After placing eighth in the final regular season main event for the Ultimate Sprint Car Series presented by Inland Rigging last weekend at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, Eddie Tafoya Jr. heads east to Arizona’s Mohave Valley Raceway for this Saturday’s Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series race. Saturday’s race will be a tune-up for November’s 57th Annual Western World Championship at Mohave Valley.
Eddie Tafoya Jr. receiving his 3rd place in points trophy from club president
Malyssa Cecilia Perkins. Eddie’s father Eddie Sr., his mother Julie and his”
aunt Cathy Vanderham Dye are in the back row.
Tafoya, 27, came into the final USCS points race of the season third in the series championship standings. The veteran racer was one of 18 cars that turned up for the race at the track in Bakersfield, California. The Chino Hills, California resident qualified fastest of his group of six cars with a lap of 15.558. That was also the fourth-fastest time overall.
In his heat race, the 2018 Perris Auto Speedway Young Guns champion began in fifth and moved forward to finish third. That placed him on the inside of row two for the final 30-lap regular season main event. Going into turn one on the initial start, the pole sitter had issues and ended up stopped by the wall. It was hard to tell if Tafoya clipped the stopped car or not. In fact, Tafoya himself was not sure if contact was made.
On the restart, Tafoya was coming from the pole. However, as soon as the green lights came back on, it became clearly evident that he did make contact with the stopped car on the initial go. He slid back into the pack and eventually finished eighth. Despite the finish, he maintained third place in the overall standings in the USCS first season.
“I think he (the polesitter) had too much throttle on the start and slid it right through the slick in the middle,” Tafoya said of the main event start. “Backed himself into the wall and kind of bounced back. I didn’t know if I for sure clipped him but I thought I might have. Based on the way the rest of the race went, it kind of showed that (he clipped the stopped car). My rear end was out of square and the bird cages were all off. I was kind of a sitting duck wherever I went that race.”
Saturday’s USAC/CRA race will be Tafoya’s fifth on the longtime Mohave Valley track that is located five minutes from the Colorado River and 20 minutes from downtown Laughlin, Nevada. His initial outing at the 1/3 mile banked oval ended with his best finish there thus far when he placed third on April 23, 2023. Six months later, he visited again and steered his beautiful #51T to an eighth place result.
In 2023, Tafoya paid two visits to Mohave Valley. While his end results did not show it, he was a contender each time. At the start of April, in front of one of the largest crowds in track history, the well-spoken racer qualified third fastest of the 30 cars on hand. He then came from sixth to finish third in his heat. The 2019 USAC/CRA Rookie of the year was running in the top five in the main event when he slid to a stop in turn one. Being the cause of the red flag, he had to restart at the back of the 22 car field. From that point on, he put on a show, passing more cars than any other driver to finish 12th.
Six months later, Tafoya was a contender again working his way into second place. However, his engine began laying down, and he wisely pulled off the track to prevent damage. Sadly, that left him with a 12th-place finish.
“I don’t know if it is the track shape, or maybe the banking, I am just really confident getting the car in there,” Tafoya said on Thursday afternoon while on his way to the race shop to work on the car. “Ever since I was there the first time, I have had a good base setup. I just jell well (there). So, it is really exciting to go back there. I think that is the only track I have been good at every single time. I need to figure out what I am doing there and carry it on to the other places.”
“Driving-wise, yeah, it is one of my favorite racetracks,” Tafoya continued. “You can be really aggressive for most of the night until it slicks off. Even when it was slick last year, I think I was the only one running the top until I got to the front and showed those guys that. It is fun, and it is a racy little place. Hopefully, some moisture stays in the dirt for us.”
To see Tafoya in action on Saturday, the Mohave Valley Raceway is located at 2750 E. Laguna Rd. in Mohave Valley, Arizona (86440). Gates at the popular track will open at 5:00 p.m. The night’s first green flag will wave at 7:00. Adult tickets are $25.00. Kids 6-12 get in for $15.00, and children five and under are free. It is cash only for tickets (no ATMs on site). Concessions, souvenirs, and the beer garden take cash or cards. For more information, the track website is https://www.mohavevalleyraceway.com/ and the office phone is (928) 346-6000. For fans who cannot attend the race in person, it will be shown live on pay-per-view at the following link: https://drc.tv/.
After this weekend’s race, Tafoya will wrap up the USAC/CRA season at the 57th Annual Avanti Windows and Doors Western World Championship at Mohave Valley on November 1st and 2nd. One week later on November 9th, he will be in action for the season finale at Perris Auto Speedway.
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 PR