TULARE, Calif. — With Las Vegas in the rear-view mirror, Kubota High Limit Racing went southbound on Interstate 15 and set their sights on California this week – bringing three shows to three different tracks over four days.
It all begins Wednesday, March 19 with a return to Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway, where Kyle Larson topped Brad Sweet and Rico Abreu in a wild one when the series debuted at the track back in August. After that, a pair of first-time tracks take center stage on the weekend with Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway donning a new configuration on Friday, March 21 and then then “Southern California Home of Major League Sprint Car Racing, Perris Auto Speedway, hosting a race on Saturday, March 22.
This marks the first of two trips to California this year with a summer swing following the Knoxville Nationals bringing teams out for races at Tulare and Placerville Speedway and then the historic 71st running of the Gold Cup Race of Champions, a $100,071-to-win extravaganza at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway on Aug. 21-23.
After an eccentric season opener in “The Entertainment Capital of the World,” let’s look at what’s on the table as we visit “The Golden State” this week:
THE HENDRICK BOYS
Corey Day and Kyle Larson – who are mentor and prodigy on the pavement side of the sport at Hendrick Motorsports – are fierce opponents when they come to have fun on the dirt. After finishing 1-2 with Day besting Larson in the season-opener at Las Vegas, the two stars are set to race in their home state for one night only this week when Kubota High Limit Racing rolls into Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway on Wednesday.
The always-electric Thunderbowl is a personal favorite for both the 19-year-old kid from Clovis, California, Day, and the 32-year-old native of Elk Grove, California, Larson. Each have triumphed multiple times in Tulare and both names forever reside on the historic list of Trophy Cup champions.
As things stand right now on the Kubota High Limit Racing all-time wins list, Day owns eight-career victories in his Jason Meyers Racing No. 14BC with Larson right on his tail at seven scores in his Silva Motorsports No. 57.
DE FACTO POINTS
With Corey Day and Kyle Larson not on the full-time trail, the de facto point lead belongs to the reigning Kubota High Limit Racing champions, the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 team. After failing to make the Dash, Brad Sweet did what he does better than almost anyone in the country, salvaging his night, with an 11th-to-third run to land on the podium.
Shortly behind the KKR camp in points after the opening night is the Clauson-Marshall Racing No. 7BC driven by Tyler Courney (-3 points), the Rudeen Racing No. 26 driven by Justin Peck (-9 points), the Murray-Marks Motorsports No. 19 driven by Brent Marks (-11 points), and Rico Abreu’s No. 24 (-15 points).
In the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Rookie of the Year chase, Floridian Danny Sams III jumped out to the early advantage ahead of Texan Chase Randall (-2 points), Oklahoman Daison Pursley (-4 points), and Pennsylvanian Sye Lynch (-12 points).
NEW TRACKS ON TOUR
While Tulare is quite familiar to almost all competitors on Wednesday – only rookies Danny Sams III and Sye Lynch have never raced the Thunderbowl before – the weekend will be a whole different story. Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway and Perris Auto Speedway will be the second and third of 15 venues hosting their first-ever Kubota High Limit Racing event in 2025.
Friday’s stop at the newly minted Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway offers the most newness with only four of the 14 High Rollers having ever competed on property, those being Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, Spencer Bayston, and Tanner Thorson. The facility has hosted several NARC 410 Sprint Car Series events over the past few years with notable winners including Tim Kaeding, Corey Day, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Dominic Scelzi, and Cory Eliason.
On Saturday, “The PAS” – Perris Auto Speedway – welcomes Kubota High Limit Racing for the first time. An iconic track for non-wing racers, this southern California half-mile is no stranger to wings having held 22 World of Outlaws events since 1996. High Rollers Aaron Reutzel, with the Outlaws, and Tanner Thorson, at the 2015 Turkey Night Grand Prix with the USAC National Midgets, are both previous winners at Perris. Only six full-timers will be cutting their first laps at Perris with all four rookies (Danny Sams III, Chase Randall, Daison Pursley, Sye Lynch) joining Brenham Crouch and Justin Peck in making their PAS debut.
CALI CLIQUE
Almost 40 Sprint Cars are expected on Wednesday at Tulare and we should see another 30-plus come Friday at Kern and Saturday at Perris, meaning the stout, homegrown California locals will have plenty of chances to earn a national win against Kubota High Limit Racing.
One of the most notable locals is Aromas, California’s Justin Sanders, who is tied with Spencer Bayston for the most podiums (5) in High Limit history without a win. Aboard the Demo Mittry No. 2X, the reigning NARC 410 champion has three chances this week to finally put that stat away and claim his first-career win against a national series.
When you talk about Californians expected to contend against the national stars, you must mention Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi and Fremont’s Shane Golobic. Beyond them, it’s still a long, long list of names worth mentioning including Tim Kaeding, Landon Brooks, Dominic Gorden, D.J. Netto, Dylan Bloomfield, Ryan Bernal, Tanner Holmes in the Tarlton car, Kaleb Montgomery, Chance Grasty and more.
FIGHTING FOR A FRANCHISE
In a landmark announcement last Thursday, Kubota High Limit Racing unveiled a Franchise System which will go into effect in 2026 and pay race teams up to $18 million over four seasons. Due to their championship finish in 2024, Kasey Kahne Racing (No. 49), Clauson-Marshall Racing (No. 7BC), Rico Abreu Racing (No. 24), and Murray-Marks Motorsports (No. 19) have already earned the first four of 10 franchises.
That means in 2025, seven returning teams will battle for the next six franchises. In the hunt for those valuable six spots is Jason Meyers Racing (No. 14), Buch Motorsports (No. 13), CJB Motorsports (No. 5), Ridge & Sons Racing (No. 87), Rod Gross Motorsports (No. 88), Rudeen Racing (No. 26), and Kasey Kahne Racing (No. 9). Who claims a franchise by the end of the season will be decided by the average point finish of those teams from 2024-’25 standings.
