STOCKTON, Calif. — The 63rd season of racing for the historic NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Cars kicked off this past Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track and served as the focal point of a busy weekend in California.
Driving Larry Antaya’s No. 16a, Colby Copeland dominated the 25-lap main event.
Copeland’s victory marked his third with the series, and he became the 13th different driver to win in NARC’s now 21 visits to Stockton.
The Team NOS Energy Drink driver only plans to compete with the series on a part-time basis this season, so he won’t get a chance for another victory until next month’s Peter Murphy Classic.
• Chasing Copeland for all 25 circuits and coming home second was Dominic Scelzi.
The defending NARC champion notched his 11th podium in the last 15 series events dating back to last summer.
He continues to pursue what is proving to be an elusive 50th overall sprint car victory. Saturday marked his second runner-up finish of 2022 as he remains in search of that milestone win.
• Completing the podium was Tarlton Motorsports pilot Mitchell Faccinto.
The third-place result is Faccinto’s second-best overall since taking over driving duties of the No. 21 and best in 410-sprint car competition.
• Other notable names of full-time series drivers toward the front of the rundown included Willie Croft (5th), Tim Kaeding (7th), Bud Kaeding (9th) and Michael Faccinto (11th).
• One driver who plans to run a majority of the NARC events and will draw plenty of attention is Australia’s Kerry Madsen.
Driving the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr with the Toyota Racing Development engine under the hood, Madsen ran in the top-five for most of Saturday’s race until an issue forced him to stop on the backstretch. After re-firing and tagging the tail, “The Mad Man” settled for 14th.
Madsen will also race in plenty of major events out in the Midwest as part of a travel-heavy schedule for he and the Roth crew.
• NARC will be back in action this Saturday with a $10,000 payday on the line at Hanford’s Keller Auto Speedway.
• On Friday at Watsonville, Calif.’s Ocean Speedway Tanner Carrick picked up his second consecutive victory in the track’s weekly program.
Carrick’s win made him the fifth driver with multiple California winged sprint car wins in 2022. He joined Andy Forsberg, Carson Macedo, Gio Scelzi, and Justin Sanders in that group.
• Over in El Dorado County on Saturday Placerville Speedway began their points season, and Kalib Henry grabbed the opening night victory.
• Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway hosted the Kings of Thunder 360 Sprint Cars, and Chase Johnson topped the 16-car field.
The USAC/CRA Sprint Cars were also in Tulare, and the versatile Johnson nearly swept the night, battling eventual winner Ryan Bernal for the lead much of the race before having to settle for seventh.
• The busy Saturday night also featured Marysville Raceway hosting 360 sprint cars for the fourth time this season, and Bobby Butler picked up the win.
• There have now been 20 winged sprint car races between 410 and 360 action in California in 2022.
Through those 20 events 15 drivers have won at least one feature event, and nobody has claimed three.
Chase Majdic and Justin Sanders lead the way in most overall podium finishes with four apiece.
Keyword: Cali Notes: Copeland Shines Bright