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The 2009 Bandit Season Begins in Ventura |
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MARCH 31, 2009 --- Dave Swindell’s Bandit Sprint Car Series has announced a “Super Schedule” in partnership with several great venues. The 2009 Bandit season will kickoff at the beautifully renovated Ventura Raceway on April 4th as scheduled with a matchup with the Bandit-VRA regulars on the VRA home turf. The Bandit Championship Series features a $5,000 championship purse in 2009 plus contingency prizes and awards through-out the season. This will be an 11 battle war at 4 sites for the 15th Bandit season championship crown plus the Grand Slam Challenge championship. The schedule consists of the previously announced season dates with an alternative date on May 2nd at the Tulare Thunderbowl as the series is unfortunately minus the Santa Maria Speedway dates while the ’09 season remains in doubt and litigation at the coastal track. A huge addition to the Bandit Series is the Thunderbowl in Tulare thanks to promoters Steve Faria and Don Sharp. The Thunderbowl will feature the Bandit series on four great evenings with the Golden State Challenge Series supporting the best sprint car racing program in the state. April 11th, May 2nd, May 16th, and June 27th are the dates to mark your calendar for these spectacular shows. The Tulare Thunderbowl may just be the current crowned jewel of central valley race tracks. The track is characterized by its smooth and racy multi-grooved 1/3 mile clay and great spectator amenities which make this special event venues dates a highlighted must on every open-wheeled fans calendar. The Schweitzer family’s Bakersfield Speedway will again host the Grand Slam series and Bandit Series for three combined dates in ’09. The Grand Salami will be at the legendary raceway April 25th with May 9th and July 18th as the Bandit series events on the ultra fast 1/3 mile oval. The three races there last year were swept by series champion Peter Murphy but not without significant challenge from his competitors. The well prepped venue is among the most challenging on the schedule because of the changing surface and tight multi-lane surface. A growing fan base and being the home track to a growing number of Bandit teams makes its 64th season as Kern County’s premier auto racing venue on tap to be a memorable one. . Another huge addition to the Bandit Schedule is the renovated Chowchilla Speedway. The venue has new management and a positive vibe as the track has seen significant improvements to its lay out and surface under the direction of Kenny Shepherd and his team. The fast 1/3 mile oval will feature open wheel only nights with the Bandito’s bringing their injected excitement to the Bandit’s northern most track. July 11th and August 22nd will see the Bandits in addition to an exciting field of winged sprint car action. The grand finale will be October 31st as the Chowchilla Speedway hosts the PUMPKIN CUP presented by Port Authority Apparel. It will be a Halloween Bash Pumpkin Shootout featuring the Bandit Sprint Cars, Wright One 360 winged Sprint Cars, and Wingless Spec Sprint Cars verses NCMA Sprint Cars and Open Comp Hobby Stock Race plus a Destruction Derby. This racing party will feature Trick or Treat for the Kids through the Pits just before the mains and a costume contest in the grandstands, the winner receives two season tickets for 2010! The fireworks will be donated by the racers who will let the sparks fly in wheel-to-wheel combat. This event will cap off a 2009 season to remember while crowning the 15th Bandit Series Champion! The defending Bandit Champion Peter Murphy will again be on the attack to go back-to-back in his famous black 21 racecar. The Tiger Woods of the central California non-wing sprint car world over the past couple of seasons is back from an injury sustained at Kings Speedway with a win at the track that caused a hiatus from driving for several months in Tiger- like fashion this past week-end. The Bandit dominator over the past decade is multiple champion “big daddy” ( and proud new papa) Davey Pombo, freshly healed from his own back surgery aggravated at the same event of Murphy’s injury. Davey is as determined as ever to regain his crown and has teamed with longtime owner-driver John Iturriria to challenge for his third title of the decade. Not one to take a back seat to anyone Davey is sure to have his steely eyes focused, jaw clinched and his elbows up for every event on the card! Pombo and Murphy emerge as clear initial favorites as both are proven champions who have won on every type of race track the series competes on. Those who want to be the best step forward and challenge the best and don’t look for easy pickins’ which is what makes the Bandit field the greatest! The make-up of the field can be described as fast and battle tested, so wins and champions can emerge from anywhere. Rusty Carlile is among veteran talent that has the mettle to win on any given night. Joining him with that is a great group of young and proven young winners including Justyne Hamblin, the VanderWeerd Brothers, Wes Gutierrez, Michael Faccinto and the unstoppable veteran “Hollywood” Danny Faria. 2008 Rookie-of-the-Year Tyler Schmidt, Rick Kirkbride, Jared Little, and T.J. Smith lead a batch of fresh young challengers to gain enrollment onto the win column in 2009. Kevin Barnes, Davey Knott, Jimmy Thompson, Greg Porte and Jeff Fiscus top a list of veteran challengers for the ’09 season. The up coming season promises to make memories and lead to a rejuvenated 2010 season. The Grand Slam’s fifth season will be held this week-end and again in Bakersfield on the 25th of April with the Santa Maria date in legitimate doubt. This year the VRA gangs appears insistent on being spotted their right rear tire and their pill draw system to even things up and try to reclaim the Grand Slam title from the Bandit contingent. Last seasons events were swept by Bandito’s Danny Faria (2 wins) while Murphy won the other and claimed the title. It will still be a challenge to win the championship for either group teams as the talent level for these events have been extraordinarily high over the history of the series. In a shortened series the winner can come from anywhere, just put together a couple of great races. On paper the abbreviated schedule favors the VRA warriors but that what makes for great racing and a fantastic challenge in its own right. Arguably the best at this and given the two tracks would be the two-time Grand Slam champion Peter Murphy and fellow Grand Slam Challenge champion Greg Taylor. This list is much too short as Davey Pombo, Kevin Kierce, Danny Faria Jr. and all the rest would attest to. The talent level is so high that the best could be had from two dozen or so teams. The answer will be had in just a few short days. 2009 BANDIT SPRINT CAR SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERSCHEDULE **APRIL 4 - VENTURA RACEWAY (GRAND SLAM #1) APRIL 11 - THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY **APRIL 25 - BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY (GRAND SLAM #2) MAY 2 - THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY MAY 9 - BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY MAY 16 - THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY JUNE 27 - THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY JULY 11 – CHOWCHILLA SPEEDWAY JULY 18 - BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY AUGUST 22 – CHOWCHILLA SPEEDWAY OCTOBER 31 – CHOWCHILLA SPEEDWAY PUMPKIN CUP CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE ** Designates Special 5th Bandit-VRA Grand Slam Challenge Series Events For any questions or concerns call the Bandit Office at 805-202-1492 or Pete Curto at 805-305-9884 |
