Saturday, October 13, 2018

Cole Rouse Gets His Redemption at All American



ROSEVILLE, Calif — All season long Cole Rouse has been close.

Last time out, Rouse took the white flag and was leading before losing the race to teammate Hailie Deegan. It is more than safe to say Rouse wanted this win bad.

Rouse finally got his elusive first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win Saturday by winning the NAPA AutoCare/Roseville Toyota 200 presented by TriCo Welding Supplies & the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at All American Speedway.

Rouse’s No.99 NAPA Filters Toyota won the pole earlier in the day and battled hard at the front of the field with the likes of Ryan Partridge and Chris Eggleston. Taking the lead on an aggressive pass during the Lap 189 restart it almost seemed like smooth sailing until a late race caution set up a four-lap dash to the finish.

This time Rouse got his redemption.

The 21-year-old driver from Fort Smith, Arkansas held off a pair of Bob Bruncati Racing entries and came home .506 seconds ahead of the Partridge to claim his first win in his 27th series start. Rouse entered the event with 10 career top fives, including runner-up finishes in three of his previous four races.

Partridge’s No. 9 Sunrise Ford/Eibach/Lucas Oil/Braille Ford seemed to be the car to beat before being passed by Rouse in the penultimate restart. Partridge, the 2016 winner at All American, would settle for his 11th top five of 2018.

Championship leader Derek Thorn lost a lap early after contact from Derek Kraus lead to a spin. He fought hard to get his lap back, and battled back to finish third for his 12th top five of the season.

Nick Joanides came home fourth, scoring his best career finish and first top five of his career. Travis Milburn fought has way back after multiple spins to complete the top five.

Matt Levin, Hailie Deegan, Taylor Canfield, Rich Delong III and Takuma Koga completing the top 10.

Thorn leads Rouse by 26 and Partridge by 29 heading into the season finale at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California, on Saturday, Oct. 27, for the NAPA Auto Parts 175 presented by West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.

NAPA AutoCare/Roseville Toyota 200 presented by TriCo Welding Supplies & the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame will on NBCSN Thursday, October 18, 6 p.m. ET.

Contact:
Jason Christley
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications
(386) 310-6094
jchristley@nascar.com

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-NAPA Autocare/Roseville Toyota 200 Results
Saturday
At All American Speedway
Roseville, CA
Lap length: 0.333 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Cole Rouse, Fort Smith, Ark., Toyota, 200 laps, 57.732 mph.
2. (3) Ryan Partridge, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Ford, 200.
3. (5) Derek Thorn, Lakeport, Calif., Ford, 200.
4. (9) Nick Joanides, Woodland Hills, Calif., Toyota, 200.
5. (10) Travis Milburn, Eagle, Id., Chevrolet, 200.
6. (8) Matt Levin, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 200.
7. (2) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Toyota, 200.
8. (15) Taylor Canfield, San Diego, Calif., Toyota, 198.
9. (14) Rich DeLong III, Santa Clarita, Calif., Chevrolet, 196.
10. (12) Takuma Koga, Nagoya, Japan, Chevrolet, 194.
11. (11) Trevor Huddleston, Agoura Hills, Calif., Ford, 178, accident.
12. (4) Chris Eggleston, Erie, Colo., Toyota, 149, accident.
13. (6) Kody Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 117, drive line.
14. (13) Rudy Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 102, brakes.
15. (7) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wis., Toyota, 92.
16. (16) David Hibbard, Medford, Ore., Chevrolet, 0, mechanical.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 9 minutes 13 seconds
Margin of Victory: .506 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: C.Rouse (86.388 mph, 13.877 seconds)
Caution Flags: 8 for 47 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Rouse 1-31; R. Partridge 32-123; C. Eggleston 124-140; R. Partridge 141-148; C. Eggleston 149; R. Partridge 150-173; C. Rouse 174-200.
Standings: 1. D. Thorn, 546; 2. C. Rouse, 520; 3. R. Partridge, 517; 4. D. Kraus, 495; 5. H. Deegan, 475; 6. T. Huddleston, 463; 7. K. Vanderwal, 443; 8. M. Levin, 392; 9. T. Koga, 367; 10. T. Souza, 237.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Swanson Signs With Nolen Racing For 2019 Silver Crown Run

Kody Swanson, the winningest driver in USAC Silver Crown history, will race for Nolen Racing during the 2019 season. (Photo Courtesy Dave Olson)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Whiteland, Indiana.........Four-time USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson has signed with Nolen Racing to run the full 2019 USAC Silver Crown schedule.

Kingsburg, California's Swanson, who set the all-time Silver Crown wins record with his 24th victory last August at Salem (Ind.) Speedway, became a free agent following the closure of DePalma Motorsports earlier this week, whom he had raced for since the 2013 season and had accumulated 21 career wins with.

