Placerville Speedway hosts the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series in the “Hoosier Tires Gold Country Shootout” this Saturday April 19
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – April 15, 2014…After opening the season last weekend the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will be right back at it this Saturday at the always action packed Placerville Speedway for the “Hoosier Tires Gold Country Shootout.”
This Saturday’s event will be the second of five KWS shows this season filmed for airing by MAVTV American Real. The others include last week’s opener at the Tulare Thunderbowl, July 12 at Ocean Speedway, September 13 at Ventura Raceway and November 1 at the Stockton Dirt Track. The first event is scheduled to be aired the second week in June on MAVTV.
One of the hottest drivers anywhere in the country is set to join the King of the West 410’s on Saturday, with that being the always entertaining Rico Abreu. The Rutherford resident has captured a number of major wins this season, including those with the World of Outlaws, the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and most recently last weekend a two-night sweep of the USAC National Midget sanctioned Kokomo Grand Prix. The 22-year-old has quickly moved up the ladder as one of the very best talents across the USA and this Saturday will be looking to find victory lane with KWS in Placerville.
Last Saturday saw Easton’s Tommy Tarlton kick-off the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series season in victorious fashion as he guns for the California Triple Crown title this year. The always hard charging driver put on a great show at both Placerville events last season, with the highlight being a charge from 19th to third during the April showcase at the high-banks. Tarlton will look for another strong night this Saturday aboard the Elite Landscape Construction No. 21 mount.
After finishing second in the season-opener, defending King of the West champ Kyle Hirst will be looking to break his way into victory lane at a track he’s had lots of success at during his career. The Sacramento driver picked up a thrilling victory with the series last April at Placerville in the Roth Motorsports machine. Campbell’s Bud Kaeding ran third at the season-opener and will visit Placerville on Saturday for the first time since joining Williams Motorsports in the off-season. The three-time USAC Silver Crown champ will be looking to give car owner’s Morrie & Katie Williams another win on the red clay.
Following a strong night at the opener Sacramento’s Willie Croft will be gunning to park the Holy Smokes BBQ No. 29 sprinter in victory lane on Saturday at Placerville. Croft is coming off the finest season of his Sprint Car career and showed that he will be a contender night in & night out once again. Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi put on an impressive charge in the feature last weekend and rounds out the top-five in points after one round of competition. The 16-year-old was solid in the two King of the West events last year at Placerville, highlighted by a fifth place finish in June aboard the Scelzi Enterprises No. 41 machine.
Other drivers that have positioned themselves in the top-10 of points going into the “Hoosier Tires Gold Country Shootout” include Princeton’s Mason Moore, Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Oroville’s Sean Becker and Campbell’s Brent Kaeding. All of those also happen to be drivers that routinely run strong at the Placerville Speedway and will be searching for victory with the MAVTV TV cameras rolling.
After a tough opening night Chico’s Jonathan Allard will be looking for a rebound at a track he has had immense success at, including a victory last June. More KWS regulars expected include DJ Netto, Craig Stidham, Bobby & Sean McMahan, Richard Brace Jr., Chad Compton, Jarret Soares, Nathan Washam, Geoffrey Strole and Pat Harvey. More drivers looking to shine bright in front of the cameras on Saturday are sure to include Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Placerville’s Andy Gregg & Jimmy Trulli, Australian Todd Wanless, New Zealander Michael Pickens, Roseville’s Colby Copeland; Seattle, Washington’s Taylor Malsam, Vacaville’s Joey Magaruh and others.
Adult tickets for the “Hoosier Tires Gold Country Shootout” on Saturday will cost $20, seniors will be $16, juniors $12 and children $6. All seating is general admission during the night. The pit gate at Placerville Speedway on Saturday opens at 2pm, with the front gate opening at 5pm, cars will be hitting the track for wheel packing a little prior to 6pm, qualifying is scheduled for 6:30pm and racing is anticipated to begin around 7pm. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the grandstands always pack in at the Placerville bullring.
Hoosier Tires has grown to be one of the largest employers in Plymouth, Indiana, and produces over 1000 different types of race tires. The company has its own 300-mph test wheel; a technology center; state-of-the-art, fully-integrated production facilities; and a model sales and distribution network in Lakeville, Indiana, which others seek to emulate.
The pride that exists among those associated with Hoosier “family” continues to be the focal point of the success the company has enjoyed over the years. This philosophy has been, and will continue to be, the secret behind Hoosier’s success in building “Tires Designed for Champions.” More information on Hoosier Racing Tires can be found at http://www.hoosiertire.com and for more on Hoosier Tire West please visit http://www.hoosiertirewest.com
The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more on Placerville Speedway log onto www.placervillespeedway.com
The track is a high-banked quarter-mile oval with distinctive red clay and features an all-time track record that stands at a blistering fast 9.913. The mark was set in the spring of 2004 by San Jose’s Tim Kaeding and then was amazingly matched by Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs in March of 2009. The tight confines of Placerville Speedway offers a perspective very unique in Northern California and makes it one of the most popular tracks throughout the region.
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at http://www.kwssprints.com
Be sure to like the KWS Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints and become a member of our Twitter community at https://twitter.com/KwsSprintRacing for all the latest breaking news regarding the series
Upcoming events after Placerville Speedway
Saturday May 3: Silver Dollar Speedway (24th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial)
Saturday May 10: Petaluma Speedway
Saturday May 17: Thunderbowl Raceway (Chris & Brian Faria Memorial)
Friday June 6: Silver Dollar Speedway (2nd annual David Tarter Memorial)
Saturday June 7: Marysville Raceway Park