HANFORD, Calif. — For the third time in about as many weeks, the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series, presented by NAPA Auto Parts, hopes to fire off the season in California.
The previous two races have been washed away due to wet weather, but that streak will end when the tour heads to Kings Speedway for the Anthony Simone Classic on April 8. Good weather is in the forecast and the winner of the 30-lap NAPA headliner will pocket a cool $10,000 at the end of the night.
“We’ve been waiting for the weather the change so that we can race,” commented Kings Speedway promoter Peter Murphy. “Hopefully we can be one of the first ones to get going here so everyone can come out and celebrate racing again, especially with the Anthony Simone being ‘Mr. Excitement’ as he was as last year’s race you had to be there.”
It will be the third edition of the Anthony Simone Classic, a tradition that began in 2021. Shane Golobic won the inaugural event, while the defending race winner is Rico Abreu.
Returning to the program will be a non-wing, non-points race to cap the night off. The only time this happened was in the first incarnation of the event, and Indiana driver Tyler Courtney won it. It also was the first time since 1985 that NARC sanctioned a wingless event.
“I appreciate the NARC Series, Peter Murphy, and everybody at Kings Speedway that’s going to put this race on,” said Anthony Simone’s son Mauro. “It’s a great way to get everybody together, and it’s a great race. My dad started running NARC all the way back in 1978.”
Of the twenty-seven winners in the past fifty-three trips to Kings, Tim Kaeding has amassed the most wins since 2001 with eight trips to victory. In addition, Brent Kaeding has bagged five trophies, while Jonathan Allard and Dominic Scelzi have four each.
Who to Watch
D.J. Netto will make a hometown stand at Kings looking for his first win with the NARC 410 Sprint Series at Hanford. Netto has accumulated four podiums finishes, seven top-fives, and 17 top-10s in twenty starts. Last season, Netto won at the Stockton Dirt Track, the fifth of his career in 148 starts with the group.
Justyn Cox looks forward to hitting the three-eighths-mile in the Bates Hamilton Racing #42X entry. Cox posted his lone podium finish of the 2022 campaign with the NARC 410 Sprint Series at Kings and went along with his total of two top-fives and three top-10’s in six starts in Hanford.
Cox is running his first full NARC season since 2016 when he finished third in the final championship standings. Cox has qualified for forty-one main events throughout his career with the tour and has 19 top-10s and five top-fives.
Dylan Bloomfield only made nine starts with the NARC 410 Sprint Series last season in the famed Dave Vertullo No. 83V machine. Nevertheless, the Oakley teenager had two top-10 results, one happening at Hanford on October 8 during the Morrie Williams Memorial.
He will be representing a large contingent of young drivers that include last seasons rookie of the year Max Mittry, Corey Day, Joey Ancona and Tanner Holmes.
Billy Aton was eighth in NARC 410 Sprint Series final points last year. The Benicia-based chauffeur has five career starts at Kings and has just one top-10, a seventh-place result on September 25, 2021. Aton has one series career win, at Santa Maria Raceway in 2021, two top-fives, and 15 top-10s in forty-six feature appearances.
Also competing for the huge winners payday will be two-time defending series champion Dominic Scelzi, Justin Sanders, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Golobic, Geoffrey Strole, Bill Smith, and many more.
Keyword: Anthony Simone Classic Leads Off NARC Season