By Ken Wagner
October 29, 2009

Well here it is Thursday already and above you see what happened on the track this past weekend. In amongst my travels to the two different tracks on two different days and experiencing some reunion fun and great racing, I got caught up with another kidney stone marathon that didn’t leave me until yesterday. Normally they only go a day or so, but this time I endured it without a trip to the doc and kept a very low moving profile. Man!

For my pics of Tulare Click Here. For my pics from Ventura Click here. For Doug Allen's best Click here.

With Mrs Wags on the shelf until her upcoming surgery, off I went to Tulare Thursday afternoon with the thought of helping Trophy Dave Pusateri and his merry band of helpers who have run now 16 Trophy Cup’s and added over $500,000 to the Make A Wish Foundation along the way. I was very involved in the early years of the startup, but somewhere along the way our races (the Wagsdash and the Trophy Cup) seemed to hit the same weekend year after year. I should have known better, they have refined their process just like we did the Wagsdash and really didn’t need the help as their finely tuned group pulled off another outstanding event at the seriously racy Tulare Thunderbowl Speedway.

We touched base by phone on Thursday evening and I said I would be there at 7 AM in the morning when Trophy Dave had e-mailed me the action would begin. Arriving at 6:30 gave me time to scope out the fairgrounds where he said they would be setting up. At the time, I didn’t know they were somewhere else in the AM, so after waiting until nearly 9 am, I drove around the area and didn’t find any worker bee’s getting ready. I went back to my hotel, started reading, fell asleep and didn’t arrive at the track until after noon. Shame on me.

By then Dave and wife Muriel’s Sister Marilyn and son Greg had checked more than half the drivers in for the race. There would be 68 cars in this year’s event. They all signed two front wings with the Trophy Cup t-shirt insignia’s and were pretty cool. It had been years since I was at Dave’s race and we caught up on a lot and he explained what was new and what to expect. They continued to check in drivers as we visited while Greg was off doing his raffle ticket selling for the “Cow Plop Bingo” that they do every year. You pick a square, pay $10 and later on Saturday they put a cow on a grid just like the one you signed, and as soon as he or she plops, a $1000 winner happens and the other half goes to the Make a Wish check.

In fact all the raffles and fund raisers created the extra purse money and the annual Make a Wish collection. Last year it was $50,000! As the day wore on, others were operating the booth where many donated items were ready to be raffled. Each item had a container that you could put your purchased raffle tickets in with the hope your ticket would be drawn. He used to do it our way with a silent auction, but had a very unfortunate customer who missed the final bell and raised so much hell, he changed the process. You know, we did it that way a few years back for some significantly popular items and it might be a better way to do it in the future. When the auction bell rings, you start drawing out of each container and post the winning number for people to check out.

I headed up into the grandstands to watch qualifying soon and try out my new to me 35 to 350 Canon lense that I am thrilled to have. It’s just like the big boys have and even though it’s pretty heavy, it will help me not to have to carry different lens for different applications. Anyway I took plenty of pictures of the cars as I normally do, but this was a 360 wing race and I haven’t put up very many pictures of wing cars on my site before. It will be new ground for me and the people who go there, but in my defense, Trophy Dave is a very good friend and I came to support him and his race, I can’t help it if they run the things.

There were cars and drivers from all over, including unlikely places like Canada and even Oklahoma, hah. Some top named drivers including several who run with the outlaws came for the money. Qualifying saw Tim Kaeding set fast time for the event, something a winner had never done before. The winner coming from the last starting spot after getting the most points also never happened before, so it was a historical Trophy Cup for sure.

To say the racing on Friday was great would be pushing it, but if Tim Kaeding hadn’t made his run in the semi and main, it would be forgettable. The fast track made single file heats and lower features, but when it was time to get more points a few charged from back in the packs to get them. The main was spent watching Tim Kaeding battle with his father Brent and his brother Bud who I didn’t know spoke wingease. On towards the front, Tim took every advantage he could as he ran the top and swept around many cars until he finished 5th. Another racy character was Shane Stewart who was also passing cars very well. Andy Forsberg started up front and stayed there as the track left most with no forward movement and even though Bobby McMahon and Stewart almost had a chance or two to pass him, he hung on to the victory.

It was a fun day and I really liked seeing Dave and the family, after a long time no see. Dave told me early in the day that Tim would win if he didn’t crash, so I guess the boss man knows. I passed on the Taco Bravo feed because I know my stomach hates certain things late at night and headed to the motel for some rest because the next day was going to be long. What I missed was a passing job by Tim Kaeding to get the winners share of nearly $12,000 of the A Main purse total of over $60,000. Yes there was more money for all the other mains, but the $60,000 has to be a record for a feature payout for 360 cars. I later read that Dennis Roth, the owner of the winning car said he was donating all the money he won to Make a Wish!

