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EDDIE TAFOYA JR. GOES FROM THE BACK TO SEVENTH IN PERRIS USAC/CRA RACE - VENTURA THIS WEEK

2024-07-21 19:11

(Chino, CA, July 17, 2024) After an early program set back in hot laps, Eddie Tafoya Jr. had an impressive recovery by going from 15th to seventh to capture the "In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Hard Charger Award" at last Saturday's Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car race at Perris Auto Speedway. This week, the veteran racer will head to the Ventura Raceway for the Ultimate Sprint Car Series event presented by Inland Rigging.

Tafoya, who turned 27 a few days before the race, was coming into the night after an eighth-place finish on the same half-mile clay oval three weeks earlier. Bolstering his effort in the pits on the evening was Zac Bozanich. While Tafoya had worked with Bozanich on the Tom and Christy Dunkel Inland Rigging #17T, it was the first time the award-winning crew chief was helping Tafoya with his family-owned #51T.

Unfortunately, things did not get off to a good start in hot laps. Tafoya, who lives in Chino Hills, California, had a big vibration in the car. Turns out the rear end of his car was letting go. He quickly returned to the pits where the crew swarmed over the machine to get it back on the track.

"The first lap of hot laps, I had a real bad vibration coming out of two," Tafoya lamented. "I pulled her back into the pits and figured out the whole rear plate was cracked, the gears were stripped, and it started throwing the lower shaft out of it. At that point, it was kind of a scramble time to try and get the spare one off the wall. Luckily we got that done before the heat races. It put us behind the eight-ball, but we made the best of it."

"I trust all the equipment we have," Tafoya continued when asked if that affected his focus for the remainder of the night. "All of our spares are real good. We didn't know that rear end was a thicker wall tubing. So, our bleeders did not work. I was out of luck on the bleeders for the rest of the night. That kind of sucked."

While the team did get it changed for the heat races, they could not do it in time for qualifying. Thus, Tafoya had to start at the back of the eight-car field in the second heat race. He moved forward to finish sixth. Then, the personable driver had to start last in the 16-car, 30-lap main event. That is when things turned around.

In a main that had more than its share of chaos, Tafoya, who is seldom involved in any of the mayhem, used his track savvy to avoid getting tangled up in any of the wrecks.

"When you are starting back there, you kind of pick your battles," Tafoya stated. "You know when to go and when not to go. Luckily, I could see those pileups coming from a mile away. I did my best to stay out of them, and luckily it worked out."

"I felt really good," Tafoya said when asked if he thought he had a car that could have been a contender if he started closer to the front. "When Tommy (eventual winner Tommy Malcolm) went by me, I did not really want to mess with him too much. I felt I was not too far off his pace, and the same with AJ (second-place finisher AJ Bender). I feel if we could have been up there closer to the front on the start we could have fought for a podium position.

When the checkers ended the race, Tafoya crawled out of the car in seventh place. It was his sixth top 10 finish in nine USAC/CRA starts in 2024. The result also kept him seventh in the series championship standings heading into a busy month of August that will see races on the 10th at Santa Maria, the 17th at Perris and the 31st at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway.

Tafoya enjoyed having Bozanich work on the car in the pit area. In his years working with Brody Roa, Bozanich captured the coveted USAC/CRA Crew Chief of the Year Award one season and was the champion crew chief in 2023. Needless to say, Tafoya would not mind working with him again in the future.

"We are definitely on the same page when it comes to setup stuff," Tafoya said. "It is easy to work with someone when you are both thinking the same about the car and are not butting heads. It is definitely easier when you are making decisions. It was the first time he helped on the #51T. I try to get as much help as I can whenever I can. So, hopefully, it works out a few more times this year and he can be with us."

This Saturday, Tafoya will make the 100-mile track to the Ventura Raceway, which is located on the beach at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, to drive his own #51T car. At the first USCS race at the track on June 1st, he led the field into turn one after the green flag. However, his steering broke, and he slammed into the turn-one wall and tipped over. That left him with a 23rd-place finish.

While the June 1st race result at Ventura was not to his liking, Tafoya has done well at the track in the past in USAC/CRA competition. His best showing at Ventura came in May 2022, when he set the fastest qualifying time and finished fifth in the main event.

"I feel good," the 2019 USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year responded when asked about this week's race at the beach. "The time before we ran good, and at Turkey Night (last November) we were winning heat races and qualifiers. So, I definitely feel good going back there on Saturday."

Tafoya's best finish in the first four races with the USCS was a second at Santa Maria on June 15th. He enters Saturday's fray fifth in series points.

Spectator gates for Saturday's USCS race at Ventura will open at 3:00 p.m., with racing at 5:30. Adult tickets are $22.00. Seniors 60 and over, military with ID, and students with an ID get in for $18.00. Children 12 and under are free when they are accompanied by an adult. The track is located on the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 W. Harbor Boulevard (93001). The website is http://venturaraceway.com/, and the office phone number is (805) 648-RACE.

Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds at 18700 Lake Perris Drive in the City of Perris. The track website is https://santamariaspeedway.net/.

Friendly Tafoya is always happy to meet the fans in the pits after every race. He will sign autographs, pose for photos, and sell his beautiful 2024 team shirts. For fans who cannot attend the races, the team shirts are available at www.specialty-fasteners.com.

Fans can follow Tafoya on Instagram @eddietafoya51.

Tafoya and the #51T team would like to thank Specialty Fasteners, Inland Rigging, BR Motorsports, King Racing Products, Gasper Transportation, CMI Precision Machining, Owen's Insurance Services, Keen Concrete, DRC Chassis, and Rider Racing Engines for supporting its racing program.

Eddie Tafoya Jr. 2024 USAC National Results

January 11 Tulsa Expo Raceway Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 22nd A Main

January 14 Tulsa Expo Raceway Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 7th D Main

February 24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 21st A Main

March 9 Imperial Valley Raceway Imperial Valley 360/410 Sprints 13th A Main

March 10 Imperial Valley Raceway Imperial Valley 360/410 Sprints 17th A Main

March 16 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 16th A Main

March 23 Cocopah Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 12th A Main

April 6 Mohave Valley Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 6th A Main

April 20 Bakersfield Speedway USCS Sprint Cars 22nd A Main

April 27th Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 9th A Main

May 11th Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway USCS Sprint Cars Rained Out

May 18 Bakersfield Speedway USCS Sprint Cars 20th A Main

May 25 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cas Series 8th A Main

June 1 Ventura Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 23rd A Main

June 5 Lawrenceburg Speedway 410 Sprint Cars 8th A Main

June 6 Lincoln Park Speedway 410 Sprint Cars 12th A Main

June 7 Bloomington Speedway 410 Sprint Cars 6th B Main

June 8 Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 4th A Main

June 15 Santa Maria Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 2nd A Main

June 22 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 8th A Main

July 13 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 7th A Main

This release was produced by Scott Daloisio. (909) 226-7768 or E-mail mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com