6/6/2012
Sprint Source
Past Dirt Cup champs add spice to Chico/Medford weekend
Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear kicks off “Road to Dirt Cup” this Friday & Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway & Southern Oregon Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Rio Vista, CA – June 6, 2012…Always one of the most anticipated weekend’s of the season is set for this Friday and Saturday as the Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear fires off the “Road to Dirt Cup” at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday and Medford’s Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday.
The opener on Friday will be the 10th race of the season for the series and the second time KWS has competed at the famed quarter-mile bullring. The first appearance of the year at Silver Dollar Speedway produced some great racing and is expected to be just as good this time around.
Saturday’s event at the Southern Oregon Speedway is also expected to be a big night at a track that has become a fun stop each season. Former winners of KWS 410 events at the track include Brent Kaeding on two separate occasions, as well as Tim Kaeding, Tim Shaffer, Kyle Larson and Jonathan Allard who captured last year’s race.
“The Chico & Medford events are always a lot of fun and we really look forward to seeing all the fans this weekend,” said operations manager George Hague. “We had a great race at Silver Dollar Speedway in May and Southern Oregon Speedway was a very successful show last season. Adding in guys like Jimmy Sills & Shane Stewart to the mix will make this a weekend not to miss.”
Three-time & defending “Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup” champion Jonathan Allard of Chico leads the series into the weekend, driving the familiar Williams Motorsports No. 0 sprinter. Allard captured the only other event held at Silver Dollar Speedway this season and as mentioned is also the defending winner at Southern Oregon Speedway. "JA" has scored two victories so far this year with the KWS Series.
Allard will have to contend with Cancen Oil KWS presented by Goodyear rival Tim Kaeding each night. “TK” ranks second in the series standings coming into the weekend and will look to kick-start his bid at a first Dirt Cup crown on Friday and Saturday in Dennis & Teresa Roth’s No. 83 machine. The San Jose driver finished runner up last year at the Dirt Cup and leads KWS with three wins this season.
Multiple-time “Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup” champions Jimmy Sills of Elverta, Shane Stewart from Bixby, Oklahoma and Brent Kaeding of Campbell will also add spice to the weekend.
Jimmy Sills will make his second and third KWS starts of the season at Chico & Medford competing for Dan Simpson Racing. The Hall of Famer is the all-time winningest Dirt Cup champion, having won the event six times in his illustrious career. Sills also ranks seventh on the all-time win list at Silver Dollar Speedway and there is immense excitement to have him back in a 410 this weekend.
Fellow National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Brent Kaeding is a three-time Dirt Cup winner in his career and goes into the weekend sitting fourth in the KWS points. “BK” is also the all-time leading winner in the history of Silver Dollar Speedway and has also captured a number of career wins at the Southern Oregon Speedway in his Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 mount. Kaeding always draws attention at the Medford based one-third mile clay oval and will be shooting to get back into victory lane with KWS.
Like Sills, reigning ASCS National champion Shane Stewart will also be making his second and third starts of the Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear season this weekend. The two-time Dirt Cup winner will be back in action aboard the Paul Silva Motorsports No. 57 sprinter, as the always strong combination gets back together for an assault on another Dirt Cup trophy.
Other top-10 drivers in the KWS Series standings locked and loaded for the two-night KWS portion of “Road to Dirt Cup” will include third place in points Evan Suggs of Scotts Valley, former Silver Dollar Speedway champion Bobby McMahan from Elk Grove, past Southern Oregon Speedway winner Andy Gregg of Placerville, Australian native Peter Murphy, ’04 California state 410 champ Jason Statler from Grass Valley, former Mini Gold Cup champion Willie Croft of Sacramento & ’01 Trophy Cup winner Craig Stidham.
Other drivers set for the “Road to Dirt Cup” will include Sacramento’s Kyle Hirst, Oroville’s Sean Becker, Medford, Oregon’s Roger Crockett, Fair Oak’s Chad Compton, Auburn’s Andy Forsberg, Redding’s Tyler Wolfe, Paradise’ John Michael Bunch, Chico’s Brad Bumgarner & Kenny Allen, Elk Grove’s Sean McMahan, Hamilton, New Zealand’s Dean Brindle, Oakhurst’s Doug Gandy, Grass Valley’s Pat Harvey, Rio Vista’s Danielle Simpson and more.
On Friday June 8 at front grandstand gate of the Silver Dollar Speedway will open at 5pm, with qualifying at 6:30pm and racing scheduled to begin around 7pm. Adult tickets on Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway will cost $20, juniors will be $15 and children $6.
The Silver Dollar Speedway is located at 2357 Fair Street on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, California. The office number is (530) 350-7275. More info at http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com
On Saturday June 9 the front grandstand gate of Southern Oregon Speedway will open at 4pm, qualifying around 6pm and racing to start at 6:30pm. Adult general admission tickets on Saturday night at the Southern Oregon Speedway will cost $25, with juniors, seniors and veterans $17 and kids free. Reserved seating will cost $30.
The Southern Oregon Speedway is located at the Jackson County Sports Park just outside of White City, Oregon and is about 15 minutes from downtown Medford. The track number is (541) 826-6825. More info at http://www.sospeedway.com
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Article Credit: Gary Thomas
Submitted By: Gary Thomas