WHAT’S ON THE TABLE: California Swing Takes Kubota High Limit Racing to Tulare, Kern & Perris This Week

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TULARE, CA (March 18, 2025) – With Las Vegas in the rear-view mirror, Kubota High Limit Racing went southbound on Interstate 15 and set their sights on California this week – bringing three shows to three different tracks over four days.

It all begins Wednesday, March 19 with a return to Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway, where Kyle Larson topped Brad Sweet and Rico Abreu in a wild one when the series debuted at the track back in August. After that, a pair of first-time tracks take center stage on the weekend with Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway donning a new configuration on Friday, March 21 and then then “Southern California Home of Major League Sprint Car Racing, Perris Auto Speedway, hosting a race on Saturday, March 22.

This marks the first of two trips to California this year with a summer swing following the Knoxville Nationals bringing teams out for races at Tulare and Placerville Speedway and then the historic 71st running of the Gold Cup Race of Champions, a $100,071-to-win extravaganza at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway on August 21-23.

After an eccentric season opener in “The Entertainment Capital of the World,” let’s look at what’s on the table as we visit “The Golden State” this week:

THE HENDRICK BOYS: Corey Day and Kyle Larson – who are mentor and prodigy on the pavement side of the sport at Hendrick Motorsports – are fierce opponents when they come to have fun on the dirt. After finishing 1-2 with Day besting Larson in the season-opener at Las Vegas, the two stars are set to race in their home state for one night only this week when Kubota High Limit Racing rolls into Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway on Wednesday.

The always-electric Thunderbowl is a personal favorite for both the 19-year-old kid from Clovis, California, Day, and the 32-year-old native of Elk Grove, California, Larson. Each have triumphed multiple times in Tulare and both names forever reside on the historic list of Trophy Cup champions.

As things stand right now on the Kubota High Limit Racing all-time wins list, Day owns eight-career victories in his Jason Meyers Racing No. 14BC with Larson right on his tail at seven scores in his Silva Motorsports No. 57.

DE FACTO POINTS: With Corey Day and Kyle Larson not on the full-time trail, the de facto point lead belongs to the reigning Kubota High Limit Racing champions, the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 team. After failing to make the Dash, Brad Sweet did what he does better than almost anyone in the country, salvaging his night, with an 11th-to-third run to land on the podium.

Shortly behind the KKR camp in points after the opening night is the Clauson-Marshall Racing No. 7BC driven by Tyler Courney (-3 points), the Rudeen Racing No. 26 driven by Justin Peck (-9 points), the Murray-Marks Motorsports No. 19 driven by Brent Marks (-11 points), and Rico Abreu’s No. 24 (-15 points).

In the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Rookie of the Year chase, Floridian Danny Sams III jumped out to the early advantage ahead of Texan Chase Randall (-2 points), Oklahoman Daison Pursley (-4 points), and Pennsylvanian Sye Lynch (-12 points).

NEW TRACKS ON TOUR: While Tulare is quite familiar to almost all competitors on Wednesday – only rookies Danny Sams III and Sye Lynch have never raced the Thunderbowl before – the weekend will be a whole different story. Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway and Perris Auto Speedway will be the second and third of 15 venues hosting their first-ever Kubota High Limit Racing event in 2025.

Friday’s stop at the newly minted Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway offers the most newness with only four of the 14 High Rollers having ever competed on property, those being Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, Spencer Bayston, and Tanner Thorson. The facility has hosted several NARC 410 Sprint Car Series events over the past few years with notable winners including Tim Kaeding, Corey Day, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Dominic Scelzi, and Cory Eliason.

On Saturday, “The PAS” – Perris Auto Speedway – welcomes Kubota High Limit Racing for the first time. An iconic track for non-wing racers, this southern California half-mile is no stranger to wings having held 22 World of Outlaws events since 1996. High Rollers Aaron Reutzel, with the Outlaws, and Tanner Thorson, at the 2015 Turkey Night Grand Prix with the USAC National Midgets, are both previous winners at Perris. Only six full-timers will be cutting their first laps at Perris with all four rookies (Danny Sams III, Chase Randall, Daison Pursley, Sye Lynch) joining Brenham Crouch and Justin Peck in making their PAS debut.

CALI CLIQUE: Almost 40 Sprint Cars are expected on Wednesday at Tulare and we should see another 30+ come Friday at Kern and Saturday at Perris, meaning the stout, homegrown California locals will have plenty of chances to earn a national win against Kubota High Limit Racing.

One of the most notable locals is Aromas, California’s Justin Sanders, who is tied with Spencer Bayston for the most podiums (5) in High Limit history without a win. Aboard the Demo Mittry No. 2X, the reigning NARC 410 champion has three chances this week to finally put that stat away and claim his first-career win against a national series.

When you talk about Californians expected to contend against the national stars, you must mention Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi and Fremont’s Shane Golobic. Beyond them, it’s still a long, long list of names worth mentioning including Tim Kaeding, Landon Brooks, Dominic Gorden, D.J. Netto, Dylan Bloomfield, Ryan Bernal, Tanner Holmes in the Tarlton car, Kaleb Montgomery, Chance Grasty, and more.