The Whiteland, Indiana-based Nolen Racing team has won 11 career Silver Crown races since the 1991 season with drivers Johnny Parsons, Jim Keeker, Tony Elliott, Shane Hollingsworth and Chris Windom. However, the team has yet to claim its first Silver Crown title. This past year, Nolen ran two cars full-time, finishing third and fifth in the series' standings with drivers Windom and Jerry Coons, Jr., respectively.

For 2019, the team will run one car on the Silver Crown trail for Swanson, who in 2018, raced a Gene Nolen-owned car to victory at the Payless Little 500, a grueling, 500-lap sprint car race at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway. The win was Swanson's second in the race and Nolen's first.

Swanson scored five wins in a row this past summer, setting a new mark for consecutive triumphs. Interestingly enough, Swanson's run was stopped by a Nolen Racing car, which was driven by Windom to two-straight wins on the Illinois miles in Springfield and Du Quoin.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

DePalma Motorsports Leaves On Top After 5 Straight Silver Crown Titles

DePalma Motorsports set a record in 2018 with their fifth-straight USAC Silver Crown owner's title with Kody Swanson as the driver. (Photo Courtesy Gene Crucean)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Lima, Ohio (October 9, 2018).........DePalma Motorsports, one of the most iconic and successful teams in the history of the USAC Silver Crown series, is riding into the sunset on top of their game, announcing that their 2018 championship season was the last for the Lima, Ohio-based team.

It concludes a magical five-year run with Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. DePalma Motorsports itself won the Silver Crown owner title each year they had Swanson as their full-time driver between 2014 and 2018. Swanson himself won Silver Crown driving titles in the DePalma No. 63 in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

The accomplishment of five consecutive series titles set by the team had never been seen before in the series, snapping the series record for streaking (four) set by Bob East/Tony Stewart Racing between 2002 and 2005 as well as Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, which grabbed four in a row from 2010 to 2013.

Along the way, Swanson and the DePalmas rewrote the record book, one of which Silver Crown participants will be chasing for years and years. Regardless of dirt or pavement, the combo was always up front.

This past year, Swanson and the DePalmas won five-straight races, breaking Jack Hewitt's long-standing, 32-year-old record of four-straight Silver Crown wins set in 1986. The last of Swanson's five wins, at Indiana's Salem Speedway, was the ultimate. Kody drove to his 24th career victory in the Silver Crown Champ Car Series, overtaking the top spot on the all-time win list.

With all that said, the accolades and the broken records have put the DePalmas at the pinnacle of the sport, but it's the people of racing that car owner Tony DePalma is going to miss the most.

"I've met a lot of good people in this sport and built a lot of great relationships," DePalma said. "It's been a pleasure to know a lot of people in this sport and it's really one of the most rewarding things besides, obviously, winning races. It's been really neat to get to know Kody's family and friends over the last several years. It's also fun to get to know our competitors. Yeah, they're the people we competed against, but most of them I view as friends. That's the most rewarding thing."

DePalma returned to Silver Crown racing in 2002, inheriting his uncle Ralph's stable of race cars after his passing. DePalma owned cars had notable runs with driver Mike Brecht in the "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway, turning in a 3rd in 2004 and a 2nd in 2006.

Following his father Jim's passing, the cars were mothballed so to speak before the family team returned in 2010, then hit the circuit full steam when they put Swanson full-time in the seat for the 2014 season and quickly found the magic touch that Tony's father and uncle used to claim the 1984 Silver Crown owner title with driver Dave Blaney.

The familiar sight of the No. 63 up front has been commonplace, and it will certainly be a change to see for those in the stands and those on the track, but also to the DePalma team.

"No doubt about it, we're going to miss it," DePalma admitted. "'We're going to miss the camaraderie, the anticipation and the anxiety of competing. We were always pretty stoked and focused, and it was a standing joke of 'hey, pass the bottle of antacid.' We were really uptight about each and every race, but that's part of the reason we did well is because we put so much into it."

The team put all they had into it and then some as they raised their game to exemplary heights. However, DePalma felt now was the right time to make the exit for a myriad of reasons.

"I saw my kids starting to miss things with their kids; that was one piece of it," DePalma began. "There are other things I want to pursue and have started to put into motion a little bit. I'm missing some of the things I shouldn't be missing. Long story short, what took me over the edge was, what a better exit point than this? We were going to have to exit at some point in time anyway. Maybe it's premature, but I've always believed, when I've looked at athletes in various sports, I've always scratched my head thinking 'why didn't you get out when you were on top?'"

As crazy as it seems now, Kody was still seen as primarily a "pavement specialist" at the time and was tabbed as the driver for the blacktop while he searched for rides on the dirt to prove himself as a capable shoe. He recorded a 2nd, 5th and another 2nd in the first three pavement outings for DePalma during that initial season together in 2013. For 2014, Kody was handed the keys to both the pavement and dirt rides and he hasn't missed a beat since, reeling off 21 wins together with the DePalmas, more than any other driver/team combination in the history of the series.

