too numerous to give them justice, will certainly fight to the finale at the Bandit 360 Nationals to claim their own victories on the way to the ultimate title!
Kings Speedway promoter Frank Dias and Santa Maria Speedway promoter Dave Swindell are excited and looking forward to a series that will benefit racers and both venues while growing the loyal and fun loving fan base. This is a winning deal for everyone as requested by several teams looking for stability within the 360 non-wing sprint car community. Combine with the continued relationships with promoter and Renaissance man Jimmy Naylor at Ventura Raceway and the Schweitzer family at Bakersfield Speedway to continue the unprecedented success of the Grand Slam Series as an example of cooperation that benefits everybody.
The Bandit Series has seen great success over its history and flourishes largely due to few rule changes since the inception of the series. This has allowed for growth and consistency with the key rules to limit motor size, horsepower output and the use of spec tires to keep costs manageable. Otherwise, these are the exact same cars as their 410 unlimited cousins. This has been a formula for success while keeping these near 700 horsepower-1500 pound rockets real race cars.
The Grand Slam Series consists of the best racers from the Bandit Series along with the best of the Ventura Racing Association stars to duke it out for bragging rights and claim to be the best 360 non-wing driver in California. Competing again at the 4 charter tracks of Kings Speedway, Santa Maria Speedway, Ventura Raceway and the Bakersfield Speedway, the champion will again have to prove their ability on various tracks with differing dynamics and conditions. Not a cake walk for even the most experienced veteran let alone the hard charging young stars of today.
Australian native and Oakhurst resident Peter Murphy dominated the inaugural season to claim the title in 2005 for the Bandit Series. Jimmy Crawford and Greg Taylor earned respective awards the past two hard fought seasons representing the VRA. The 2008 version has the makings of a heavy weight championship title bout with 60-80 teams participating. There is nothing like it in the state. Who will wear the crown this year?
Pound for pound and dollar for dollar the 2008 Bandit and Grand Slam seasons posess every indication of providing keen action and premium competition for racers and entertainment for fans in the central valley and the central coast of California. We will see you there!
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