Clearance on 2008 T Shirts
$5 each plus $7 S & H

NOTES:  The new shirts design was done by Randy Frank and are really cool.  The shirt will only come in black and is now available for order.  Please get your orders in soon before they run out!  We will be doing one reprint once they do run out and just before Knoxville.

By: Joe Burrage & The Insider

Tim Kaeding has raced in a lot of big races in his career but the San Jose, California driver loves to race on the Golden State bullrings whenever he can. Since returning home from the Knoxville Nationals Kaeding has been a roll and the Roth Motorsports No.83JR sprinter has been in victory lane four of four times, Friday night qualifier at Watsonville for the Johnny Key, Victory at Placerville with last lap thriller. The following week TK went to Chico and captured the perpetual night and then the Johnny Key.

The Johnny Key Classic is one of the races Kaeding has really wanted to win for a very long time and this was the year it finally came true! It may have meant more to TK then Knoxville however after winning the Key Knoxville is next on the list!

“Last weekend we got to go out and have some fun and we put this DTR Transport Inc. sprinter in victory lane For Friday’s Chico show,” said Kaeding. The next night was the Johnny Key Classic and winning this one means so much since I was the last one not to win it, my grandpa (Howard Kaeding), dad (Brent Kaeding), and my brother (Bud Kaeding) have won this race before and it is an honor to add my name to the winners list of one of the most prestigious California sprint car races. Dennis and Teresa Roth have supplied us with the best tools to get the job done and now we are back on track!”

Starting in the third position for the 50-Lap, A-Main Kaeding knew had plenty of time to let the track come to him and he did just that. When the green lights lit up the action packed ¼ mile bullring Kaeding got a good start and quickly settled into the third position. After the first yellow flag of the night Kaeding started to work his preferred line of choice, the cushion. It did not take long for Kaeding to power by familiar black No.69 sprinter driven by Brent Kaeding. The DTR Transport Inc. No.83JR immediately started to pull away from the top three drivers until another yellow flag hit the speedway on Lap-12, with heavy lapped traffic just in front of Kaeding.

On the restart Kaeding continued to work the cushion in both turns while extending his lead. While Kaeding was working lapped traffic the hottest battle on the track was for the second position. Tommy Tarlton and Kyle Larson were starting to reel in Kaeding in traffic before the mandatory Lap-25 red flag came out. During the red flag crew chief Dean “Bonzai” Bruns and expert crew member Scotty Martin, Gary and Jacob made sure all the right changes were made and Kaeding was pushed off for the restart.

On the restart Kaeding jumped on the gas and quickly jumped ahead of the field. Kaeding stayed committed to the top where the car handled beautifully in both turns. When traffic came into play Kaeding did use the bottom of the speedway a few times but every time he did the new King Of California, Kyle Larson would gain on him.

Kaeding would get some help with a few caution flags giving him a clear race track and Larson would be forced to run the Roth Motorsports sprinter. As the race continued the Ocean Speedway bullring started to really come in during the last 20-Laps. The bottom was really good; the cushion was perfect, the top two cars started to battle each other in heavy lapped traffic giving the race fans a phenomenal feature. Larson found two excellent racing lines along the bottom of turns one and two and three and four and the black No.99 machine pulled even with Kaeding numerous times and nearly took the lead away.

From there Kaeding and Larson continued to battle with Kaeding holding his line on the top of the speedway with Larson glued to the bottom and just as Kaeding got the upper hand on the young driver a yellow flag would come out setting up a green, white, checkered finish.

On the restart Kaeding would pull away from Larson and third place running Tommy Tarlton. Kaeding would continue to use the cushion and drive two flawless laps en route to winning his first ever Johnny Key Classic feature.

“I was getting a little nervous there for a while, I could see Kyle poking his nose in there he’s always one of the toughest drivers out here,” said Kaeding. “I just love running these bullrings in California and wish we had more of them across the country, because this is the best racing you’ll see. I have to thank Dennis and Teresa Roth, all our sponsors and my whole team, they have been doing a great job all year and I think it’s time to go have a beer with them. This is a very special race to win and we finally did it, I hope you fans had a good time and thank you for coming out to support sprint car racing.”

Roth Motorsports will now head to Cottage Grove speedway returning to a track he has had past experience at in winning fashion, then Skagit speedway before returning to Greys Harbor speedway and then the famed Silver Dollar Speedway’s GOLD CUP. With the present California good fortune this could be Tim’s best chance at the coveted GOLD CUP race ever….Don’t forget to visit the trailer after the races to get your TK t-shirt….