By Joseph Terrell
Olympia, Wash: It must have been the late night after traveling all day that caused it, but as I started to pen my final thoughts from the 29th Annual Trophy Cup, I realized I had erred on Saturday’s notebook.
What happened? Well, I posted the winnings for each driver in the top 10, but upon reflection, I realized I had made a mistake in winning totals. So before getting to my 10 final takeaways from the Trophy Cup, let me correct this mistake.
Here is the top 10 with actual earnings minus any bonus money that was added during the weekend. These earnings are from the posted purse and show that five drivers won more than $10,000 for the weekend.
1-Corey Day ($29,000)
2-Buddy Koifoid ($11,700)
3-Shane Golobic ($13,050)
4-Dominic Scelzi ($10,850)
5-Landon Brooks ($10,250)
6-Rico Abreu ($9,850)
7-Justin Peck ($6,570)
8-Aaron Reutzel ($6,000)
9-Ryan Timms ($6,000)
10-Justyn Cox ($6,000)
Now my 10 takeaways from the Trophy Cup that cover topics that didn’t appear or weren’t covered in depth in the weekend notebooks.
Tiner-Hirst Building Something Special: The Tiner-Hirst team started Trophy Cup with a bang on Thursday night when their drivers finished one-two in a photo finish. After struggling Friday night, they finished strong Saturday and ended up fifth (Landon Brooks) and sixth (Rico Abreu) in the Final Point Standings.
While the team may not have won the Trophy Cup, it has been pretty obvious to everybody out west the last few months that something special is brewing. With Steven Tiner and Kyle Hirst calling the shots, Tiner-Hirst looks like it is ready to become one of the upper echelon teams in California.
Yes, they seemed resigned to the fact that Brooks, who has been the key to the team’s ascension, might not stay long. But with the amount of young talent that comes out of the Golden State, don’t be surprised if this train keeps rolling on even if Brooks moves to greener pastures.
Saturday Night Podium Misguided: This isn’t referencing the fact that Logan Seavey won the race but then didn’t. It has been covered. This is about how every year on Saturday night at Trophy Cup, there are essentially two winners, and questions surface on who should be on the podium.
Trophy Cup is a race about getting as many points as a driver can. The winner is the one with the most points, but somehow at Trophy Cup, the podium at the conclusion of the festivities Saturday night doesn’t always celebrate all the top point getters.
Here is what happens: the winner of the Saturday night Main Event and winner of the Trophy Cup, rarely the same driver, kind of battle for the top spot. Somehow this has to change. As mentioned in my Saturday notebook, Day’s performance was special, and he deserved center stage whether he had won or not. But it is deeper than that.
Currently, the top three from Saturday’s Main Event and overall point champion, if not among the top three, are celebrated on the front stretch after the race. It needs to be the other way around. If the winner of the race isn’t among the top three in final points, he can be interviewed after the top three in points get their accolades.
On Saturday night, Day was only one of the top three in points who got interviewed after the race. That was a little disrespectful to Buddy Koifoid and Shane Golobic, who finished second and third in points. Both drivers overcame bad Thursday nights and then performed almost flawlessly the rest of the weekend.
They deserved to be on the podium getting their pictures taken and talking into the microphone with fans cheering.
Only 66 Cars?: That was the vibe on Thursday when it was revealed that 66 cars had checked into the pit area. Why not 80 or 90? Only 66? This was what many were saying, but it seems the complaint was frivolous. Car count does not make a show, and Trophy Cup is no different.
Is there really a difference between 66 cars and, say, 85 cars? In either instance that is a lot of cars and more than enough for a full night of racing. Yes, the car count was a little lower than previous years, but all the stars were still present.
Any strong field in Sprint Car racing will have a strong B-Main. That is how one can tell if the field has quality. Well, at Trophy Cup, that test was passed each night as the B Mains were full of big names. Car count continues to be overrated. It is the quality of the field that matters.
Qualifying Remains Key: Qualifying is key to even thinking about winning the Trophy Cup. It always has been that way and always will be. The evidence in the final point standings. Every driver in the top 10 picked a night in which they qualified in the top 10 of their group.
Yes, the Main Events on the preliminary night also play a pig role in getting a driver in position to win the Trophy Cup. But the reality is, a good qualifying lap puts a driver in position to get those points.
Without the qualifying points, a driver would not be in a 12-car invert on Thursday and Friday, which essentially eliminates any chance to gain the amount of points needed to be a contender.
Format Change Needed Part One?: Given Trophy Cup is all about points, it seems weird that heat-race winners automatically transfer to the Main Event on Thursday and Friday. But it is not the second-place driver who transfers as well, instead it is the high point driver.
This creates a situation where the B Mains will often have at least three or four drivers who are in the 10 in points. Then, they often transfer to the Main Event and are allowed to be part of the 12-car invert in each night’s Main Event.
