NARC NEWSLINE, News, Notes & Quotes from the KWS-Northern Auto Racing Club Sprint Cars, By Jim Allen, (May 12, 2017)
It feels great to have a little normalcy and routine now that we have a couple more events under our belt on the King of the West/NARC tour … without having to look at the Weather Channel. The Peter Murphy Classic in Tulare and the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in Chico earned those honors.
Our good friend Peter Murphy did what he does best … now that he is no longer racing … and put on a well supported and promoted event that pulled in 39 competitors. That’s typically what happens when you serve up an $11,000 to win race, that also happens to pay $1000 to start the feature – plus a bunch of other great perks (cash) worked in between.
Bud Kaeding was able to check off one of his racing career bucket list items with his victory in Morrie Williams Maxim. That check was worth $11,000 and a whole lot of champagne spray in victory lane. Carson Macedo was reeling in Bud in the late going, pulling within three car lengths in lap traffic, but ran out of laps. The next two drivers had a combined age of 30-years old … Gio Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid. DJ Netto rounded out the top five.
At the May 6th Bradway Memorial, it was more of the same in the cash machine department. Rico Abreu had the pin number of the Silver Dollar Speedway ATM machine and cashed out $8000 for his nights work. That breaks down to $1000 for the Carwash Mike Avilla Fast Time Award, $5,000 for the A-Main victory, which included $1000 kickers from Roth Motorsports and Abreu Racing. Top that off with $2000 in lap money for his 1-40 leader effort and you have what can best be described as a profitable evening. It was Abreu’s third Bradway Jr. Memorial win in five years.
In fact, it was a very strange night at Chico when it was deemed profitable to still be rolling at the end of the 40-lapper. Kind of like a sprint car version of the television show Survivor. Only eight of the 22-car starting grid actually rolled into their trailers. No, that is not a misprint – eight, like in a heat race. Ten caution flags decimated the field, including three reds. You know your thoughts and prayers are answered when you watch the scary Michael Ing, Carson Macedo and Jason Statler crash down the back chute in slow motion video. Sheet metal and parts were ripped off, down tubes were sheared, and if was bolted on, it wasn’t anymore. Statler was shaken but not stirred, and the other two drivers remarkably (and thankfully) walked away from their totally destroyed their cars. Carson was quick to credit his safety equipment on Twitter afterwards. We agree!
The semi wasn’t much better, especially after viewing the spectacular multi-car crash entering the first turn. Kyle Hirst, Ryan Bernal, Brent Bjork, Justyn Cox, and Brian Boswell, their equipment, and the SDS catch fence took a beating. Once again, thank you to the continued advances of safety equipment.
On the lighter side, we can never say enough about Dave & Dianne Durica who have taken this event under their wings to make it so successful. They hustled up lap money for the A & B Main events, plus a variety of other cash and prizes. That’s a lot easier said, than done. Also, kudo’s to Cindy Thomas who fired up Hoserville and others for additional prizes including Hoosier right rears and tear offs for the heat race winners.
Peter Murphy Classic … Make sure you support the companies that support sprint car racing. In this case that would be Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore for their tremendous financial support of the PMC … You’ve got to love Rudeen Racing. They donated $100 to each of the four heat race winners, plus $500 to the KWS-Northern Auto Racing Club General Fund to help with the conversion process to a non-profit sports league. …Gio Scelzi set quick time at Tulare in the Roth Motorsports 83JR car and earned $500 from Tachi Palace in Lemoore. They later donated the money to the NARC Benevolent Fund. … Quote of the week comes from car owner Shawn Thomas, who said, “I would rather dial myself out of a race, than sit on a stool and do nothing.” Good philosophy! … Kyle Hirst did double duty in the USAC non-wing 360’s. He ended up scoring his first victory in that series, which means he is ready for any future NARC-KWS events that happen to go non-wing. #Just saying. … By comparison, Ryan Bernal has 30 non-wing USAC 360 wins … Bobby McMahan ended up making every highlight reel in America. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for something good. On the start, McMahan found himself in one of those “no place to go” accidents and took a wild ride down the front straightaway. The car was trashed, but Mr. McMahan was fine and on the phone to wife Linda a couple of minutes later to update his status. He earned a $200 tough luck award, which will cover just a fraction of the actual repair costs. By the way, if you ever wanted to join a pit crew, the McMahan’s is one of the leanest on tour. Go help them out. …
