[i By Bill Sullivan/Sullivan Images Media]
ELK GROVE, CA – It's the biggest race for 360 sprint cars of the year in California, and Elk Grove's Billy Strange will be on the roster for the 17th annual Trophy Cup at the Tulare Thunderbowl this Friday and Saturday in Tulare, California. Strange will be one of 80 talented sprint car drivers in competition this weekend and will be in the company of some of the nation's best known talent on the lighting fast 1/3 mile track.
"I am really stoked that we were able to land an entry for the Trophy Cup," said Strange, who will wrap up his California racing season this weekend aboard the Strange Motorsports #28x sprint car before heading to the ASCS Finale in Vegas. "We've had our share of tough luck late in the season, maybe getting an entry in this awesome race is a sign it's really going to turn around for us."
After a damaging DNF in the Civil War final at Placerville late last month followed by an unavoidable collision with lapped traffic in the recent Fall Nationals, Strange has been looking to return to meeting his racing goals as he was earlier in the 2010 racing season. Two weeks ago at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville the team didn't take home a top five like they wanted, however, the night ended on a much more positive note than it had in previous weeks.
An impressive 34 cars were in competition on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Strange qualified 7th overall in the field. After missing the transfer in heat race action he drove his way through the B feature to earn the sixth place starting position in the A-feature. During the event a brief trip on to two wheels forced Strange to fall back to the rear of the field. The second generation driver charged his way back to finish 13th in the event.
"It wasn't really the finish we wanted but we met our goals for the night," said Strange. "After Placerville and Chico we wanted to just finish a race and roll the car in the trailer. We did that and proved we were competitive with the comeback like that so late in the race."
As he makes the trip to the Tulare County Fairgrounds this weekend, Strange will be competing with some of the best drivers in the business in the Southwest Contractors Trophy Cup presented by Kaeding Performance. The race boasts a $90,000 purse and will pay some $20,000 to the driver with the most points from the combined two day event.
With its unique format the Trophy Cup regularly produces some of the best racing seen all season. Each time a driver hits the raceway for competitive racing action there are points awarded, with it all being a lead-up to the 50-lap feature on Saturday night that is completely inverted based on points accumulated up to that part of the event.
"This is definitely a special race to be in," said Strange, competing in the second Trophy Cup of his career. "It draws so many top drivers from all over the world and the track is always very fast down there. We're looking forward to it and hopefully we can work out way up towards that feature by Saturday night."
As he heads to the biggest event of the year, Strange Motorsports has a number of marketing partners that they are thankful for. Among their supporters are QWK Racing Components, ART Enterprises, Kevin Sharrah Designs, Swepco Lubricants, Pronol Race Fuels, MotoWear International, America's Tire, High Country Painting and Amerikote.
The team is seeking primary sponsorship for the 2011 racing season. In the year to come Strange plans on competing in a variety of high profile events and campaigns including weekly events at Placerville Speedway, the Civil War Series and the traveling Golden State King of the West Series. To learn more about Billy Strange or to contact them about sponsorship opportunities, visit his official website at www.billystrangejr.com.
- Bill Sullivan on Oct 20, 2010
- Article Date: 10/20/2010