NARC NEWSLINE – June 21, 2018, By Jim Allen, Auburn, CA … When you’re an integral part of a sprint car team, most of the effort is spent getting prepared for just about any racing and/or mechanical scenario. If done correctly and all of the pieces fit and gel together, one can usually see positive results on a race-to-race basis. If you need an example, just ask Kyle Hirst and the rest of the gang over at Roth Motorsports. The proverbial “firing on all eight cylinders” slogan definitely applies here.
In seven King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series events, Hirst has earned the ARP fast qualifier award five times, including a season opening NTR at Kern County Raceway Park. According to the official NARC calculator, the Hirst/Roth team has earned $1800 this season just during qualifying, due to the ARP sponsorship and other promotions. And that doesn’t include the Automotive Racing Products year-end $400 bonus to the car owner that sets the most quick times. To put that in perspective, Willie Croft and Bud Kaeding will need to set fast time four more times during the final nine events just to tie in that category. But then again, anything can happen in this business, which is why we drive all over California to watch these teams battle it out.
In addition to that, Hirst, who won only a pair of KWS-NARC races last season, has already racked up three “W’s” in this campaign. And … it could have been five if not for a photo finish and a late race handling bobble at two of the Thunderbowl shows. Overall, he has finished on the podium six times and the one time he didn’t, he scored fourth. Some drivers would call those results a successful season — Hirst calls it mid-June. His season is reminiscent of one of those super dominating Brent Kaeding championship seasons of the 1990’s. The bottom line is that everybody else in the pit area is going to have to sport their A-Game just to catch him.
THUNDERBOWL FARIA MEMORIAL (5/19/18): Sean Watts had his streak of consecutive races stalled because of serious damage sustained to his 98 Maxim at the Peter Murphy Classic. The frame was split in half after a tussle with the wall and the VISA card got maxed out on a variety of other expensive stuff. Watts was in the Tulare pits, hanging with teammate Nathan Rolfe. He was sporting what could best be described as his “depressed look.” … Speaking of Peter Murphy, he presented NARC Benevolent Fund board member Ashley Smith with a $7000 check, representing money he raised at his event two weeks earlier. Minutes later, race fans Patti and Vince Hernandez felt that a round $10,000 sounded better than $7000 and donated an additional $3000 to the cause. And since Murphy’s name is synonymous with the number 11, another sponsor kicked in another grand for a total of $11,000. It’s money that the NARC Benevolent Fund hopes it never has to use and we are eternally grateful for your tremendous support. … By now, you all know that Hirst won the Faria Memorial, but what you might have missed was a season best KWS-NARC performance by Hanford’s DJ Netto. He scored a strong second in the Frank Netto Ag KPC. Netto’s open wheel slugfest with Shane Golobic and Bud Kaeding for podium spots was worth the price of admission. Kaeding ended up third. … Promoter Steve Faria worked the track several times as the evening progressed. There were no complaints from competitors about the track conditions on this night. … Hirst and Roth had to do a motor swap after qualifying due to a vibration issue. Apparently that fixed the problem. … Craig Stidham took a beating after smacking the wall in his heat race. They made the call for the feature after replacing – well – just about everything. …
PETALUMA SPEEDWAY (6/2/18): 25 sprint cars, 12 BCRA midgets, 20 Dwarf cars, 10 Mini-Stocks and an uncharacteristic cold howling wind. This could have been a recipe for disaster, but promoter Rick Faeth was super prepared and dished up an excellent and very hooked-up track. He knows his Petaluma dirt – groove on the top, groove on the bottom and slick in the middle. … Aussie pilot Matt Dumesny teamed up with Rodney Tiner in the famed 83SA car to tackle P-luma. He started fourth, got in trouble early on, but still scored a top 10 finish. Dumesny plans to stick around in the Tiner ride until the end of July. … Sean Watts made a surprise appearance driving a Dennis Rolfe 360 ride featuring his 98 wing, a wheel and driver’s seat. That combo earned 13th place money. … It would be an easy money prediction that Colby Copeland and the rest of Larry Antaya’s 16A will notching a KWS-NARC victory in the very near future. The team is methodically moving forward, including a season best 10th to second march at Petaluma. … Shane Golobic was third. …
… Some nights are rougher than others. Just ask Bobby McMahan. A random unexpected bump during the Petaluma semi vaulted him upside down and frantically making repairs to earn the final transfer spot. McMahan returned for the restart with a mess of a car featuring a collapsed top wing with no side panel, damaged nerf bars and a variety of other typical night-ending issues. After three “hold on and hope for the best” laps, he pulled into the pits. Nice effort, but no happy ending! … McMahan’s other top wing was on loan to Auburn’s Richard Brace Jr who borrowed it after he got topsy-turvy in his heat. … Rookie driver Jenna Frazier and car owner Jimmy Paniagua sported a 360 motor at Petaluma after hurting their 410 at Tulare. … Rick Faeth and Petaluma Speedway fans gave back to the NARC Benevolent Fund at this event. A 50/50 auction generated $829, and Faeth rounded it up to a cool $1000 in recognition of the Fund’s support of Pit Manager Margaret Lingron who was seriously injured last season. By the way, it was nice to see Margaret back at work even though her healing process is far from 100% complete. A lesser person would have never returned to a racetrack. … If you ever want to hang out with your favorite teams prior to a Petaluma show, go across the street to Buffalo Wild Wings around 1:30 p.m. on race days. Most teams arrive in town early to beat the traffic before the distracted slow driving wine-tasting crowd hits in the wine country. The next Petaluma King of the West-NARC race is on July 14th. … Rookie Dustin Golobic is still your Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger leader this season. He has improved his A-main starting positions by 32-spots this season! Golobic finished 10th in the feature. …
This weekend’s Ocean/Calistoga doubleheader officially marks the halfway point of the King of the West-NARC season. It’s the 33rd Annual Pombo-Sargent Classic on Friday and the $4000 to win Wine Country Classic on Saturday. Follow that up with the KWS-NARC-SCCT Salute to the Fans Sprint Car Spectacular at Placerville on June 30th.
The month of July will be fast and furious with KWS-NARC, SCCT, Civil War, Hunt Magneto, WCS and a variety of local track action. In other words, if you are a true open wheel racing fan, you should be immersed smack dab in the middle of all this greatness. Get out and support open wheel racing … and while you’re at … bring a friend!
Coming to you live from Auburn, CA … See ya!