Pombo/Sargent Classic up next for Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway this Saturday
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – May 11, 2011…One of the biggest races in the Central Valley each year is the annual Pombo/Sargent Classic and on this Saturday night at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway the Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series will be in action at the prestigious event.
The Pombo/Sargent Classic has been going on for over 20 years and it honors California racing icons Al Pombo and Marshall Sargent. It originally started at nearby Kings Speedway in Hanford, before moving to the Thunderbowl in 2006.
Pombo began his career in the 1940's and is credited with more than 500 main event victories, including multiple wins in the Gold Cup at Capital Speedway, the same event which is now held at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. He also won five San Jose Speedway titles, seven NASCAR super-modified championships, nine titles at Kearney Bowl and six at Clovis Speedway. Pombo had been a staple in Tulare the last handful of seasons, but passed away at the end of last year.
Early in Sargent's career he won a pair of San Jose titles, which included two wins in the Johnny Key Memorial and also won the Australian championship in 1964. A pair of crashes unfortunately cut his career short and he enjoyed retirement until his passing in 1990. His legend and memory is kept alive each year as part the Pombo/Sargent Classic and on Saturday night we'll once again pay homage to a pair of legends who helped set the foundation for the sport in our state.
Reigning Pombo/Sargent Classic winner Tim Kaeding of San Jose will lead the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series into the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl on Saturday. “TK” maintains a 29-point lead in the standings following a rainout out last weekend in Chico and will look to claim his third career classic victory this Saturday. Kaeding was also the winner with KWS in Tulare last month.
Chico’s Jonathan Allard will be gunning to make up ground on Kaeding in the standings and rebound in Tulare after a final-lap flip last month resulted in a 17th place finish. The wheel-man of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 machine raced to victory last October at the Trophy Cup in Tulare and comes into Saturday sitting runner up in the KWS standings.
A closely contested battle for third in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series points will resume at the Pombo/Sargent Classic with Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs and Sacramento’s Willie Croft all separated by just three-markers.
Gregg is coming off a third place finish during the most recent KWS event in Marysville and will be searching for his first ever Tulare win this weekend. Suggs is just one-point behind Gregg and will be looking to move up the order even further after a seventh place finish in Tulare last month. Croft currently rounds out the top-five in the standings and will be hoping to carry momentum from his recent victory in Marysville when the series invades Tulare on Saturday.
Eleven-time Pombo/Sargent Classic winner Brent Kaeding of Campbell currently ranks sixth in the KWS standings, with former Golden State 410 champion Jason Statler of Grass Valley in seventh, former Rookie of the Year Brent Bjork eighth, ’09 Silver Dollar Speedway titlist Bobby McMahan from Elk Grove sitting ninth and Elk Grove’s Billy Strange Jr. completing the top-10.
Other drivers expected this weekend include two-time Pombo/Sargent Classic winner Tommy Tarlton of Easton, Chico’s Kenny Allen and Brad Bumgarner, Australian Ian Madsen, Stockton’s Brad Furr, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Fresno’s Craig Stidham, Tipton’s Mike Faria, Visalia’s Cory Eliason, Merced’s Mark Barroso, Rio Vista’s Dan and Danielle Simpson, North Kingstown, Rhode Island’s Eli Deshaies, St. Helena’s Rico Abreu and more.
The front gate will open at 5pm this Saturday night with racing starting a half hour earlier than usual at 6:30. Reserved grandstand tickets will cost $20 with general admission bleacher seats costing just $17. For more info on tickets and to view a seating chart please log onto http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com or call (559) 688-0909.
The Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare.
More information on the Golden State King of the West Sprints can be found at http://www.kwssprints.com
San Jose's Tim Kaeding will bring a 29-point lead in the KWS standings to the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway looking to defend his Pombo/Sargent Classic win from a year ago in the Roth Motorsports No. 83 sprint car. Photo by Steven Cox of http://www.sprintcarphotos.com
- Gary Thomas on May 11, 2011
- Article Date: 5/11/2011 by Gary Thomas