By: Chris Santos
4/17/23... Tulare California: Friday Night, Kaleb Montgomery would make the trip to Tulare California for Night 1 of the Dennis Roth Classic! He would pull double duty driving his family owned #3 in the 360 & the Keller Motorsports #2k with the NARC 410 Sprint Cars.
In qualifying for the 360, Kaleb would be the 2nd car to hit the track overall. Going out early turned out to be key for Kaleb. He would lay down a pretty good lap, putting him 5th quick overall & setting himself up nicely for the heat race.
"Doubled up & went 5th quick in the 3 in qualifying."
That would line him up on the pole for his heat race. Lining up 1st, Kaleb would battle hard for the lead. However, he would end up falling back to 2nd where he would finish the heat race.
"Started pole in the heat but didn't manage to win it," Kaleb stated. "We still managed to get into the redraw."
He would then start on the outside of the front row for the feature. Starting in 2nd, he would quickly fall into line chasing down Cole Macedo. It would be a memorable feature in Tulare. With all sorts of drama it came down to the closing laps. However, Kaleb would come up a few feet short, finishing 2nd.
"Started 2nd & held onto second, pretty much all the way through. As race monitor shows it, it was 2nd to 2nd, but if you watched the replay it was a little bit more eventful," Kaleb continued. "Cole had a little bit of a get up, and he's actually a really talented driver & kudos to him because he held onto that thing without a left rear shock."
In the 410, the night would get rolling with qualifying, where Kaleb would roll out 20th of 26 cars. Despite going out late, Kaleb would have some good speed in the 2K. He would end up going 9th quick overall in qualifying.
Kaleb would be lined up on the outside front row for his heat race. It would be a stacked heat race & Kaleb would battle with some of the best in the 410 business in California. He would end up falling back to 3rd where he would finish.
"We went p2-p3, went backwards one spot nothing to shake a stick at."
For the feature event, Kaleb would roll off from 8th on the outside of row four. He would get rolling early & have some solid battles. Unfortunately, he would get caught up in someone else's mess in turn two I bring his night to an end with a 24th place finish.
"Started 8th, but really started 6th because JSR (Justin Sanders) spun out," Kaleb added. "Was running the bottom really good until I was a product of someone else's mess & I smashed into him & typical Tulare, absolutely massive pile up."
Going into Saturday, Kaleb was looking fast in both the 410 & 360. He would look to improve off of both results from Friday as a big $18,000 was up for grabs in the 410 division.
In the 360, his night would get going with qualifying again. This time he would be the 19th car of 21 to hit the track. Despite going out very late, Kaleb was able to lay down a very good lap that would put him 6th quick overall.
"In qualifying we beat Justin which was what mattered, we went 6th quick."
He would roll off from the pole of his heat race. The track was a one lane track around the bottom. Once Kaleb jumped out to the lead, Kaleb would pull away & go on to dominate his heat race & take the win.
"In the heat race we started 1st & finished 1st in this bad boy."
Once again, Kaleb would be in the redraw but would pull the 6 this time. Starting 6th, Kaleb would quickly get to 4th & started to battle for 3rd & 2nd. Unfortunately as the track would change, Kaleb would start to fall back. He would fall back to 5th & bring home another top-5 finish.
"Started 6th & got a killer start. Got up to 4th & passed Justin, started rolling & got by Tanner (Carrick) for half a lap or so," Kaleb stated. "From there I was up on the top & I feel like the bottom kind of caught up & got a little quicker at the end of the 360 main. We ended up finishing 5th."
In the 410, Kaleb would go out for qualifying as the 2nd car out. Going out early would end up being massive for Kaleb. He would go out 2nd and ended up 6th quick overall as the track slowed down dramatically throughout qualifying.
"Went out really early for qualifying which was a great addition," Kaleb said. "I ended up going p6 I believe."
That would put Kaleb on the pole for the heat race. Early on Justyn Cox would get by him. Kaleb would begin to track him down & eventually they would exchange sliders. On the last lap, Justyn was able to win a drag race to the finish & Kaleb would finish 2nd in a thrilling beta race.
"Started pole in the heat & battled with Justyn Cox which was actually really cool. Our heat race was kind of a nail biter there. Coming to the white flag I got back by him & in the final corner he got by me which that was really cool."
Courtesy of his heat race, Kaleb would roll off from 7th in the feature, the first car to not make the dash. Unfortunately his race would come to a quick end. On a restart, a piece to his head rest would come off & he would pull into the infield & his night would come to an end.
"Started 7th & was kind of running around there around 8th. On a restart something flew by me & caught me off guard & took my attention to actually starting the race. In the next corner the same thing happened so I kind of rolled the bottom & my head jerked. I figured when I pulled into the infield that I had no right side head rest."
Overall, it was a very impressive weekend for Kaleb Montgomery in Tulare. He would have a fast car in both the 410 & 360 both nights. He was maybe a lap away from a 360 win & without and luck, would most likely have brought home two more top-10's in the 410.
Kaleb & Keller Motorsports would like to thank their sponsors; Ernest Hemingway Vineyards, Monarch Ford, Crown Limousine, Mike Mitchell Construction, Carquest, Porter Diving, Porter Construction, TripleX, Central Coast Concrete Cutting, Blake's Hardware, America's Tire, Fastenal, Iron Oaks Winery, North County Insulation, Full Spectrum Powder Coating, Pioneer Automotive, Justice Brother's, Nicholas Medeiros CPA, Smokey Speedshop, S&S Equipment Repair, Blast N Brew, Cowgirls Cafe, Hooker Harness, Dead Horse Whiskey, Taco Works, 805 Beer, Impact, R.I.P Dave Duty, Phenix Industries, Keizer Wheels, Davis Motorsports, A&W, & Quick Change Energy.
Next Race: TBA
2023 season stats; 8 events, 8 features, 1 wins, 3 top-5's, 5 top-10's
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