From The Grandstand

by Ron Rodda

Lincoln, CA...After a great deal of thought and many changes, the 2008 version of the very successful Trophy Cup has decided on the format which will be used for the first ever three day event. Slated to unfold on October 23-25 at the Tulare Thunderbowl, this 15th annual event will offer not only a new format, but also a record $112.500 purse for the winged 360 sprint teams.

Billed as the “Tribute to Howard Kaeding”, the 2008 Trophy Cup received its own version of a makeover when CEO Dave Pusateri began considering the potential of adding a day to the schedule. Input from many people was considered before finally choosing the format that will lead to a crowning of a Cup champion after a trio of days of intense competition on the Thunderbowl 3/8 clay.

On Thursday, October 23rd, a 10 am pit gate opening will allow teams to prepare for the 5:45 qualifying session, based on the usual pill draw. The top 60 in qualifying will be seeded into the first six heats while those 61st and higher go to a non-qualifier heat. Fast time earns 150 points with a one-point drop per position, the same as in past years.

The non-qualifier heats will be straight up and run eight laps for points, 8 to the winner and a one point drop. The first six heats for the 60 fastest qualifiers will invert six by time and offer 36 points for a win with a 3-point drop per position. At this point, the Cup format becomes something much different than the prior 14 years.

The top 3 from the first six heats (the 60 fastest qualifiers) will advance to the Thursday main event, a 20-lap race with the heat winners starting in the 7th through 12th positions. Each heat winner will have two cars finishing behind them that are also transfers to the main. The heat winners will each choose one of those two cars, making six total chosen, and those cars will fill the first 3 rows. The other cars that earned a top 3 finish will fill positions 13 through 18 in the main.

The 18-car main will then have three groups of six cars with each group aligned straight up by points. The first three rows will be the cars chosen by the heat winners. The next three rows will be the heat winners. And the last three rows will be the top 3 heat finishers not chosen by the heat winner. The Thursday main will offer 12 points to the winner with a one-point drop per position. The last six finishers receive no points. The Thursday A main carries a $4965 purse.

Friday’s pit gate opening is at noon with non-qualifier heats at 5:30, straight up by points, paying 8 points to win with a one point drop per position. These heats will be followed by two non-qualifier scrambles, run with a 4 car inversion by points, and moving the top two finishers from each scramble to the back of the C main. No points are awarded in the scrambles.

Next up will be six heats for the fastest 60 from Thursday, 10 laps each with an 8-car inversion by points. The Friday heats offer 36 points for a win with a 3 points drop per finishing position. After the six heats, the top 20 cars in points go directly to the Friday A main no matter where they finished in their heat. Cars 21st through 40 are in the B main and 41st through 60th go to the C main.

The 12 lap C main is straight up by points and moves the top 4 to the B main. No C main points are offered. The B main is 20 laps and inverts 6 by points, moving the top four finishers to the Friday A main. The fifth place finisher earns 50 points with a 2-point drop per position in the B main. Friday’s A main is 30 laps, with 12 inverted by points. 100 points is earned for a win with a 2-point drop per position. The Friday mains offer a total payout of $18,965.

Saturday’s finale starts with a 3 pm pit gate time with the first race at 6:45 when a pair of A main scrambles are held. The top 20 cars in points coming into Saturday’s racing will be split into two scrambles by odds and evens from the point order. The 15 lap scrambles are completely inverted and offer 10 points to win with a one-point drop per finishing position. Saturday scrambles are also $1000 to win.

Following the scrambles, a series of main events will be based on points and a straight up alignment until the B main, an invert 6 race for 25 laps. The top four from the B join the 20 A main cars that ran the scrambles to create the 24 car field, set for 50 laps with the normal Trophy Cup complete inversion by points.

Due to the extra main event laps, a yellow that appears once ten laps have been scored will become an open red for fuel only. If no yellow appears, after lap 35 an open red will be shown, again for fuel only.

Just the Saturday portion of the racing purse is $35,030 as all mains are paid. When the point fund is included, the total payout for Saturday is $88,580. If a driver won a scrambles, then the A main, and was the top point car, just Saturday alone would earn $15,000 for their efforts.

Because the Saturday A main cars are automatically part of the point fund, the final day’s A main is actually $1335 to start. With the $3,000 winning share of the Saturday main plus point fund money, the final night main even winner will probably earn at least $6000.

A three-day pit pass will be $110 with no waiting in line after Thursday. That represents a $10 savings over individual day pit passes. All people with a pit pass are invited to the Friday barbeque from noon to 3 pm and the Saturday spaghetti feed, also from noon to 3 pm at no charge.

Ticket prices for Thursday are $19 reserved and $17 general admission, Friday is $27 and $25, while Saturday is $30 and $27. A three day reserved seat deal is available for $65, an $11 savings, and also includes free admission to the barbeque and spaghetti feed.

The term “bigger and better than ever” is often overused, but with the largest purse in Trophy Cup history, the first ever three day event, and the unique format, the term certainly applies to the 2008 Cup.