(El Cajon, CA, March 9, 2022) Newly turned 16-year-old Braden Chiaramonte will make his 2023 sprint car racing debut this Friday and Saturday, March 10th and 11th, when the Imperial Valley Raceway hosts the Southern California Open Competition Non-Wing Sprint Cars during the California Mid-Winter Fair. The teen scored a win on the same track in the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series 11 months ago.
The event will only be Chiaramonte’s fifth time in a 360 sprint car. In 2022, the then-15-year-old racer competed in four 360 sprint car races in Northern California. However, all four of those races came in winged cars. Friday and Saturday will mark his first-ever times running a 360 sans wings. While he has never raced his 360 wingless before, he spent a season and a half without them while competing in the POWRi Southwest Lightning Car Series.
His four races in a 360 sprinter in 2022 shocked most long-time fans. In his first race in a 360 at the Silver Dollar Speedway in August, a strong 44-car field showed up and Chiaramonte made the main event. At the start of October at Silver Dollar in the Fall Nationals, he started 22nd in the finale and finished eighth. That result is more incredible when you consider the fact that nearly halfway through the race, he had to go to the back for a restart after stopping to avoid a crash.
Chiaramonte, who recently turned 16, is no stranger to the Imperial Valley track. Last season, he made the 102-mile trek from his El Cajon, California home to the speed plant three times. A year ago last weekend, he placed second there in the season-opening race for the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Cars. Twenty-four hours later mechanical ills relegated him to an eighth-place finish. He returned to the track that is 19 miles north of the USA/Mexico border in April and won his first of two CLS main events in 2023. His other victory came in convincing style when he smoked the competition on the half-mile at Perris Auto Speedway in September.
For this weekend’s race, which will be held during the annual California Mid-Winter Fair, Chiaramonte will be in his new Maxim Chassis/Shaver Engine 360 sprint car. That car is pictured at the top of this release. In addition to having the top-of-the-line chassis/engine combo, the car was tuned and prepped by Northern California’s Tiner-Hirst Enterprises out of Chico. Tiner-Hirst supplied the winged 360 car Chiaramonte drove at the Silver Dollar and Placerville Speedways in 2022.
Last week Chiaramonte and fellow teen Grant Sexton put on an exciting exhibition race on the same track they will be competing on this weekend. Chiaramonte came out on top of the special event.
For this week’s event featuring the talented teen and all of the other sprint car stars, Friday will include practice and a 25-lap main event. On Saturday, the two-night show will conclude with heat races and the 30-lap, $5,000.00 to win main event for the sprints. Racing will begin at 6:00 p.m. each night. Fair gates will open at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday. Kids 18 and under get into the races for free with their ticket to the fair. Admission for those 19 and over will require an extra ticket. The track is located on the Imperial Valley fairgrounds at 200 East 2nd Street in Imperial, California.
Chiaramonte would like to thank all his sponsors who have made this week’s races possible. RTL Traffic Control, AM Ortega, King Racing Products, Tiner-Hirst Enterprises, and Keizer Wheels.
As the full 2023 season is just starting to unfold, Chiaramonte and his team are making plans for a busy year. If you are interested in becoming a marketing partner with one of the most talented and personable young drivers in the sport, please feel free to call or e-mail Daniel Chiaramonte mailto:dchiaramonte@rtltraffic.com or (619) 988 7563.
Braden Chiaramonte 2023 Results
January 13 Tulsa SageNet Center Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 14th A Main
January 14 Tulsa SageNet Center Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 12th C Main
