RYAN BERNAL CONTINUES WINNING WAYS AT TULARE’S THUNDERBOWL By Lance Jennings TULARE, CA – JUNE 1, 2014... Starting sixth, fast qualifier Ryan Bernal of Hollister took the lead from Bud Kaeding on lap 18 and earned his third consecutive USAC West Coast Sprint victory. For Bernal, Saturday’s $1,500 triumph at Tulare’s Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway was his series leading seventeenth feature win. Kaeding, Matt Mitchell, Troy Rutherford and Richard Vander Weerd followed Ryan to the checkered flags. Piloting the Mike Phulps owned #56 Core Power / Metal Works ART, Ryan Bernal is the hottest driver on the circuit. Ryan claimed his second Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award by out-qualifying the twenty-five racers in attendance and placed third in his heat race. After scoring his third main event of the campaign, Bernal tied the series record of three straight wins for the third time in his career. The defending USAC Western Classic Sprint Champion left Tulare ranked eleventh in points with one heat race victory, six top-10 finishes and 53 feature laps to his credit. Campbell’s Bud Kaeding had to settle for second at Thunderbowl Raceway. Driving Junior Bowman’s #29 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Maxim, Kaeding grabbed the lead from Troy Rutherford on the second lap and maintained the top spot until the eighteenth circuit. Qualifying sixth overall, the 2012 Champion also scored third in his 10-lap heat race. In limited appearances, Bud has climbed to twelfth in the point standings with one heat race victory, three top-10 finishes, and 37 feature laps led. Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda had another strong performance with a third place run at Tulare. Racing his #37 MPD Racing / ART Enterprises Maxim, Mitchell was fourth fast in time trials and placed fourth in his heat race. The former USAC Western Midget Rookie of the Year has risen to second in points with one heat race victory, one semi-main win, two Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Awards, and six top-10 finishes on the season. Ojai’s Troy Rutherford scored fourth in Tulare’s 30-lap main event. Piloting Steve Watt’s #81 JD Machine Tech / AAA Propane Maxim, Rutherford qualified fifth overall and took second in his heat race. Heading to next Saturday’s race at Hanford, the former VRA Sprint Champion ranks fourth in the point chase with one feature win, one heat race victory, six top-10 finishes, and 14 feature laps led in 2014. Richard Vander Weerd of Visalia claimed fifth at the Tulare County Fairgrounds. Driving the family owned #10 Vander Weerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Vander Weerd was third quick in time trials and won the Saldana Racing Products / Weld Racing Heat Race #3. The 2011 Champion has climbed to sixth in points with one feature win, six heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award, six top-10 finishes, and 16 feature laps led. Riverdale’s “Shifter” Landon Hurst earned his first Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a ninth place run from fifteenth. Racing the family owned #179 Kings River Commodities / Duinkerken Farms Maxim, Hurst qualified seventeenth overall and won the 10-lap Deist Safety Heat Race #2. Last season’s Rookie of the Year sits tenth in the standings with two heat race victories and top-10 finishes in the campaign. Markus Niemela of Rauma, Finland raced to victory in the 10-lap Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Piloting Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, Niemela was seventh fast in time trials and scored eighth in the main event. Heading to Hanford, the point leader left Tulare with a 40-point advantage on the strength of two Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Awards, seven top-10 finishes and 12 feature laps led. After graduating high school earlier in the morning, Tracy’s Austin Liggett won the 12-lap Competition Suspension Inc. / Rod End Supply Semi-Main. Driving the family owned #83 Excel Environmental Services / Home Connections Inc. Spike, Liggett qualified eighth, placed seventh in his heat race, and scored eleventh in the feature. The 2012 Rookie of the Year sits ninth in the standings with one feature win, four top-10 finishes, and 31 feature laps led on the season. This Saturday, June 7th, the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series will invade Hanford’s Kings Speedway. The action packed event will also feature the winged Racesaver Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, and Mini Stocks. Located on the Kings County Fairgrounds at 801 South 10th Avenue, more event information can be found at www.kingsspeedway.net or calling (559) 584-RACE (7223). The USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series thanks Amsoil, Hoosier Tire, Chris Kearns Presents, Competition Suspension Inc., Deist Safety, Engler Machine & Tool, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Keizer Wheels, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, Saldana Racing Products, SouthWest Contractors, VanLare Steering Repair, Weld Racing, and Woodland Auto Display for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, email PR Director Lance Jennings at [email protected]. For more information, visit westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/#!