ANTIOCH, California — After getting the season started last weekend the Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series will be right back at it this Saturday night April 4 with the first event at the newly revamped Antioch Speedway.
The Golden State Challenge Series brought 410 sprint car racing back to the Antioch Speedway in July of 2003 and including that night have competed in a total of 10 events since. The last couple seasons have seen some of the most exciting racing since the return in '03, but in this past off-season the track was lengthened and banked, making this weekend's event arguably the most anticipated in quite a while at the speedway.
Prior to the revamping of the track this year, the Antioch Speedway featured some of the toughest and most unpredictable conditions on the Golden State Challenge Series tour, due to the small confines and relative flat banking. Finesse and being smooth was always paramount in cutting good laps at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds bullring, but with the new configuration it could be a different story.
Leading the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series to the Antioch Speedway this Saturday will be 13-time King of California Brent Kaeding, who claimed the 80th series win of his career last weekend aboard the Al's Roofing Supply No. 69. The Campbell driver always seems to run strong at the Antioch Speedway and his three victories at the track since '03 are the most of any competitor since the return. "BK" finished runner-up in both Antioch events last year and will look to start the season with back-to-back wins on Saturday.
The man that captured that first main event back at the Antioch Speedway in '03 just happens to be Grass Valley's Jason Statler, who is coming off a strong runner-up finish last Saturday in his DF Rios Construction No. 00. The former King of California battled Kaeding hard in the closing laps last week and came up just a bit short at the end, but he will certainly be looking to put his machine into victory lane this time around. Last season saw the "Big Guy" tally a pair of sixth place finishes at Antioch and was also a main event winner in GSC competition at Petaluma during the month of June.
San Jose's Tim Kaeding drove the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr to a victory last July at the Antioch Speedway and is coming off a fourth place from the 13th starting spot in Placerville last Saturday. The '02 King of California has in fact won the last two July stops at Antioch and will no doubt be a strong threat for victory this weekend. "TK" has won 40 main event events in his GSC career, which is second to only father Brent on the all-time win list. His six main event victories led the Golden State Challenge Series last season.
A driver coming off a strong outing in Placerville last weekend is Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, who scored a fifth place finish in the main event and also tied the all-time track record at the red-clay bullring with a blazing fast lap of 9.913 in qualifying. The driver of the Suggs Racing No. 33e picked up a fourth place finish in the April event at Antioch last year, which marks his best career Golden State Challenge Series finish.
Defending King of California Jonathan Allard will look to get some redemption this week after a collision while fighting for the lead last weekend forced him to come from the rear of the field with just 12 laps remaining in the main event. The Chico racer was able to get back up to sixth however, making up valuable points that could have been lost. The driver of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 scored a best finish of third in Antioch last season.
Los Angeles racer Tyler Walker will also look to get his name towards the front of the field this Saturday following an eighth place finish last week, in which he started from the 19th position on the grid. The pilot of the SC Motorsports No. 24 picked up his very first Golden State Challenge Series career victory at the Antioch Speedway last April and brought home a third place finish in the July event, where he battled both Brent and Tim Kaeding over the final laps. Walker finished runner-up in the GSC point standings last year and is in search of his first series title this season.
Two-time USAC Silver Crown champion Bud Kaeding finished fifth in both Antioch races last year and is coming off a 10th place result last Saturday in Placerville. The 29 year-old driver won a main event with the Northern Auto Racing Club at the Antioch Speedway during his rookie season way back in 1997. Kaeding finished third in the final GSC point standings last year with one victory on the season.
Golden State Challenge Series Rookie driver Kyle Larson will make his very first Antioch Speedway start this weekend aboard the Vertullo Racing No. 83v sprinter. The talented 16 year-old, Civil War Series runner-up last year, has performed well at each and every track he has competed at in his young career and it should be no different this weekend.
Fremont's Shane Golobic captured his first career GSC victory in May of last year at the Ocean Speedway and will look for success at Antioch this weekend. The youngster recently finished third in a USAC Western States Midget Series event at the Bakersfield Speedway. Other drivers expected on Saturday in Antioch include Loomis' Kyle Hirst, Fremont's Brent Bjork, Ripon's Brandon Carey, Gilroy's Ken Fredenburg, Rio Vista's Dan Simpson and more.
The front gate will open at 5pm this Saturday night with qualifying set for 7. Adult tickets will be $16 while kids 6-12 and seniors will be $10. Like last week in Placerville, an early arrival is recommended as all seating is general admission and the Antioch grandstand tends to fill to capacity when the Golden State Challenge Series is in town.
The Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds on the corner of 10th & L Streets in Antioch. For more info on the track log onto http://www.antiochspeedway.com
Up next- The Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series will head next for the first event of the season at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night April 11. It will mark the first of four visits this year to the always exciting 1/3 mile clay.
More news and info on the Golden State Challenge King of California Series can be found at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
