PETERSEN MEDIA- Kicking the 2022 King of the West schedule off on Saturday night in Stockton, CA, Willie Croft would put together a strong start to what is a grueling slate this season as he notched a 5th place finish.

“We were really fast all night long, but with the way the track was, restarts were crucial,” Willie Croft said. “We didn’t have any bad restarts, but the two really good ones we had got called back which was a little frustrating.”

Timing the Holey Smokes BBQ/Rudeen/Amerikote backed No. 29 in second fastest in qualifying amongst the 25 cars checked in for the season opening event.

On slick racing conditions in heat race action, the Colfax, CA driver would earn valuable event points as he raced to a third-place finish and solidified a place for himself in the Sunnyvalley Bacon Dash.

Running third in the Dash, Croft would grid the field from the second row for the opening KWS feature of the season. With track prep changing the surface substantially, it would produce fast conditions that made passing tough once the field got strung out.

With a slew of cautions creating opportunities on restarts, Croft would actually go from sixth to third on one restart only to see the yellow flag fly and negate his efforts.

Under green flag racing conditions, Croft would work his way into the fifth spot where he would then spend much of the race. Getting close to Shane Golobic a few times in closing stages of the race, Croft would be unable to make a move by and capped his night off with a fifth-place finish.

“I felt really good about our car in the feature, and really feel like we were good enough for the podium, but with the track like that and everyone here pretty strong, it made things that much more difficult.”

Willie Croft Racing would like to thank Holey Smokes BBQ, Rudeen, Amerikote, SCI, Brown and Miller, FK Rod Ends, Factory Kahne, Schoenfeld, Team Simpson, Stilo, Smith Precision Products, Kaeding Performance, AL Drivelines, XYZ, Vortex Wings, DoTerra and GUTS for their support.

BY THE NUMBERS: Races-4, Wins-0, Top 5’s-2, Top 10’s-3.

ON TAP: Willie Croft will now head to Hanford, CA on Saturday night.

STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Willie Croft Racing by visiting www.williecroftracing.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @WillieCroft29.

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