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Tulare Thunderbowl Delivers Chaos, Carnage, and Classic Racing for CSS 305’s Friday Night Showdown

Tulare, CA — The legendary Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway lived up to every bit of its name Friday night as the California 305 Sprint Series brought the heat for night one of a two-day battle. Fourteen drivers rolled through the pit gate ready for war… but not all would survive the night.

Under a still-blazing 90-degree sky, qualifying kicked off with a statement. Former champions Davey Pombo and George Tristao Jr. set the tone early, laying down blistering laps of 15.202 and 15.342. Right on their heels? A stacked field, Phil Heynen, Jeremy Alves, and Connor Danell, all separated by just three-tenths of a second. The message was clear: drivers were ready to race. Then came the heat races… and any thought of “boring” was immediately thrown out the window.

Heat Race One, presented by American Racer Tire Southwest, erupted the moment the green flag dropped. Jeff Westergard and Danell led the charge, but it quickly turned into a three-car knife fight at the front. Lap four changed everything. Danell’s 5D suffered a catastrophic failure entering turn two, the car refused to turn and violently slammed into the wall. What followed was a terrifying ride up the Thunderbowl banking, leaving the car destroyed beyond repair. In true racer fashion, Danell climbed out, shaken and sore, but okay. The same couldn’t be said for the car. When the dust settled, Davey Pombo powered to the Heat 1 victory.

Heat Race Two, presented by BR Motorsports, didn’t let up. Mechanical gremlins sidelined Tylor Henson before the green even flew, shrinking the field. Moments later, chaos struck again as two cars tangled heading into turn one, stacking up the field and ending not just a race — but a weekend for one team. When the action resumed, it was George Tristao Jr. putting on a clinic, leading Maverick Myrick and Anthony Pombo across the line. By feature time, attrition had already taken its toll. Only 11 of the original 14 cars answered the call.

With Westergard back on the pole, in just his first-ever appearance at Thunderbowl, the stage was set. And for the first several laps, it delivered everything fans dream of. Four cars. One lead pack. No room for mistakes. Westergard, Heynen, Tristao, and Pombo traded blows lap after lap, throwing sliders, ripping the top, diamonding the corners, and hunting grip wherever they could find it. It was pure Thunderbowl magic.

Until… it wasn’t.

Disaster struck once again in turns one and two as Westergard, Pombo, and Rino Feliconi tangled, ending all three of their nights in an instant. Just like that, the tone shifted from all-out war to survival. From lap eight to the checkered, the race settled, but the outcome was anything but ordinary.

When the dust finally cleared, it was hometown pride standing tall. Tulare’s own George Tristao Jr. claimed victory, with Maverick Myrick close behind in second, and Visalia’s Phil Heynen rounding out the podium. Friday night at the Thunderbowl proved one thing: in sprint car racing, anything can happen, and it usually does.

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