Carson Macedo edges Bud Kaeding for King of the West sprint car championship

Carson Macedo won the King of the West sprint car series championship with a runner-up finish Saturday night in the season finale in Stockton.

The 19-year-old from Lemoore started the night with a three-point lead in the Easton-based Tarlton and Son Racing car and finished 12 points ahead of Bud Kaeding of Campbell in the Oakhurst-based Williams Motorsports car.

Macedo’s run to the championship in his first full season was a testimony to consistency – he didn’t win a race in the 18-event season but was in the top five 11 times, including four runner-up finishes. Macedo gave special thanks to veteran crew chief Paul Baines.

He became the 13th champion in the series’ 30-year history, and the Tarlton team became the 14th car owners to win a King of the West title.

California’s premier open-wheel racing series, featuring winged cars powered by 410-cubic-inch engines, has a strong central San Joaquin Valley flavor: The Fresno-based Roth Motorsports team was the two-time defending champion and has won three overall; Williams also has won three titles; and Fresno driver Steve Kent won the first two season championships.

Macedo has a short racing break before heading to Australia for the height of that country’s racing season.

Jonathan Allard of Chico won Saturday’s race on the three-eighths-mile clay oval inside the horse racing track at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.

Fast qualifier Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford was third after starting eighth. Kaeding was fourth, DJ Netto of Hanford sixth and Kyle Hirst in the Williams car 13th.

Cory Eliason of Kingsburg, who parked his car for the season after winning the King of the West feature Oct. 24 in Hanford, finished fourth in the companion Civil War Series feature for sprint cars powered by 360-cubic-inch engines. Steven Kent, son of the former King of the West champ, was eighth and Koen Shaw of Fresno 10th.

World of Outlaws – Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi joined the national tour for its World Finals in North Carolina, finishing ninth in the C Main on Friday and ninth in the B Main Sunday.

Donny Schatz wrapped up his seventh Outlaws season championship.

This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Carson Macedo edges Bud Kaeding for King of the West sprint car championship."