TULARE, Calif. A Thunderbowl Raceway cornerstone event is next on tap for the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series, which will race in the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial this Saturday, April 26.

Saturdays event is the first of two visits that NARC will make to the third-mile, high-banked clay oval located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds this season. This marks the third stop on the 27-event NARC campaign.

First contested in 2002, the event honors a pair of brothers from the Faria family, longtime participants in California racing. Chris Faria, who was an up-and-coming racer, passed away after a farming accident in 1993. His older brother Brian, who was active behind the scenes at Thunderbowl Raceway, tragically passed away in early 2006 in a traffic accident, and Brians name was soon put alongside his brothers name for this race.

The event, held at one of Californias most challenging dirt tracks, has long been looked forward to by NARC competitors and fans, and the list of past winners of the race reads like a whos who of west coast sprint car racing.

Jason Meyers, a future two-time World of Outlaws champion, won the inaugural event in 2002. National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Brent Kaeding won it twice in the latter years of his legendary career.

A young kid named Kyle Larson, years before the NASCAR world got to know him, was the 2010 winner of the race. NARC champions such as D.J. Netto and Kyle Hirst are also past winners.

Last years Chris & Brian Faria Memorial was rained out on its original sprint date, but the series and Thunderbowl Raceway were able to reschedule the event to October 12th, and it was Cole Macedo picking up the victory that night.

Netto, who lives just down the road from Thunderbowl Raceway in Hanford, currently leads the NARC point standings after two completed events aboard the Netto Ag No. 88n. With his win in the season opening event at Stockton Dirt Track, followed by his fourth-place run at the Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway, Netto carries a five-point advantage over Templetons Kaleb Montgomery.

Montgomery, having driven two different cars in two races, turned in top-five finishes each time, including a third-place effort at the Mini Gold Cup.

WHO TO WATCH

Justin Sanders, after a tough month of March, bounced back in a big way at Silver Dollar Speedway, winning the Mini Gold Cup after a last lap battle with Tanner Holmes. With the $10,000 NARC victory at Chico, the reigning NARC King of the West clawed back to sixth in the standings, only 12 points out of the lead and feeling that momentum is back on the side of the Mittry Motorsports No. 2x.

Fremonts Shane Golobic enters the night third in the NARC point standings aboard the Matt Wood Racing No. 17w. While Golobic did not fare well in the Faria Memorial race last October, he was victorious in the NARC race at the Tulare clay oval in May.

Golobic has been competitive at Thunderbowl Raceway, logging many top five and top ten finishes over the years, including a seventh place run just last month with the High Limit Racing series during their spring California swing.