PETALUMA, Calif. — Tim Kaeding still knows how to win races.
The former NARC champion added to his already impressive résumé, picking up $5,200 when he won the second annual Dave Lindt Memorial Saturday at Petaluma Speedway.
It was a triumphant return home to California for Kaeding, who had raced out in the Midwest the last several weeks. Saturday’s win was his 75th career NARC King of the West feature victory, second on the all-time win list.
Kaeding, starting on the front row, did not fare well on the initial attempt to start the 30-lap feature, pulling a small wheelstand off Turn 4 and then bicycling some in Turns 1 and 2 as fellow front row start Caeden Steele took the lead.
The caution flag came out, however, for a car stopping on the frontstretch, forcing a do over. Kaeding, the experienced veteran sprint car racer, learned from his mistake and took full advantage of the second opportunity and grabbed the lead on the next start attempt.
From there, on a typically fast and hooked up Petaluma track, Kaeding led all 30 laps aboard the Emadco Disposal-sponsored Williams Motorsports No. 0 Maxwill-powered Maxim. In addition to the top prize, Kaeding secured $300 in lap money from METTEC Titanium for leading every circuit.
Lapped traffic was difficult at times, but Kaeding was able to navigate, making moves when he needed to as he knew there were fast cars chasing him.
In the winner’s circle, Kaeding showed he still enjoyed winning races, no matter how many times he’s done it in any series, as he climbed up the back of his car and greeted the fans. He expressed gratitude to the Williams Motorsports team for putting the car together for him, and also for being able to race in Dave Lindt’s memory on Saturday, having raced with him before.
Steele on one restart was almost able to challenge Kaeding for the lead but struggled to turn in consistent laps on the challenging surface and couldn’t keep pace.
Behind him, D.J. Netto and Justin Sanders, who entered the night tied for the NARC points lead, started alongside each other in the second row and frequently raced with each other for positions in the top five — and for the points lead — throughout the event. Netto eventually got around Steele for second place, and Sanders followed.
Netto would pursue Kaeding for a time but could not get to him as they raced through traffic, and would finish second aboard the Penny Newman Grain-sponsored Netto Ag No. 88n Rider-powered KPC.
Sanders took third aboard the Yuba Sutter Aviation-sponsored Mittry Motorsports No. 2x Fisher-powered KPC. That resulted in Netto regaining the NARC points lead by a single point.
Steele finished fourth in the Tarlton & Son-sponsored BCCR No. 21 Shark-powered Maxim. Tyler Thompson finished fifth aboard the HAM Construction-sponsored Main Motorsports No. 35km Kistler-Maxim.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): (30 laps): 1. 0 Tim Kaeding (1), 2. 88n D.J. Netto (4), 3. 2x Justin Sanders (3), 4. 121 Caeden Steele (2), 5. 35km Tyler Thompson (5), 6. 10x Jace Park (9), 7. 2k Gauge Garcia (15), 8. 14 Mariah Ede (8), 9. 15 Nick Parker (11), 10. 10 Dominic Gorden (12), 11. 83v Dylan Bloomfield (7), 12. 17 Colby Copeland (13), 13. 9 Dustin Freitas (17), 14. 12j John Clark (16), 15. 7b Sean Becker (6), 16. 29 Bud Kaeding (10), 17. 551 Angelique Bell (18), 18. 26 Billy Aton (14).
