15th Annual Trophy Cup Oct. 23, 24, 25, 2008 15th Annual Trophy Cup October 23, 24, 25, 2008 Thursday - Friday - Saturday Brad Sweet wins Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway By Gary Thomas Tulare, CA - October 27, 2008 - Coming into the 15th annual Trophy Cup at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway, many eyes were focused on 22 year-old Brad Sweet considering the large amount of success he's had in big races this season, as well as the fact he was driving the always potent Rod Tiner Racing No. 83. The immensely talented driver proceeded to not disappoint as he utilized an impressive charge from 24th to third this past Saturday night to claim his first Trophy Cup title. Not only has Sweet had a fine season while driving for Kasey Kahne Racing in the USAC National Sprint/Midget Series, but he had also been very strong in limited starts aboard the Rod Tiner Racing, GP Development sprinter. The youngster had won a regular point's race & a Golden State Challenge Series feature in July at Silver Dollar Speedway and also scored a number of other strong finishes at the track earlier in the season. The 50 lap Trophy Cup main event on Saturday at the Thunderbowl saw Sweet go into it as the high points driver with San Jose's Tim Kaeding, Los Angeles' Tyler Walker and Germantown, Tenn's Sammy Swindell following closely behind. With the totally inverted main event it saw the quartet start from the final two rows in the field, which forced them to get up on the wheel and pass cars to be able to take home the Trophy Cup title. The 50 lap feature began with Campbell's Bud Kaeding jumping out into the lead, but it didn't last long as Grand Forks, ND driver Mark Dobmeier blew to the high side of the track to take command shortly after. Dobmeier had been ultra impressive in the B-main as he showed no fear in running the high side of the 1/3 mile clay oval and continued to run the ragged edge during the main event. Early on nobody had anything for Dobmeier as the winningest winged sprint car driver in the country easily pulled away from the other competitors. As the race wore on however, San Jose's Randy Hannagan was on the move from the 10th starting spot and claimed second around lap 25. The previous night had seen Hannagan carve his way into the lead late in the main event, only to have a parts failure take away his shot at victory. On this night the veteran driver would close in on Dobmeier and hound him for a number of laps through traffic, until making the pass with just nine circuits remaining in the race. At this point Swidell had been blowing forward like a rocket ship as he charged by a number of cars and moved into second with just six laps left in the race. Another driver who had found a nice groove was Elk Grove's Kyle Larson who had made a great move off turn two and sliced into third on lap 45. The exciting racing didn't end there as Sweet had sensed the urgency with the race winding down and was able to charge past a number of other drivers to move all the way up to third by lap 46. When the checkered flag was unveiled it saw Hannagan cross under in first with Swindell in second and Sweet rounding out the podium. Larson claimed fourth and 23rd starter Tim Kaeding San Jose completed the top five. When the final points were tallied it showed Sweet as the winner and it gave car owner Rod Tiner his second Trophy Cup title in the last three seasons. 'This is just an awesome feeling and that was one of the best races I've been a part of all season,' Sweet said. 'Rod Tiner told me during one of the red flags that there were 20 laps to go so it was time to get a move on and then late in the race this thing was awesome. I just have to thank all you fans for coming out and hope you enjoyed the show,' Sweet concluded. The A-main victory for Hannagan marked the second season in a row he's won Saturday's feature and it came on a night that saw him do a memorial lap for late car owner Walt Branco earlier in the evening. 'It's nice to come out here and get a win the night after we broke while leading,' Hannagan commented. 'Last season we won this main event driving for Walt Branco and I just want to dedicate tonight's victory to Walt because I know he was riding with us tonight.' The final top 10 in the Trophy Cup standings was comprised of Brad Sweet, Sammy Swindell, Tim Kaeding, Randy Hannagan, Kyle Hirst, Kyle Larson, Stephen Allard, Roger Crockett, Shane Golobic and Jason Solwold. Saturday A-main Results: Randy Hannagan, Sammy Swindell, Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson, Tim Kaeding, Mark Dobmeier, Shane Golobic, Stephen Allard, Kyle Hirst, Roger Crockett, Jason Solwold, Henry Van Dam, Ronnie Day, Ben Gregg, Sean Becker, Stephen Tiner, Andy Forsberg, Tommy Tarlton, Shane Stewart, Bud Kaeding Tyler Walker, Brent Kaeding, Willie Croft, Colby Wiesz Thursday - October 23rd, 2008 Heat one--Jason Solwold, Tim Kaeding, Mark Dobmeier, Ben