It would make more sense to take the top 16 in points after the heat race and then invert the top 12. But the current format where B-Main drivers are part of the invert is often confusing to fans and goes against the principle that racing in the B-Main shouldn’t be awarded.
Format Change Needed Part Two?: This specifically regarding the B Mains each night and the fact they invert six. So, the driver with the most points not in the Main Event starts sixth in the B-Main. Then on Saturday, the driver 21st in points, and first one out of the Main Event, also starts in sixth in the B-Main.
With the B Mains only transferring four, this seems like a punishment for the driver who raced the best and rewards for those who happen to be a little farther down in points. I will continue to complain about this each and every year.
Myers, Jr. Struggles Close to Home: Joel Myers, Jr. is young, and like most young drivers, consistency is an issue. The 17-year-old out of Santa Rosa, Calif., is no different. But what stands out is the success he has had in Wisconsin and New Zealand, while struggling mightily out west.
Keeping with that theme at the Trophy Cup, Myers Jr. struggled and ended his weekend in the turn one fence during Saturday’s C-Main. However, when not out west, Myers Jr. has been stout.
He had an electrifying run in New Zealand winning something like eight races in 20 starts over the Winter. He also had a very successful run with Interstate Racing Association (IRA) late in the summer, scoring seven top five finishes and 10 top 10 finishes in 11 starts.
Out west, though, the stat line is very different. In 22 starts, he only has two top fives and seven top 10s. What is the difference? The obvious one is the talent level is much better in California than New Zealand and Wisconsin.
But according to Myers, Jr., the other factor might be the way drivers race out west and the lack of consistent racing.
“Honestly it is just a better fit for me,” Myers, Jr. said when asked at the Gold Cup about his success with the IRA. “Guys race with more respect, and you can also race 410s a lot more. We raced twice a week normally back there and could’ve raced even more if we had wanted to.
“We originally just went out there for River Cities and a race in Minnesota and a race in Huset’s. We got connected with Leighton (Crouch) and said we could keep our stuff out there and out of their shop ,and we decided to stay out there longer. To be honest, if we could have qualified better, our results would have been better. I really enjoyed it.”
Parker Cannot Catch A Break: Arizona native Nick Parker relocated to Chico in 2023 to expand his racing horizons. The idea was to chase NARC points, while filling the gaps with 360 races.
However, Parker cannot catch a break in 2023 when it comes to his 360 program. Over the last two months, Parker has experienced unending motor issues. This came to a head on the opening night of the Trophy Cup, when he blew his second engine in two weekends, which ended his weekend before it started.
The NARC/King of the West regular said it was “devastating” and this will sideline his 360 program for six to eight months, which will decrease how much they can race.
“We plan on using the 360 races to fill in the schedule. There are just not enough 410 races out here, so we need to be able to fill in those gaps. Now, we won’t be able to. But that is racing. We will regroup and be back.”
Favorites Fizzle: Zeb Wise and Aaron Reutzel came into the Trophy Cup among the favorites to win the $29,000. They were among my top five and for good reason. Wise was the 2023 All Star Champion and Reutzel had been dominant in 360 competition in 2023 and has a history of success at the Tulare Thunderbowl.
While Wise and Reutzel each showed speed during the weekend, they were never a factor. For two drivers who arrived in Tulare with high hopes, they never challenged for the title over the weekend.
Wise did not finish in the top 10 throughout the weekend. His peak came on Thursday during qualifying when he qualified third in his group. From that point on, the driver of the Rudeen Racing entry just didn’t show the speed needed to compete at Trophy Cup.
As far Reutzel, his eighth-place finish in overall points was deceiving as were his main event finishes of seventh, eighth, and 11tn for the weekend. The positions are more the result of finishing each night and patience, not speed.
Truth is, Reutzel was good in qualifying all weekend. But when it came time to pass cars in the Main Events, the driver of the Ridge and Sons Racing Triple X just didn’t have what it took to make it happen.
Never Made a Main Event: At least Wise and Reutzel were in the Main Events each night. Plenty of other drivers couldn’t say the same thing, as the Trophy Cup continues to be maybe the most difficult race on the West Coast to qualify for.
Consider the list of drivers who did not qualify for a single Main Event: Knoxville 410 champion Austin McCarl, Skagit 360 champion Colton Heath, three-time Trophy Cup Champion Tim Kaeding, Bill Balog , Dominic Gorden, Placerville champion Michael Faccinto, and Kalib Henry.
None of those drivers were heavy favorites, but they are drivers that don’t miss a lot of Main Events. But at the Trophy Cup with the format being the way it is and the depth of the field being what it is, good drivers can struggle to make even one Main Event during the weekend.
That is a wrap for the 29th edition of the Trophy Cup from the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. The offseason now begins.