TULARE, CA (May 10) – Tim Kaeding and Tyler Walker gave the crowd at Thunderbowl Raceway an incredible show they won’t soon forget in Saturday’s Chris and Brian Faria Memorial.
The California duo exchanged slide job after slide job around the high-banked, 1/3-mile oval as they battled for the lead. Walker took the checkered flag scant milliseconds ahead of Kaeding, who was racing for his fourth straight victory at Thunderbowl.
“TK,” who loves racing with his father – defending Golden State Challenge King of California Series champion Brent Kaeding – passed him for the lead nine laps into the “A” Feature. Brent returned the favor a lap later, only to have Tim drive the #10 Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim back into first place during the 11th lap.
Walker, who steadily gained on the Kaedings during the race’s middle stages, passed “TK” during lap 19 only to lose it to the 2002 Golden State Challenge King of California Series champion during a 22nd-lap restart.
Tim and Tyler brought the sellout crowd to its feet during the final eight laps, passing each other at least once every time around. Walker eventually won the 30-lap main event, while “TK” recorded his third straight second-or-better finish with the California-based sprint car racing series.
“We gave it a shot and just got beat by Tyler tonight," Tim said. “We had some changes in our crew this week and we’re just going go out the rest of the season and try to have some fun.”
Rolfe couldn’t have been much happier or proud of the driver he rehired last June.
“It was a heartbreaker, but it was one of the best races I’ve ever seen,” Rolfe said. “We started on the third row and Tim made his way to the front quickly. There were seven yellows though, and our tires glazed over. It was tough to get any momentum with all the yellows. We were a little faster in one and two, but Tyler was better in three and four. The fans couldn’t have seen a better race.”
Kaeding is hoping to present Rolfe with a hometown victory this weekend when the Golden State Challenge King of California Series runs the Dave Bradway Memorial at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.
The California duo exchanged slide job after slide job around the high-banked, 1/3-mile oval as they battled for the lead. Walker took the checkered flag scant milliseconds ahead of Kaeding, who was racing for his fourth straight victory at Thunderbowl.
“TK,” who loves racing with his father – defending Golden State Challenge King of California Series champion Brent Kaeding – passed him for the lead nine laps into the “A” Feature. Brent returned the favor a lap later, only to have Tim drive the #10 Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim back into first place during the 11th lap.
Walker, who steadily gained on the Kaedings during the race’s middle stages, passed “TK” during lap 19 only to lose it to the 2002 Golden State Challenge King of California Series champion during a 22nd-lap restart.
Tim and Tyler brought the sellout crowd to its feet during the final eight laps, passing each other at least once every time around. Walker eventually won the 30-lap main event, while “TK” recorded his third straight second-or-better finish with the California-based sprint car racing series.
“We gave it a shot and just got beat by Tyler tonight," Tim said. “We had some changes in our crew this week and we’re just going go out the rest of the season and try to have some fun.”
Rolfe couldn’t have been much happier or proud of the driver he rehired last June.
“It was a heartbreaker, but it was one of the best races I’ve ever seen,” Rolfe said. “We started on the third row and Tim made his way to the front quickly. There were seven yellows though, and our tires glazed over. It was tough to get any momentum with all the yellows. We were a little faster in one and two, but Tyler was better in three and four. The fans couldn’t have seen a better race.”
Kaeding is hoping to present Rolfe with a hometown victory this weekend when the Golden State Challenge King of California Series runs the Dave Bradway Memorial at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.
