Several Northern California race car drivers had good weekends competing in a variety of races. The NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck series raced in Martinsville, Virginia. The NHRA was in Las Vegas and the World of Outlaws finished their tour of California by visiting Merced Speedway on Friday night and Calistoga Speedway on Saturday night.
My pick for NorCal Driver of the Week is 18 year old Kyle Larson from Elk Grove.
Kyle Larson, had a great weekend racing with the World of Outlaws as they passed through California. Friday night at Merced Speedway, Kyle came in 4th in the B-Main to make the A-Main where he started 21st and finished 9th. He won the KSE Hard Charger Award. In Calistoga on Saturday night, Kyle started 21st again and raced all the way up to finish 3rd, winning the KSE Hard Charger Award for the second night in a row.
Here are a few highlights of this past weekend by NorCal race car drivers:
Steve Faria from Tulare
Steve Faria who races NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters qualified 15th on Saturday with an ET of 4.159 and speed of 268.92 mph and made it through to race on Sunday. He then came up short to Brandon Bernstein in Round 1 of eliminations.
A.J. Allmendinger from Los Gatos
A.J. Allmendinger survived a difficult race to finish 14th in the NASCAR Sprint Car Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The hard fought finish moved him up a spot in the point standings to the 14th position.
Matt Crafton from Tulare
A great day for most drivers is a mediocre day for Matt Crafton. He finished 11th, out of the top ten for the first time in 20 consecutive races. He now sits in 2nd place in the points standings only 5 pts behind race winner Johnny Sauter.
Brad Sweet of Grass Valley
After a long day, Brad Sweet finished a respectable 15th which moved him up 3 spots in the points to 17th place, one spot ahead of fellow NorCal driver Justin Marks of Rocklin.
Tim Kaeding from San Jose
At Merced Speedway, Tim Kaeding won his heat race, the dash, then started in the pole position and ended up with a 2nd place finish behind legendary driver Sammy Swindell. On Saturday night, in Calistoga, Tim started 7th and finished 11th. He is now in 18th place in the points standings.
Paul McMahan from Elk Grove
Paul McMahan started 8th and finished 6th in Merced on Friday night. Paul had the fast time at Calstoga Speedway with a lap of 17.60 seconds his 4th of the season. He started the A-Main in the 3rd spot and finished 12th. Paul is now in 8th place in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series standings.
Jason Meyers of Clovis
At Merced Speedway, Jason Meyers started 11th and finished 8th. The next night in Calistoga, he started 20th and raced to the 5th spot. Jason is now in 3rd place in the World of Outlaws Series standings, 45 points back.
Jonathan Allard of Chico
Chico native, Jonathan Allard started 3rd and finished 4th in the A-Main at Merced Speedway Friday night. Saturday in Calistoga, he started 6th and finished 18th.
Tommy Tarlton of Fresno
Friday night in Merced, Tommy Tarlton started 9th and finished 7th in the World of Outlaws race at Merced Speedway.
Other NorCal drivers competing in the World of Outlaws events last weekend were: Justin Sanders of Prunedale, Sean McMahan of Elk Grove, Bobby McMahan of Elk Grove, Brent Kaeding from Campbell, Bud Kaeding from Campbell, Billy Strange Jr. of Elk Grove, Cory Eliason from Visalia, and Alissa Geving of Penngrove.