Eddie Tafoya Jr. To Compete In Three Usac National Sprint Car Races This Week In Indiana

Eddie Tafoya Jr. will be back in action three times this week with the USAC National Sprint Car Series in Indiana.  First off will be the Bloomington Speedway on Friday.  He will follow that up with a race on Saturday at the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstaudt, and he will conclude his quick trip to the Midwest on Sunday at the Paragon Speedway.

The three races in the Midwest were not initially on the schedule for the 23-year-old Chino Hills, California resident.  However, a nasty flip in the USAC/CRA race at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare made the trip to Indiana necessary.  Early in his heat race, Tafoya got upside down in turn one.  Initially the team thought  the damage was restricted to bolt on parts.  However, upon further examination they found out that the chassis suffered heavy damage.  A call was put into Indiana’s Joe Devin to order a new DRC Chassis.  And, with three races coming up in Indiana this week, the team decided to load up the hauler with all the parts needed to build the car back there and race it for the three nights.  As soon as they are done at Paragon on Sunday, they will hightail it back to Southern California for the annual Sokola Shootout at Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday, April 24th.

Of the three Indiana tracks Tafoya will be racing on this week, he has only competed on one of them before.  That is Tri-State Speedway where he raced during Indiana Sprint Week in 2020.  On that occasion, he qualified 15th.  That stuck him in a stacked heat race that featured five of the top 10 drivers in USAC National points!  An impressive showing saw him finish fifth to get a ticket into the B main.  In the B, at his first night on the track, he see-sawed back in fourth with the more experienced drivers, including the all-time leader in USAC Sprint Car victories in the waning laps.  He got as far up as the sixth and final transfer spot before settling for eighth.  Earlier on that trip, the Specialty Fasteners #51T was supposed to race at Bloomington, but that race was rained out.

Before the heat race crash at Tulare three weeks ago, Tafoya had qualified 16th in the 21-car field with a lap of 16.543.  The flip occurred while he was running second on lap two.  As he entered turn one, the car bicycled and cartwheeled into the billboards.  The car landed on its wheels and kept on going, but it was obvious that there was damage, and Tafoya was done for the heat and subsequently, the night.

For fans interested in seeing Eddie Tafoya Jr. in person on his brief trip to Indiana, a directory of the tracks follows.  Others can follow on floracing.com

Eddie Tafoya Jr.  PR