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NEWS AND UPDATES:  news post

Bud Kaeding races to fourth King of the West victory of the season on Saturday at Placerville Speedw


Placerville, CA – After scoring his first career Placerville Speedway victory in April Campbell, California’s Bud Kaeding returned to the high-banked bullring on Saturday night and added another, dominating the 30-lap main event with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series.

It was the fourth overall triumph of the season for Kaeding and the Williams Motorsports team, in what has been a solid year for the Zero Heroes. It also marked his 16th career King of the West 410 Sprint Car win, which gives him sole possession of seventh on the all-time series list. Kaeding is now just one victory away from tying Los Angeles driver Tyler Walker for sixth on the list.

“We’ve had a really good season overall and to get two wins here in Placerville this year is pretty special,” commented Kaeding. “This hasn’t always been my best track over the years, but Sean Grealy and my guys gave me an outstanding car tonight. These races are never easy to win, so you have to celebrate them when you get the chance. We’ve got a great group of racers out here and I hope all the fans are enjoying this season. Thanks to everyone for coming out tonight and supporting all of us. We really do appreciate it. Hope everyone can make it out to Watsonville & Tulare in a couple weeks.”

The 30-lap feature got off to a rather slow start, with multiple stoppages plaguing the flow early on. After lap 10 however, the race went green to checkered and saw Kaeding have his way out front for the duration of the contest. Roseville’s Colby Copeland tried to keep pace through lapped traffic, but Kaeding was ultra strong picking his way through the slower cars.

Hollister’s Ryan Bernal, who was making his first ever King of the West Placerville start, looked like a veteran as the laps wound down in the feature. After starting 10th in the field he battled his way under Hanford’s DJ Netto on lap 19 for third and then sliced under Copeland for second on lap 26.

Bernal then closed the gap between himself and Kaeding over the final few laps, but would come up just short, having to settle for second at the stripe. The official margin of victory for Kaeding at the line was 0.682 seconds. The runner up effort was a career best with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series for Bernal aboard the Mike Phulps owned Metal Works No. 56 machine.