KCRP HOSTS THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY KING OF THE WEST-NARC OPENER
The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park will play host to the exciting 950-horsepower open wheel sprint cars of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series, this Saturday (April 6th) with the $4000 to win Fujitsu Spring Nationals.
The event marks the highly anticipated 60th Anniversary season opener for the historic racing series in a schedule that features 19-races at 10 different dirt oval tracks in California. All of the Golden State’s best sprint car teams are expected to compete for top honors in the 30-lap headliner. Up for grabs will be more than $23,000 in prize money and contingency awards.
The upcoming season is expected to be as unpredictable as ever and it appears that the battle for the championship is a wide-open affair. It is expected to be fought fiercely between as many as ten teams.
Among them is Fresno driver Dominic Scelzi, who has some big shoes to fill for the potent Roth Motorsports team. Scelzi took over the coveted seat when defending four-time champion Kyle Hirst announced his semi-retirement last fall. Car owners Dennis and Teresa Roth are four-time King of the West-NARC champions with three different drivers and have a national recognized reputation for fielding winning race cars.
“I’m excited to get the year going in the Roth Motorsports number 83 car,” admits Scelzi. “The bar for this team is raised very high and so are my performance expectations. I feel confident that we can compete for lots of wins and the King of the West-NARC championship.”
Others in the mix include 2017 KWS-NARC champion Bud Kaeding, a third generation, 19-time winning driver out of Campbell. “There is definitely a buzz in the air and a lot of teams have their sights set on achieving championship glory,” said Kaeding. “However, it’s a long season and I feel experience pays bigger dividends in a pressure-packed title fight than just pure optimism. But there is only one way to find out and that is to leave it all on the race track on Saturday night.”
Others entering the title fray include Hollister’s Ryan Bernal; Willie Croft and Colby Copeland of Roseville; Penngrove’s Chase Johnson; DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford. Collectively, this group has 15 career KWS victories under their belt.
“Kern County Raceway Park is a fantastic venue to open the season,” continued Scelzi. “It has proven to be a very racy, multiple groove racetrack that allows drivers to charge to the front. I’m really looking forward to strapping into my race car.”
Also expected to compete on Saturday include Atwater drivers Nathan Rolfe and Sean Watts; Kenny Allen of Chico; Grass Valley’s Jason Statler; Jenna Frazier of Sacramento; Jarrett Soares of Discovery Bay; Tim Estenson of Fargo, North Dakota, and many others. The event will pay a minimum of $600 to start the A-Main.
Pit gates open at 2:00 p.m. Front Gate open at 5:30 pm, with qualifying set to get underway at 6:30 pm. Racing gets started at approximately 7:30 pm. General admission tickets are $20; Seniors (65+) and active-military $14. Kids five years old or younger are free.
The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park is located in Bakersfield, CA, just off of Highway 5 and Enos Lane. The address is 13500 Raceway Blvd, Bakersfield, CA 93311. For more info, go to www.kernraceway.com or NARC410.com.