Morning came and I had a big decision to make. Leave Tulare and take care of something that needed attention or just stay and see the inverted feature that pleases the fans every year. I chose to drive 4 hours to deal with something and then another 45 minutes south and walaa I was in Ventura, imagine that. The $5000 to win 360 show was not on my list this weekend, but things happen and I was there.

Many were surprised when I showed up, but hey, that’s what happens in life, you go to the airport and your ship comes in at the beach. There were a lot of heavy hitters in to steal the VRA special money from the local 360’s. CRA champion, Mike Spencer had a ride, as did other CRA guys like Blake Miller, Danny Sheridan and Matt Mitchell and then Jesse Hockett showed up. After getting taken out by an east coast young gun, destroying his car, he caught a ride with Biggie and came to look for the $5000 payday at Ventura

As I wandered around taking a few pics, there were two other important events about to happen. The first was that Kevin Kierce was about to win the 2009 VRA championship by merely starting the main event. That was cool. Then there was Big Mike’s All Coast Challenge that put up $10,000 for a three race series and the winner would get half that. Kevin led Troy Rutherford by a few points in that chase with Steve Conrad just a tick back and still in the running. So a lot of cash up for 360 guys this week.

I started to feel a little stomach ache coming on and really didn’t want to eat, but did force a Julie Shiosaki made sandwich down my gullet to make it feel better. As the night went on, it graduated into a backache and then the stone dance I have felt before. Suspecting the worst, I still wouldn’t leave before the races were over, so I headed up in the announcer area to visit with Mr Naylor and watch from there. I can usually get away with that if there are not a lot of dignitaries crowding the place.

There were a few other classes going, but I paid attention to the sprinters as they had some scintillating heats and semi to get the top 23 cars that started the main. Jesse Hockett didn’t take all that long to take the lead from Jimmy Crawford on about lap 7 or so. Hockett looked very strong as he led Matt Mitchell in Biggie’s car that he had won two in a row in. Back in the pack Rutherford was trying to make his presence known as he made some moves as was Spencer who had his ride moving well.

Danny Sheridan didn’t have his astrological special wristband on to align the stars for a great performance tonight as he tried to make up a lot of ground from row 10 on the start. He put his car on the top cushion and set it on Kill as the Kittle Motorsports little blue bugger was flying until another car got in his space and he tried valiantly to avoid the obstruction, but instead got on his head. It looked worse than it was, but he was on his top, smoking and looking scary just past the turn four exit when the leaders came down the back stretch. At Ventura they try to keep from throwing red flags because of the early curfew, but mysteriously as the yellow light came on, both Jesse and Matt stopped after going by Danny. Danny was fine as they turned over the car, but the car was not of course and he was done. I don’t know how many cars he passed, but it had to be a dozen at least.

I was up in the booth and all I saw was two cars only, stopped as the field circled? The word was, they stopped and they would restart in the back! I certainly understand Jessie’s point when I heard later he said the red flickered on and off, but I was looking at Danny at the time, so don’t have a clue, but why would they stop if they hadn’t had a reason? Anyway officially it was a done deal.

Jesse came back to 7th on a great run, but missed the brass ring and was understandably very upset afterwards. No one I talked to could understand or verify the red on and off situation. So on with the race with last year’s winner, Brandon Thomson taking the lead! Now wouldn’t that be a Cinderella story if he won? Not to be as with just a couple of laps to go, the damn right front wheel broke off and even though he tried to keep going, he was done and Crawford assumed the lead he would not give up. Greg Taylor gave it a mighty run at the very end, but didn’t hit his marks and couldn’t make the pass, finishing a strong 2nd for his biggest payday of the year, about $2000 I heard. Brent Camarillo had a great ride in the backup car for third

So by now I knew I was in trouble with my stone cold pain and went directly to my car and pondered what to do. I was undecided so I drove into the pits to visit with a few. The Kittle Krew were rebuilding the offending little blue bugger so I gathered around. I stepped nearby to congratulate Kierce for his success and then back to my car. I decided I wasn’t going to make it home this night so got a key from my friend Julie and headed to the Shiosaki castle to get some rest. On the way the intensity in my stone built up and the traffic was dead stopped near the 101 and the 405 transition and I endured that for a while. Finally, I made it to their door and quickly tried to get some rest. I didn’t hear them come in much later, but was in and out of sleep all night. I got up around 10 and headed home warning my bride I was on my way. If you have had this malady, you know the feeling and nothing short of morphine takes the pain away.

I had a great weekend that was fun and exciting and wasn’t the Wags until midday Wednesday, so now I plan a little NHRA drags on Friday, if the weather warms up, as it is a cool 59 and windy today and I won’t go sit in that on Friday to catch a cold. Saturday, if it’s still cool, I will bundle up and hit the Las Vegas Bullring to see the Super Modifieds and USAC midgets. Yes, it is paved, and yes I know that, but I haven’t seen the supers for years and I can handle that.

