SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Just a pair of races remain of the 2022 NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car campaign, and the first of the two is slated for this Saturday, October 29 at The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield.
This weekend’s Sprint Car Showdown will be the series’ lone trip to the bullring this year and first since Halloween weekend of 2021. The quarter-mile’s tight confines routinely produces some of the most intense, wheel-to-wheel action of the season.
Saturday’s Fujitsu Feature will pay $3,500 to the winner, and $500 to start.
Championship Chase
Dominic Scelzi is so close to his second straight NARC title, and he can effectively seal the deal this weekend. “The Dominator” currently holds a 54-point advantage over Willie Croft. Assuming Scelzi shows up to the season finale at Stockton on November 5 and earns, at the very least, the 75 show up points, all he needs to do is leave Kern County with a 43-point advantage. At that point, Croft could only tie him at Stockton, and even if Croft wins the final two races, Scelzi would still own the most wins tie breaker.
Behind the top-two, the battle for the final step on the points podium has tightened considerably. Bud Kaeding currently holds the spot, but Mitchell Faccinto trails him by only three markers.
Completing the top-five is Shane Golobic.
Who to Watch
The three current sprint car titans of California, Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, and Justin Sanders have ruled KCRP in recent NARC competition. The trio have combined to win the last five series events at the Bakersfield bullring.
Most recently it was Justin Sanders picking up the win there, topping last year’s lone appearance in October. To nobody’s surprise, the drivers who completed the podium that night were Scelzi and Golobic.
In 2019 it was Scelzi sweeping the pair of Kern races aboard the Roth Motorsports car. The reigning champion hopes to add one in his family’s Scelzi Motorsports No. 41 this weekend. Factoring in his runner-up last year, Scelzi’s average finish in his last three series events in Bakersfield is 1.33.
Golobic claimed the two 2018 events while partnered with Tarlton Motorsports. The Fremont native is fresh off earning his third Trophy Cup title and will look to follow it up with a NARC victory behind the wheel of the Matt Wood Racing No. 17W.
An Oklahoma invader will be one to keep an eye on. After his top-10 points performance at Trophy Cup, Ryan Timms plans to set up shop in the Golden State for a little while longer and compete with California’s best on Saturday. It will mark Timms’ fourth career series appearance and first since competing at the same track last October.
Bud Kaeding will happily welcome the trip to Kern County in his pursuit to maintain a top-three position in points. In the last six NARC races at the facility, the 2017 series champion has finished no worse than ninth and owns top-five results in half of those outings.
Others expected to compete include Tim Kaeding, Corey Day, Max Mittry, Austin McCarl, Billy Aton, Dylan Bloomfield, and more.