The Dirt Track
Kern County Raceway Park

Bakersfield, California

Xtreme Sidecar California State Championship
KCRP Bakersfield - September 16
by Steve Evans

Joe Jones & Tom Summers
Xtreme Sidecar California State Championship winners

JONES AND SUMMERS ADD ANOTHER BIG SIDECAR TITLE AT KERN COUNTY SEASON OPENER!
Kern County Raceway Park, Bakersfield. 16 September 2023

Iconic American Sidecar legends Joe Jones & Tom Summers added the California State Championship and John Matherson Cup to their humongous list of titles won in over 2 decades of dominance.

The 2023/24 season opened at KCRP with Sidecars and Team Speedway Racing headlining, also with Round 3 of season’s Flat Track Series attracting well over 100 race entries and a healthy crowd as the temperatures fell into the more tolerable low 90s after a 2-month hot summer break. 9 Sidecar teams were entered, each taking three heats with the top 4-point scorers going to winner take all A Final. Jones and Summers faced a race against time after a blown engine the week before at Costa Mesa. The duo did not leave Orange County until 1:45pm, missed practice but they simply were in a league of their own all night. 2022 National Champion Robert Curry and Dave Bernardo were their closest competition but lost out the two times the teams met.

Probably the toughest race of the night was the A Main where Curry & Bernardo did keep it close for a while before Jones and Summers pulled safely clear. The battle at the rear saw both teams come together at the end of the race with Wade Boyd and Eric Lindauer getting the nod over Kevin Kale and Jennifer Hernandez.

Though the top guns were away at Fast Fridays for the Saturday finale of the AMA National series, 9 Division 2 & Division 3 riders took part in a Team race with the Bakersfield Bandits and Team SOS Wolves tying 21-21. Aidan McNutt won all three of his races to top the Division 2 points whilst Antonio Coffman scored 8 of 9 in Division 3.

The final piece of the speedway puzzle in this event were two 150cc Mini Speedway races. Hudson Jones was the double victor. His opponent was 8-year-old Zaal Farhand, an accomplished road racer who tested a borrowed bike 6 days earlier. In time in between, his family bought a bike, had it brought to KCRP by Coffman, got it dialed in by Joe Jones at the track and then they went racing! Farhand was within striking distance of Hudson Jones in their final race.

Speedway returns to KCRP on October 14th with the annual staging of the AMA Under 21 National Championship for the John Schroeder Cup. Schroeder, who passed away last year, worked tirelessly to help the young speedway riders of the future at his own private track. The event will also feature Street Harley racing and all Divisions of Speedway.

Results
California State Sidecar Championship / John Matherson Cup (Heat points in brackets)
Main Event
1 Joe Jones / Tom Summers (9)
31 Robert Curry / David Bernardo (8)
88 Wade Boyd / Eric Lindauer (5)
07 Kevin Kale / Jennifer Hernandez (6)

B Main
13 Emil Ovrid / Theodore Ovrid (5)
28 Lawrence McNutt / Dana Miller (4)
3 James Kinne / James Lear – 20-yard line (1)
357 Ace Kale / Brent Smith (1)
47 Jason Fritze / Michael Lear – retired

Division 2 Points
228 Aidan McNutt 9
106 Isaiah Canales 6
275 Lawrence McNutt 3

Division 3 Points
146 Antonio Coffman 8
250 Jacob Wondolowski 6
115c Dylan McNulty 4
138 Jim Sanders 3
123 Catherine Moore 2
197 Ryan Bacarella 1

150 Mini Speedway
15 Hudson Jones
34 Zaal Farhand