(Chino Hills, CA, September 2, 2021) After a brief trip to Indiana to race in the “Bob Darland Memorial” and the USAC National Sprint Car Series “10th Annual Smackdown” at the Kokomo Speedway, Eddie Tafoya Jr. returned to his Chino Hills, California residence just in time to head back out the door for three USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series races in Northern California on Labor Day weekend. The first two races will be at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico on Saturday and Sunday. They will be followed by a trip to the Petaluma Speedway on Monday night.
The trek north will mark Tafoya’s first appearance in the upper portion of California since 2019. That was the season he not only won the USAC CRA Series Rookie of the Year Award, but also took home the same honor in the now defunct USAC Southwest Series. As this will be USAC/CRA’s first appearance at Silver Dollar Speedway since 2018, Tafoya will be competing on the famous ¼ mile banked clay oval for the very first time. The two races at Chico will be the “13th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic” and they will pay $5,000.00 to win each night.
The last time the race affectionately known as “The Louie” was held was two years ago at the Calistoga Speedway. Held over two nights, it was Tafoya’s first ever appearance on the massive half mile clay oval. In addition, it was the first time he took part in the “California Sprint Week Series.” On his first ever night on the track, Tafoya started 22nd and finished 19th in the main event. Twenty-four hours later, the rookie driver started 16th and finished 15th.
The last time Tafoya raced on the 3/8-mile Petaluma Speedway was on September 2nd, 2019; he gave a great account of himself. It was the rookie drivers first time on the track, and he qualified 13th fastest of the 19 cars on hand. In the main event he had his best 410 finish up to that time when he started 13th and finished seventh in the 30-lap race. The final two races of the “2019 California Sprint Week” saw Tafoya place 11th in his first ever appearance at the Merced Speedway and 11th at Santa Maria as well. He raised a lot of eyebrows in those five races when he finished 11th in the standings in a tough field of cars.
Saturday’s race will be Tafoya’s first appearance in California since he recorded a career best USAAC/CRA finish of third at Perris Auto Speedway on July 17th. Prior to that race he had a sixth at Santa Maria on July 3rd and a fourth at Perris on June 16th. Those finishes came on the heels of his May 22nd Perris appearance when he had second place locked up before running out of fuel late in the race.
Despite missing four races in the USAC/CRA Series this year, Tafoya has four top-10 finishes in the six races he has participated in. That is good enough for him to be ranked 15th in the series standings heading into this weekend’s triple header.
After some tough nights in Indiana last week, Tafoya hopes to rebound this weekend. He placed sixth in the B Main at the Darland Memorial a week ago Wednesday. Thursday’s show was rained out and he placed 14th in the B Main on Friday. Saturday was a make up date for the Thursday rainout and unfortunately, the young driver got upside down after he got tangled up in somebody else’s mess in his heat race. That put a premature end to his weekend. All three of those races were held at “Indiana’s Baddest Bull Ring,” the Kokomo Speedway.
Fans can take in all three nights of this week’s action in person at both tracks. Silver Dollar Speedway is located on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds at 2357 Fair Street, in Chico, California (95928). The track website is http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com/ and the phone number is (530) 350-7275. Petaluma Speedway is situated on the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds and Event Center in Petaluma. The address is 100 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma, California 94952. The track website is https://www.petaluma-speedway.com/ and the office phone number is (707) 763-RACE.
Spectator gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:30 in Chico. At Petaluma, spectator gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:00.
For fans who are unable to make the races in person, they can catch all the action live on Flo Racing. Sign up information for the Flo PPV service is at https://www.floracing.com/.
Tafoya and the crew will have his great looking shirts for sale in the pits at in Nor. Cal. this weekend. If you cannot make it and wish to purchase one, contact Tafoya on Facebook or Instagram.
Fans can follow Tafoya on Instagram @eddietafoya51.
Tafoya and his team would like to thank the following sponsors for being a part of the 2021 racing campaign. Specialty Fasteners, Circle Track Performance, DRC Chassis, Ryder Racing Engines, Benic Enterprises, Simpson, and Bell. If you or your company would like to become a part of the team in 2021, please give them a call or send an Email to the contact information at the top of this press release.
Eddie Tafoya Jr. 2021 Race Results
1/12 Tulsa Expo Raceway Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 12th B Main
1/16 Tulsa Expo Raceway Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 8th H Main
3-26 Thunderbowl Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars DNS
4-16 Bloomington Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 10th C Main
4-17 Paragon Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 13th B Main
4-24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 8th A Main
5-22 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 18th A Main
6-17 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 4th A Main
7-3 Santa Maria Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 6th A Main
7-17 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 3rd A Main
7-24 Kokomo Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 10th B Main
7-25 Lawrenceburg Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 15th B Main
7-26 Gas City I69 Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 13th B Main
7-28 Terre Haute Action Track USAC National Sprint Cars 22nd A Main
7-29 Lincoln Park Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 10th B Main
7-30 Bloomington Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 8th B Main
7-31 Tri-State Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 22nd A Main
8-25 Kokomo Speedway Bob Darland Memorial 6th B Main
8-27 Kokomo Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars 14th B Main
8-28 Kokomo Speedway USAC National Sprint Cars DNS