Gregg, Ronnie Day, Bradley Terrell, Brock Lemley., Jeff Henson, Kevin Barnes, James Sweeney Heat two--Cory Eliason, Colby Weisz, Tommy Tarlton, Roger Crockett, Kyle Larson, Kurt Nelson, Jimmy Trulli, Billy Butler, Jonathan Logan, Matt Sargent\ Heat three--Tyler Walker, Sean Becker, Brad Sweet, Shane Golobic, Andy Gregg, Mike Faria, Ken Fredenberg, Mason Moore, Chad Groves, Mike Stallings Heat four--Brent Kaeding, Myles Bishop, Steven Tiner, Randy Hannagan, Bud Kaeding, Scott Kinney, Pat Harvey, Anthony Simone, Evan Suggs, Colby Solomon Heat five--Stephen Allard, Craig Stidham, Willie Croft, Andy Forsberg, Burt Foland, Jr., Christian Stover, Herman Klein, Chad Compton, Roberto Kirby Heat six--Sammy Swindell, Kyle Hirst, Henry Van Dam, Mark Barroso, Shane Stewart, Danny Faria, Jr., Mark Workentine, Ted Baker, Jonathan Allard, Craig DeCaires (DNS) A main--Walker, Stidham, Swindell, Van Dam, Tarlton, B. Kaeding, Weisz, Becker, Hirst, Solwold, Croft, Sweet, Dobmeier, S. Allard, Bishop, Eliason, Tiner, T. Kaeding The Tulare Thunderbowl Safety Crew Your Hard Work and Dedication to the safety of the drivers, crews, and all involved with racing is often unrecognized but greatfully appreciated by all. I'll speak for many and just say.... Thanks for doing a great job all year long... Tyler Walker Tyler Walker in Victory Lane - Thursday 10/23 Friday - October 24th, 2008 Heat one--Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Randy Hannagan, Shane Golobic, Andy Forsberg, Sean Becker, Jonathan Logan, Scott Kinney, Mark Barroso, Matt Sargent Heat two--Brad Sweet, Danny Faria, Jr., Kyle Larson, Myles Bishop, Billy Butler, Willie Croft, Burt Foland Jr., Craig Stidham, Ken Fredenburg Heat three--Jonathan Allard, Cory Eliason, Tyler Walker, Sammy Swindell, Brent Kaeding, Mike Faria, Herman Klein, Chad Groves, Andy Gregg Heat four--Jimmy Trulli, Mason Moore, Steven Tiner, Henry Van Dam, Stephen Allard, Mark Workentine, Roger Crockett, Evan Suggs, Roberto Kirby Heat five--Brock Lemley, Shane Stewart, Jason Solwold, Geoff Ensign, Kyle Hirst, Bradley Terrell, Kurt Nelson, Chad Compton, Kevin Barnes Heat six--Mark Dobmeier, Ronnie Day, Ben Gregg, Tommy Tarlton, Christian Stover, Anthony Simone, Colby Wiesz, Colby Solomon, Pat Harvey C main--Faria, Lemley, Moore, Kinney, Groves, Solomon, Logan, Foland, Barnes, Simone, Harvey, Butler B main--Becker, Van Dam, J. Allard, Golobic, Terrell, Klein, Suggs, Wiesz, Lemlely, Bud Kaeding, Moore, Trulli, Geoff Ensign, Stover, Nelson, Fredenburg, D. Faria, M. Faria, Workentine, Barroso, Kinney, Bishop, Gregg, Stidham A main--Walker, Stewart, Sweet, T. Kaeding, B. Kaeding, Swindell, J. Allard, Tarlton, Forsberg, Hirst, Crockett, Solwold, S. Allard, Day, Tiner, Becker, Golobic, Gregg, Van Dam, Hannagan, Eliason, Dobmeier, Croft, Larson Tyler Walker in Victory Lane - Friday 10/24 Saturday - October 25th, 2008 Scramble 1--Sean Becker, Tyler Walker, Kyle Larson, Stephen Allard, Randy Hannagan, Roger Crockett, Brent Kaeding, Brad Sweet, Andy Forsberg, Shane Stewart Scramble 2--Willie Croft, Shane Golobic, Ronnie Day, Sammy Swindell, Kyle Hirst, Jason Solwold, Tommy Tarlton, Steven Tiner, Ben Gregg, Tim Kaeding C main--Mike Faria, Colby Solomon, Chad Groves, Jonathan Logan, Kevin Barnes, Anthony Simone, Roberto Kirby, Mike Stallings, Pat Harvey, Mark Barroso, Matt Sargent, Burt Foland, Jr., Scott Kinney, Chad Compton B main--Mark Dobmeier, Bud Kaeding, Colby Weisz, Henry Van Dam, Evan Suggs, Jimmy Trulli, Bradley Terrell, Christian Stover, M. Faria, Mason Moore, Herman Klein, Myles Bishop, Andy Gregg, Logan, Groves, Geoff Ensign, Jonathan Allard, Danny Faria Jr., Solomon, Cory Eliason, Kurt Nelson, Ken Fredenburg, M. Faria, Mark Workentine A main--Hannagan, Swindell, Sweet, Larson, T. Kaeding, Dobmeier, Golobic, S. Allard, Hirst, Crockett, Solwold, Van Dam, Day, Gregg, Becker, Tiner, Forsberg, Tarlton, Stewart, Bud Kaeding, Walker, Brent Kaeding, Croft, Weisz Final points 1. Brad Sweet 454 2. Sammy Swindell 448 3. Tim Kaeding 441 4. Randy Hannagan 416 5. Kyle Hirst 398 6. Kyle Larson 395 7. Stephen Allard 392 8. Roger Crockett 384 9. Shane Golobic 381 10. Jason Solwold 378 11. Ronnie Day 373 12. Mark Dobmeier 369 13. Shane Stewart 361 14. Tommy Tarlton 357 15. Tyler Walker 355 16. Andy Forsberg 353 17. Steven Tiner 345 18. Sean Becker 343 19. Ben Gregg 342 20. Henry Van Dam 340 21. Brent Kaeding 337 22. Willie Croft 299 23. Bud Kaeding 266 24. Colby Weisz 261 Randy Hannagan - Race Winner - Saturday 10/25 15th Annual Trophy Cup Winner Brad Sweet Dave Pusateri and the Trophy Cup crew... While Tyler Walker won 2 nights and Randy Hannagan won the 3rd night, then Brad Sweet was declared the Overall Winner.... The "REAL WINNER" of the 3 Day, 15th Annual Trophy Cup was the Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation, Thanks to Dave Pusateri and his Hard Working Crew.... 15th Annual Trophy Cup Photos courtesy of... Return to Racing Results Index