Photo by "Tailgate" Rodriguez
A look back at the 2011 King of the West 410 Sprints Royal Court
Driver Number Six- “Double Down” Willie Croft
Rio Vista, CA – January 16, 2012…Becoming a father for the first time this past year Sacramento, California’s Willie Croft finished within an arm’s reach of the top-five in points with the Golden State King of the West Series, locking down the sixth spot in the final tallies.
The number six seemed to run wild for the driver known as “Double Down,” as he finished only six-points behind Jason Statler in the standings and also ran sixth in the main event on four separate occasions during the season aboard his Amerikote No. 29 mount.
“This past year was probably one of my most fun and best years in racing without a doubt,” said Croft. “Every week there were great crowds with the King of the West Series and as a driver that’s what you want to have. It’s always more enjoyable when you’re racing in front of a lot of people and we had that last year.”
Croft’s shining moment on the season came in April at the Marysville Raceway Park, a track he spent much time at early in his career. The 40-year-old opened that night by setting a new track record for fast time and then made a slick move under Jonathan Allard on lap-eight in the feature to grab the lead.
From there on out Croft had to fend off Tim Kaeding on a handful of double file restarts, but was able to pull away at the end and tally his third career traveling 410 Sprint Car Series win. His previous two Golden State victories had come at the Mini Gold Cup in 2004 and Quincy’s American Valley Speedway in ’07.
“That was a really important win for me not only because it was early in the season, but it’s a track that I pretty much grew up racing sprint cars at during my early years,” he commented. “There was really no pressure, but I definitely wanted to get a win or two at some point on the year. It was even more special because I had some family there so it was great that they got to witness it.”
During the Golden State King of the West Series season Croft grabbed a couple of top-five finishes, including an additional podium on August 5 at Ocean Speedway to go along with his win, eleven top-10’s, two heat race wins, one fast time and was the Pit Stop USA hard charger at the season opener in Antioch.
“Dan Simpson and the KWS guys did a great job last year with getting big crowds and making everything good for the teams,” Croft said. “For the season I really have to thank Dave Wasney of Holy Smokes BBQ, the Christian Stover Foundation, Scott Brown & MRO Inc., ART Enterprise, Kaeding Performance, Samantha & Derrick Hirst, AJ, the King of the West Series and everyone that supported our team.”
Croft also built quite a fan following around the state of California in 2011, with his exciting and hard charging driving style that pleased the crowd on a number of occasions. “I’ve always been a fan of watching Willie Croft drive a sprint car,” said KWS announcer Troy Hennig. “I think the rest of the state saw just how good he is last year. There aren’t many more exciting drivers out here than Willie.”
For more on Willie Croft you can check out his appearance on “KWS Tonight,” where he talks about his Marysville win at http://vimeo.com/34676188 and visit his website http://www.williecroftracing.com
Also take a peek at a great promo video done for Willie Croft Racing by Ryan Cornilsen and Studio 5 Photography at http://vimeo.com/32760842
The Golden State King of the West 410 Sprints would like to thank the following companies for their support this season: Goodyear Racing Tires, Pit Stop USA.com, Kaeding Performance, Hoseheads.com, Grant’s Fine Art, Auto Meter Products Inc., Contingency Connection, Maxim Chassis, Amerikote, Abel Chevrolet, Bully Dog, Red Horse Performance, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, Hunt Magnetos, Weld Racing, Racing Optics, Butler Built Performance, HoservilleCA, Angellos ATV Rental, Rogue Regency Inn, Williams Motorsports, DES Inc. and Simpson Percherons.
Don't forget to “like” the Golden State King of the West Series on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kwssprintracing for the most timely and up to date information on the series.
Also check out our official website at http://www.kwssprints.com for the latest news, results, history and more on the Golden State King of the West 410 Sprint Cars.
Be sure to catch archived shows of “KWS Tonight,” along with special highlight clips from the 2011 season at http://vimeo.com/user5784994/videos and http://www.ustream.tv/channel/king-of-the-west-today/videos
- Gary Thomas on Jan 16, 2012
- Article Date: 1/16/2012 by Gary Thomas