(10/1/17) Watsonville, CA … Ocean Speedway will host the exciting 900-horsepower open wheel sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series for the final time this season on Friday, October 6th, featuring a championship battle that is making national headlines.

Those headlines have been earned by Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Fresno’s Gio Scelzi, and Cory Eliason of Selma.  This trio have been locked in a racing battle for the ages since the season opener back in April.  All three have managed to sit atop the King of the West-NARC championship point standings at some point this season.  But while getting to the top has been a hard fought battle for all three teams, keeping that position has proven to be even tougher.

Kaeding, on the basis of his August 26th victory at Petaluma Speedway, retook the top spot from Scelzi and now maintains a very slim 749-744 margin in the standings.  Eliason, who finished second in that event, is only another point back.  Considering that up to 46 points can be earned at any racing event, this open wheel slugfest is far from settled and promises to be worth the price of admission.

“I don’t think that my team and I have ever worked harder for a championship than we have this season,” said Kaeding, who has finished in the runner-up spot three consecutive years.  “With the level of competition out here on any given race night, just finishing in the top five is considered an accomplishment.”

Backing up that statement is the fact that the KWS-NARC victory lane has featured nine different winners in 13-races this season.  Only Scelzi (three), Kaeding (two) and 2016 series champion Kyle Hirst of Paradise (two) have managed to make more than one appearance.

“I know that Gio (Scelzi) and Cory (Eliason) and their respective teams are going to continue to bring their A-Game to the final three races,” continued Kaeding, “and they know that my team intends to do the same also.  It promises to be very entertaining for all of the fans.”

Also expected to join the fray in Watsonville is Hanford’s DJ Netto, who is currently fourth in points, only 17-markers behind Eliason and 2011 series champ Tim Kaeding of San Jose.  Other entries include Kyle Hirst of Paradise; Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan; Sean Watts & Nathan Rolfe of Atwater; Penngrove pilots Buddy Kofoid and Chase Johnson; Fremont’s Shane Golobic and Brent Bjork; Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford, and Jarrett Soares of Discovery Bay.

Ocean Speedway is located at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on 2601 E. Lake Avenue in Watsonville.  This racing card also includes IMCA Sport Mods, American Stocks and Dwarf Cars.

Pit gates open 2:00 p.m.  Front gates open at 4:30 p.m.  Qualifying gets underway at 6:00 p.m.

For more information, call 855-410-7223, or go to NARC410.com

KINGOFTHEWESTSPRINTCARSERIES-PRESENTEDBYTHENORTHERNAUTORACINGCLUB

The King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series – presented by the Northern Auto Racing Club is co-sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires.  Contingency award sponsors include  ATL Racing Cells, ARP Racing Bolts, BMRS, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, Flowmaster, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, PSCNow.com, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.

2017 KWS-NARC FUJITSU SERIES POINT STANDINGS
(After 13 events in 16-race Series)

  1. Bud Kaeding, Campbell (2) – 749
  2. Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno (3) – 744
  3. Cory Eliason, Selma (1) – 743
  4. DJ Netto, Hanford (1) – 726
  5. Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove – 629
  6. Kyle Hirst, Paradise (2) – 615
  7. Sean Watts, Atwater – 610
  8. Jarrett Soares, Discovery Bay – 605
  9. Michael Kofoid, Penngrove (1) – 598
  10. Nathan Rolfe, Atwater – 567
  11. Willie Croft, Sacramento – 450
  12. Shane Golobic, Fremont (1) – 401
  13. Chase Johnson, Penngrove (1) – 363
  14. Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 334
  15. Brent Bjork, Fremont – 321
  16. Craig Stidham, Fresno – 301
  17. Matthew Moles, Fresno – 264
  18. Sean Becker, Roseville – 240
  19. Carson Macedo, Lemoore – 230
  20. Jeremy Chisum, Fremont – 207

(Victories are in parenthesis)