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Michelle N.
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Posted: Sunday Nov 18th, 2007 03:21 AM |
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Saldana Claims Trophy Cup Opener
by Ron Rodda
Tulare, CA…Racing to the front from his 10th starting position, Joey Saldana led the last 8 laps of the Friday night main event to open the 14th Annual Trophy Cup event at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway. Taking the checkers when a red ended the scheduled 30 lap main two laps early due to being over 90 minutes past curfew, Saldana was chased across the line by Kyle Hirst and Jason Meyers.
The largest field since 1997 towed to the Central Valley fairgrounds in Tulare with 82 cars qualifying, led by Roger Crockett at 13.550, the 15th car to time. Tayler Malsam was 2nd quick at 13.627 while 3rd fast went to Saldana. While the track slightly favored the earlier qualifiers, Jason Solwold was still able to turn the 8th quick time while being the 68th car to take a time.
Five heats of 12 cars, inverting six by time, moved the top 4 to the A main. Andy Forsberg won the opening heat after Myles Bishop flipped at the flag stand on the start. Kyle Hirst won heat two from the same outside front row starting spot and Tim Kaeding took the 3rd ten-lap heat, starting 4th.
Meyers was the only top 10 qualifier to win a heat, taking the 4th from his sixth spot after Garrett Ishii flipped hard on the start also on the front side. Roberto Kirby rolled off of the turn 4 wall and heat five was very tough on equipment. James Sweeney, Steve Kilcup, and Tyler Spath all brought out reds before Tyler Walker won the heat from 7th starting.
Heats paid 36 points to win, with a 3-point drop per position. Crockett had earlier collected his 150 points for fast time with one point separating each driver in the order. Non-qualifier races for cars ranked 61st and higher saw Richard Bailey and Seth Bergman collect those wins. A D main comprised of the two non-qualifier racers was won by Peter Breshears.
Malsam came back from a tough heat to win the C main and move to the B along with Jeff Delte, Shane Golobic, and Bergman. The loaded B main would move the top four of the invert six alignment to the finale. Bud Kaeding led all 20 laps for the win from his outside front row start. Brent Kaeding started on the pole and was 2nd until Brandon Wimmer used the bottom of turn 2 to take 2nd in the eventual finish. Wimmer started 13th and was followed in transfer spots by Brent Kaeding and Jason Solwold.
Despite the late hour, the track allowed racing to continue and the planned 30 lap main inverted 12 by points, assigning Kyle Hirst to the pole alongside Andy Forsberg. The top two cars in points at the start were Roger Crockett and Jason Meyers, sharing row six as a result.
Hirst led initially while Forsberg and Travis Rutz put on an entertaining battle for 2nd. Shane Stewart got out of shape in turn 2 on the 3rd circuit and slammed into Crockett, lessening both of their chances to move forward. Saldana moved into the top 3 on lap 8, using the bottom of turn 2 to drop Forsberg back one spot and now chase Rutz and Hirst. Saldana got 2nd two laps later and some superb racing followed between Indiana’s Saldana and Elk Grove, CA resident Hirst. While they thrilled the crowd, Forsberg regained 3rd in lap 18.
On lap 23 Hirst ran a bit high in turn 4 and Saldana took over the lead, a spot which he held until the checkers fell when a lap 28 red ended the main. Hirst held onto 2nd while Jason Meyers took 3rd from his 12th starting spot, using the bottom of turn 2 on lap 26 for the move. Due to the lateness, the lap 28 red led to a call for the checkers and Saldana enjoyed the win over Hirst and Meyers.
Two yellows and two reds appeared during the frantic A main as racers dueled with each other and the clock as the Friday main actually started Saturday morning. Unofficial points after the first night are: 1. Jason Meyers 279 2. Joey Saldana 278 3. Brad Sweet 265 4. Kyle Hirst 263 5. Andy Forsberg 260 6. Travis Rutz 257 7. Shane Stewart 254 8. Ronnie Day 254 9. Roger Crockett 250 10. Jonathan Allard 250 11. Tim Kaeding 250 12. Jason Solwold 248
D main—Peter Breshears, Seth Bergman, Brent Bjork, Bill Cornwell
C main—Tayler Malsam, Jeff Delte, Shane Golobic, Bergman, Ken Fredenberg, Breshears, Jason Botsford, Mason Moore, Justin Johnson, Jerry Wise Jr., Rob Held, Myles Bishop
B main—Bud Kaeding, Wimmer, Brent Kaeding, Solwold, Brett Rollag, Craig Stidham, Mark Hall, Brock Lemley, Brett Miller, Malsam, Golobic, Bergman, Mark Barosso, Willie Croft, Shawn Rice, Richard Brace, Jr., Steven Allard, Delte, James Sweeney, Stan Yockey, Bradley Terrell, Alissa Geving, Kurt Nelson
A main—Joey Saldana, Kyle Hirst, Jason Meyers, Andy Forsberg, Brad Sweet, Travis Rutz, Ronnie Day, Jonathan Allard, Jason Solwold, Tyler Walker, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, Tim Kaeding, Brandon Wimmer, Brent Kaeding, Roger Crockett, Bud Kaeding, Jimmy Trulli, Kyle Larson, Herman Klein, Tommy Tarlton, Randy Hannagan, Mike Faria, Andy Ferris
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RIP Fast Freddie Brownfield #92
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
--Winston Churchill
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