"These last five years and the relationships that my family and I have had with the DePalma family and this team have been career and life changing," Swanson said. "When we met, I may have been more at a breaking point than a crossroads in my career, and along with a few other key people, this family and race team gave me a chance to continue and an incredible opportunity to be part of something special. Over the years we were blessed to gel as a team, but developed further than that, and into a family of our own. Everyone that has been involved has gotten along together so well. We have developed relationships personally that treat each other like family, maybe even better in some cases, and has become a team that almost any and every other would pale in comparison to."

"I am extremely grateful to have raced and become friends with each and every member of this team, and for the sacrifices that each of them, and their families, have made as part of this team," Swanson continued. "It has been such a unique situation, and something not easily found in an entire team across any sport. Everyone involved gave it their all, without hesitation, and wanted to compete together for all the right reasons. We all wanted to do our best, and everyone put in all the effort they could to try to win races together. You simply can't ask for anything more than that in a team, and what we've been able to accomplish together has been incredible and something I am so thankful for my family and I to have been a part of."

Pacific Challenge Series Championship Race At Roseville This Saturday

Pacific Challenge Series points leader, Jason Romeo (Photo Courtesy Don Thompson)
Via PCS Media

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (October 9, 2018) – Cameron Park’s Jason Romero will try to close the deal on his first career Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com championship, when the series hits All American Speedway in Roseville, CA on Saturday night. The event is one part of one of the largest short track events in the western United States, anchored by a 200 lap NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race, the championship for the North State Modifieds, the 100 lap PCS championship, Super Stocks, and Mini Cups vs. Bandoleros. All told over 400 laps with more than 80 race cars make up the ambitious evening.

In an encore to last season, the Pacific Challenge Series’ Super Late Model drivers conclude the evening for $2500 to win. Last year’s race saw John Moore spin into the front stretch wall to end his championship hopes and hand the title to Mike Beeler for his second career title. Jason Romero drag raced with Matt Wendt over the final stages of the event before narrowly missing out on victory.

Coming into 2018, Romero enjoys a 16 point advantage over Moore that represents eight positions on the race track. Traditionally a home race track for the series, Saturday is the only appearance at the one-third mile this year. Moore, of Granite Bay, also ranks Roseville as a home race track but has never won a touring stock car race there.

Beeler ranks third in the standings and has a win and at least four second place finishes at Roseville with the PCS. 2018 Ukiah winner Cole Moore won at Roseville in 2017 and is currently fourth in the championship. French Camp’s Dave Byrd has advanced to fifth in the standings in his maiden PCS season. The veteran driver has not competed at Roseville since 2012.

Matt Wendt ended 2017 with two consecutive victories. His 2018 season has been a complete 180 with six consecutive DNFs. Returning to the site of his most recent victory will hopefully bolster the performance for the driver out of Galt. Carlos Vieira, three-time track champion Matt Scott, Elk Grove’s Mike Hite, and Roseville’s Shannon Mansch round out the top-ten in the points.

Elk Grove’s Shane Butler and Del Oro High School student Jack Wood of nearby Loomis, CA are among those attempting series returns at Roseville. Wood was the 2017 PCS Rookie of the Year with a perfect season of all top-ten finishes. He has not competed with the series yet in 2018.

Activities begin Friday night with practices from 5 p.m. - 9:15 p.m. On Saturday pit gates open at 9 am with the first practice at 1:30 p.m. The final PCS practice at 3:25 p.m. serves as qualifying. Grandstands open at 4 p.m. with a full night of racing for Mini Cups, Super Stocks, North State Modifieds, and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West. The Pacific Challenge Series concludes the huge night at 9 p.m.

Tickets are available for pre-sale now at www.BMRNAPA.com

For more information on the Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com, visit www.PacificChallengeSeries.com or follow them on Facebook or YouTube

The Pacific Challenge Series is presented by: Penney Racing Supply, Penney & Associates, American Racer Tires, Radio Law Talk, Compact-It, Northwest Compactors, Naake Suspension, Sunoco Fuels, Five Star Bodies, BrakeOMeter, Lefthander Chassis, ARP Bodies, Joes Racing Products, Competition Carburetion, Bassett Wheels, Frank's Radio, WrapStar Pro, and Blakesley Sports Media. All PCS Super Late Models race ABC Bodies or Muscle Car bodies on American Racer Tires with Sunoco Racing Fuel.

2018 Pacific Challenge Series presented by PenneyLawyers.com Schedule
Subject to Change
March 31 Madera Speedway (Madera, CA) *Thunder & Lightning w/ USAC & BCRA*
April 21 Shasta Speedway (Anderson, CA) *Kool April Nights*
May 19 Ukiah Speedway (Ukiah, CA) *North State Challenge*
June 23 Shasta Speedway (Anderson, CA) *Shasta Fair*
July 21 Stockton 99 Speedway (Stockton, CA) *Summer Classic*
August 11 Madera Speedway (Madera, CA) *Thunder & Lightning II w/ USAC & 360 Supers*
October 13 All American Speedway (Roseville, CA) *October Classic 100*