Hanford, Madera racetracks roar back into action
Two-night motorsports shows are on tap Friday and Saturday in both Hanford and Madera.
After a week off for the Madera County Fair, the third-mile paved oval at Madera Speedway hosts the 44th annual Harvest Classic with a variety of divisions split between the two nights.
Traveling sprint car drivers are expected for both nights of racing at the three-eighths-mile clay oval at Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds.
Madera Speedway
The Harvest Classic has been one of the highlights of every Madera season since the track opened in June 1972. The track’s early years featured super modifieds, and Nick Rescino of San Francisco won the first Harvest Classic. Everett Edlund of Caruthers won four of the first 10 Harvest Classics. The 1977 Harvest Classic, won by Ted Fritz of Modesto, was the first featuring stock cars.
The stock cars are featured Friday night at Madera with the track’s Late Models class plus Hobby Stocks, 4-Bangers, MST and Toyota Sedans. Also on the card are the U.S. Auto Club HPD Midgets for the first of two nights at Madera and the track’s 18-Second Bracket Race.
Saturday night at Madera features the King of the Wing Winged Sprint Car Pacific Region race plus Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets, Northern California Modified Association wingless sprints, Twisted Tea Modifeds, 360 Super Modifieds, Vintage Super Modifieds and California Hard Tops.
Main events are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
Keller Auto Speedway
After over a month off, the track’s regular Friday night fare returns with King of Kings Wing 360 sprint cars, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Mods.
Lemoore’s Carson Macedo won the last 360 race at Hanford, part of an August three-race winning streak.
Saturday night in Hanford, the King of the West 410 series returns to action after a seven-week hiatus. Bud Kaeding, who drives the Oakhurst-based Williams Motorsports car, leads the season standings by 23 points over Macedo. Former points leader Dominic Scelzi of Fresno, who was sidelined for six weeks after suffering a back injury in late July at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway, is recovered and back driving.
Also racing Saturday are the Western States RaceSaver 305s and Mini Stocks.
Racing is scheduled to begin each night at 7 p.m.
Also …
USAC/California Racing Association: Damion Gardner of Concord won the Jim Turner Memorial 410 sprint car race Sept. 11 in Hanford. Ryan Bernal of Hollister won Sept. 12 at Santa Maria to clinch the California Sprint Week points title. The series heads to Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday night.
62nd annual Gold Cup Race of Champions: World of Outlaws sprint cars season points leader Donny Schatz won the Sept. 12 main event at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway. Kaeding finished eighth, Kyle Hirst (in the Fresno-based Roth Motorsports car) 13th, Scelzi 18th and Hanford’s DJ Netto 22nd.
Another Outlaws regular, Shane Stewart, won the Sept. 11 feature at Chico, with Netto third, Macedo 10th and Kaeding 21st.
Hirst ran second, Scelzi fifth, Kaeding eighth, Cory Eliason of Fresno ninth, Netto 15th and Macedo 17th in the Sept. 9 California Civil War Sprint Car 360 series that kicked off the Gold Cup.
USAC Silver Crown: Kody Swanson of Kingsburg became the seventh driver to successfully defend his Tony Bettenhausen 100 championship, driving from 16th starting spot to win Aug. 22 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt track in Springfield. Swanson has 11 career victories (three in 2015) to tie for eighth on the all-time list in a series that has included such Indianapolis 500 legends as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and the Unser brothers.
Swanson, the defending series champion, was the fast qualifier Sept. 6 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, another one-mile dirt track, and finished third. He has a commanding 100-point season lead heading to the Sept. 26 race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio, the next-to-last race on the schedule.
His brother Tanner Swanson has swept both series races this year on the pavement Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
55th annual Knoxville Nationals: Schatz scored his ninth Knoxville title in 10 years by winning the Aug. 15 main event. Netto was 14th in the C main and Roth driver Aaron Reutzel was 17th in the B main after earning a transfer out of the C.
Motorcycles: The 17th annual Toby Jorgensen Memorial race and the 100cc TT National and raffle are Saturday at Lodi Cycle Bowl. Details: www.lodicyclebowl.com or 209-298-0897.
New division: Madera Speedway announced that in 2016 it will run a late model stocks division for drivers ages 10-16.
This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Hanford, Madera racetracks roar back into action."