Eddie Tafoya Jr. returns to the cockpit of his gorgeous #51T sprint car this Saturday night, August 6th, for the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series race at the Santa Maria Raceway. It will be his first time back in the car since three nights of action at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota in early July.
Tafoya, who recently celebrated his 25th birthday while racing in the Midwest, comes into Saturday’s race with a head of steam in the USAC/CRA Series. The Chino Hills, California racer is currently fourth in the series standings and is only 39-points out of third place. In addition, he trails the second-place driver by 68-points.
The 2019 USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year is having his best season to date. His recent appearances at Huset’s drew the attention and praise from longtime Midwest fans. He racked up his first ever USAC/CRA top-10 finish, a 10th on July 9th. One night later, the friendly driver weaved his way from fifth to the front and captured his first ever USAC National checkered flag in his qualifier. A few moments after that he continued to impress the crowd in the 40-lap finale by racing his way up to second against the best drivers in the world and staying there for six laps. A slap against the wall saw him drop back later in the race, but he clearly showed he belonged with the best in the nation.
On the home front, in his last six USAC/CRA races, Tafoya has only finished out of the top five two times. Those two finishes were both eighth places and both came at Perris Auto Speedway. The other four results include a third place, a fourth, and two fifth-place finishes.
Last year USAC/CRA paid one visit to Santa Maria. That came on July 3rd and Tafoya qualified sixth fastest of the 22 cars on hand. He followed that up with a sixth-place finish in his 10-lap heat. The then 24-year-old racer started the 30-lap main in ninth and moved forward for a sixth-place finish.
Two years ago the series never made it to Santa Maria due to COVID. In 2019, when Tafoya was the series rookie of the year, he contested his first two races on the San Luis Obispo County track. The then newcomer scored 11th in 18th place finishes in those events.
Be sure to check out Tafoya’s brand new YouTube channel at the following link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgMCW64p0uyBmOcKN7_bDQ.
For fans who would like to catch Tafoya at the reopening of the Santa Maria Raceway on Saturday, gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:00. The track is located at 1900 Hutton Road in Nipomo (93444).
If you or your company would like to be a part of the Specialty Fastener team’s 2022 season effort, please contact Eddie Tafoya Jr. via phone at (909) 393-3999 or by e-mail at [email protected]. He will be happy to talk to you and lay out the team’s 2022 plans.
Fans can follow Tafoya on Instagram @eddietafoya51. The same contact point can be used to purchase his great-looking shirts via mail.
Eddie Tafoya PR
