ANTIOCH, California -(Source- Gary Thomas)- Los Angeles driver Tyler Walker utilized a strong early race restart to put himself into the lead and the driver of the SC Motorsports No. 24 never faltered as he drove off to pick up his first career Golden State Challenge Series main event win. It was a big night for Walker and the team after coming off a dnq the previous weekend in Tulare.
The 30 lap GSC feature at the Antioch Speedway Saturday night began with outside front row starter Jonathan Allard of Chico jumping out into the lead, but it didn’t last long as the red flag was unveiled after one lap for Mark Workentine who had flipped in between turns one and two. The single file restart saw Allard leading Campbell’s Brent Kaeding and Walker, who had made quick progress from his outside row number three starting spot.
When the green flag waved again the top three bunched up and as the trio went into turn three Allard drifted a little high and Walker was able to capitalize and get by both he and Kaeding to take over the top spot. The quarter-mile bullring had gotten dry in areas and became a one lane expressway on the bottom for much of the main event. Walker’s Lee Lindgren wrenched JEI Chassis No. 24 was on a rail and the only thing slowing him was numerous cautions and a couple red flags. Traffic did come into play at one point, which allowed Kaeding and Allard to close, but in the open track passing was nearly impossible. Even with that said, Walker did a terrific job dealing with the slower cars as he picked his spots wisely.
The most serious red flag happened on lap 15 when San Jose’s Tim Kaeding clipped one of the big white tires in turn two and flipped end over end before digging in and hitting the clay hard with the nose of the car. The driver of the Tom Rolfe Racing No. 10 was shaken up and limped noticeably after climbing out the car. Reports were that he suffered a possible concussion and was transported to the local hospital for observation. At the time of accident T. Kaeding was making progress from the rear of the field after having to pit during the lap one red, while running amongst the top few cars.
As the 11 pm curfew loomed ahead another red flag stoppage occurred with just six laps remaining. Worries of a shortened main event were put aside when the final handful of laps clicked away without incident and Walker held off B. Kaeding to pick up the checkered flag and score his very first Golden State Challenge win and first with the NMI Industrial Contractors No. 24 team. “I’m just so happy to be able to win tonight and I couldn’t be happier to be back running a 410 sprint car in California,” Walker said. “I have to thank Lee and the guys because this thing was awesome tonight.”
After tallying his first podium finish during last weekend’s action in Tulare, Brent Kaeding came back this week to record a second place finish, his best of the season. The driver of the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 started from the pole and was able to get close to Walker a couple times in traffic, but didn’t have enough to make the move by. The defending GSC champ has been building momentum over the last few weekends.
Finishing third in the main event and also taking over the Golden State Challenge Series point lead was Allard in the Williams Motorsports No. 0. The podium kept up Allard’s consistent season and marked his fifth top five finish in the first six races. The former GSC champ has been fast at every event and that trend continued at Antioch.
Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs tied his career best GSC finish by bringing home a solid fourth in the Suggs Racing No. 33e. Rounding out the top five was the BK Motorsports No. 29 of Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, his second top five finish of the season. Los Gatos racer Jason Statler made progress in the feature and finished sixth, Medord, Oregon’s Roger Crockett was seventh and Sacramento’s Mike Henry was eighth. Full results will be up by tomorrow at http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
Statler led every lap to win the night’s B-main. Brent Kaeding won the six lap dash and the three 10 lap heats were won by Brent Kaeding, Allard and Suggs. Tim Kaeding re-set the Antioch Speedway track record in qualifying with a clocking of 11.51 around the quarter-mile speedway.
Source: Gary Thomas
Date: 04/06/2008 |