/pages/USAC-West-Coast-Sprint-Car-Series/369549755817), or Twitter (www.twitter.com/USACwc360). ----------------------------------------------- USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 31, 2014 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY TIME TRIALS: 1. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-15.460; 2. Mike Spencer, 51T, Roth-15.600; 3. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.673; 4. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.750; 5. Troy Rutherford, 81, Watt-15.830; 6. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.855; 7. Markus Niemela, 73, Ford-15.880; 8. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-16.150; 9. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.285; 10. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell-16.339; 11. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-16.347; 12. Danny Faria Jr., 2, Bowman-16.411; 13. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-16.530; 14. Jeff Sibley, 42N, Sibley-16.556; 15. T.J. Smith, 87, Van Meter-16.691; 16. Trent Carter, 13, Carter-16.782; 17. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-16.806; 18. Austin Stone, 29X, Coffman-16.820; 19. Max Adams, 5X, Adams-16.829; 20. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-17.260; 21. Matt Day, 97, Day-17.414; 22. Connor Kassik, 26, Kassik-17.416; 23. Garrett Long, 38, Long-17.581; 24. Robert Nuckles, 27, Nuckles-NT; 25. Terry Nichols, 33, Nichols-NT. EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps) 1. Markus Niemela, 2. Dennis Howell, 3. Ryan Bernal, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Trent Carter, 6. Max Adams, 7. Kevin Barnes, 8. Connor Kassik. NT DEIST SAFETY HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps) 1. Landon Hurst, 2. Troy Rutherford, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Chris Ennis, 5. Tony Everhart, 6. Garrett Long, 7. Austin Liggett, 8. Jeff Sibley. NT SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / WELD RACING HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Danny Faria Jr., 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Jace Vander Weerd, 5. Austin Stone, 6. Matt Day, 7. Robert Nuckles, 8. T.J. Smith. NT COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / ROD END SUPPLY SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps) 1. Austin Liggett, 2. Austin Stone, 3. Jeff Sibley, 4. Max Adams, 5. Barnes, 6. Garrett Long, 7. Matt Day, 8. Terry Nichols, 9. Connor Kassik, 10. Tony Everhart, 11. Trent Carter, 12. Robert Nuckles. NT FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions) 1. Ryan Bernal (6th), 2. Bud Kaeding (1st), 3. Matt Mitchell (3rd), 4. Troy Rutherford (2nd), 5. Richard Vander Weerd (4th), 6. Dennis Howell (10th), 7. Danny Faria Jr. (12th), 8. Markus Niemela (7th), 9. Landon Hurst (15th), 10. Jace Vander Weerd (9th), 11. Austin Liggett (8th), 12. Chris Ennis (11th), 13. Austin Stone (16th), 14. Max Adams (17th), 15. Kevin Barnes (13th), 16. Matt Day (19th), 17. Garrett Long (21st), 18. Tony Everhart (18th), 19. Terry Nichols (22nd), 20. Mike Spencer (5th), 21. Jeff Sibley (14th), 22. Connor Kassik (20th). NT ---------------------------- **Robert Nuckles flipped during the semi. **Jeff Sibley flipped during the feature. FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Troy Rutherford, Laps 2-17 Bud Kaeding, Laps 18-30 Ryan Bernal. KEIZER WHEELS / RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Landon Hurst (15th to 9th) USAC WEST COAST SPRINT POINT STANDINGS: 1. Markus Niemela-402, 2. Matt Mitchell-362, 3. Jace Vander Weerd-355, 4. Troy Rutherford-349, 5. Danny Faria Jr.-332, 6. Richard Vander Weerd-293, 7. Dennis Howell-282, 8. Nic Faas-281, 9. Austin Liggett-273, 10. Landon Hurst-259, 11. Ryan Bernal-215, 12. Bud Kaeding-180, 13. Marty Hawkins-163 14. Kevin Barnes-150, 15. Chris Ennis-146, 16. Jeff Sibley-133, 17. D.J. Johnson-98, 18. Garrett Long-90, 19. Michael Pickens-84, 20. Mike Spencer-84. 2014 USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE DATE - TRACK - LOCATION June 7: Kings Speedway - Hanford, CA June 21: Thunderbowl Raceway - Tulare, CA July 19: Kings Speedway - Hanford, CA August 2: Kings Speedway - Hanford, CA (Billet Cup / $2,500-to-Win) August 8: #Ocean Speedway - Watsonville, CA August 9: #Chowchilla Speedway - Chowchilla, CA September 27: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Brawl For It All / $2,500-to-Win / Grudge Series / Non-Points) November 6: *Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA (Oval Nationals / $2,500-to-Win / Grudge Series) November 20: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / Non-Points) November 21: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / Non-Points) November 22: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / $7,500-to-Win / Non-Points) ----------------------------------------------- * = Co-Sanctioned Event with USAC Southwest Sprints. # = Co-Sanctioned Event with USAC Western Classic Sprints. This schedule is subject to change.