A little editorial here as it has been almost a year since I blasted the Rockett for what he did to David Cardey in the Ovals last year. I won’t apologize for that because he deserved it, but I realize more now than ever that Jesse didn’t set out to crash David, he just made a mistake. I haven’t seen or heard one time since that night where he has taken anyone out. He is one of the very few that is equally good with or without the wing. Even though I admittedly don’t like seeing anyone take out another driver, I have learned it is just not his style as I have watched him closely each time he appears. He is just very aggressive and takes what is given him to go to the front, and that is what fans really want, don’t they? In following his results across the country this year I see that he looks for the best paying races and goes there with great success every weekend, wing or not he goes to compete. He’s just a great driver getting better every time I seen him. Of course I was not really happy with him stopping for what might have looked like tragedy at Ventura, and not being given his spot back. We use to give anyone’s spot back when they stopped for a crash when they weren’t involved in it, didn’t we? It is a shame because he had the field covered and it was only a guess that Matt could have done a banzai pass on him in the end. Enough about Jessie here, because I figure you’ll hear about more success from him as the big money races come west.

It is almost Oval Nationals time again and it is the best race of the year and the most expensive to run in. Three days of non-stop action costs the racers more than usual and could explain why many have laid out a little this summer saving up to get ready for the one race that can make you famous. From the Wednesday night practice up thru the final main event, each driver will be looking to be THE LAST MAN STANDING when the final checkered waves and the crowd roars. Good luck to all the competitors and hopefully the cooler weather, and maybe there will be some moisture left in the track, for each of the three days, and most especially Saturday night! Remember a tacky track makes for better racing and gives the local boys something to run against the invaders from back east. This is the one they all have circled on their calendars and it’s almost here! Let’s all show up and cheer on our favorites from the CRA boys to the USAC boys and the others who try to steal it all. Let’s hope your favorite will be the LMS and he put on a great show to get there.

Here are the Oval National Champions: 1996 Jimmy Sills; 1997 Rip Williams; 1998 Rodney Argo;1999 Rickie Gaunt; 2000 Tony Jones: 2001 Bud Kaeding; 2002 Bud Kaeding;2003 Cory Kruseman;2004 Cory Kruseman; 2005 Dave Darland; 2006 Dave Darland ; 2007 Bud Kaeding; 2008 Jesse Hockett.

Trophy Cup A main 10/23/09,-- 1. Tim Kaeding $11,820 2; Shane Stewart $7,000; 3. Paul McMahan $5,180; 4; Andy Forsberg $6,000; 5. Kyle Larson $ 4,045; 6. Brent Kaeding $2,950; 7. Randy Hannagan $3,600; 8. Bud Kaeding $2,240; 9. Stephen Allard $2,185; 10. Craig Stidham $2,150; 11. Tommy Tarlton $1,675; 12. Tyler Walker $2,090 ;13. Mike Henry $1,665; 14. Wayne Johnson $1,470; 15. Henry Van Dam $1,470; 16. Bobby McMahan $2,520; 17. Brad Furr $1,335; 18. Jonathan Allard $1,415; 19. Mark Dobmeier $1,225; 20. Cory Eliason $1,445; 21. Kyle Hirst $1,150; 22. Roger Crockett $1,195; 23. Mason Moore $1,060; 24. Peter Murphy $995.

VRA Sprint Cars -10/24/09- 1. Jimmy Crawford, Ventura, 30 Laps; 2. Greg Taylor, Ventura, 30 Laps; 3. Brent Camarillo, Camarillo, 30 Laps; 4. Kevin Kierce, Reseda, 30 Laps; 5. Blake Miller, Yorba Linda, 30 Laps; 6. Steve Conrad, Quartz Hill, 30 Laps; 7. Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO, 30 Laps; 8. Mike Spencer, Temecula, 30 Laps; 9. Troy Rutherford, Ojai, 30 Laps; 10. Rick Hendrix, Palmdale, 30 Laps; 11. Richard McCormick, Aqua Dulce, 30 Laps; 12. Matt Mitchell, Yorba Linda, 30 Laps; 13. John Nock, Newhall, 30 Laps; 14. Derek Buckley, Ojai, 29 Laps; 15. Brandon Thomson, Ventura, 29 Laps; 16. Bobby Michnowicz, Torrance, 21 Laps; 17. Kevin Mahoney, Stockton, 20 Laps; 18. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria, 19 Laps; 19. Luis Espinoza, Castaic, 19 Laps; 20. Brian Camarillo, Camarillo, 17 Laps; 21. Johnathon Henry, Stockton, 3 Laps; 22. Cody Kershaw, Oak Park, 1 Lap; 23. Chris Wakim, Simi Valley, 1 Lap.

All Coast Challenge at Ventura
Top 10 in points: 1. Kevin Kierce, 685; 2. Troy Rutherford, 625; 3. Steve Conrad, 615; 4. Greg Taylor, 590; 5. Chris Wakim, 475; 6. Cody Kershaw, 460; 6. Brandon Thomson, 460; 8. Richard McCormick, 420; 8. Rick Hendrix, 420; 10. Jimmy Crawford, 400.