STOCKTON, Calif. — A big night of racing awaits the NARC King of the West sprint car series, as the season concludes with the annual Tribute to Gary Patterson and a championship will be won Saturday night (November 1) at the Stockton Dirt Track.
Just 12 points separate a pair of former NARC champions at the top of the standings, with each man in pursuit of his second title. Hanford’s D.J. Netto, the 2019 titlist, is ahead of Oroville’s Sean Becker, who won his championship 20 years ago, going into what will be a hotly contested season finale.
Netto has won three times this season and that includes the season opener at the Stockton Dirt Track in March when Netto won the Salute to Leroy Van Connett. He also won the last NARC event, held October 11th at Antioch Speedway. Netto and the Netto Ag No. 88n team will look for another strong performance at a track he has been successful at to wrap up a second NARC championship.
Becker meanwhile is winless this season, but he has been competitive all season aboard the Don Bjork No. 7b and the “Shark” has led laps in multiple main events this year. If Becker wants to win his second championship though, he will likely need to get that first win on the season in the finale and pair that with a significantly subpar performance by Netto.
With his three wins on the season, Netto owns the tiebreaker if the two drivers were to finish with identical point tallies. If Becker were to gain a point by setting fast time in qualifying and then win Saturday’s Patterson Tribute, Netto would need to finish 10th place or better in the main event to clinch the title.
Incidentally, neither Netto or Becker has won the race that honors the legendary Gary Patterson, at least in 410 sprint car competition, and both would love to add their name to the list of winners of the event to cap off the season. One of the all-time greats out of California, Patterson – or the “Preacher” as he was nicknamed – won races all over the West Coast and across the country, racing as a true outlaw for most of his career. Though he lost his life in a 1983 racing accident at Calistoga Speedway, Patterson’s accomplishments behind the wheel of a sprint car landed him in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1998.
The Tribute to Gary Patterson was first run in 1984, won by future Hall of Famer Chuck Gurney. The race had been held annually in Calistoga before moving to Stockton in recent years. The list of race winners is full of big names. Former “King of California” Steve Kent and Hall of Famer Brent Kaeding lead everyone with four wins each.
Another Hall of Famer and NARC great Tim Green is a three-time winner of the event alongside Rico Abreau and Justin Sanders. Sanders won last year’s Patterson Tribute to win the 2024 NARC championship in walk-off fashion after an intense points battle with Cole Macedo. Other Hall of Famers who have won the Patterson Tribute include Jimmy Sills (twice), Jeff Swindell and Paul McMahan.
Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, another former NARC champion, is surprisingly one of the big names who has not won a Patterson main event, and this Saturday he will look to join his father Brent and brother Tim as a winner of the prestigious event. Kaeding, winner of the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway in August, sits third in the points going into the finale.
Aromas’s Justin Sanders, last year’s “King of the West” who leads everyone with seven NARC victories this year aboard the Mittry Motorsports No. 2x, will look to cap off his season a win that would tie him with Brent Kaeding and Steve Kent for most Patterson wins. Fremont’s Shane Golobic is still looking for his first NARC win this season but is twice a winner of the Patterson and would like to win his third on Saturday.
This year’s Dave Bradway Jr Memorial winner Dominic Gorden will be in attendance and is looking for a third career NARC win to cap off his season. Fresno’s Mariah Ede is expected to race on Saturday and will wrap up NARC Rookie of the Year honors. Former NARC champion Dominic Scelzi of Fresno is expected, along with Templeton’s Kaleb Montgomery, Lemoore’s Gauge Garcia, Redding’s Max Mittry, Windsor’s John Clark, Gilroy’s Jarrett Soares, and Benecia’s Billy Aton.