… So what do you do when you suffer 410 motor issues in the heat race and get delegated to the B-main? If you are Shane Golobic and Golobic Racing, you pull it in favor of your 360 powerplant. Then you go out and capture the semi from the 10th starting spot. And to put a cherry on top of this hot fudge sundae, you finish 14th in the feature – which paid $1000 to start. Might be time to start awarding extra championship points for EXTRA EFFORT! … According to a trackside interview with Jason Statler, he weighs in at 285 on a “good day.” By comparison, 15-year old Gio Scelzi comes in at 150 soaking wet. How much of an advantage that gives him on the race track? … In victory lane, Bud Kaeding was asked about his last second race strategy. Just before the event was getting ready to push off, it appeared that Kaeding got out of car to initiate a last minute left rear time change. Answered Kaeding in victory lane, “I had nothing to do with that. I got out of the car because I had to pee.” I guess that would be an honest answer. Not the answer I was expecting, but an honest one. … Rico Abreu was slated to start sixth in the PMC feature, but pulled out before the race started with food poisoning. … Sean Becker also presented his car and pulled out before the feature started with mechanical issues. …
… If you are not impressed by the performances of 15-year old Buddy Kofoid, take a look again. Not only is he running in the top 10, he is looking steady in the process. He races methodically and doesn’t take any unnecessary risks, but is aggressive and is always moving forward. That’s a winning combination… The Pole Shuffle was entertaining. Here is how it went: Bobby McMahan outran Monte Faccinto and Kyle Hirst, only to lose to DJ Netto who beat Tanner Thorsen and Mason Moore, only to lose to Carson Macedo, who lost to Buddy Kofoid who went on to finish ahead of Rick Abreu, only to take second to Willie Croft who lost his battle to Bud Kaeding who finished runner-up to Gio Scelzi. Try saying all that in one breath! … By the way, Gio won an additional $500 for his 26-seconds of work in the pole shuffle. … Long tow honors went to Cori Andrews, who made the long 11-hour drive up I-5 from Murrieta, CA (think Perris Speedway) … Jeremy Chisum has one of the most interesting sponsors on the KWS-NARC tour – Pediatric Cancer Awareness. When you get a chance, take a closer look at the Number “8” on their top wing. They have helped raise more than $250,000 for the keyforacurefoundation.com …
Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial … A very commendable workmanlike effort was put together by Jarrett Soares in his Brian Sperry wrenched sprint car. He avoided the semi-crash and ran strong to finish fourth. In the feature, he battled through the field without a front wing and scored eighth. In the process, he earned $650 for the Hardcharger Award. …A very unusual site at Chico took place in the infield. That would be Kyle Hirst and Willie Croft both viewing the feature in street clothes. Both failed to qualify for the money race which happens about as often as we have a Reality Television Star as President. … Considering Hirst won the Friday night show, his weekend was all up, or all down! On Saturday, the Roth 83 sprint car blew a motor in their heat before trashing the ride entirely in the semi. … Gio Scelzi was sort of on the same path, but not quite as bad. He won the Friday night show in Hanford, before a run in with Chico concrete ended his night in 13th. … While Rico got the lion’s share of the feature lap money, Cory Eliason ($970), Michael Ing ($650), and DJ Netto ($380) walked away with thicker wallets also. … Five-time Bradway winner Jonathan Allard was in the pits after returning from New Zealand. During an interview, he said he is looking for a ride. …
… Jason Statler, who got his bell rung in his accident informed this corner that his team is done for a while. They have experienced more than their fair share of bad luck this season and need to circle the wagons for a while. … The same applies to Scott Parker and Craig Parker and their 12P ride. They hurt their motor and need to regroup. (Motor Sponsored Wanted ad goes here!) … It was nice to see Justin Bradway, the nephew of the late Dave Bradway Jr., competing at Chico. He was 14th in the semi. … Let’s be honest. If the Car Wash Mike Avilla Coors Light hats were on sale right now for $250 each, we would all buy one. … Rico’s fast time at SDS was 11.665. The entire field was fast which may have led to some of the trouble. … Chasing Rico across the checkered was DJ Netto, Cory Eliason, Shane Golobic, Roger Crockett, Bud Kaeding, Michael Kofoid, and Jarrett Soares. That’s it. … There are some great announcers working around California. Silver Dollar Speedway’s Troy Hennig rates as one of them. … Clyde & Marion Lamar kicked in $100 in Tri-C cash to each Bradway heat race winner … There were three generations of the racing Bumgarner Family in the pits at Chico. Sprint car racing tends to get into your DNA. … Have you purchased at least two racing T-shirts yet this season? What are you waiting for? … For everything KWS-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series related, including race results, point standings, and rule books, go to NARC410.com
Coming to you live from Auburn, California. We will catch up with you at a track near you. See ya!