FIGHTING FOR A FRANCHISE: In a landmark announcement last Thursday, Kubota High Limit Racing unveiled a Franchise System which will go into effect in 2026 and pay race teams up to $18 million over four seasons. Due to their championship finish in 2024, Kasey Kahne Racing (No. 49), Clauson-Marshall Racing (No. 7BC), Rico Abreu Racing (No. 24), and Murray-Marks Motorsports (No. 19) have already earned the first four of 10 franchises.

That means in 2025, seven returning teams will battle for the next six franchises. In the hunt for those valuable six spots is Jason Meyers Racing (No. 14), Buch Motorsports (No. 13), CJB Motorsports (No. 5), Ridge & Sons Racing (No. 87), Rod Gross Motorsports (No. 88), Rudeen Racing (No. 26), and Kasey Kahne Racing (No. 9). Who claims a franchise by the end of the season will be decided by the average point finish of those teams from 2024-25 standings.

READY, SET, BET: New in 2025 with Kubota High Limit Racing, fans can make picks and have the chance to win real money on their favorite drivers. If you visit NXTBets.com/PlayHLR, you’ll find information regarding where/how you can play and possibly earn some exclusive rewards.

For Tulare on Wednesday, Kyle Larson opened as the odds-on favorite at +231 to win – meaning a $100 wager would net you a $231 profit if he were to win. Other names at the top of the odds include Corey Day (+703), Brad Sweet (+976), Rico Abrey (+1085), Ryan Timms (+1427), Aaron Reutzel (+2137), Tyler Courtney (+2315), Dominic Scelzi (+2655), Brent Marks (+2686), and Justin Sanders (+2986).

Another way to play is Daily Fantasy Sports, where you’ll combine picks into a parlay-style ticket where you choose if drivers will finish better or worse than a pre-determined line. For Tulare, opening lines put Kyle Larson at 2.5, Corey Day at 3.5, Brad Sweet at 3.5, Rico Abreu at 4.5, and Ryan Timms at 5.5, among other options.

CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (1/59 Races):

Kasey Kahne Racing #49 – Brad Sweet (68 PTS… -)
Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC – Tyler Courtney (65 PTS… -3)
Rudeen Racing #26 – Justin Peck (59 PTS… -9)
Murray-Marks Motorsports #19 – Brent Marks (57 PTS… -11)
Rico Abreu Racing #24 – Rico Abreu (53 PTS… -15)
Rod Gross Motorsports #88 – Tanner Thorson (49 PTS… -19)
Randerson Racing #24D – Danny Sams III (43 PTS… -25)
Chase Randall Racing #9R – Chase Randall (41 PTS… -27)
Buch Motorsports #13 – Daison Pursley (39 PTS… -29)
Jason Meyers Racing #14 – Spencer Bayston (37 PTS… -31)
Kasey Kahne Racing #9 – Kasey Kahne (35 PTS… -33)
Mosites Lynch Racing #42 – Sye Lynch (31 PTS… -37)
CJB Motorsports #5 – Brenham Crouch (25 PTS… -43)
Ridge & Sons Racing #87 – Aaron Reutzel (25 PTS… -43)

KUBOTA A-MAIN WINNERS (1 Driver):
1 Win – Corey Day (Jason Meyers Racing No. 14BC)

A-MAIN LAPS LED (2 Drivers):
23 Laps – Daryn Pittman
7 Laps – Corey Day

CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS QUICKTIME AWARDS (1 Driver):
1 Quick Time – Daryn Pittman

HEAT RACE WINNERS (4 Drivers):
1 Heat Win – Rico Abreu, Austin McCarl, Tyler Courtney, Brian Brown

FK ROD ENDS DASH APPEARANCES (8 Drivers):
1 Dash – Kyle Larson, Daryn Pittman, Corey Day, Aaron Reutzel, Rico Abreu, Austin McCarl, Tyler Courtney, Brian Brown

WINTERS PERFORMANCE B-MAIN WINS (1 Drivers):
1 B-Main Win – Kasey Kahne

ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER AWARDS (1 Driver):
1 Hard Charger – Justin Peck

JAKE’S GOLF CARTS FASTEST LAP AWARDS (1 Driver):
1 Fastest Lap – Daryn Pittman

PODIUM FINISHES (3 Drivers):
1 Podium – Corey Day, Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet

TOP-FIVE FINISHES (5 Drivers):
1 Top-Five – Corey Day, Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Tyler Courtney, Brady Bacon

TOP-10 FINISHES (10 Drivers):
1 Top 10 – Corey Day, Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Tyler Courtney, Brady Bacon, Austin McCarl, Justin Peck, Brent Marks, Dominic Scelzi, Rico Abreu

2025 Kubota High Limit Racing Schedule:
Race / Day, Date / Track / Location/ Winner / (Total Wins)