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Hanford, CA...September 13...One of Kings Speedway's biggest shows of the year showcased three sanctioning organizations, included winged and nonwinged 360 sprints, and had exciting action on the well prepared 3/8 mile surface. Ricci Faria was in the right place at the right time to win the co-sanctioned Civil War/Rebel Cup special event and Rick Williams won his first ever nonwing Sprint Bandit main. The winged portion of the evening combined the northern-based Civil War stars with the locally anchored Rebel Cup drivers in the showdown of the two sanctioning groups.
A field of 48 winged cars appeared and fast time went to Tim Kaeding with a 14.162 effort and four ten lap heats transferred the top four from the invert six alignment with 12 cars per heat. Those wins went to David Robinson, Jr., Richard Brace, Jr., Tim Worth, and Monty Ferriera. A 16 car C main sent only two forward and Lawrence Edlund and Steven Tiner got those spots in the 18 car B main. The B elevated Worth, Rick Williams, Steve Kent, and Randy Hannagan to the 30 lap finale with all transfers getting their time back.
A six inversion put Civil War point leader Stephen Allard and Ronnie Day on the front row while Brad Sweet and Ricci Faria sat in row two. Allard led a lap with Day in pursuit until Faria made a dramatic move from 3rd to the lead, using the top of turns 3 and 4 for the effort. Day pressured Faria while Kaeding was up to 3rd by the 4th lap, coming from his sixth starting spot. Sweet had spun and dropped out after only one lap and two other yellows for minor tangles and spins appeared after laps 10 and 12.
The tenth circle saw Kaeding make a dramatic move of his own when he ran the bottom of both turns 2 and 4 to move from 3rd to the lead with Day holding 2nd and Faria dropped to 3rd in the exchange. Faria was back in 2nd on lap 13, once again running the top of turn 4, but Day regained that spot just a lap later and a dramatic chase between Day and Kaeding began to unfold.
Kaeding was mostly running the bottom groove while Day moved up on the track for a battle that lasted 15 laps. Numerous times Day would draw alongside Kaeding, sometimes making the pass, but Kaeding was always in the lead at the line. Day finally made the pass on the inside of turn four on lap 27 and led one more before the race dramatically changed. As the dueling pair tried to finish the 29th lap, contact between the two cars left them entangled just short of the flagstand and Day was finished for the night.
Faria, well behind the lead pair in 3rd since lap 14, accepted the lead and held off Blake Robertson the last two laps for the win. Robertson came from 13th starting and got past Kent and Hannagan late in the race for second. Kent was 3rd ahead of Hannagan and Rebel Cup point leader, Worth.
The 21 car field of nonwing Sprint Bandits was led in qualifying by Andy Forsberg with a 16.314 effort. Davey Pombo, Jerome Warmerdam, and Arron Altaffer won heats before 19 cars started the 25 lap main. The invert ten plan put A. J. Burgin and Josh Davis on row one while Williams and Pombo started in row two. Burgin led initially and the race went red when a terrifying flip by Warmerdam happened on lap two. Warmerdam was appearing to move from 4th to 2nd coming out of turn two when he got the front end well up into the air. The car twisted hard onto the right rear and when the front end dropped to the ground a violent series of forward flips down the backstretch followed. Warmerdam was shaken in the crash and transported for a checkup but reportedly escaped with bumps and bruises.
Other than the red for Warmerdam's adventure, only two yellows for stopped cars slowed the pace. Burgin led while Williams stayed right on his rear nerf until an opening appeared on the bottom of the track in turn four. Williams got under Burgin as lap 11 was ending and led the remaining distance. Burgin held 2nd until 10th starting Forsberg asserted himself and climbed from 5th to 2nd over the last 4 laps. Both Williams and Forsberg were making rare nonwing starts and both drivers competed in the winged division along with double division driver, Davey Pombo. Burgin held on for 3rd ahead of Richard Harvey, Jr. and Jason Montgomery in the well presented event. The Bandit point championship fight stayed tight with 9th place finisher Aaron Altaffer coming out of the race with a 2 point lead over 6th place finisher Greg Porte. Harvey closed to within 29 points of the point lead and Burgin is now just 9 points back of Harvey. D Pombo Jr is the final title contender, standing 45 points back of point leader Altaffer in fifth.
The Rebels and Bandits again are on the same card this Saturday night with the IMCA Modifieds returning to complete the three division card.
Civil War/Rebel Cup
Fast time-Tim Kaeding 14.162
Heat one-David Robinson, Jr., Blake Robertson, Ronnie Day, Kaeding, Steve Kent
Heat two-Richard Brace, Jr., Mike Benson, Mark Hall, Andy Forsberg, Willie Croft
Heat three-Jimmy Trulli, Destiney Hays, Stephen Allard, Ricci Faria, Randy Hannagan
Heat four-Monty Ferriera, Andy Ferris, Brad Sweet, Ricky Wondergem, Tim Worth
C main-Lawrence Edlund, Steven Tiner, Greg DeCaires, Jason Statler, Chuck Gurney, Jr., Billy Wallace, Scott Russell, Korey Lovell, Davey Pombo, Jeff Hallieb, Mike Schriver, Jerry Pelayo, Jade Parker, Mark Barroso, Ron Myska, David Key (DNS)
B main-Worth, Rick Williams, Kent, Hannagan, Steve Fehrman, Kurt Nelson, Erik Folger, Brian Coelho, Edlund, Jim Richardson, Herman Klein, Sean Becker, Jeff Parady, Croft, Tiner, Doug Lippincott, Stan Yockey, Mike Henry
A main-Faria, Robertson, Kent, Hannagan, Worth, Forsberg, Trulli, Brace, Allard, Robinson, Kaeding, Hays, Wondergem, Hall, Ferris, Ferriera, Day, Benson, Williams, Sweet
Sprint Bandits
Fast time-Andy Forsberg 16.314
Heat one-Davey Pombo, Greg Porte, Forsberg, A. J. Burgin, Rusty Carlile
Heat two-Jerome Warmerdam, John Burnett, Rick Williams, Matt Day, Brad Evett
Heat three-Arron Altaffer, Richard Harvey, Jr., Dave Knott, Josh Davis, Jonathan Logan
Main-Williams, Forsberg, Burgin, Harvey, Jason Montgomery, Porte, Pombo, Burnett, Altaffer, Evett, Day, Jeff Fiscus, Carlile, Logan, Knott
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