Several youngsters expected To Invade Trophy Cup

By Gary Thomas

Tulare, California - November 6, 2007...There has been much talk the last couple seasons about the influx of young talent scattered throughout California and when the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway hosts the 14th annual Trophy Cup on November 16-17, several of those young guns are expected to compete. Some of the young fresh talent from the Golden State is just starting out, whereas a few of them have already traveled to and had success in the Midwest open wheel dirt track scene.

Grass Valley’s Brad Sweet has gained vast experience in his five year sprint car career and it sometimes makes people forget that he’s still only 21 years-old. The talented driver is set to compete in the stable of Kasey Kahne Racing next year as he makes the move to be a full time competitor in the Midwest. Sweet has driven for marquee owners this season such as Keith Kunz, Cruz Pedregon & Gary Perkins among others, and has done well with all of them. The word through the street also has him filling in for Kasey Kahne Racing driver Kevin Swindell during this weekend’s USAC National Sprint Car Western World Championships at Manzanita Speedway.

Sweet’s versatility as a driver is perhaps his biggest asset as he’s driven both a winged and non-winged sprint car, as well as a midget this season and has had success with each of them. He finished third with the World of Outlaws at the Gold Cup Race of Champions and finished fourth in a wingless sprint car at Eldora’s 4-Crown Nationals. Sweet was also leading the Midget portion of the 4-Crown Nationals before contact put him out of contention. He was also running second at the Bellville Midget Nationals when mechanical gremlins took him out of that race as well. In 2003 Sweet set fast time at the Trophy Cup aboard his family owned mount, which was also during his first full season behind the wheel of a sprint car. With what he’s done this season he should no doubt be a factor in this year’s running of the event.

The most talked about youngster this season in the California sprint car scene has been Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson who drives the Parkerstore Racing, Vertullo Motorsports No. 83v. At just 15 years of age Larson has put together a great rookie season and has seemed to improve each and every week with the added experience. He finished seventh in the California Civil War Series standings and picked up his first career win with the series’ in August at Placerville. Larson also tallied a pair of top 10 finishes with the Golden State Challenge 410 sprint car series at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. He also picked up a ninth place finish in October at the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals in Chico, an event that saw 90 cars compete over three days.

19 year-old Loomis resident Kyle Hirst has had a solid season while driving for multiple different car owners. The son of former NARC champion Rick Hirst picked up two wins with the Civil War Series this season, including a triumph in the third annual Tribute to Al Hinds that awarded him $3,000 for his efforts. He also won a pair of 410 point races at Silver Dollar Speedway in August driving for Gary Perkins. Another former Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year, Robert Ballou, who now resides in Indiana but is originally from Rocklin, is a possibility to drive the Mike Stallings owned No. 83m machine at the Trophy Cup. The 18 year-old has had a great first full year of racing a wingless sprinter and has picked up nine wins this season including a pair of victories at the scary fast Eldora Speedway ½ mile.

Last season saw Chico’s Brett Miller miss the Trophy Cup main event on Saturday night by just four spots in what was his first time competing at the 1/3 mile Thunderbowl Raceway. The 18 year-old will come back this year with the added experience of becoming one of just two drivers in California this season to compete in every Golden State Challenge Series race as well as every 410 point event at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway. Miller finished fourth in Silver Dollar Speedway points and picked up his second career 410 sprint win in April at the track. He finished seventh in points with GSC and was the series’ highest finishing rookie in 2007.

Another youngster who gained valuable experience with the Golden State Challenge Series this year is 20 year-old Evan Suggs of Scotts Valley. The former non wing driver made the jump to the winged ranks this year and showed vast improvement as the season went on. Suggs won his very first winged sprint car race in June when he put it all together to pick up victory during a preliminary night of action at the Dirt Cup. He also impressed many with a fast qualifying effort during the second night of action with the World of Outlaws at the Gold Cup aboard the Suggs Racing No. 33e.

Penngrove’s Alissa Geving has won multiple times in Petaluma and Antioch Speedway action this season and will make her first Thunderbowl start at the Trophy Cup. The 16 year-old driver of the Chick-O Motorsports No. 3x finished sixth in the Petaluma Speedway point standings and has shown to have no fear while out on the track. This was no more evident than her first night of action on the Calistoga Speedway ½ mile in August with the Civil War Series. Geving qualified 10th fastest, won the B-main and finished a very solid ninth in the main event. She has gained a huge fan following this season and should be fun to watch at the Trophy Cup.

Princeton’s Mason Moore had a fine rookie season in his own right driving the Moore Financial Services No. 22. The 16 year-old Moore finished eighth in both the Civil War standings and the Silver Dollar Speedway points. In October he had an outstanding run at the Fall Nationals in Chico where he ran the alphabet to come from the C-main to finish an impressive 11th in the Saturday night feature.

Fremont’s Shane Golobic has shown promise this season driving both with and without the wing. Golobic has run a mixed schedule of winged and non winged action and even had the opportunity to compete in Indiana during the Summer. The 16 year-old not only gained a ton of experience but he was also rewarded with his first sprint car win, which came in August at Lawrenceburg. Golobic also picked up a BCRA Midget win at Ukiah in June and finished second at the BCRA sanctioned Harvest Classic in Madera. The Golobic Construction No. 57 is one to keep a watch of as he’s already shown the patience of a veteran which is a huge asset to any young driver. The state of California is oozing with young talent and other names to keep an eye on that will be in action at the Trophy Cup include: Rohnert Park’s Brett Rollag; San Jose’s Jeff Delte, Chico’s Tyler Spath, Napa’s Richard Bailey, Placerville’s James Sweeney and more.

The Trophy Cup goes green on Friday night November 16 with general admission bleacher tickets costing $22 and reserved grandstand seats costing $24. The 14th annual Trophy Cup will conclude the following night with general admission bleachers being $24 and reserved grandstands $26. Visit http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com for a seating chart and then call (559) 688-0909 to reserve your tickets now.

The Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway is located on the Tulare County Fairgrounds at the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, California.